Tech-spending, reaches new high in Thailand

BANGKOK, July 1 (TNA) - GfK, Germany's largest market research institute, has found that people's spending on technological products, particularly in health-related ones, has hit a new record-high in Thailand, where the new generation of middle-class consumers are extraordinarily keen to use the online platforms. Thailand’s country advisor to GfK Daranee Charoenrachapak attributed the growth in the public tech-spending to the steady world economic growth. According to the GfK's latest study on Thais aged between 11-70 nationwide, technology had become the third most important necessities to their lives, as up to 70 per cent of them had smartphones and 23 per cent had normal mobile phones, while 18 per cent had connected to the Internet through smartphones, 53 per cent through landlines at home and the remaining 33 per cent accessed to the Internet at school or at work. The study also showed that up to 58 per cent of the Internet users in Thailand had engaged in social networks as their top online activity, while another 43 per cent accessed to video clips, 38 per cent to email services, 15 per cent to travel info searching and 11 per cent to online shopping. The market survey indicated that incorporating electronic network connectivity in products would become a priority for future manufacturing, like those which have already been found in the market such as wearable gadgets, health gadgets, photo-ready smart glasses, smart watches and thermal sensor-equipped apparels, as well as smart living technologies, with their growing market demand. The GfK country advisor assessed, meanwhile, that the global middle-class population should rise to 4.9 billion by 2030, from 1.8 billion currently, most of whom will be in Asia, representing some 66 per cent of the global middle-class population. Daranee said the study also found that the Asian middle-class popultion in 21 countries spent most of their time on works, with those in Thailand spending on working hours most, at 51 hours a week, much higher than the average working hours of 36.3 hours a week among the 21 countries surveyed. (TNA)