Most Bangkok university students spend three hours a day talking on their mobile telephones and another three surfing the Internet, according to a survey.

Abac Poll Research Centre director Dr Noppadon Kannika is worried that the trend could "sectionalise" students.

While marketers may love the results, Noppadon is concerned that cellular telephones and the Internet could absorb so much of students' time.

"Through the use of cellphones and the Internet, students will no longer be exposed to content shared by a large portion of the population.

"With the Internet, some university students can come to trust someone they have never met," Noppadon said.

The Abac survey was conducted between October 26 and December 2 and questioned 1,262 university students in Bangkok.

Cellular telephone calls took up as much as three hours of each day for 95.7 per cent of respondents.

Another 79.9 per cent said they were hooked on the Internet for about three hours a day.

Television took up four hours a day for 94.6 per cent and 77.4 per cent listened to the radio for an average of three hours.

While 75.1 per cent still read newspapers, they spent just 16 minutes with them.

Noppadon said it was clear students were dependent on mobile telephones and the Internet.

"Worry" had 34.9 per cent dialling on their mobiles while 28.4 per cent got talking if they feel "lonely".

Information and gossip had 85.6 per cent reaching for their cellphones. Just 12.6 used email or Internet chat for this purpose.

Of those who did chat online, 34.3 per cent said they were looking for new friends and 9.8 per cent were looking for foreign friends.

The Internet provided 5.6 per cent with an avenue to find "sweethearts" here and 3.8 per cent with ones overseas. Some respondents used the Internet for many reasons.

The survey discovered each Internet user had met an average of 11 online friends - including three outside Thailand.

About one-fifth of those making friends on the Internet had agreed to "meet in real life". Of those who did, only 10.2 per cent revealed this to parents.

Noppadon estimated that more than a quarter of a million capital university students had used the Internet to surf pornographic sites in the past seven days.