Digital self-efficacy and digital anxiety among older adults in Bangkok : a mixed-methods case study at the Yannawa elderly school

Title: Digital self-efficacy and digital anxiety among older adults in Bangkok : a mixed-methods case study at the Yannawa elderly school

Author: Stephen Baker

Year: 2025

Keywords:

Themes: Innovation for Inclusive Development, Digital Technology and Development

Advisor(s): Pimsiri Aroonsri

The full thesis is available here.

Abstract: Thailand is undergoing a dual transformation marked by rapid digitalisation under the Thailand 4.0 agenda and an accelerated transition into a super-aged society. While national strategies prioritise digital infrastructure and high-value labour, older adults remain disproportionately excluded from meaningful participation in the digital economy. This exclusion is less a problem of access than of low digital self-efficacy, technology anxiety, and sociocultural factors that shape how older adults experience and respond to digital environments. Within community contexts, these barriers are often reinforced by fear of making mistakes, reliance on others, and norms such as Kreng jai, contributing to a persistent “grey digital divide.” Existing digital literacy initiatives tend to emphasise technical skills while overlooking the psychological and relational conditions necessary for confidence-building and sustained engagement. Drawing on Sen’s capability approach, Bandura’s social learning theory and principles of andragogy. This study uses a mixed methods design to investigate the levels of digital self-efficacy and digitisation anxiety among older adults at the Yannawa Elderly School in Bangkok and to explore the physical, psychological and sociocultural barriers that shape their digital learning experiences. The findings establish an empirical baseline and identify implications for design of inclusive, community embedded digital literacy programmes that support sustainable digital inclusion and productive ageing.

Perceptions of online harassment: ethnographical research of Myanmar university students

Title: Perceptions of online harassment: ethnographical research of Myanmar university students

Author: Khin Yamone Zaw

Year: 2023

Keywords: online harassment, gender, emotional well-being, online participation, Myanmar

Themes: Digital Technology and Development, Human Rights, Education

Advisor(s): Balazs Szanto

The full thesis available here.

Abstract: The rapid expansion of digital technology and internet connectivity in Myanmar over the past years has immensely transformed how people live, work, and interact, bringing various benefits to society. Despite these benefits, online harassment remains a severe and pervasive problem in the digital age. A few existing literature and studies on the Myanmar context suggest that young people, particularly young women, are subjected to online harassment. There is currently a lack of literature in Myanmar that investigates online harassment against young women through a gender lens. This study aims to fill this literature gap and examine the prevalence of online harassment experienced by young women in Myanmar and its impacts on their emotional well-being and online participation. Drawing on feminist theory and intersectionality, this study investigates how gendered power dynamics have influence on online harassment encounters of young women from diverse ethnicities and religions. The study employs a qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured, in-depth interviews with nine young women attending a private university in Myanmar to get unique insights into their experiences with online harassment. By using thematic analysis on the data, the findings reveal that young women faced various forms of online harassment, including online sexual harassment, receiving negative or offensive comments, and online impersonation. The results also show negative impacts on young women’s emotional well-being and online participation, resulting in severe emotional distress, feeling scared, helpless, and frustrated, leading to decreased online participation and self-censorship in digital spaces. Young women in the study experienced online harassment in a more gendered way, and these experiences are exacerbated by cultural and gender norms in Myanmar society, which reflect broader patterns of gender inequality and systemic sexism. By addressing the gap in existing literature and offering a comprehensive analysis of online harassment through a gender lens, this study contributes valuable insights to the existing body of literature on gender, digital technology, and development in the Myanmar context by offering evidence-based findings on how young women in Myanmar encountered various forms of online harassment and how it has adverse impacts on their emotional well-being and online participation. The potential measures suggested by the participants are crucial for policymakers, social media platforms, development practitioners and other relevant organizations to develop gender-sensitive approaches to policy interventions to effectively address the issue. The study highlights the urgent need to address and tackle the online harassment issue to create a safe and inclusive digital environment for all individuals

The Disruption of Platform Economy on Income Generating: A Case Study of Workers in On-Demand Food Delivery Platforms in Bangkok

Title: The Disruption of Platform Economy on Income Generating: A Case Study of Workers in On-Demand Food Delivery Platforms in Bangkok

Author: Sujaree Wattanarat

Year: 2019

Keywords: PLATFORM ECONOMY, SHARING ECONOMY, PRECARIOUS WORK, INCOME GENERATING, DIGITAL LABOUR

Themes: Digital Technology and Development, Social Welfare, Human Rights

Advisor(s): Jakkrit Sangkhamanee

The full thesis available here.

Abstract: Since the rise platform economy or as many called ‘sharing economy’, it has been called as ‘disruptive’ by many due to its rapid expansion and many changes it has caused. Its effects have incited many discussions on the positive and negative impact platform economy has on workers. Of which this thesis focused on especially in the aspect of workers and income generating. This thesis synthesizes the claims from existing literatures that framed platform economy as disruptive and alternative income generating opportunity that would improve people earning and subsequently their economic life. It also considers the negative claims that framed it as a precarious and exploitative job. The thesis attempts to provide data to both claims by using platform economy in Thailand as case study with a focus on online on-demand food delivery platform in Bangkok. The thesis employs qualitative method by conducting in-depth interviews among 15 drivers from three of the largest food delivery platforms in Thailand: GrabFood, Foodpanda, and Lineman in order to examine the effect that platform economy has on people’s economic life especially in the aspect of income and income generating. The qualitative method also helps in examining the changes that were made by participating in the platform economy. From the finding it can be concluded that platform work in this case study is indeed beneficial in the aspect of income generating and improve financial situation and life of workers. Its differences in work structure as compared to traditional work also give more job opportunities for those who are at disadvantage such as people with low level of education or those who get rejected from traditional work due to their appearance. However it could be considered exploitative in a way that companies are benefiting the most and putting risk, pressure and responsibility on workers instead without providing guarantee and job security causing workers to face with precarity in employment