Spoiled Bangkok Kids

[george]

Students splurge on big brands, poll shows

University students simply can't get enough of expensive brand-name

products, despite most of them relying on their parents for money, a

survey has revealed.

Top of the list are mobile-phones, with 52.2 per cent of respondents

saying they prefer well-known brands. The average price of the phones

they own was revealed to be Bt10,000.

Conducted by Assumption University, the poll, whose results were

released yesterday, also showed that 33.5 per cent of those surveyed

liked to buy designer clothes, at an average price of Bt1,677 per item,

and that almost 32 per cent favoured designer shoes, at an average price

of more than Bt1,900 a pair, to cheaper alternatives.

Others went for brand-name purses and wallets, watches, perfumes,

cosmetics and jewellery.

Among the highest prices for brand-name products ever bought by the

respondents: Bt200,000 for a watch, Bt130,000 for a handbag, Bt70,000

for a purse, Bt28,000 for a mobile phone and Bt26,000 for a garment, the

survey found.

Only 22.2 per cent of those surveyed said they had no taste for

brand-name products.

A total of 72.5 per cent of the respondents said they picked brand-name

products because they believed in their quality and durability while

42.1 per cent said it was due to good design. However, some of those

surveyed said they bought imitation products because they were far

cheaper.

More than 94 per cent of the respondents said their income came mainly

from their parents and only a little over 13 per cent said they had

earned their own pocket money.

The average monthly income among those surveyed was Bt6,568, with the

highest Bt80,000 and the lowest of Bt1,500.

The average expenditure was almost Bt6,000 a month, with Bt50,000 the

highest and Bt1,000 the lowest.

Shopping was the most popular activity among those surveyed, with 85 per

cent saying they bought goods at shopping malls at least once a month.

The remainder opted for going to cinemas, dining at fast-food outlets

and visiting night-entertainment places.

The survey was conducted on 1,091 university students in Bangkok between

Tuesday and Saturday.

---The Nation

[Guest IT Manager]

I guess the next time someone refers to the shallowness of the Thai youth I will point them here, rather than at the other 60,000 examples of thoughtlessness and lack of any ambition outside of make money and be well known.