Besides simply connecting with others, teenagers used their mobiles to send SMS (short message service) and MMS (multi-media service), and to download songs.

The secretary-general of the office, Tananutch Tritipaya-butr, said the survey on Thai households' Information Tech-nology and Communication from 2003 to 2006 found that the 2006 ratio of 42 cell-phone users for every 100 had nearly doubled from the 2003 figure of 23 cell-phone users for every 100.

This was especially true among those aged 15 to 24, as youngster with cell-phones had risen from 25 per cent in 2003 to 52 per cent last year.

They were also the largest group of users compared to other age groups, she said. Over half (53 per cent) of the teen users were female.

Besides connecting with others, teenagers also made use of other services the most: sending SMS and MMS (50 per cent), downloading songs (46 per cent) and playing games (15 per cent).

About 94 per cent of teenagers paid their phone bills via pre-paid cards, while 5 per cent paid on a monthly post-paid basis.