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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