The “Digital 2022: Thailand” report has revealed that the country has a strong digital readiness level and high penetration rates for Internet use, with around 77.8% of its population (54.5 million people) using the internet in January 2022.
The report was published by DataReportal, which collects and analyzes online data from each country in partnership with strategic consultancy Kepios and creative agency We Are Social. It focused on internet usage, mobile connectivity, social media activity, online shopping, and virtual payments.
According to the data collected by DataReportal, about 56.8 million people, or 81.2% of the Thai population, engaged in social media. Also, January figures showed that 95.6 million cellular mobile connections were actively used in Thailand, representing 137% of its people.
DataReportal also cited a survey conducted by global market research company GWI in last year’s third quarter, saying that people in Thailand spent around 9 hours and six minutes browsing the Internet on average. In addition, about 96.2% of users used mobile phones to access the Internet, with an average daily use of 5 hours and 28 minutes.
The report also revealed that 67% of people aged 16-64 use the Internet to find information while 64.1% browse to find out about news and current events. Other reasons included watching videos, movies, and TV shows (60.8%) and finding new ideas and inspiration (60.4%).
Moreover, the survey added that 31.4% of Thai netizens aged 16-64 use a banking, investment, or insurance website or mobile app every month.
DataReportal’s report also showed that people living in Thailand spent an average of 2 hours and 59 minutes on social media. The figure includes 50 million people on Facebook, 42.8 million on YouTube, and 35.8 million on TikTok.
Instagram had 18.5 million, Twitter had 11.5 million, LinkedIn had 3.3 million, and Snapchat had 277,000.
In App Annie’s mobile app downloads ranking, TikTok was No. 1, while LINE took the first post among mobile apps ranked by total consumer spending.
The GWI survey results also suggested that 68.3% of Thai internet users had purchased a service or product online each week, and 45.8% had bought groceries from an online store. Besides, the report indicated that 12.2 million users had ordered food through delivery platforms in 2021, up 21.1% year-on-year.
It also said that 36.8 million people living in Thailand had engaged in digital payments, up 35% year-on-year, while 36.6 million people had purchased consumer goods online, up 8.7% year-on-year.
