Influencer collaborations in Thailand, hosted by a local DMC

How do travel influencers get hosted in Thailand?

You apply to Explera's Thailand creator programme, and if your channel and niche fit, Explera hosts you on the ground with the hotel, transfers and activities your tier includes. Explera is a B2B destination management company: it already books hotels, cars, boats and guides across Thailand for travel agents and tour operators. A hosted trip uses those same services and the same local team.

In return you publish honest coverage of what you did, clearly disclosed as hosted, tagging @expleradmc. There is no script and no content approval. We check the agreed tags, links and disclosure, and we may ask you to correct a factual error such as a wrong price or a safety detail.

How is this different from a tourism-board press trip or a brand deal?

It is a one-to-one hosted collaboration planned around your niche, not a group press or FAM trip on a fixed route and not a paid campaign. Tourism-board press trips usually move a group of journalists and creators through a schedule the organiser sets, often on dates you cannot change. A brand deal pays a fee for content the brand usually wants to see first. Here the differences are practical:

• Itinerary: planned around your channel, your dates and the Thai seasons by the team that books the ground services.
• Payment: hospitality in kind only. No cash fee changes hands in this programme.
• Editorial control: yours. Nothing is pre-approved.
• Paid work: commissioned content runs through Explera's separate brand-collaboration desk, never through this programme.

Can creators from any country apply?

Yes. Creators of any nationality, based anywhere in the world, can apply if they are 18 or over and own a blog or website. Where your audience lives matters more than your passport: it decides the disclosure rules you follow and how well Thailand fits the people who watch you. A link-in-bio page or a social profile does not count as a website.

Do I need a minimum number of followers?

For a hosted trip, yes: hosted tiers start at 150,000 followers on one primary channel, and what each tier includes is set out on the programme page. We assess the channel that carries your audience; followers on different platforms are not added together. Below the threshold you can still apply. The Spotlight path normally covers one activity or tour, such as an evening food walk in Bangkok, without hotel or transfers, and the website and disclosure rules are the same.

Is a hosted trip a free trip?

No. A hosted trip is a working collaboration under a written agreement, and several costs always stay with you. Explera covers the ground services your tier includes and never provides:

• Flights, international or domestic. A hop such as Bangkok to Phuket or Chiang Mai is yours to book and pay for; Explera handles the transfers at each end.
• Cash fees of any kind.
• Visas or entry permissions. Check current Thai entry rules for your passport with official government sources.
• Travel insurance, which is mandatory: you upload proof before you travel.
• Personal extras such as spa add-ons, extra drinks or upgrades nobody agreed.

Which places in Thailand suit my niche?

Choose the base your audience already follows you for, because the review asks whether your plan fits your niche.

• Food and city: Bangkok, for street food after dark, temples at opening time and light on the river. Food channels should read the food niche page first.
• Islands and boats: Phuket and Krabi on the Andaman coast, for limestone bays, long-tail boats, Phi Phi by speedboat and Phang Nga Bay at sunset in the dry months.
• Crafts, temples and mountains: Chiang Mai, for craft villages, old-city temples and cooler mornings, with lanterns in the festival season.
• Villas and wellness: Koh Samui on the Gulf side, which keeps a different rainy season from the Andaman coast.
• Beach clubs and evenings: Pattaya and Phuket, for nightlife channels that want more than a bar crawl.

When is the best time for a hosted trip to Thailand?

For most of the country, November to February is the most comfortable and most popular time, and the Andaman coast is at its best from roughly November to April. From May to October the southwest monsoon brings rougher seas around Phuket and Krabi and more boat cancellations, while Koh Samui on the Gulf side usually gets its heaviest rain from around October to December. Bangkok and Chiang Mai work all year. The weeks around New Year, Chinese New Year and Songkran fill early, so apply well ahead if your dates are fixed.

What do I have to post, and how do I disclose it?

You publish a short pre-trip announcement and, after the trip, the coverage written into your agreement, all clearly disclosed and tagging @expleradmc. Before your first travel day you post the announcement on a social channel and on your blog. Afterwards, typical coverage is a blog post linking to the Explera page for the experience plus posts on your main social channels. The deliverables page has the full list and the deadlines.

• Disclose at the start of each post, not inside a block of hashtags. The rules follow your audience: the FTC for viewers in the US, the ASA and CMA for the UK, and so on.
• Tag @expleradmc on Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube and Threads. Explera has no TikTok account, so TikTok posts carry your disclosure but no Explera tag.
• Submit every post in the creator portal with its URL and screenshots.
• We never ask for Google reviews.

What should I know about filming in Thailand?

Film like a guest: temples and royal sites have dress codes and filming rules, and drones need more paperwork than most creators expect. Cover shoulders and knees at temples, take shoes off where asked, and never pose on or beside Buddha images in a way that treats them as props. Drone flying in Thailand comes with registration requirements, and palaces, temples, national parks and the areas around airports restrict it; check the current rules before you pack a drone and assume no aerial shots unless they are agreed in writing. Marine national parks charge entry fees, covered only where an activity includes them.

How do I apply?

Apply online through the application form, well before your travel dates, with your primary channel, your blog or website and what you want to film in Thailand.

1. Choose the primary channel that carries your audience and add your blog or website.
2. Give your dates, your audience markets and the places and experiences you have in mind.
3. Enter your legal name as it appears in your passport, with the passport details the form asks for.
4. Confirm that you follow @expleradmc on Explera's official social profiles.
5. If approved, sign the agreement in the creator portal, publish your announcement and upload proof of insurance before you travel.

Explera's travel-trade services in Thailand are at explera.co.th. To compare Thailand with the other countries where Explera hosts creators, see the group overview.