The Thai Online Market is Taking Off – Can You Catch it?
November 9th, 2009
There are 65 million people living in Thailand – nearly on par with the population of Britain. Internet cafes are widespread in Thailand, with fast connection speeds even on the remotest of its islands. In the cities, wifi is readily available. A growing middle class is increasingly online (in 2007, over eight million Thais were already online), and ready to buy products and services – that is, if they can find them.
Targeting the Thai market is no easy thing. Thai culture is a huge step away from that of Britain. In order to properly engage with the Thais, it’s necessary to learn the distinctive cultural behaviours, taboos, and social norms, that make Thailand the unique country it is.
Here are some tips for building a culturally-sensitive website targeting the Thai market.
- There is utmost reverence for the King in Thailand. His face is plastered in every house, in every shopping centre, and on billboards blanketing the busy city roads. A picture of the Thai King (and his Queen, who is loved dearly as well) would be a respectful addition to any Thai-focused webpage.
- Thais are 95 percent Buddhist, so references to Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter are best avoided. In addition, Thais observe a kind of lent for three months from July to October, where they must give up alcohol and cigarettes, so any mention of these temptations during this period should be avoided.
- The date in Thailand is different from that which we use in the rest of the world. It’s currently year 2552 in Thailand. Any reference to this date on a webpage would show a respect for Thai history.
- The Thai greeting is “Sawadee,” followed by “ka” for women saying the greeting, and “krap” for men saying the greeting. A welcome page might begin its content with this greeting.
- Most Thai magazines feature English headlines (since English is considered ‘hip’ in Thailand), followed by Thai language content. A website would do well to copy this format.
