Bangkok--27 Jan--Hill & Knowlton Thailand
A new study has highlighted the dependency of Thai people to their mobiles, finding that young Thai people are so fond of their mobiles that they dedicate an estimated 15% of their monthly budget on mobile phone expenses, second only to food. The study, conducted by Telenor Research & Innovation Centre Asia Pacific (TRICAP), amongst 1,148 urban Thais aged between 15 and 29 years also uncovered some interesting facts and trends about the way young Thai people use their favourite communications companion — the mobile phone.
A standout finding 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% of Thai respondents mentioned that they preferred to call rather than send an SMS.
Jens Olav Bjornson, Managing Director, TRICAP 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.”
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% 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time respondents keep their mobiles for is 1.52 years while the main reason given for changing phones was “the style is out of date” (49%).
Additionally, the study showed that Thai youth keenly embrace new technology with 78% believing that technology makes their life easier and 67% 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% use their mobile for gaming, 29% for listening to music and 55% share files between mobiles through Bluetooth technology. 16% 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.
“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,” said Jens Olav Bjornson, Managing Director, TRICAP.
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.”
Additional findings
What participants in the study said about mobile phones:
Life companion: “Mobile is more than a phone — its part of my life”Friendship enabler: “When I’m lonely I take out my phone and scroll through my phonebook to see who is available to chat”Safety: “It is dangerous these days and having a phone with me makes me feel more at ease.Entertainment: “If I feel bored I just play games or listen to music on my mobile.”Secretary: “It is my secretary (among workers) — I put appointments in my phone and keep colleagues contact details there. Also, sometimes download work emails.”
Mobile phone features
The most important “must have feature” is ability to play games (85%) followed by MP3 functionality (75%). Mobile data function is most commonly used by 18-24 yrs male group for checking ‘urgent’ news such as football scores.
Most common reasons for sending an SMS:
“To say hi” (87%)“When I can’t reach someone after calling” (45%)“Planning to chat online with someone” (21%)“To check what girlfriend / boyfriend is up to” (17%)
About Telenor Telenor is one of the world’s largest mobile operators, and one of the fastest growing providers of mobile communications services worldwide. The company is also among the largest providers of TV, broadband and telephony services in the Nordic region.
Telenor has mobile operations in some of the world's fastest growing markets as well as in the most advanced markets. The company holds altogether ownership interests in mobile operations in 12 countries, constituting a total subscription base of more than 159 million. In Asia, Telenor has ownership interests in DiGi (Malaysia), DTAC (Thailand), Grameenphone (Bangladesh) and Telenor Pakistan.
For more information, please visit www.telenor.com
For media inquiries, please contact:
Esben Tuman, Communications Director, Telenor Asia
Phone: +66 85 918 4111, e-mail: [email protected]
Jamie Rowland Jones, Senior Associate, Hill & Knowlton Thailand
Phone: +66 81 8292106, e-mail: [email protected]