Technology in Developing Southeast Asia
Observations from Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma) and southern Thailand
by Barb Belsito
Last week I returned to San Francisco after a month of traveling — mostly around Southeast Asia with a quick stop in Korea. I spent most of my time in Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma), but also managed to stopover in southern Thailand for a few days. As someone who works in technology and design, I was welcoming this trip as a way to take a break from the technology side of things. This meant I did not bring or use a laptop; however, I did have my iPhone which I used almost daily (connected to wifi) to connect with new friends and share photos with friends and family. That said, I did make it a point to limit the time I spent online. Even without a laptop and limited wifi usage I still found myself surrounded by technology.
I’d like to share with you now, a few observations and food for thought…
Internet Cafes
Internet cafes still exist! However, from what I saw they are mostly filled with local people rather than travelers. These days, most travelers have no reason to go to an internet cafe because they can get their internet fix on their phones just as long as there’s a wifi connection. Walking into any hostel lobby or bar/restaurant with wifi means walking into a room full of people with their heads down in their phones. The most lively internet cafe I saw was located next door to a hostel I stayed at in Mandalay, Myanmar. It was filled with local kids/teenagers playing games. It was interesting to notice the evolution of the internet cafe compared to 8 years ago. In contrast, internet cafes in Tonsai, Thailand were connected to travel agencies and these cafes were comprised of travelers using the computers. This was probably due to the high concentration of tourists vs. local people in Tonsai…. along with a lack of wifi during the day when the power is cut throughout the town.
Wifi Speed
Throughout my trip I found that although wifi can be found in most hostels and cafes, the speed and reliability left much to be desired. Not surprisingly, the most unreliable wifi signals I encountered were in Myanmar. If you’re able to grasp a signal it’s bound to be incredibly slow. Cambodia wasn’t as bad, but still had room for improvement. Thailand really depends on which part of the country you’re in. This trip I was in southern Thailand during the low season which means many areas cut power (and thus routers turn off) between the hours of 7am — 5pm. While I welcomed the spotty wifi connections as a way to discourage personal internet usage, it was a reminder that there is still a lot of work to do in developing countries to bring stable and reliable internet to people.
Wifi at the Pagoda
Staying on the topic of wifi for a minute, I was surprised to find that one of the most famous pagodas in the world — Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon — had signs proudly displaying wifi availability. My guess is the wifi availability came along with the mass amounts of tourists the pagoda attracts since Myanmar opened its doors around 2011. I can only wonder if it’s because they want to encourage tourists to post photos so it promotes tourism in Myanmar. Whatever the reason, if you find yourself at Shwedagon Pagoda you will be able to access wifi in between prayers.
Android vs. iOS
Almost everyone in every country I visited on this trip used Android devices vs iOS. This includes the local people of each country along with other travelers I met along the way. Almost all iPhone owners I met were Americans. Thinking about that more, I realized that I never used any Apple products until 2012 when I was given a MacBook Pro at work and purchased a refurbished iPhone on eBay. Why didn’t I use Apple products before 2012? The answer is simple — I couldn’t afford it. As a designer living and working in San Francisco for the past two years it’s easy to forget that iPhones make up only a portion of the market share. My observations on this trip made it very clear to me that android is the platform of the developing world. This observation has inspired me to have a better understanding of android devices upon returning from my trip.
Whenever I’m out and about I like to try to see what applications people are using on their phones. I do this a lot in San Francisco when I commute to work on the train. It’s no surprise that I have this same curiosity while traveling abroad. Walking around I would try to sneakily look over people’s shoulders to see what they were doing on their phones. Almost everyone I saw was on Facebook. A local friend I made in Mandalay, Myanmar opened Facebook on her phone one night at dinner. I was surprised to see that the Facebook app she was using displayed in pink rather than the usual blue. Not only that, there were also little characters in place of other familiar icons. She explained how there were numerous other themes to choose from, but much to my disappointment I was not able to access them because they require an Android device to do so. Here’s what it looked like on her device:
SIM Cards
Since I was on a mission to disconnect I didn’t purchase a SIM card. I did, however, notice that in each country I visited they were easily available and incredibly cheap. The most surprising place to see cheap SIM cards was Myanmar. Why? Because just about 5 years ago the cost of a SIM card was $2,000 USD and about 1.5 years ago they cost about $250 USD. Today, however, SIM cards sell for around $1.50. To learn more about the recent history of SIM cards in Myanmar, I encourage you to check out this Bloomberg article (When a SIM Card Goes From $2,000 to $1.50, by Jason Motlagh) from September 2014:
Tuk-tuks + Texting and Driving
Within my first few hours in Phnom Penh, Cambodia I was surprised to see numerous tuk-tuk drivers texting and driving. I say texting and driving, but in reality the driver wasn’t necessarily texting — just doing something distracting on their mobile device while driving. I observed this on many more occasions throughout my trip. This is no surprise considering even in the US numerous people are injured or killed each year from distracted driving. As technology expands into new markets companies and technologists introducing these technologies would be doing a huge disservice to new consumers if the risks associated with usage of these technologies are not introduced in some way. I have no idea how companies are currently or planning on handling this education and awareness, but it is something worth looking into sooner rather than later.
Conclusion
It’s clear that while there’s internet access in the countries I visited, there’s still a lot of room for improvement. With initiatives such as Facebook’s internet.org, it is not a matter of “if”, but “when” technology will reach other less developed places. Improved and reliable internet brings the potential for innovation using design and technology. I look forward to what the future holds for these countries along with the many countries that will be introduced to the internet for the first time in the not-so-distant future.
