Research Institute for High-Life

Japan-Asia Collaborative Research Project
Study report "The New Trends in Asian Urban Lifestyle"

"The New Trends in Urban Lifestyle in the Kingdom of Thailand" (serial in 3 parts)

Part 2 Lifestyle and Consumption Behavior of Thai People

NUTTAPOL ASSARUT, Ph.D,Assistant Professor, Chulalongkorn University.

Summary
In the Kingdom of Thailand, the society has become affluent along with its economic growth, although there are some problems such as the economic gap. At the same time, opportunities to study abroad and information on the Internet have brought in foreign life cultures of various countries to greatly vary the Thai lifestyle.

In order to analyze the lifestyle, sense of values and consumption behavior of the Bangkok Citizens and report the result of study in this Part 2, the data of survey are used that Chulalongkorn University has carried out to examine the people’s preparation for retirement life. A part of the report describes that the influence of the fewer children, the aging society, the women’s advance into society and the experiences of studying abroad have significantly changed the family bond in the country where “paternalism” is the traditional sense of values. For example, in Thailand, families have generally been supposed to take care of the aged partly because the public assistance to cope with the aging society has not fully developed. However, “New Paternalists” have started to assume they would spend their old age at a nursing home to spare their family the trouble. Accordingly, their lifestyle has changed in that they have become more health conscious for self-sufficient life and their needs for exercise, supplements and alternative healthcare are growing.

The Part 2 also introduces the Bangkok citizens’ current lifestyle and sense of values that are significantly changing with urbanization and richer life, as well as the consumer groups who will lead the Thai consumption market in future.

Principal Author NUTTAPOL ASSARUT
Chulalongkorn University Assistant Professor

・Assistant Professor of Chulalongkorn University
・In 1999, after completing marketing degree of commercial science in Chulalongkorn University, he joined SCG Group.
He got his master degree (in 2005) and doctor degree (in 2008) in Commerce from Hitotsubashi University.
He became a lecturer of the department of commercial science at Chulalongkorn University in 2008 and an assistant professor of the university in 2012.
・Field of research: Marketing, business administration, commercial science
・Subjects of study: Consumer behavior, pricing, brand, services marketing, culture

Co-Researcher:
Furukawa Ichiro, Professer, Hitotsubasi University
Fukuda hiroshi, Chairman, Joumon communication Inc.

Editing and Delivery Public-Interest Incorporated Foundation
Research Institute for High-Life http://www.hilife.or.jp/