Cambodia's Internet penetration more than doubles [but still less than Laos]

By The Rasmei Kampuchea Daily 

The Nation, Thailand

May 7, 2012

Cambodia's Internet penetration more than doubled to 3.1 per cent of the population in 2011, up from 1.3 per cent a year earlier, according to the Internet World Stats website. 

The country had 449,160 Internet users at the end of last year and 491,480 Facebook users at the end of March.

"The trend means that Cambodian people, especially the young generation, are finding a new way of communicating and getting information," said Pen Samitthy, president of the Club of Cambodian Journalists. This is "ending the monopoly over information by media companies".

Among Asean countries, Brunei has the highest Internet penetration of 79.4 per cent (318,000 users) followed by Singapore with 77.2 per cent (3.6 million).

Penetration is 61 per cent in Malaysia (17.7 million users), 34 per cent in Vietnam (30.8 million), 33 per cent in the Philippines (33.6 million), 27 per cent in Thailand (18.3 million), 22 per cent in Indonesia (55 million), 8 per cent in Laos (527,000) and only 0.2 per cent in Myanmar (numbers not available).

In terms of Facebook use in Asean countries, Indonesia has the most users (43.5 million) followed by the Philippines (27.7 million), Thailand (14.2 million), Malaysia (12.3 million) Vietnam (3.1 million), Cambodia (491,480) and Laos (156,000). Figures for Brunei and Myanmar weren't available.