Thailand Board Game Show 2024

The Thailand Board Game Show was 8 - 10 Nov 2024. Malaysian designers and publishers were invited, and five of us made it to the show - LUMA, Meja Belakang, Hardknock Creatives, Zodiac Go and Cili Padi Games (me). This was my first time showcasing my games outside of Malaysia as a fair exhibitor. 

I met Yoyo of Swan Panasia at the fair. I first got to know him more than 20 years ago in Taipei. That was when I got into the boardgames hobby. He was the one who taught me Carcassonne, and it was at his and his wife's cafe Witch House. I met him before the show started, and managed to show him my published games.   

These were all the Malaysian games displayed at the fair. I helped my designer friend Poon Jon (nPips Games) bring his game to sell too - Furmation of Rome. 

I employed a local helper through the organiser. His name is Chris (Apiwat Toey Jaturongparatipat). It was necessary to have someone who spoke Thai, because most visitors were more comfortable with Thai. Chris was fantastic. He was enthusiastic when teaching my games. He was lively and engaging. I had no idea what he said, but whatever he said when teaching the game seemed very funny to me. He seemed to be teaching my games even better than me. I almost wanted to record him teaching my game. Once when he was teaching the game to a visitor and he had a friend sitting down to play together, the two of them were like running a scripted comedy show. It was amazing to watch. The lady who was learning the game was highly entertained. Eventually she bought all three of my games.  

I managed to browse the other booths. Most games were in Thai, and explanations were in Thai too, so I couldn't listen in. I don't speak Thai at all.   

This particular group bought all four games I brought, three designed by me and one by Jon. The two guys both bought Ali Baba. So in total they bought five games. 

Three of my Malaysian game designer / publisher friends flew to Bangkok on Friday itself. It was a very long day for them. They had to go to the airport around 3am. The only non-Malaysian in the photo is Francesco from Italy. He is a game scout and licensing consultant. He is interested to discover Asian games and bring them to a wider audience.  

My helper for Day 2 was Tree (Surakit Joradol). He is a music teacher teaching piano and guitar at a high school. He runs a boardgame cafe too as a side business. It is called Eat & Play. 

This is a demo version of Vagrant Dash by Malaysian designer Hwa Siang. His game sold out at the show. It was a highlighted game by a local influencer / reviewer. I need to learn to do influencer marketing like this.  

Snow White being taught. With a minimum player count of 7, it's not easy to get it played at conventions.  

This was my helper on Friday and Sunday, Chris (Apiwat Toey Jaturongparatipat). We took this photo around the end of Sunday. 

Martin Ang is a designer and publisher from Indonesia. He has been in the boardgame business for 9 years, starting with a game library, and entering publishing in 2018. I had a long chat with him and found many things we have in common. He too used to be a fan of heavy Eurogames, but in recent years find them repetitive and samey. He shared with me about the Indonesian boardgame market. JinxO is a party game, and a clever one. Martin's booth is nearby, and I always hear a lot of laughter and cheers from people playing JinxO. 

Haireey and Jia Xian (Lim) from Meja Belakang. Some of us Malaysian designers took the opportunity to distribute our games in Thailand via Wise Box. 

All the Malaysian designers and publishers plus Yoyo of Swan Panasia.

Sarawut Jirawaree (2nd from left) is a Thai designer and publisher. His company Desk Deck Boardgame Studio currently has games from four local designers. I bought several of their games to try. 

I took the opportunity to ask fellow Malaysian designers to help playtest Taking Sides. I need to do more playtesting with different player counts. This was the first time I playtested with the new theme - the Three Kingdoms period in China. It seems to work pretty well. 

It was a great experience exhibiting in Bangkok. I got a glimpse into the Thailand boardgame market, and it's so much bigger than Malaysia. It was good to meet designers, publishers and boardgame industry players from other South East Asian countries. Of the Malaysian games presented, two games sold out, Vagrant Dash and Zodiac Go, which is wonderful news. Speaking to people from different countries gave me new insights and perspectives, which is invaluable. 

I played several games at the fair. Capsule reviews coming soon!