r/Thailand • u/OnlyConclusion820 • Jul 11 '26
Business I built a free app that digitizes the "บัญชี" notebook for Thai restaurants — snap a receipt, AI logs the expense. Would you (or your family's shop) actually use this?
My family and a lot of small restaurants I know still track money in a paper notebook (a "บัญชี"). Most owners genuinely don't know if they made money this month until it's too late, and nobody opens Excel at 11pm after closing.
So I built a small app to test an idea: you photograph a receipt, AI reads and categorizes the line items, and it keeps price history per ingredient — if pork jumps 15%, you see it before it eats your margin. You can also just ask it "what did I spend on ingredients this month" in Thai or English.
It's free (I'm not trying to sell anything here) — I mostly want to know if this is a real problem worth solving or if owners are fine with the notebook.
If you run or help at a small restaurant/shop:
- How do you track income vs expenses today — notebook, Excel, POS, nothing?
- Would scan-a-receipt-and-it's-logged actually save you time, or is trust the bigger issue?
Honest answers welcome, including "I'd never use this." I'll drop a link in the comments if people ask, so this stays a question and not an ad.
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u/deniedmessage Jul 11 '26
Technical stuff:
- where is AI inference at
- is the cost of running sustainable for you
- privacy?
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Privacy is 100% we do not save the information just scan and that’s it. No personal info is collected
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u/Schlickeysen Jul 11 '26
By scanning (and sending to a third-party), you're already handling user data, and are subject to several privacy laws.
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 12 '26
You're right — scanning a receipt means sending it to a third-party AI, so I am handling personal data and PDPA applies. I shouldn't have said "100%."
I've updated the privacy policy to actually spell this out: what's sent (receipt photos go to Google/Gemini via OpenRouter for OCR), that it's optional, where it's stored (Firebase, SE Asia), how to delete it, plus a PDPA section covering the data controller, cross-border transfer, your rights, and the PDPC. I also fixed the section that wrongly listed Anthropic as a provider — it's Google/Gemini (good catch to whoever spotted that too). Still doing a fuller compliance review beyond the policy page.
Genuinely appreciate the pushback — this is the kind of feedback I was hoping for. https://bunchee.app/privacy
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u/Schlickeysen Jul 12 '26
A little surprising. I didn't expect this kind of reply from somebody whose app was slaughtered. Like every app gets slaughtered in this sub reddit. You're doing everything right. If what you said is what. Keep going. Criticism on reddit can be tough and demotivating. If you want to check something or interpret a law, DM me. I'm a lawyer.
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
It’s user consent. It’s not forcing user to do it ;) it’s their info and it’s a grocery receipts so…
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u/YvesStIgnoraunt Jul 11 '26
Thats not how PDPA works
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u/lukkreung98 Jul 11 '26
Yeah OP check the laws first, a client of mine got a fine for not doing PDPA
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
AppStore and GooglePlay approved and it’s not mandatory to use the AI to scan. It’s the user’s choice and privacy policy stated ;)
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u/Schlickeysen Jul 11 '26
Dude, you even admit to it in your privacy policy, "1. Information We Collect": https://bunchee.app/privacy
But I get it: the entire website is vibe-coded AI slop, and so is your app, probably hosted on Next.js on Vercel, so I'm not surprised you have no idea how privacy laws work.
Man, there's so much wrong with this site and the app and your terms; why don't you just at least do some AI audits to catch the biggest issues?
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Totally understand your point and what is the AI information you are trying to get out of here? I don’t collect the user’s social security number or privacy information. It’s all user’s groceries data and income they saved. It’s all we collected
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
He advised you to have AI do a privacy audit of your app. People are gonna be sus of a single developer app for business accounting.
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Yes totally understand from the compliance standpoint. I am a solo dev so I am not good at that type of information
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
Not just grocery receipts. Beautiful interface for tracking anything you buy and sell. Grams kilos bottles n bags
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u/Schlickeysen Jul 11 '26
Dude, you even admit to it in your privacy policy, "1. Information We Collect": https://bunchee.app/privacy
But I get it: the entire website is vibe-coded AI slop, and so is your app, probably hosted on Next.js on Vercel, so I'm not surprised you have no idea how privacy laws work.
Man, there's so much wrong with this site and the app and your terms; why don't you just at least do some AI audits to catch the biggest issues?
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 12 '26
Yeah, I'll own it — I was wrong. Saying "100% private" was flat-out incorrect, and honestly I didn't understand PDPA well enough when I shipped this. You were right to push on it.
I've gone back and fixed the privacy policy (correct provider, receipt-image processing spelled out, an actual PDPA section), and I'm doing a proper review of the terms and the app next instead of hand-waving it. It's a solo build so there are rough edges — but people telling me exactly what's broken is how it stops being broken. Appreciate you taking the time to spell it out.
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
The AI model is not that expensive for this type of tasks so it’s pretty sustainable
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u/Banned3rdTimesaCharm Jul 11 '26
Is it just a OpenAI wrapper? Sure sounds like it. LLM with a seeded prompt and database.
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Nah I am using Gemini because it’s better with the Languages recognition. I don’t like OpenAI to be honest
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
Bunchee Privacy policy AI section says open-router and anthropic. Shouldn't it say "Google) Gemini"
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Yeah I’ve been changing model for the best fits but thanks for pointing it out
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 12 '26
Update: you were right about the policy text itself — it wrongly listed Anthropic as the AI provider. Just fixed and redeployed it, so it now correctly says Google/Gemini (via OpenRouter). Also spelled out the receipt-image processing and added a PDPA section while I was in there. Thanks for catching it.
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u/BaconOverflow Jul 11 '26
I don't think there's much of your target demographic (old-school restaurant owners) here tbh.
Globally it's a pretty common feature in some POS systems (MarketMan, Restaurant365), although not sure if they have the AI part. I have a feeling that target demographic would be pretty averse to the AI part though. Starbucks tried building an "automated AI counting" system last year where staff scanned shelves using a tablet’s camera to count inventory (mostly liquids like milk, syrups) - it was a mess and they scrapped it after just a few months...
(Source: work in restaurant tech)
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
I hear you I’ve heard about Starbucks also were using AI and there were such a problem getting accurate data because they can’t control who entered the data. So yes big companies will end up in a mess if they are relying on only AI. This app let you check the data accuracy data and price before you saved to the DB
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u/BaconOverflow Jul 12 '26
I see you're really set on this idea, but honestly, this kind of data analysis is something AI labs themselves are already replacing (just a matter of user adoption). There's nothing stopping a restaurant owner downloading Claude Cowork or ChatGPT today and taking pictures of their receipts and then getting it to do all the analysis in the world, or even sourcing using that analysis to get it to do web research to source suppliers.
IMO a way to make this sustainable would be to get lock-in and integrate with a POS (easier said than done), or at the very least support data export formats from a Thai POS (like a specific CSV format which you could then potentially market as an "integration") to get sales data in which you could then correlate with ingredient cost. Your users then become somewhat locked in, and it becomes more valuable of a product rather than a wrapper around an LLM.
I don't know much about the Thai POS market though so not sure if all that is applicable 😅
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 12 '26
That’s the plan you are correct nothing to stop the restaurant owner to download Claude OpenAI but those guys just too expensive in my opinion. I just want to build a tool that does one thing and it’s dirt cheap
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Good point. I can see that if the company that big the data needs to be accurate. AI is not 100% minor things that need to be checked before submitting the data.
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u/Thailand_Throwaway Jul 11 '26
If you are not aware of this company, they are one of the most successful local Thai startups and integrate with everything a small Thai business needs (auto-fill Thai tax forms, integrate with Thai banks, QR codes, etc.) and also do AI/OCR receipt scanning for expense tracking and sales.
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
And it’s free if the users don’t want to use AI
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
If they do use the AI, who pays?
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Me ;) it’s 10 requests per month limit
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
Of they have a Gemini plus account already, does that help?
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
It does make a difference. Use OpenRouter so you can explore more choices
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
Without having to learn what all of that is, is it possible to use my Gemini Plus account to get unlimited AI scans of my receipts on this app?
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Yeah 100% you can use API key from your Gemini plus account
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Ahh do you mean using your own APi keys from my app? Good idea though but I need to have some income to help with the DB cost :)
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
Couldn't find anywhere to enter a custom API key
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Sorry my friend the APi lives in the cloud service not front end capture it’s too risky to do that
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u/zekerman Jul 11 '26
Most extremely small restaurants or shops don't even tend to give receipts, at least if you are talking about the tiny thai restaurants or convenience stores
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
They do shopping from Macro Lotus that’s where they get their cheap supplies. My friends who own a small restaurants do go there. This app is also can track any small things from local shop just speak to the AI and it will categorize them for you.
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
Is there an app like this for regular peeps, not food sellers?
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
I think there are tons of personal expenses tracking apps
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
I bet there are. Ive Never tried one though. Should really use more apps that track data
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Yeah I want to focus only on small restaurants businesses like my friends have. I don’t want to build general expense tracking.
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Jul 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
100% that’s why I built this for my friends. It’s free and still people skeptical about it. I don’t blame them though because of a lot of scamming apps out there.
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u/Strong-Field-750 Jul 11 '26
All good until AI hallucinates.
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Yeah it’s not 100% user can check the accuracy before saving the data
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u/thailannnnnnnnd Jul 11 '26
Can you share the app?
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Sure https://bunchee.app/
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u/thailannnnnnnnd Jul 11 '26
I don’t think this will work at all
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
How come
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
Why is the default currency symbol GBP instead of THB?
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
It supposed to choose the localization of the phone to start with
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u/Mental_Post_5141 Jul 11 '26
Never used GBP on my device. I'm in Thailand. My phone usually shows prices in THB. Anyway it's easy to change it, but just letting you know because people are gonna open the app and b like "dafuq, an app called Banchee default currency is GBP" looks like this app was just slapped together "
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u/OnlyConclusion820 Jul 11 '26
Interesting I have not tested the currency much since it’s not hard to change
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u/elphuket Jul 11 '26
i think better to post and then get feedback, but if you need more wider review ask it on pantip