Facebook opens Thai offices, rolls out instagram advertising
Facebook officially launched its offices in Thailand yesterday with the announcement that it was rolling out Instagram advertising to the Thai market.
Dan Neary, vice president of Facebook Asia Pacific, said the firm had set up its new offices in Thailand to take advantage of the rapid growth of social media here. The company will strengthen its support to help large and small companies achieve their business goals.
The firm is now searching for a Thai country manager to drive the Facebook and Instagram businesses here.
"The office opening builds upon our commitment to Thailand and reiterates our investment in supporting the growth of Thai business, and making it easier for consumers to connect with each other and business," Neary said.
He said Thais spent much more time of social networks than others in Southeast Asia and around the world.
Thai Facebook users spend an average of 2.35 hours per day on the site, with more than 34 million using the site regularly every month.
More than 94 per cent of users return to Facebook every month and 32 million access Facebook on their mobiles. More than 24 million users access Facebook daily in Thailand.
Some 70 per cent of Thais are connected to at least one small or medium-sized enterprise’s page on Facebook, while more than 1.16 million businesses have an active page on the social-media platform.
Neary said 78 per cent of Thais used Facebook to reconnect with old friends and colleagues, while 65 per cent used the platform to search for brand information.
"Thailand is one of the countries in Asia-Pacific and globally where users [are rapidly turning] to access social media via mobile phones. Meanwhile, SMEs use Facebook to launch and develop their brands and businesses," Neary said.
With that in mind, Facebook has rolled out Instagram adverts in Thailand, which now has 7.1 million active Instagram users a month.
It will provide new services via business partners such as Total Access Communication (DTAC), Lazada and Tesco Lotus. Neary concluded that 1.49 billion people around the world now use Facebook, 900 million use WhatsApp 700 million messenger users and 300 million Instagram user in the global.
