Why Bangkok? Thailand’s consumption patterns to grow to $410 billion over the next decade
Thailand has seen significant economic growth over the last four decades. In 2011, Thailand moved from a low-income to upper-middle-income country after a combination of consistent economic growth and poverty reduction.
While Thailand’s economy contracted by 6.1% in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report compiled by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) predicts that consumption in Thailand could grow from US$120 billion a year to US$410 billion over the next decade. As it stands, Generation Z and millennials account for over one-third of Thailand’s consumption, and by 2030, this is expected to increase to 40 percent.
New technologies, and the businesses driving this technological innovation, can enable more people to afford goods and services — even people on lower incomes. An example of this is mobility services like ride-hailing. While private vehicle ownership is more dependent on rising incomes, businesses like ride-hailing companies have unlocked latent demand by opening access to the market.
Over the next decade, Asian consumers are predicted to account for half of global consumption growth. To properly understand consumption patterns within this region, you have to understand the diverse consumer cohorts that drive this consumption. But building this understanding doesn’t have to happen from the ground up. Working with a local partner, one who has extensive experience and hyperlocal knowledge of the market, can act as a shortcut.
Understanding opportunity in Bangkok requires an understanding of public transportation
In Bangkok, nearly 3.5 million people rely on public transportation to get where they need to go. In emerging markets, anywhere from 30 to 90% of Transit Data is not available from other data providers. As such, commuters often rely on word of mouth and their own knowledge to guide them on their journeys.
Data availability in Bangkok
Jug Vajarodaya, WhereIsMyTransport’s Country Manager in Thailand, believes the challenge with understanding how people move in Bangkok was, initially, a challenge of data availability. The public transport network in Bangkok consists of developed-world-standard mobility networks alongside developing-world-standard mobility networks and the result — as is generally the case in South East Asia — was a lack of consistent data availability. With data available for some modes and regions, but not others, WhereIsMyTransport stepped up to overcome the challenge.
WhereIsMyTransport mapped Bangkok’s entire public transportation network, including every informal and formal route. This information is particularly valuable in Bangkok where multimodal passenger journeys are popular which, prior to complete public transport network data from WhereIsMyTransport, were digitally invisible.
Read about one such digitally invisible mode in Bangkok — a unique canal boat used to travel across the city’s khlongs: ‘Commuter Insights:uncovering unknown transport modes in Bangkok’
Understand the pulse of the city with Real-Time Alerts
For WhereIsMyTransport, helping Bangkok commuters get where they need to go also involves our public transport app Rumbo. Rumbo leverages our data from the complete public transport network in the Thai capital, giving commuters access to information that reflects the ground truth of the city. Our Real-Time Alerts in Rumbo mean commuters are informed about any disruptions on their route, and as such, can choose an alternative to save time. Commuters also benefit by no longer needing to check a range of external sources for information on route disruptions — they can use one tool to stay informed and stay ahead.
30% of our Real-Time Alerts are derived from both social listening and crowdsourced data contributed by our consumer product users.
Research from WhereIsMyTransport found that as many as 94% of Thai commuters are aware of the likelihood of disruption, and make provisions for this by adding ‘buffer’ time to their daily commute. The ‘buffer’ time typically ranges between 15 and 30 minutes. Rumbo offers commuters data that can radically improve the way they calculate their buffer time.
What does this mean for organisations?
For organisations looking to harness opportunities in this high-growth market, our Transit Data, Point of Interest (POI) Data, and Real-Time Alerts represent a unique opportunity, providing access to a single, trusted source of truth. Our data is available in the global-standard formats — GTFS, POIs, and GTFS-R — making it easy to integrate into software applications.
“Complete geospatial data provides stakeholders with the facts and figures they need to create real change.”-Jug Vajarodaya, Country Manager-Thailand, WhereIsMyTransport
Jug, in our Navigating Growth white paper, highlights the following use cases for organisations:
- Consumer applications, including those from Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) providers or transport network companies, can enhance existing services by using reliable data to improve the user experience.
- Public authorities and financial institutions who analyse transport network impact can make data-driven decisions that play an important role in solving real-world challenges.
- Engineering consultancies can use data to understand and uncover growth opportunities.
- Real estate firms and advertising agencies can make decisions based on data about the best location investments, as well as optimise their campaigns.
Bangkok is a city ripe with growth opportunities. For organisations looking to maximise their impact and gain a competitive edge in this market, their best route is with a partner who has established hyperlocal knowledge and experience of the market. WhereIsMyTransport is that partner.
Book a meeting with one of our experts today to discover how our data offering can help grow your business.
Further reading
