Online, but still locked out: health communication for older Thais as services move to the phone

Auntie Chamnian (a fictional character) is 67. Her daughter installed a hospital booking app on her phone last year. She reads the news and chats with her grandchildren on LINE with ease, but every time she has to confirm an appointment she waits for her grandson to come home from school. The button says Confirm, and she is never sure whether pressing it will cost her money.

Her problem is not a missing phone, a missing connection or a lack of interest in her own health. She is already on the same channels as her children. The messages agencies send there are still written for someone else.

Older Thais came online faster than many think

National Statistical Office data compiled by Krungsri Research show that the share of older Thais using the internet rose from 3.9% in 2015 to 57.8% in 2023 [1]. The fastest growth came between 2019 and 2021, when the figure jumped from 18.6% to 48.8% in just two years.

The 2025 household ICT survey gives a more recent picture: 70.1% of people aged 60 and over use the internet, compared with 99.2% of those aged 15 to 24 [2]. That gap of about 29 points is millions of people, and the group keeps growing. People aged 60 and over were 20.17% of the population in 2023 and are projected to reach 31.37% by 2040 [3], almost one in three Thais.

The barrier is reading the screen, not owning one

Asked what gets in the way when they use digital devices, older Thais put English on the screen first, at 69%. Next came not knowing how to use the device (55%) and not feeling safe online (47%). Another 29% said there was no one to ask when they were unsure. Only 21% reported no problems at all [4].

As we read it, most of the work sits with the sender. Language, buttons and steps are all things an agency designs itself. This matches research finding that retirees saw salt-reduction campaigns on Facebook more than anywhere else. The channel is not the problem. The question is whether the message on that channel is easy enough to read.

Three things health agencies can do now

1. 1

   Thai first, on every button

   Write buttons, notifications and verification steps in the Thai people actually speak. Before launch, ask three to five real older users to try it and note where they get stuck.

2. 2

   Always offer someone to ask

   Almost a third of older users say there is no one to ask when they are unsure. Every important screen should lead to a real person, such as a phone line that someone answers or a local village health volunteer who can help.

3. 3

   Say clearly how it stays safe

   Fear of scams stops many people from pressing anything. State plainly that the agency will never ask for a password or bank details in a chat, and use the same official channel every time.

Reading this data with care

The 57.8% (2023) and 70.1% (2025) figures come from different compilations and years, so they should not be joined into one trend line. The data on device problems is from 2022 and allowed multiple answers. Population shares after 2023 are projections, not measurements.

Older Thais have arrived. Now the message has to reach them

Many older Thais have already crossed into the online world, and they will soon be almost a third of the country. Health services designed with them in mind from the first button will not need a grandchild at home before they can be used.

If your organisation is designing health services or communication for older people, the Center of Excellence in Communication Innovation at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Communication Arts would be glad to talk and share what we have learned.