LINE OpenChat hits 24 million users in Thailand after tab move

By Nathan Brooks

LINE Thailand said monthly active users of LINE OpenChat in Thailand rose from 20 million to 24 million after the feature moved to the third tab of the LINE app. The 4 million-user gain gives the interest-based community service a broader audience as LINE expands discovery, artificial-intelligence features and links to offline activities.

In a Thursday statement, LINE said the new discovery design makes communities easier to find, join and take part in. The redesign adds interest-based recommendations, trending topics and simpler ways for users to locate communities.

LINE also reported that monthly usage sessions across the service exceeded 2.25 billion as of September 30, 2026, up from 1.8 billion. The company measured those figures about one month after moving OpenChat to the third tab. That period also brought 7.4 million room joins, LINE said.

Together, the disclosures give the redesign an early growth read: a wider Thai user base and a higher service-wide session count. The roughly one-month measurement window also keeps the engagement result closely tied to the tab change.

The strategic bet is that placement can work as a distribution channel. A third tab surfaces communities while recommendations and trending topics guide browsing toward specific interests. For LINE, that gives the company a way to turn the app’s navigation into a distribution channel for community activity.

A more visible route into OpenChat

The third tab now serves as a more visible entry point for OpenChat. LINE says the new design brings shared interests, trending topics and discovery tools closer to users as they move through the app. That supports the company’s stated goal of making communities easier to discover and enter.

LINE is also adding AI-powered conversation summaries, discussion threads and fraud-protection alerts. The additions extend the redesigned tab beyond discovery, covering conversation management and fraud protection. The feature mix shows LINE addressing both content and safety as the service scales.

Nadhakriz Kanchanamantana, head of LINE OpenChat, said: “Shared interests are the starting point for meaningful connections.” He added that LINE wants to “turn shared interests into lasting communities.”

Four priorities for OpenChat development

The company plans to develop the service around four priorities:

• Discover: Make communities easier to reach.
• Activate: Encourage participation.
• Grow: Support community creators.
• Connect: Build partnerships across industries.

For community creators, Grow provides the clearest stated commitment, while Activate focuses on participation after discovery. For brands, entertainment companies and schools, Connect is designed to link online communities with offline activities. LINE said it is expanding partnerships with those groups for that purpose.

What does the tab move change for operators?

For brands, entertainment companies and schools, the immediate change is a product path for taking community interest into offline activities. For community operators, the change reaches beyond audience size. Discover brings recommendations and trending topics into the main user journey, while Activate, Grow and Connect support participation, creator development and industry ties.

Creators will compete for visibility in a tab built around recommendations and trending topics. Live Talk also gives them a way to run real-time voice sessions within communities that can accommodate up to 200,000 members.

OpenChat is available in Japan, Thailand and Taiwan and supports communities of up to 200,000 members. It includes Live Talk for real-time voice conversations. Users can also find communities for education, entertainment, fandoms, finance, gaming and lifestyle.

LINE has turned a placement change into measurable growth: 4 million more monthly active users in Thailand, more than 2.25 billion monthly sessions and 7.4 million room joins in the roughly month after the redesign. The next test is whether those early gains become sustained participation and repeat offline activity under the four-part strategy.