GA4 in 2026: the setup checklist for Thai businesses (with PDPA consent)

GA4 (Google Analytics 4) is Google’s free analytics tool for websites and apps, and since Universal Analytics was switched off it is the only Google Analytics there is. A good GA4 setup for a Thai business takes about an hour: create a property and web data stream, install the Google tag, mark the actions that matter (form submits, LINE add-friend clicks, phone taps, purchases) as key events, and add a consent banner that meets Thailand’s PDPA. This checklist walks through each step in the order you should do it.

What is GA4, and what happened to Universal Analytics?

GA4 measures what people do on your site as events — a page view, a scroll, a click, a form submit, a purchase. Events that matter to your business are marked as key events (GA4 called them “conversions” until 2024; “conversion” now means a key event used in Google Ads).

Universal Analytics, the older version, stopped processing data on 1 July 2023, and Google shut down its interface and API from the week of 1 July 2024. If an old report or agency still mentions “UA”, “goals” or “bounce rate views”, it is out of date.

How to set up GA4 step by step

1. Create the property

In GA4, go to Admin → Create → Property. Enter a property name, set the reporting time zone to Thailand and the currency to Thai baht (THB), then add your industry and business size and pick your business objectives. Getting time zone and currency right on day one matters: Thai-time days and baht revenue make every report easier to read.

2. Add a web data stream

Choose Web, enter your domain and stream name. GA4 gives you a measurement ID that starts with G-.

3. Install the Google tag

You have three common options:

After installing, browse your site and open Realtime in GA4. Data can take up to 30 minutes to appear.

4. Switch on enhanced measurement

Under Admin → Data streams → [your stream] → Enhanced measurement, leave the toggle on. It tracks page views, scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, form interactions (form_start, form_submit), YouTube video engagement and file downloads without extra code. Test the form events on your own forms: they work on many sites, but not every form plugin triggers them.

Key events to set up for a Thai business

Thai customers often contact a business through LINE or by phone rather than a web form. If you only track forms, GA4 will undercount your leads. Set up these events and mark them as key events under Admin → Key events:

generate_lead and purchase are Google’s recommended event names, which unlock standard reports. Custom names like line_click are fine — keep them lowercase, consistent and documented.

UTM tagging for LINE broadcasts

Links opened from LINE chats often reach your site without information about where the visitor came from, so they can land in “Direct” or “Unassigned”. Fix this by adding UTM parameters to every link you send in a broadcast or the rich menu, for example:

https://www.example.co.th/promo/?utm_source=line&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nov-sale-2026

• utm_source: line (always the same spelling).
• utm_medium: GA4’s default channel group has no LINE channel. Using social puts these visits into Organic Social. If you invent a medium like line_broadcast, the traffic shows as Unassigned unless you create a custom channel group.
• utm_campaign: the broadcast name and date, lowercase, with hyphens.

Use the same convention in your LINE ads (with a paid medium such as paid_social) so you can compare paid and organic LINE traffic. For the broadcasts themselves, see our LINE OA marketing & automation service.

Settings to change right after setup

Consent Mode v2 and Thailand’s PDPA

What PDPA requires, in plain language

Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) has been fully in force since 1 June 2022 and is overseen by the Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC). It doesn’t have a separate cookie law; its general rules apply online. Cookies and identifiers that can identify a person count as personal data, so:

• Strictly necessary cookies (log-in, cart, security) can run without consent.
• Analytics and advertising cookies generally need consent, collected by a clear affirmative action — for example, a button or checkbox — and separated from other terms.
• People must be able to refuse or withdraw consent as easily as they gave it.
• Your privacy notice must say what you collect, why, and who you share it with (e.g. Google).

Administrative fines go up to THB 5 million, with civil and criminal liability on top. This section is general information, not legal advice; ask a Thai data protection lawyer to review your banner and privacy notice.

How Consent Mode fits in

Google Consent Mode passes the visitor’s choice to Google tags through four signals: analytics_storage, ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization (the last two were added in “v2”). Use a consent management platform (CMP) that supports Consent Mode and set the default to denied until the visitor agrees.

• Basic mode blocks Google tags until consent; nothing is sent if the visitor declines.
• Advanced mode loads tags with consent denied and sends cookieless pings, which lets GA4 model the missing data. Google recommends it; ask your lawyer whether it fits your PDPA approach.

Google’s own EU user consent policy only applies to visitors from the EEA, UK and Switzerland. For Thai visitors, your obligation comes from PDPA — so set up consent either way.

Reports to check every month

1. Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition: sessions and key events by channel. Watch the new AI Assistant channel (ChatGPT, Gemini and other assistants).
2. Reports → Engagement → Pages and screens: which pages people actually read.
3. Key events by source / medium: which channels bring leads, not just visits — including your tagged LINE broadcasts.
4. Search Console report in GA4: queries and landing pages from Google organic search.
5. Realtime after every site change, to confirm tags still fire.

Common GA4 mistakes

• Two tags on the same page, doubling every page view.
• Leaving data retention at 2 months.
• Tracking forms only and missing LINE and phone leads.
• Untagged LINE broadcasts and QR codes.
• Office and agency visits counted as customers.
• No consent banner, or a banner that loads all tags before the visitor chooses.
• Marking every event as a key event, so nothing stands out.

GA4 setup checklist

If you also want to see how much of your traffic now comes from AI answers, our AI search & SEO service covers that measurement alongside Search Console.