Smartphone Addictions in Thailand

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People pick up their phones right after waking up. Gambling prohibition stimulates mobile gambling industry.

Smartphone users sharply increased globally since the first smartphone release. According to the market research made by GfK, requested by Facebook IQ, the penetration rate of smartphones is the highest in Thailand amongst the countries in Asia. Approximately 80 percent multi-screen users start using smartphone at 9 every morning. The Thailand government prohibited gambling several years ago while failed to stop people’s pro-gambling character. Cheetah Lab, along with Cheetah Mobile’s big data platform Libra, indicates that nearly 80 percent of Thais are addicted to gambling. The popularity of gambling stimulates the prosperity of mobile gambling game.

 

About 75% multi-screen users in Thailand are millennials, more than that in other areas in South East Asia.

It is well known that teenagers make up of the majority of mobile multi-screen device users and such circumstance is especially apparent in Thailand. The survey from Gfk requested by Facebook IQ shows that 75 percent of multi-screen users are millennials and 25 percent are students. In contrast, there are older age groups which ranges from 35 to 45 years old constitute the multi-screen users in countries possessing advanced markets such as Australia and Taiwan. Particularly, more than half users are parents in Australia. As for countries in South East Asia, most multi-screen users agree that multi-screen devices enrich their lives. Specifically, 83 percent of people in Thailand agree with this point, and it is the highest among all the countries.

 

Thais keep their smartphones with them at all time, start using smartphones right after waking up at 9am.

Thais love using smartphones, 79 percent of Thais pick up their smartphone after they get up every 9 o’clock in the morning and it is perceptibly higher than the 66 percent in Australia and Taiwan. Interestingly, no matter they are watching television, doing housework, lying on the bed or even in the bathroom, they never leave without their smartphones. Additionally, in Thailand, about 30 percent of multi-screen users have 4 to 5 devices and more than 75 percent of people sync the information among different devices.

 

Thais are willing to share information in smartphones.

Most multi-screen users are willing to share information in their smartphones. There are 85 percent of Thais would share with others. Whereas only 76 percent in Taiwan and 68 percent in Australia. Thailand is also the country with highest acceptance rate to smartphones in South East Asia. There are 61 percent of Thais regarding smartphone as the most important device in their lives. Compare to 47 and 40 percent in Taiwan and Australia, respectively.

 

Network lag is regarded as the main issue for users in Thailand, but it has little impact on the network potential.

Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) publishes Thailand Internet user’s behavior in 2016: the time spend in surfing the internet through mobile devices had a 9 percent increase, that is, 6.2 hours per day as a result of the popularity of smartphone and 4G internet. According to the big data platform Libra, from Cheetah Lab and Cheetah Mobile, 70 percent of users in Thailand view network lag as the biggest issue when surfing the net. Furthermore, 26 percent of users suffer from the high network fee. Although the hardware infrastructure of mobile network is still under development in Thailand, Thailand is generally expected as a country with great potential.

 

iOS users have high online purchasing power.

Additionally, e-commerce website Pinkoi shows that although people in Thailand prefer Android over iOS, iOS users tend to have higher purchasing power. Thais prefer cash on delivery while online shopping since credit card is still immature. People also buy the flight tickets at the convenience store base on habits.

 

Mobile gambling games become popular in Thailand

Thailand government prohibited gambling activities such as horse racing and lottery a few years ago. The CEO of Boyaa Interactive International claims that among 67 million population in Thailand, 79 percent are addicted to gambling. It results in the change of gambling from physical activities to online mobile games. The companies of mobile gambling games thus become the biggest winners. The big data platform Libra further indicates that China’s gambling games are especially well received in Thailand. Five Chinese mobile gambling games are placed in the top 200 of Thailand’s mobile games.

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