Young Thais spend thrifty on communications

 The study sheds light on the vital role played by the mobile phone in the life of young Thais while also revealing fascinating cultural insights about how the mobile phone is used and embraced in Thailand.

 One interesting trend that was clearly identified through the survey was the remarkable preference of young Thais to communicate with their friends via voice calls rather than sending SMS messages. In Thailand, the average number of SMS messages sent per day was just 3 compared to 18 in Malaysia, 6 in Pakistan and 5 in Bangladesh. Furthermore, 93 per cent of Thai respondents mentioned that they preferred to call rather than send an SMS.

 Telenor's Jens Olav Bjornson explained "This preference of Thais to make calls rather than sending SMS messages is indicative of the strong sense of togetherness amongst young Thais. It is evidence that they highly value the personal touch of a voice call over the less intimate method of SMS communication which is preferred by young people in other countries."

 Research by TRICAP in Thailand began in 2006 and is conducted in partnership with Synovate. Results to date have been based on interviews with 1,148 urban Thais with ages ranging from 15 to 29 years. Studies comprise both quantitative and qualitative research methods allowing for a broad, deep understanding of the attitudes of young Thais regarding all aspects of mobile and digital communications.

 The research confirmed that style is an important consideration for young Thais when choosing mobiles. Many respondents remarked that they are looking for handsets that set them apart from their peers with 50 per cent commenting that they are looking to upgrade their phones within the next 6 months. The average length of time respondents keep their mobiles for is 1.52 years while the main reason given for changing phones was "the style is out of date" (49 per cent).

 The dependency of young Thais for their mobiles was clearly demonstrated through the study by the fact that mobile phones account for the second biggest expense (15.07 per cent of monthly budget) of the participants in the study, second only to food (32.67 per cent) and ahead of transportation, entertainment and other bills.

 Additional study findings showed that Thai youth keenly embrace new technology with 78 per cent believing that technology makes their life easier and 67 per cent believing technology is an integral part of their lives. On a regional level, young Thais are among the most advanced when it comes to technology adoption with Thai youth using their mobiles for much more than simply communicating: 52 per cent use their mobile for gaming, 29 per cent for listening to music and 55 per cent share files between mobiles through Bluetooth technology. 16 per cent of respondents also claimed to use their mobile phone to interact with TV programs either by calling or sending SMSs to vote for TV reality shows.

"Asian youths are early adopters of new technology and share similar development patterns as those in Western Europe," said Jens Olav Bjornson, Managing Director, TRICAP. "Typically, young people are adventurous and enjoy testing the latest gadgets. Young people are also likely to teach and convince their parents, aunts and uncles and even their grandparents to try out new technologies. This is why it is so important for us to have a good understanding of how young people around the region are using mobile communications. TRICAP research provides Telenor with really valuable data which can help companies in the Telenor group, such as DTAC in Thailand, to identify new products and services to offer to consumers," added Bjornson. 

The study also investigated how the internet and online technologies are being used in the lives of young Thais. Close to half of those interviewed commented that they regularly access the internet (around 20 days a month) with the top five uses being reading current affairs, emailing, surfing the web, playing online games and downloading music.

Finally, the social networking habits of young Thais were also explored. The main reason for using social networks was for sharing information with some respondents noting that they find online tools as a great way to make friends with people who share similar interests.  Many also perceive social networking as another hobby to pursue in spare time and to help enhance computer skills with one respondent commenting "I think its fun and ask my friends to teach me about it after school. Reasons for joining social networks included "it is a way of bonding with friends who I don't have the chance to see very often." and "I use MySpace to upload my pictures when I travel up country so that my friends can find out what I am up to."

Reasons given by a minority of respondents for not joining social networks were "it is too complicated" and another young man claimed "It (social networking) is a girl thing. Guys like us are not keen to write small, insignificant things down."