Internet usage soar in 2020

Thais spent almost half the day on the internet on average in 2020, partly driven by the pandemic, while Facebook, YouTube and Line remained the most popular social media platforms in Thailand, according to a survey by the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA).

“Thai users increased their time spent online to 11 hours and 25 minutes in 2020, an increase of one hour and three minutes from 2019. Generation Y and Z were the main users as they engaged in online study,” said Chaichana Mitrpant, executive director of ETDA, citing the “Thailand Internet User Behavior 2020” report.

The report surveyed more than 20,000 respondents in Thailand from April to June last year.

In 2013, when ETDA began the survey, Thais spent an average of only four hours and 36 minutes a day on the internet, which means the amount of time had tripled by 2020, he said.

Some 78.3% of respondents cited easier internet access and broader internet coverage for making it convenient for them to connect online.

Looking deeper, daily time spent on the internet on weekdays was 11 hours and 23 minutes on average, a jump of one hour and 31 minutes from a year earlier, while on weekends the time spent was 11 hours and 29 minutes, a drop of six minutes from a year before.