With its close to 70 million inhabitants plus the growing consumer markets in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, Thailand has cemented its strategic position in the regional consumer market. The consumer industry grew by 4.5% in 2024 with expenditure per capita in Bangkok being some 60% higher than the national average. Products on offer in Bangkok are on par with cities in the developed world, e.g. Singapore, Tokyo, London and New York.
The modern urban generation has embraced salmon, much thanks to the popularity of Japanese cuisine in Thailand. Japanese cuisine is the most popular foreign cuisine in Thailand and there are close to 2,500 Japanese restaurants in Thailand corresponding to almost 10% of restaurants in Bangkok. Thai consumers are also becoming more health conscious leading to an increase in seafood consumption.
The export of Norwegian Seafood has grown tremendously during the past few years and Thailand is now the largest export market in Southeast Asia for Norwegian seafood with exports reaching more than NOK 3 billion in 2025. During 2025, the export value of fresh airflown salmon and trout grew by 36% as compared to 2024 and 13% above 2023. Each of the years since 2019 have been record years for Norwegian exports. 91% of the export volumes are salmon and trout and more than 90% of that again, are fresh airflown products. Norwegian Seafood Council continues to market fresh airflown salmon and trout in Thailand and to spread the message that these products come almost exclusively from Norway.
According to Euromonitor’s “Income and Expenditure: Thailand” report noted that real per capita disposable income grew in 2024 by about 3.3% (down from 5.4% the previous year) with growth in education, communication, and food. Thai people seek convenience coupled with a high level of service and a stylish lifestyle.
The education sector is expected to grow fast. Like in other emerging economies in Asia, Thai parents put emphasis on their children’s development. Language training, tutorial courses and other extra activities such as dancing, music and sport classes are booming in Thailand.
According to the Nielsen research group, 65 million corresponding to 91% of Thailand’s close to 70 million inhabitants are internet users. Of these 60 million users connect to the web through their mobiles. About one third of Thailand’s 94 million mobile phone subscribers use smartphones.
Thailand ranks eleventh worldwide in social media usage in 2025 with over 70% of the population accessing social media from their phones. Social media has increasingly become an important tool for business marketing and for business success. Banks, telecoms, consumer goods makers and electronics firms, as well as the government, are active social media users.
The modern urban generation have moved into condominiums close to business areas and are looking for convenience in their daily lives. Visiting convenience stores and supermarkets for daily necessities and meals have become a must. Focus is on quality and value for money and people are willing to pay more for imported products. In general, Thai people are avid restaurant goers, and this can especially be seen in urban areas where the food and restaurant market is growing faster than the rest of the economy. Competition is stiff and many chain restaurants focus on a niche products likely to be embraced by the young urban population, e.g. yoghurts, desserts, coffee, bread or noodles.
There are major opportunities in the online retail industry in Thailand as purchasing patterns are shifting towards digital in the fast moving consumer goods sector. At present, online shopping accounts for 11-15% of total retail sales with 58% of the Thai population shopping online.
See further in this Modern Trade Report by Krungsri Research from 2024.
