BANGKOK, Nov 1 (TNA) — Google has studied the digital market in Southeast Asia and found 47 million Thai people used the internet.
April Srivikorn, acting manager of Google Thailand, said Google, Temasek and Bain & Company found in their joint study that the value of digital economy in Southeast Asia exceeded US$100 billion.
The value soared due to consumers’ changing behaviors, online services and payment, e-commerce, application-based ride-hailing services and online orders for products.
The number of internet users in the region rose from 100 million four years ago to 360 million including 47 million Thai people.
Thai people used the internet for 5 hours and 13 minutes a day on average for communications, involvement in social media and online purchases, she said.
The Thai digital economy this year was valued at 16 billion baht. It is the second largest in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia. It is growing by 29% a year and will reach US$50 billion in 2025.
Online tourism services formed the biggest and most saturated digital business in Thailand. It was valued at US$7.2 billion and is expanding by 17%. The services of cheap hotels were growing rapidly.
The online ride-hailing services are growing by 36% a year and its value should reach US$1.3 billion baht this year.
E-commerce shows the fastest growth pace of 54% and its value should rise to US$5 billion this year and US$18 billion in 2025.
Online media and content markets are expanding by 39%. Their value was estimated at US$3 billion this year and US$7 billion in 2025.
“The study found that the longer mobile internet users stay on application software, the more they are likely to spend. Operators try to keep users longer with their application software so that users will spend more on products and services,” Ms April said. (TNA)
