Thailand’s digital economy is growing steadily

BANGKOK, Dec 20 (TNA) – The digital economy of Thailand is growing steadily as 91% of Thai people use mobile phones, according to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC). The value of the digital economy was estimated at 2.53 trillion baht in 2017, forming 16.61% of the gross domestic product and increasing by 19.77% from last year, said Thanawat Ponvichai, UTCC’s director for economic and business forecasting. He predicted the value would rise by 24.62% to 3.15 trillion baht next year, to account for 19.42% of the GDP. The value of the digital economy is likely to form 25% of the GDP in 2020. Wachira Khunthaweethep, UTCC’s assistant director for economic and business forecasting, said the UTCC found from its survey on 1,251 people on Nov 20-Dec 6 that 90.92% of respondents used mobile phones. The proportion rose from 86.50% last year. Mobile phones were the most popular technology device, followed by notebook computers and desktop computers. Employees in the private sector formed the biggest group of people using electronic media every day (49.84%), followed by government officials (18.8%) and daily wage earners (12.12%). UTCC also found that the most popular software among respondents was Line application, followed by Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. They spent up to 8-10 hours on the internet daily. UTCC also predicted top jobs next year would be doctors, programmers and online marketing professionals while jobs without prospects would include carpenters, middlemen and cloth dyers. (TNA)