Smart Phones, Broadband Dominate Thai Internet Profile

[george]

Smart phones, broadband dominate Thai Internet profile

By Jirapan Boonnoon

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The behaviour of Thai Internet users this year has been dominated by smart phones and high-speed broadband Internet access.

So says the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), which conducted its Internet User Profile of Thailand 2010 survey in the period from August to October this year,

NSTDA vice president Chadamas Thuvasethakul said the online survey involved 14,067 Internet users. Of these, 50.4 per cent were men and 49.6 per cent, women. Most of them were aged between 30 and 39 and most of them accessed the Internet in the hours from 8pm to midnight.

Most of the respondents (54.3 per cent) accessed the Internet from home, and 39.8 per cent from their offices. Of the total, 69.8 per cent used high-speed broadband. Nearly one-third of respondents said they were unable to use broadband because it was too expensive or the broadband infrastructure did not cover their location.

Four activities were popular among Internet users who took part in the survey: accessing e-mail (27.2 per cent); information and knowledge (26.1 per cent); news (14.1 per cent); and e-learning (8.2 per cent).

The survey also found that around 40.2 per cent of Internet users were concerned about viruses, 36.4 per cent about delays in communication networks and 24.2 per cent about spam mail. Most of them were also concerned about services related to the Internet and Internet access, intellectual property rights and cyber crime.

In questions related to e-commerce, the survey found that about 57.2 per cent of Internet users had purchased products over the Internet. Of these, 34.7 per cent purchased books, 31.3 per cent reserved hospitality services and 26.7 per cent bought fashion products.

Chadamas said smart-phone users were now beginning to access the Internet, and 42 per cent of mobile users had accessed mobile applications. Moreover, most mobile Internet users want to make use of mobile applications to improve their productivity, access knowledge and news and do business.

She said the survey had found that mobile-phone applications were popular for communication and Internet access. However, national broadband services will promote the use of high-speed networks and provide Internet access around the country in order to reduce the gap between those who can and those who cannot access the Internet.

Meanwhile, online statistics website www.turehits.net reports that there are now 21 million Internet users in Thailand.

-- The Nation 2010-12-22

[onnut]

Four activities were popular among Internet users who took part in the survey: accessing e-mail (27.2 per cent); information and knowledge (26.1 per cent); news (14.1 per cent); and e-learning (8.2 per cent

And searching porn (24.4 per cent)

[bkkjames]

I would suggest from my informal observations that bb messenger usage (is that e-learning) is number one.

[asiawatcher]

I think the intro of iPads will get the smart phones downplayed as no one can easily read small screens - iPads may downsize to A5 not A4 and still be legible and more easily portable but phone screens are way too small for elongated use.