“Pawat” Urges Government to Shift from Control to Promotion, Unlocking Thailand’s 37 Billion Baht Game Market - Thairath English
Pawat, a party-list MP from the People’s Party, is pushing for a draft Game Industry Promotion Act, urging the government to shift its mindset from control to promotion to unlock a 37 billion baht market.
On 2 Nov 2026 GMT+7, Mr. Pawat Pongwitthayaphanu, party-list MP of the People’s Party and chairman of the subcommittee on enhancing Thailand’s digital competitiveness, said that over the past weekend he attended gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show 2026 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. The event highlighted Thailand’s significant potential and business opportunities in technology and digital content, especially in the B2B zone, which brought together game developers, distributors, investors, and global tech companies to negotiate game deals, generating over 1.2 billion baht in business last year.
Mr. Pawat said data from the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) shows that in 2025 the Thai game industry market was worth over 37 billion baht. However, the value of games with intellectual property rights owned by Thais was only 591 million baht. This clearly reflects that although Thailand has a large and growing game market, there is insufficient promotion for creating games with Thai-owned copyrights. The game industry is a key sector providing jobs and income for programmers, designers, artists, and writers, and can be commercially extended into films and other products worldwide.
He added that as chairman of the subcommittee, he has invited representatives from DEPA, the Ministry of Culture, the Office of the Council of State, the Thai Software Industry Association, and the Thailand Esports Association to discuss joint policy efforts. One key agreement was to accelerate the promotion of the Game Industry Promotion Act, which would establish a national committee responsible for long-term planning, set up a fund to support Thai game developers, and improve the game rating system to meet international standards.
However, he emphasized that this law must truly promote and benefit entrepreneurs rather than impose legal restrictions that control or create obstacles, preventing small studios and operators from growing and competing internationally. He called on the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and DEPA to finalize the draft law promptly, set a timeline to present it to the Cabinet, and submit it to Parliament as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the People’s Party has also prepared its own draft bill, hoping Parliament will consider both drafts together for a comprehensive law.
Moreover, Mr. Pawat believes the government and relevant agencies do not need to wait for the legal process to finish but can proactively start supporting through investment promotion systems, such as providing seed funding to Thai studios to develop games and own intellectual property rights, improving the Board of Investment (BOI) measures to better accommodate the game business, and promoting year-round business matching events to measure revenue from exporting Thai games abroad.
“Because games are not just toys; they are a new economic industry that creates jobs, generates income, and brings money from around the world into Thailand,” Mr. Pawat concluded.
