Digital technology has become more critical in our daily lives over the past few years. However, disparities in the use of digital technology still exist in Thailand. We cannot be denied that Internet use and e-commerce will not be possible to use if the inequality in digital technology persists. Therefore, this research aims to examine the determinants of the digital divide in Thailand and to study the demographic factors that affect Internet use and e-commerce.
The sample consisted of 55,789 Thais who have aged 15 years and over. Quantitative data was in this study. The statistics used in this study consisted of descriptive statistics, frequency, and percentage to explain basic information. The multiple correspondence analysis was used to reduce the dimension of the variable, and inferential statistics and linear regression were used to analyze the relationship between the variables.
The results revealed that the determinants of the digital divide in Thailand that had an impact on Internet use and e-commerce were the devices used to connect to the Internet, statistically significant at the 0.001 level. Moreover, the results also show that demographic factors affect Internet use and e-commerce, mainly employment status; the difference in employment status affects Internet use and e-commerce. According to the generation gap, the result also shows that older people were found to use the Internet and e-commerce less than other age groups.
Thus, this research confirms that the persisting digital divide affects Internet use and e-commerce. When people cannot use digital technology, all online activities will end. Therefore, it is essential that the public and private sectors need to collaborate to develop a digital technology infrastructure to make it accessible to all. The entrepreneurs should focus on developing digital marketing strategies to gain more confidence and engage customers in e-commerce.