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India Insurance Report - Series II                                                         287


        person should have not less than 4 million baht of savings. However, the average savings of Thai people
        is only THB 11,944 per year.

            Regarding the average household income and expenditure, the National Statistical Office estimates
        that monthly income of Thai household in 2022 will grow 1 percent less than that of 2019. Such
        circumstance is caused by an increase in unemployment rate of the country due to economic recession,
        a decrease in number of workers and average working hours per person as well as recession of wage rate
        and structural factor caused by retirement of workers in accordance with population structure, replacement
        of workers with technology. These are some factors contribute to a decline in income growth rate of
        Thai population in the future.

            Moreover, it is estimated that the average monthly expenditure per household in Thailand in 2022
        will grow by 0.2 percent compared to 2019, most of such expenditure is not for consumption purpose.

            According to a research study conducted by Society of Actuaries in 2018, it is found that 60 percent
        of a total of 767 respondents thought that they started saving up too late or had not begun saving up for
        their retirement yet. The three most popular saving methods included bank/cooperatives deposit, purchase
        of insurance policies, and savings with the Government Pension Fund (GFP).



        4.8.Lack of People’s Trust


            In Thailand, not many people are protected by insurance policies because they have unpleasant
        experiences with insurance, such as not having enough understanding of conditions for protection under
        insurance policies or improper market conduct of insurance intermediaries. According to a survey of
        600 respondents on the Thai insurance business, it is found that confidence in insurance industry was
        one of major factors resulting in people’s need to purchase insurance products. Three main issues affecting
        people’s confidence are summarized as follows:

        1)  Trustworthiness and good reputation of an insurance company have an impact on a decision to
            purchase an insurance product from such company;

        2)  Claim procedures, especially the process of filing a claim for compensation, are complicated, difficult
            to understand, or take too long, causing people to have bad experiences  and negative attitudes
            toward the insurance industry as a whole and

        3)  Insurance intermediary’s provision of accurate and complete information during the offer for sale
            process: if there is any misunderstanding between the intermediary and the insured, there could be
            trouble in the future claim process. Good after-sale service will also give a good insurance experience.



        4.9.Limited Income Limits Accessibility


            Thailand is facing social inequality or wealth and opportunity gap between the rich and the poor,
        which has widened. This results in the poor’s limited access to financial services. According to Credit
        Suisse’s 2018 Global Wealth Report, Thailand now has the largest wealth gap in the world. The richest
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