Thailand has emerged as one of the most dynamic mobile gaming markets in Southeast Asia, with an estimated 58 million players out of a total population of about 72 million. Mobile gaming makes up the majority of the gaming revenue in the country, and PUBG Mobile has been one of the most consistently played competitive games. Through international hosting responsibilities and structured tournaments, casual weekend gaming has been able to transition into a clear route towards professional play for young players in Thailand.
The Appeal of PUBG Mobile Among Thailand’s Young Players
PUBG Mobile has targeted a specific segment of the gaming market in Thailand. The target market consists of players between the ages of approximately 16 and 30 who have been using smartphones as their main gaming platform instead of PC or console. There is no initial cost to play the game, and it can be played on mid-range Android devices with minimal mobile data usage. This has allowed competitive play to occur outside of Bangkok’s more affluent areas. As broadcasts for competitive gaming have grown on streaming platforms, the audience has also grown beyond just viewing the competition. Today, online betting in Thailand tied to the competitions has also developed and follows similar trends seen in traditional sports betting. Estimates for the esports betting market in Thailand are around 13.3 million euros in revenue for the year 2024 and are expected to increase by nearly 5 percent per year until 2029.
Domestic competition has matured accordingly. The PUBG Mobile Pro League Thailand, organized by KRAFTON and Level Infinite, runs twenty teams through a two-week league stage, with the top sixteen advancing to a three-day grand final and the top three qualifying for the PUBG Mobile Global Open Southeast Asia finals. The 2026 season carries a prize pool of 1,500,000 Thai baht, a structure that gives amateur squads a defined route toward professional recognition instead of informal scrims alone.
There are multiple reasons behind the rapid growth of competitive mobile games in Thailand compared to countries that are still primarily focused on console and PC gaming. These reasons vary from cost and infrastructure to the characteristics of the game itself:
- Availability of 4G/5G networks in both rural and urban provinces with low cost of mobile data
- Free-to-play format eliminates the initial cost of hardware and software seen in PC and console games
- Government recognition of esports as a professional activity since September 2021 has provided resources, training, and institutional backing
- An increasing number of local organizers are holding tournaments with multiple levels of competition below the professional level
All of these factors have contributed to decreasing the effective barrier to entering competition in PUBG Mobile, and that is why there is competition outside of the established gaming communities in the capital city.
Spectatorship, Streaming, and Wagering Platforms Around Tournaments
PUBG Mobile tournament viewing in Thailand is starting to be more similar to traditional sports. Fans can follow live results, event timing, and team performances using their mobile phones while viewing a broadcast. Some fans combine PUBG Mobile viewing with betting apps that also update live esports data. An example of a mobile app designed for this use case is the Melbet download app. This is indicative of a regional trend where fans who engage in mobile-first gaming also tend to adopt mobile-first information and betting at a similar rate. Both use the same mobile device and connection.
This is supported by the growth in the number of stream viewers. For example, during the Last Chance qualifying event for the 2025 PUBG Mobile Global Championship, over 1.2 million global viewers were recorded for just one event in a multi-week competition. For fans in Thailand, this was more than just about viewing, though, as the grand finals for the tournament were hosted in Bangkok and allowed Thai fans to be exposed to the top level of PUBG Mobile competition.
Key Tournaments Shaping Thailand’s Competitive Calendar
Thai teams and players currently compete across three tiers of PUBG Mobile competition: a domestic league, a global championship event, and an international national-team format. The table below summarizes the tournaments most relevant to the current season.
| Tournament | Organizer | Format | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUBG Mobile Pro League Thailand 2026 | KRAFTON, Level Infinite | Domestic league; 20 teams, top 16 advance to the grand final | ฿1,500,000 |
| PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2025 | KRAFTON, Level Infinite | Global finals hosted in Bangkok; 40 teams, Thailand held the host-nation invite | $3,000,000 |
| PUBG Mobile at Esports Nations Cup 2026 | Esports World Cup Foundation | National-team event in Riyadh; 32 countries, including Thailand | $1.32 million |
Thailand’s presence across all three tiers—domestic, global, and national team—reflects a broader shift within the esports scene in Southeast Asia, where mobile titles increasingly anchor competitive calendars once dominated by PC games. Vampire Esports, the Thai club that received the host-nation invite to the 2025 Global Championship grand finals, is one example of how hosting duties can translate into direct competitive opportunities for local organizations.
Outlook for Competitive Mobile Gaming in Thailand
Over the last few years, the mobile gaming market has developed in Thailand, whilst PUBG Mobile has become professional. There doesn’t seem to be any indication these two trends will part company. In 2023, PUBG Mobile was counted as one of the top five most competitive esports in the country based on the number of registered professional players. Only Free Fire and the PC version of PUBG lead it.
For young talents, the route to professional play in PUBG Mobile currently involves participating in amateur tournaments, playing in domestic leagues, and for a small number of talented teams, participating in tournaments hosted in Thailand. With this system in place and ongoing investment from mobile operators and tournament promoters, Thailand is set to stay as one of the more active areas of mobile esports in the coming years.
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