The overview of the insurance business in 2014 and the assessment of Thai economy in 2015 implies that the insurance
business would continue a steady growth trend in 2015. The Thai Life Assurance Association expects 13-14 percent growth
due to low rate of life insurance policy ownership compared to the developed countries in ASEAN. The majority of policyholders
are in Bangkok and the metropolitan areas so there are still more opportunities to expand to the provincial areas. Nowadays,
people in the provincial areas have more knowledge and understanding about life insurance which is the opportunity for more
penetration in these regions. In addition to the overall business opportunities in 2015, there are other factors to support the
growth of the life insurance business as follows:
1. More people acknowledged and realised the value of life insurance.
2. The revision of tax structure and the preparation of Thai government for the aging society increase the trend to
promote savings through financial instruments. Life insurance is one of the effective instruments to promote savings
and prepare for retirement.
3. The change of population structure and consumer behaviors in Thailand implies an increase in the ratio of aging
citizen in the future. The result of population change together with the promotion policy from the government leads to
the growth of life insurance policies to response to the needs of the consumers. It is expected that there will be higher
market demand in policies for retirement and health.
4. New technological improvement moves the society to the digital age through the rapid development of smart devices
that lead to new opportunities for products and services to reach target customers. Also, Big Data technology allows
a better analysis of behaviors and interests of the customers in order to promote the products to satisfy customer’s
needs.
5. The recovery of the real estate business should influence home loans to increase in 2015 which leads to the opportunity
for credit protection life insurance products.
6. The expansion of business in ASEAN region is expected to grow further following the recovery of world economy and
clear trade policy by the government. It is expected that the border economy will grow rapidly which creates opportunity
to expand life insurance market in border provinces and neighboring countries. Customers in neighboring countries
should have interest in various life insurance products of Thailand as the life insurance industry in their country is still
in the early stage.
The aforementioned factors influence the trend of