Bangkok--1 Sep--Khon Thai Group
THAILAND MONITOR PRESS RELEASE Largest Survey of 100,000 Uncovers A Nation Filled with Hope, Optimism and Pride Despite Lack of Confidence in the Country’s Development
Thailand Monitor, the largest study ever conducted in Thailand, has revealed the nature and character of the Thai people as one filled with hope, optimism and pride in spite of the political and economic problems encountered over the past few years. Altogether 64% of the Thai people expect their lives to improve in the next year even though the majority are not confident in the economic and political situation.
Thailand Monitor, a groundbreaking national study of 100,000 people covering all 77 provinces in Thailand with statistical reliability, was conducted by the Thailand Marketing Research Society (TMRS), supported by ESOMAR World Research Organization and funded by the Khon Thai Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to build a happy and harmonious society for Thailand through effective communication, dialogue and knowledge. Thailand Monitor provides insights and knowledge on the well-being of Thai people in the areas of society, economy, health and development, and represents the voice of the people in an objective and transparent manner.
Vichien Pongsathorn, Chairman of Khon Thai Foundation and representatives from the Thailand Marketing Research Society and ESOMAR recently presented the initial results from the study which provides a picture of the quality of life, needs, character, beliefs and values of the Thai people as well as the development of Thailand. Vichien states “Thailand Monitor provides us with a detailed snapshot of Thailand and its people and since it will be conducted annually, we will benefit from being able to see and monitor Thailand’s development in key indicators. Importantly, the study provides people from all walks of life the opportunity to participate in the development of Thailand and to help build a better future together”. Vichien also hopes that the study results will be used constructively by interested parties.
Dr. Kreaovan Limapichat, TMRS Honorary Advisor explains that TMRS shares Khon Thai’s mission to build a happy and harmonious society, and was therefore keen to participate in this beneficial study and share its research expertise. “Since Thailand Monitor was such a large undertaking covering inner, outer and border areas, we received support from altogether seven market research companies that are members of TMRS and ESOMAR. The most stringent quality control measures according to ESOMAR international standards were most strictly adopted to guarantee the accuracy and reliability of the results” says Dr. Kreaovan.
The results show that a high 87% of the country express their overall happiness in life and have a good optimistic outlook on their future even though low scores are achieved for some key country indicators including the national unity score at 53.4, peace at 50.0 and political stability at 46.7 (full score of 100). Viriya Vorakittikun, TMRS President shares “Interestingly, even though only 23% and 34% are confident in the political and economic situation respectively, a high 64% expect to see an improvement in their lives in terms of more income and career advancement”.
Meanwhile, the main problems currently faced by or affecting the people are high cost of living (77%), insufficient income (55%), stress (47%), drugs (38%), the declining prices of agricultural products (30%) and natural disasters (27%). Yet once the severity level of these problems is plotted, it is seen that other than cost of living problem, corruption, shortage of farm land, disunity among the Thai people and political rallies/demonstrations are considered the most severe problems they experience in Thailand.
In terms of development, 66% of the country see that the development in their community and province is proceeding in the right direction whereas a lower 55% of the country feel the same about the development of the country. The Thai people see development primarily in terms of infrastructure, protecting the environment, educational opportunities and medical facilities. On the contrary, reasons provided for development in the wrong direction relate to drugs, teenage gangs, crime areas, corruption, patronage system and political turbulence. The Thai people do however want to have a part in national development and their practices are casting their vote (33%), not causing problems for society (28%), having ethics, morals, and virtue (26%) and being economical/living self sufficiently (22%).
As for the character of the Thai people, being fun loving (85%), having “namjai” (84%), having service mind (84%), being friendly (82%), and being creative (80%) are the key positive characteristics of the Thai people. On the other hand, several negative characteristics are also evident including having high need to show off (87%), being superstitious (81%), being dishonest (61%), being selfish (61%), lack of discipline (58%), and lack of interest in external environment (56%). Outstanding however is the high sense of national pride as nearly 100% of the Thai people express a sense of pride in being Thai and a Thai citizen.
Daranee Charoen-Rajapark, Country Director for ESOMAR in Thailand and Honorary Advisor to the TMRS, summarizes “The happiness and well being of its people is the hope for every society and Thailand Monitor identifies the key drivers for happiness among the Thai people as good emotional and physical health; family warmth and togetherness; having adequate income; and time to rest, take care of self and spend time with family. We also see that as age increases and as income decreases, the happiness level declines accordingly”.
Another valuable output of Thailand Monitor is the country indicator scores that includes the national unity, national pride and confidence score among others. These scores serve as a benchmark and will be tracked for comparative purposes each year so that we can see the areas in which there has been development or lack of progress.
Based on the initial results of the study, Daranee concludes that the long-term priority areas for Thailand’s well being are promotion of the family institution as the backbone of society (with attention given to those that are older at 50 years and above), improvement of personal economy; promoting the unity of the Thai people; provision and access of quality education for all; tangible measures to reduce corruption; reduction in drug problem, promotion of the “software” side of society including ethics, morals, honesty, discipline and concern for others; continued attention to good healthcare provision and access, as well as promotion of good physical and emotional health; the increased involvement of the business sector in community development; and active public participation of the Thai people.
The information attained from Thailand Monitor will be analyzed in-depth and summarized in a full Country Report to interested parties by October 2011. A wealth of information was attained from the study and the benefit is that information on each province, age group, sex and income level among other breakdowns is available for further analysis. Daranee adds that “The study is a reliable body of knowledge for the entire country and we hope that people of all ages and occupations will be able to benefit from utilization of this study’s results. TMRS will act as a resource to those who want information and is ready to give any consultation”.
Vilasa Phongsathorn
Khon Thai Group
Tel : 0-2301-1110
Email:
[email protected]