No Grab, LINE MAN or foodpanda on this island - here's the honest picture: KOHME, a homegrown local delivery app, direct restaurant delivery by phone or WhatsApp, named grocery stores in Mae Haad and Sairee, and the real coverage zones and costs.
Koh Tao is small and dive-focused, and its food-delivery scene reflects that: none of Thailand's big three apps - Grab, LINE MAN or foodpanda - operate here. Instead, the island runs on KOHME, a homegrown app built for Koh Tao, Koh Lanta and Koh Samui, alongside a long tradition of restaurants taking orders directly by phone, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Groceries work the same low-tech way: walk-in or scooter-in stores in Mae Haad and Sairee, no delivery app. Here's exactly how it works, what it costs, and where coverage thins out.
KOHME is a homegrown app built specifically for Koh Tao (alongside Koh Lanta and Koh Samui) that covers food delivery from 50+ hand-picked local restaurants and cafes, plus activity bookings, scooter and boat rentals, and taxi transport - all in one app. It runs with zero commission for customers, fair rates for vendors and 100% of tips going to the rider, with support in English and Thai.
Many Koh Tao restaurants outside the KOHME network still take orders the old way - a phone call, a WhatsApp message or a Facebook Messenger chat - and send a rider out on their own scooter. This is normal and often the fastest route for well-known kitchens in Sairee and Mae Haad.
None of Thailand's three big-city delivery apps operate on Koh Tao. Grab (and any other ride-hailing app) is kept off the island by the entrenched local taxi trade, which holds its own fixed, high fares and resists outside competition. LINE MAN has never expanded here, and foodpanda shut down its entire Thailand operation in 2025 - so none of the three are an option, unlike Koh Samui, Phuket or the mainland cities.
Free delivery to Mae Haad, Sairee and Chalok Baan Kao with a 220 THB minimum order. Order by Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or phone, or walk in - the shop sits across from the Sairee gas station.
Delivers anywhere on Koh Tao, not just the main strips. Order by phone call, WhatsApp message or Facebook Messenger.
A locally owned, authentic Thai kitchen in Mae Haad offering its own delivery alongside dine-in and takeaway.
Billed as Koh Tao's "freshmart," Pods sits on Mae Haad's main road and is the only supermarket on the island with its own butcher counter - the closest thing Koh Tao has to a one-stop grocery shop.
Almost directly across from Pods, Pen Wholesale covers fresh fruit and vegetables plus hygiene, beauty, homeware, hardware, pet food, tobacco and alcohol - handy for filling out a shopping list in one stop.
A traditional Thai general store on Mae Haad's main road stocking homeware, hardware, furniture, stationery, toiletries, consumables, cigarettes and alcohol.
Sairee's grocery store on the Hin Wong Bay road, near the island's gym - a wide range of Western and Asian packaged food, dairy, bread, cosmetics and homeware, though it does not stock fresh fruit or vegetables.
7-Eleven branches (including one in Mae Haad) and independent mini-marts are scattered across Mae Haad and Sairee for snacks, drinks, SIM cards, toiletries and late-night top-ups.
KOHME and the named restaurants above cover the island's developed core - Mae Haad (the pier town) and Sairee Beach (the longest, busiest beach) - with Chalok Baan Kao to the south also served by several kitchens. The quieter east-coast bays and hillside resorts, reached only by steep dirt tracks, generally fall outside routine delivery range; check with your resort or a specific restaurant before assuming coverage.
There is no confirmed dedicated grocery-delivery service on Koh Tao - Pods, Pen Wholesale, ChaiWat and Smile Mart are walk-in or scooter-in stores. For a real supermarket experience with app-based grocery delivery, that means a ferry trip to Koh Samui, not an app on Koh Tao itself.
KOHME's delivery fees are set per restaurant and distance inside the app rather than published as a flat island-wide rate - check the fee shown before you order. Independent kitchens vary too: Kebab House sets a 220 THB minimum with free delivery to its three covered areas, while others take orders with no fixed minimum at all.
KOHME accepts card, PromptPay and cash on delivery. Restaurants taking direct orders by phone or WhatsApp are almost always cash-on-delivery only, so keep small notes on hand.
KOHME is worth having even if you rarely order food: the same app also books diving trips, boat tours and spa treatments, arranges scooter and boat rentals, and connects you with a local taxi driver at a fixed rate - useful given the island's well-known taxi-fare markups.
No. Grab and every other mainland ride-hailing or delivery app are absent from Koh Tao - the island's entrenched taxi trade keeps outside competitors off, which is also why taxi fares here run notably higher than elsewhere in Thailand. KOHME, a homegrown local app, has stepped into the gap for both delivery and, at fixed rates, transport.
Only KOHME, a local app built for Koh Tao, Koh Lanta and Koh Samui. It delivers from 50+ hand-picked restaurants and cafes on the island, alongside activity bookings, rentals and taxi transport. Neither LINE MAN nor foodpanda has ever served Koh Tao, and foodpanda exited the Thai market entirely in 2025.
Yes - it's common. Kitchens like Kebab House, Blacktip Burgers and Pranees Kitchen take orders directly by phone call, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger and send their own rider, no app required.
Not through a dedicated delivery app - there isn't a confirmed one on the island. Pods, Pen Wholesale, ChaiWat and Smile Mart are all walk-in or scooter-in stores in Mae Haad and Sairee. Getting groceries delivered by an app means a ferry trip to Koh Samui.
Reliable coverage sits in Mae Haad, Sairee Beach and, for several kitchens, Chalok Baan Kao. The remote east-coast bays and hillside resorts, reached by steep unpaved tracks, are generally outside routine delivery range - confirm with your accommodation first.
Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.
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Hero photo by Optical Chemist on Pexels. General information only; app coverage, restaurant contact details and delivery fees change - confirm current details before relying on them. Prices in Thai baht (THB) and are indicative.