Young Thais spend 15% of budget on mobile phone bills
Telenor Research & Innovation Centre Asia Pacific (TRICAP) recently found that young Thais spend an estimated 15 percent of their monthly budget on mobile phones and they would use their mobile phones for an average of 1.52 years before changing to the latest models and styles.
Telenor, the Norwegian majority shareholder of Thailand’s Total Access Communication Plc (DTAC), earlier this week revealed the results of the research, conducted by its Malaysia-based research arm TRICAP and Synovate (Thailand) Ltd, on mobile communications and internet habits among Thai youth during which 1,148 young urban Thais aged 15-29 had been interviewed.
The survey found that mobile phones account among young Thais is the second biggest expense of approximately 15.07 percent of their monthly budget, second only to food which accounts for 32.67 percent of the budget and followed by transportation, entertainment and other items.
The research learned that the average length of time the respondents keep their mobiles for use is about 1.52 years before turning to the latest models in the market, with 49 percent of them said the main reason for changing phones is because the old phones are out of date.
As much as 50 percent of the respondents, the research result said, would like to upgrade their mobile phones within the next six months in order to set them apart from their peers.
In addition to using mobile phones for communication, about 55 percent of the Thai respondents also use their phones for sharing files between mobiles through Bluetooth, 52 percent for gaming, 29 percent for listening to music and 16 percent for interacting with TV programmes by calling or sending short messages to vote.
Jens Olav Bjornson, TRICAP’s managing director, said the research company provides Telenor with really valuable data which can help companies in its group, such as DTAC in Thailand, to identify new products and services to offer to consumers.
TRICAP’s study also investigated how the internet and online technologies are being used in the lives of young Thais and found that almost one half of those interviewed said they regularly access the internet, about 20 days a month, with the top five uses being reading current affairs, emailing, surfing the web, playing online games and downloading music.
Moreover, young Thais are also familiar with social networking and most of them are using it for sharing information while some respondents said they find the online tools as a great way to make friends with people of similar interests, reported the study.
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