According to a recent report, The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DE) revealed that Thai e-commerce grew the most in ASEAN with changes in consumer behaviour in 2018, estimating that the value would shoot up to 3.2 trillion baht.
The number of Internet users in Thailand has grown 4 times over in the last decade. Moreover, many Thai-International platforms have grown to support the number of online shoppers, along with increasing confidence in e-Payment and faster logistics and delivery services.
Service providers have chosen to use Big Data to analyse the behaviour and needs of consumers, while AI is being used to develop the quality of the product and services through uses of chatbots.
Trends show that growth will continue with the arrival of 5G, creating new innovations that will lift up the quality of life for consumers.
The Executive Director and CEO of Electronic Transactions Development Agency (a public organization) or ETDA, Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DE) revealed that the results of surveys that value of e-Commerce in Thailand has grown consistently between 8-10% per year. ETDA has been collecting these statistics since 2014.
From 16 to 45 million Internet users in a decade
When comparing the number of Internet users over the past 10 years, there were only 16.1 million Internet users in 2008; the latest information revealed that in 2017, there were 45.2 million users.
Thai e-Commerce is to develop even further because, statistically, Thailand has over 45 million Internet users (in 2018), 124.8 million mobile subscribers (2019), 44 million people using LINE messenger (2019), 52 million Facebook users (2019), and there is a trend that points to the value of e-Commerce in Thailand reaching up to 3.2 trillion baht (2019)
This reflects the change in consumer behaviour that has come as a result of the changes in technology and communication devices, as well as the reduction of the price of these devices and services, which has resulted in more people having more online access.
This has resulted in the e-Commerce market of Thailand growing as well, including increasing numbers of both buyers and online sellers, which is also in line with the growth of platforms by Thai and international businesses.
This is excellent news for the Government’s Thailand 4.0 initiatives.
Recently, OpenGov Asia reported that the Thai Board of Investment (BOI) stated that Thailand is Asia’s next big innovation hub.
The Government’s ongoing digital transformation efforts by the government are attracting applicants from across the world.
Part of Thailand 4.0 includes an investment incentive scheme launched by the BOI for the Smart City initiative, which is designed to upgrade people’s quality of life with seven intelligent platforms; namely, Smart Environment, Smart Mobility, Smart People, Smart Living, Smart Economy, Smart Governance and Smart Energy.
Investments in Smart City projects will be eligible for a CIT exemption for 5-to-8 years.
Moreover, another report noted that Thailand’s ETDA partners with DEPA and a tech firm to push Digital Smart City initiatives.
The agreement was signed in order to support the important roadmap of the country in pushing Digital Smart City because it is the issue that countries in ASEAN are paying attention to.
The aim is to establish a country wherein all the citizens live happily, sustainably, and smartly in terms of trade, investment while simultaneously enabling the digital industry to drive other industries to grow.
