Data and map ideas for real Bangkok challenges
Turn local information into something people can use. Explore data and mapping ideas tied to real Bangkok challenges and suggested tools.
Food and markets
- Data and maps
Bake Less Number: tells a bakery how many of each item to bake tomorrow
At closing the owner says by voice '3 croissants, 5 loaves left'. The page combines that with the forecast and the weekday and shows tomorrow's bake count for each item. Less is thrown away before anyone has to donate it.
Build with Whisper Thai, Claude extraction, weather API, Google Sheets, simple forecast model
Small restaurants and bakeries bin good food because donating small amounts is a hassle
- Data and maps
Go or No-Go Card: a morning card that says whether staff and riders can reach the shop
Each morning the owner gets one card from public rain radar and Bangkok water level feeds, plus the home districts of staff and the delivery zone. It says 'full menu', 'half menu, 2 staff' or 'stay closed until noon'. Hours and orders get trimmed by data instead of gut feel.
Build with BMA water level and rain radar feeds, Google Sheets of staff districts, Claude, daily print or screen
Restaurants lose up to 80% of sales in a flood even when the building stays dry
Getting around
- Data and maps
Bus Rosetta: one open table of every old and new route, searchable by what you remember
A rider types a number they remember, a landmark or a stop name. The table, built from the official renumbering lists, returns the matching routes and notes the dash-or-no-dash confusion like 1-15 versus 115.
Build with BMTA route data, SQLite, fuzzy search, static site
- Data and maps
Payoff Planner: compare restructure, surrender or sell
The user enters missed installments and balance. The tool simulates restructuring, surrender or selling the bike and shows the likely cost of each, so a family four months behind on 3,900 baht can see a number instead of dread.
Build with Next.js, Claude, interest calculator
Motorbike buyers who fall behind face repossession, then surprise bills and calls years later
- Data and maps
Step-Free Route Card: a printed route with the right BTS exit and lift for each leg
It combines OpenStreetMap wheelchair tags with a table of BTS and MRT stations, exits and lifts to build a step-free route between two places. The traveler prints a large-type card that names the exit number and lift location for each station.
Build with OpenStreetMap wheelchair tags, BTS and MRT station data, Google Routes API, PDF generator
Wheelchair users and their families can't tell which routes, venues and lifts in Bangkok are usable
- Data and maps
Rider-Safe Route: scooter routes that stay off expressways and toll roads
A renter enters start and end points and gets a route from the Google Routes API with highways and tolls avoided. The map marks expressway entrances and tunnels to skip, and Claude explains each turn warning in plain English.
Build with Google Routes API, Leaflet, expressway and tunnel list, Claude
Tourists on rented scooters get hit by fines or uninsured crashes they didn't expect
Small business
- Data and maps
Prep Planner: tells a cook how many portions to prep tomorrow from past sales, payday and rain
A cook keeps a simple sales tally. The tool combines it with payday week, the rain forecast and local events and says 'prep 60 portions tomorrow, not 120', so less food is thrown out on the slow nights.
Build with Python, Open-Meteo forecast API, Google Sheets, Claude
- Data and maps
Price Gap: tag 20 items from the CJ shelf next door and see where they beat you
The owner photographs 20 prices at the chain and in their own shop. The tool lines them up, shows where the chain is cheaper, where the shop is, and prints shelf tags for items worth matching, so discounting stops being a blanket guess.
Build with Claude vision for price tags, comparison table, tag printer or PDF
- Data and maps
Flood Receipt: public proof that water hit your street the day you lost stock
For each claim, the tool looks up Traffy Fondue flood reports near the shop address and Thai Meteorological Department rainfall for that date. The AI writes a short, sourced note that backs up the owner's own photos.
Build with Traffy Fondue API, TMD data, Claude, PDF generation
Flooded small shops have no simple record of lost stock, so bank and aid claims are hard
Environment and air
- Data and maps
Buyer Map: who nearby pays for your used oil, glass and cardboard
The owner enters what they have and the map lists nearby buyers with price per kilo, pickup times and phone numbers, so sorted waste becomes income like the Bang Khun Si vendors.
Build with Public recycler directories, OpenStreetMap, Next.js, phone-call links
- Data and maps
Window Hour: tells you the exact hour today when outside air beats your room
It combines your probe reading with the Air4Thai forecast and calls the best hour to open a window, cook or exercise indoors. It pushes a one line answer to the phone.
Build with Air4Thai API, Open-Meteo, Claude, push notification
Animals
- Data and maps
Food Route: a map that sends a donor with food to the nearest rescuer who needs that kind
The donor enters what they have and where they are. The map ranks rescuers and temples by distance and current need, with the verified badge from Receipt Check, so a person holding dry food and cans gets a new drop-off in one tap.
Build with Next.js, Supabase, OpenStreetMap, need tags
Home animal rescuers and food donors can't find each other, and donors can't tell who is real
Jobs and work
- Data and maps
Scam Sniffer: paste or photograph a job ad and see the red flags in plain Thai
The user pastes a job ad or screenshot. The tool checks for patterns like pay-to-start, order-grabbing, 'pack at home' and mismatched titles, looks up the company in the public business register, and shows a green, yellow or red result with the reason.
Build with Claude vision, rules list, public company registry lookup
Disabled people who want to earn from home don't know what they could sell, and run into job scams
- Data and maps
Building Pool: neighbors in one building share one housekeeper's week
Residents of the same building list the days they need help. The matcher builds a schedule so one housekeeper works a full day across three units, which means fewer cancellations, a decent day's pay for her and a lower per-unit price.
Build with Next.js, Supabase, simple scheduling solver, Burmese and Thai UI
- Data and maps
Claim Path Finder: is it worth chasing, and where
The tool takes the amount, contract status and client type and compares routes like the labor department, small claims and mediation by cost and time. For a 1,000 baht debt it says when to let go and when to push.
Build with Claude, public court and labor-department fee tables, Next.js
Freelancers and informal workers finish the job, then chase unpaid pay with only chat logs as proof
Elderly care
- Data and maps
Dose Spacer: enter real meal times, get dose times that respect the leaflet
A caregiver types the prescription and when the elder actually eats. The tool applies the minimum gap and the with-food or empty-stomach rule and returns realistic dose times, so a patient who eats at 11 AM and 2 PM isn't dosed an hour apart.
Build with Rules table from drug leaflets, Next.js
Community groups
- Data and maps
Service Map: clinics, schools and legal aid filtered by language and ID needed
Volunteers confirm each service by phone and the map shows what language is spoken, whether ID is required, and the date it was last verified. The AI turns volunteer call notes into short entries in several languages.
Build with Leaflet, Supabase, Claude, Google Places for addresses
Urban refugees in Bangkok lack safe multilingual information on services and legal risks
Safety and scams
- Data and maps
Account Watchlist: search a bank account or LINE ID before you pay
A shared database of reported receiving accounts and LINE IDs, seeded from public blacklist sites, lets anyone search before sending money. Reports show dates and amounts and add up repeat names.
Build with Public blacklist data, Supabase, Next.js search, Claude (normalizing names)
Job seekers lose savings to fake 'accept orders' part-time jobs that demand bigger top-ups
- Data and maps
Listing Twin Finder: paste listing photos and see the same pictures elsewhere
Fake or reposted listings reuse photos. The tenant uploads the listing pictures and the tool runs Google Cloud Vision web detection to find the same images on other pages, with different phone numbers or prices.
Build with Google Cloud Vision web detection, Next.js, Claude summary
Tenants can't tell if an agent really represents the owner before sending a deposit
- Data and maps
Pocket Map Printer: a hostel desk prints a map of fixed-price tailors and detour spots
A kiosk or a thermal printer at a hostel front desk prints a one-page map: fixed-price tailors, 'palace closed' hot spots, tuk-tuk fair prices for the area. A tourist gets the printout as they check in, before the first walk. It is the right paper at the right desk.
Build with Next.js, Google Maps static, curated tailor list, thermal or A4 printer
Visitors can't tell an honest tailor from a coordinated suit scam
Learning and language
- Data and maps
Route Finder: 10 questions in, a list of study and funding routes you qualify for out
A teen answers questions about age, school track, who they care for and where they live. The tool lists the routes that fit (กศน., vocational study that leaves time to care, loans, scholarships) with deadlines and what to bring, sorted by how fast money arrives.
Build with Next.js, rules table built from published criteria, Claude API
- Data and maps
Menu Fit: plan the month so every lunch stays inside 24 baht a head
The teacher enters pupils by level (kindergarten eats less than secondary), and today's market prices from a short list. The tool builds a month of menus that meet the protein, vegetable and fruit rules and shows the gap between the system price of pork and the market price before anything is bought.
Build with Next.js, Claude API, price sheet in Google Sheets
- Data and maps
Job Outlook: pick a faculty and see today's real job posts, pay and skills
The teen picks a faculty. The tool counts live job posts that accept its graduates, shows salary ranges and the top asked skills, with a date on every number. It replaces forum guesses with this month's postings.
Build with Job board APIs or public listings, Claude classification, Next.js
- Data and maps
Rule Match: each charge checked against the ministry's public fee rules
The tool reads a school notice and matches each line to the Ministry of Education's public announcements on fees, and marks it allowed, optional or not allowed, citing the rule. The 500 baht uniform and the 300 baht shirt each get a clear verdict.
Build with Claude, public Ministry of Education fee announcements, Next.js
- Data and maps
Exam Radar: finds who needs a tutor three weeks before a big exam date
Exam dates are public: TCAS rounds and school midterm calendars. The pipeline maps them to levels and districts, then tells a tutor which weeks to promote which subject, and where to post.
Build with TCAS dates, school calendar scraping, Claude, Next.js
Freelance tutors can't find steady students and lose income when learners cancel or vanish
- Data and maps
Schools Near You: a school map with volunteer-confirmed migrant-friendly flags
The map combines the BMA open data school list with Google Places and a flag that volunteers set after calling each school. The AI turns call notes into short Thai, Burmese and Khmer summaries of what each school said about enrollment.
Build with BMA open data, Google Places, Claude, Leaflet, Supabase
Migrant parents don't know their kids can enroll in Bangkok schools; kids lack Thai
Housing and condos
- Data and maps
Developer Check: one card with the company's past projects, finances and court cases
Type a project name. The tool pulls the developer's registered financials, other projects and their delivery record, and any public lawsuits into a one-page card with a plain verdict, so buyers check before paying instead of after.
Build with DBD open data, court record sites, Google Maps, Claude summary
- Data and maps
Contractor Record Book: finished on time or not
Owners add job type, price, whether the contract had an end date and whether it finished. Others search by contractor name or phone before hiring, with a QR on finished jobs so the next neighbor can add theirs.
Build with Next.js, Supabase, QR yard sign PDF
- Data and maps
Lobby Board: a QR poster where residents rate the techs their building has used
A QR poster in the lobby opens a one-minute form: tech name, job, price paid, star rating. The page prints a monthly sheet of the top three techs with real prices, which the juristic office pins on the board. A building's own neighbors vouch for the techs in a way search engines cannot.
Build with Next.js, Supabase, QR poster, monthly PDF sheet
Residents can't find honest repair techs or know what an aircon wash should cost
- Data and maps
Clause Norms: see what late fees and notice periods are normal nearby
The renter picks a clause such as the late fee or the days of notice and sees the usual range from real Bangkok listings and published leases for that area. A 500 baht daily fee shows up beside a norm of 50 to 100 baht. The renter walks into the talk with numbers.
Build with Scraped public rental listings and sample leases, Claude extraction, Next.js
Renters sign leases with harsh clauses they can't evaluate in time
- Data and maps
Rate Radar: check the baht-per-unit a building really charges before you sign
Tenants upload a photo of the bill line and the page reads the baht-per-unit rate and the building. A renter hunting for a room sees 'this building 8.0, this one 4.8, the area is 5.6'. The markup becomes a visible number before the deposit, not after the first bill.
Build with Claude vision on bills, Next.js, Supabase, Google Maps
Tenants pay double the grid rate for electricity and can't check building bills
- Data and maps
Fix Price Card: what a light bulb, a lock and a sofa clean should cost, printed
The tenant picks the items the landlord is charging for and gets a one-page card with the usual Bangkok price for each, taken from public store and service prices. It also sums what the deductions should be at fair prices. The tenant hands the card over and the 15,000 baht window scratch has to be justified.
Build with Scraped Home Pro, Lazada and service-site prices, Claude, PDF generator
Renters lose deposits over tiny scratches with no proof of the room's starting state
Health
- Data and maps
Renewal Radar: remember each office's sign-up window so payments don't lapse
Local offices set their own registration windows. The family picks their district and the tool stores the window, card expiry and certificate dates, then sends a text a month before each one.
Build with Google Sheets or SQLite, district pages collected by hand, SMS gateway
Families of disabled or bedridden people get sent between offices and miss benefits they can claim
- Data and maps
Still Open?: check if a clinic or gym is alive before you prepay
The buyer types a business name. The tool checks company registration status, whether the Maps listing and Facebook page are active, recent reviews and sudden closure signs, and returns a go or wait signal, so a shaky shop doesn't get a 5,499 baht prepayment.
Build with DBD open data, Google Places, Facebook page signals, Claude summary
- Data and maps
Care Finder: licensed English-speaking help with price and wait, checked against registers
A directory built by scraping hospital and clinic pages for English-speaking mental health staff, with license numbers checked against public professional registers, plus price, remote option and next available time. It removes the guessing between hospital services and private therapists.
Build with Python scraper, Claude (extraction), public license registers, Next.js
Expats in distress can't quickly find English-speaking, licensed mental health help in Bangkok
- Data and maps
Sauce Atlas: look up where peanut, mango and shellfish hide in Thai dishes
The traveler types or picks a dish and sees the likely hidden items: shrimp paste in nam prik, peanut in satay and som tam, fish sauce nearly everywhere. Each has a Thai word and a photo. It answers 'what is in this' before ordering, in about ten seconds.
Build with Next.js, curated dish and ingredient table, Claude fallback for unknown dishes
Travelers with severe food allergies can't reliably tell Thai cooks what they can't eat
- Data and maps
Policy Match: upload your insurance PDF and see if a quote is covered
The patient uploads the insurance policy PDF and the clinic's quote. The page reads exclusions and limits and marks each line as covered, partly covered or not. The 'minefield' of expat insurance becomes a table that is read before the procedure, not after the claim is rejected.
Build with Claude with PDF input, Next.js, Supabase
Foreigners can't judge if a Bangkok dentist's or clinic's plan and price are fair
Tools these ideas use: Next.js, Claude, Supabase, Claude summary, Leaflet, Claude API, Claude extraction, DBD open data, Google Maps, Google Places, Google Routes API, Google Sheets