Internet usage on mobile devices among Thais will increase by 9% to 6.2 hours per day this year, boosted largely by the availability of fourth generation (4G) commercial wireless broadband service.
Thais spent 5.7 hours a day accessing the internet on mobile devices in 2015, according to a survey by the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA).
YouTube, Facebook and Line were the most visited social media platforms, said ETDA executive director Surangkana Wayuparb.
She said Thais used smartphones as their primary device to access the internet, thanks to more affordable mobile devices, greater availability of 4G commercial service coverage and a digital lifestyle that increasingly links consumers to the internet.
Up to 85% of the 16,661 survey respondents said they used a smartphone to connect to the internet.
Chatting on social media was the most popular activity, with 86% of respondents using their devices to do it, followed by visiting YouTube (66%), reading books online or e-books (55.7%), searching for information (54%) and conducting financial transactions (45%).
Ms Surangkana said the survey found that millennials or Generation Y (people born between 1980-2000) and Generation Z (those born after 2000) used YouTube the most. Baby Boomers (people born between 1946-64) and Generation X (those born between 1965-80) stuck to traditional social media networks such as Line and Facebook.
Personal computers were the primary devices respondents used to access the internet from 8am-12am, while smartphones were the primary devices used to connect to the internet from 4pm-8am. Peak mobile internet usage was from 4pm-8pm, the survey found.
According to Ms Surangkana, 70% of respondents said internet connection delays were the biggest problem they faced, followed by junk mail (50%), frequently disconnecting internet connections (32%), high internet service charges (26%), and internet availability coverage (21%).
She added that Thais spent 6.4 hours per day or 45 hours per week online via both mobile phones and computers.
Members of the "third gender" were the heaviest internet users, averaging 53 hours per week, followed by Gen Y (48 hours) Gen X (44 hours), Gen Z (40 hours) and Baby Boomers (31.8 hours), said Ms Surangkana.
Meanwhile, the Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA) reported that Thailand's software and service market is expected to grow by 4.4% to 54.8 billion baht this year thanks to an improved economy and higher spending on new emerging technologies.
Thanachat Numnonda, executive director of IMC Institute, citing a survey sponsored by SIPA, said the local software and service market will continue growing at a single-digit rate over the next few years as companies make the transition to digital.