Who
Uses IT?
| PC Users | Internet Users | Thailand versus... |
Introduction
In February 1997, Thailand announced that the country would permit lower costs for pager calls, Internet membership rates, leased lines, and domestic and overseas telephone calls. This was a major breakthrough for the telecommunications sector in Thailand because the high cost of services have been one of the major barriers to IT development and Internet use in Thailand.
Internet use has lagged behind that of other Asian countries because of the high costs for an individual or a business to get an Internet account. It has been estimated that the number of Internet subscribers in Thailand is only half of that in Malaysia or in Singapore. High costs have forced many of Thailand's IT service providers to operate offshore.1 As seen throughout this report, the Government of Thailand is beginning to recognize these obstacles and implement policies that will eventually make it easier for the people in Thailand to gain access to the Internet.
The PC penetration rate is approximately 3.3% and about 70% of businesses own a PC. The notebook market is expected to grow by 30% due to less expensive prices and a trend towards the mobile office. Thailand's PC market will grow 19% from $325 million (sold 300,600 units) in 1999 to $390 million (363,950 units). The market comprises 49% entry level desktops, 0% medium level desktops, 40% high-end level desktops, 9% notebooks, and 3% PC servers. High-end PCs and servers are expected to close the gap of low-end PC sales in terms of volume and value.2
Currently (11/2000), there are an estimated 1 million Internet users in Thailand. It has been forecast that this number will rise to 1.6 million by the end of 2,000.3 The growth rate of corporate users setting up Internet nodes is increasing and the price of connecting a network to ISP is going down, contributing to better opportunity for server sales.
The following tables shows the percentage of the population that uses the Internet of several different countries. Thailand is at the lowest end of the spectrum, and only 2% of the country's population is reported to use the Internet. However, an interesting statistic, that separates Thailand from the rest is the fact that the population of females that use the Internet is higher than the number of males.
I have asked several people about why they think that this statistic exists, and nobody could give me a justifiable reason. I can speculate that this statistic reflects Thailand's commitment to gender equity within the educational institutions. As for the reason that the percentage of the population that uses the Internet is so low, most likely has to do with the fact that so few people are computer literate.
Percentage of Males and Females and Total Population Using the Internet
| Country | Male | Female | Total |
| Canada | 41% | 34% | 38% |
| Singapore | 30% | 21% | 25% |
| USA | 30% | 21% | 25% |
| Australia | 29% | 21% | 25% |
| New Zealand | 27% | 22% | 24% |
| Germany | 20% | 9% | 14% |
| Hong Kong | 16% | 9% | 14% |
| Taiwan | 15% | 9% | 12% |
| Malaysia | 8% | 5% | 7% |
| China | 4% | 2% | 4% |
| Philippines | 3% | 2% | 8% |
| Thailand | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Indonesia | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Source: ACNielsen NetWatch
Thailand versus... back to top
Thailand is falling behind their neighbors when it comes to using technology in business, schools and in society. Their neighbors, like Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, are moving forward fast and leaving Thailand in the dust.
South Koreas has more people using high-speed Internet connections than Thailand has Internet users.
Kogod School of Business American University Other Country Reports
Sources:
1 NECTEC
2 LEXIS-NEXIS ®Academic Universe. "TOT to Lease Network to Other ISPs," The Nation, The Nation Publishing Group, October 9, 2000.
3 WorldBank Development Indicators, 2,000