Chrisada Chiaravanond, the president of E-sports Thai Leagues said that Thailand has a strong potential to carry out e-sports activities in ASEAN. The country has world-class infrastructure and appropriate environment including support from the government and private sector, and high-skilled players, to support the same. Although they are behind South Korea and China, they are expected to catch up quickly with them while leading other Southeast Asian countries soon.
E-sports development in Thailand will contribute both tangible and intangible advantages to the country, he further added. In fact, benefits to Thais and broader economy are clearer and therefore can be summarized in the below-mentioned points;
- E-sports are a global industry. By 2020, it is expected to generate US$ 1.5 billion in revenues from advertising. Building Thailand at the global forefront, the government will be able to attract a significant amount of investment in the country, from sponsors, e-sport tourism, to game publishers.
- E-sports offer an opportunity to take the Thailand 4.0 plan forward. As soon as the industry develops, the country will experience a wealth of opportunities to develop digital marketing expertise and creative skills in order to develop innovative content. An average e-sports enthusiast is very young, say aged between 13 and 40.
- Gaming is definitely very entertaining. Since the country is a mobile-first country plus smartphone penetration is quite high, gaming has thus become more accessible to almost all age groups. Though, gaming was more focused on PC gaming or consoles, with continuous innovation in mobile technology, a massive potential for e-sports to be playable through mobile technology is seen.
Mr. Chrisada said that e-sports future in Thailand is very story as the Thai government establishes the Thailand E-sport Federation (TESF) identified by the Sports Authority of Thailand and the International E-sports Federation in order to support the growth of the industry.
