Crowds flock to Thailand Metaverse Expo 2022 for glimpse of the future

Thailand Metaverse Expo 2022 (TME) has successfully helped drive Thailand into the Web3 era. More than 50 CEOs of leading companies and gurus of the industry unveiled their visions and the event offered new business opportunities to many of the 4,000 attendees.

The three-day event was held for the first time in Thailand, from August 19-21, 2022, @centralwOrld Live. TME received an overwhelming response that exceeded expectations.

Throughout the three-day event, more than 30 companies and startups from the metaverse and related industries joined the booths. Three stages showcased fresh ideas to illustrate the state-of-the-art power of the new virtual world that will seamlessly connect with the physical world.

The Nation, under Nation Group, joined forces with partners “Block Mountain”, one of the largest blockchain and digital asset exhibitions in Thailand, and Metaverse XR, a metaverse tech startup, to organise this landmark event in Thailand and open it to the public for free.

At the event, attendees witnessed the real world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Sports Metaverse and startups, while finding new business and business-matching opportunities from local and international experts.

During the event, Multiverse Expert was announced as the 4th Thai unicorn and the first Thai Metaverse Unicorn.

Multiverse Expert, under the MiGroup, received investment from Power-All Networks, a subsidiary of Foxconn. They were set to receive $120 million earn-out procurement, or 10 per cent of its $1.2-billion valuation.

The organisers took the opportunity to congratulate Pongwut Praipaisalkit, the CEO of Multiverse Expert.

Adisak Limparungpatanakit, Executive Vice President of Nation Group, said: “The Nation, as a media that has been with Thai society for more than half a century, must be an intermediary in bringing Thai society forward into the era of Metaverse and Web3.”

Natee Theppot, co-founder of Om Platform, said that on behalf of the co-organiser Block Mountain and partners, he would like to thank all teams and supporters of the event.

“Thailand Metaverse Expo is part of the spark that made us realise the importance of technology, especially the metaverse, and just be open to learning. Opportunity is always there when you are open,” he said.

Parin Sathianpagilanagorn, Managing Director, Multi Technology Expert and co-founder of Metaverse Thailand, said: “Metaverse is no longer a matter of fundraising. What will keep it alive is productivity within their own community to create mass adoption.”

“Metaverse is not a pure virtual world because we are currently living a real life. So we need services and partners to connect real life to Metaverse,” said Nuttapong Tungdajahirun, CEO, Sabuy Digital.

“Metaverse is borderless and D.OASIS wants to be the largest community of Thai people in The Sandbox, giving Thailand access to a global community while the world community is able to access Thailand,” said Sirikiat Bunworaset, CEO of D.OASIS

“To build a sustainable metaverse model, you have to keep providing features that enable and empower creators. Let them own and monetise their content,” said Sebastien Borget, Chief Operating Officer, The Sandbox

Jirayut Srupsrisopa, the CEO and founder of Bitkub Capital Group Holdings, said: “Thailand can become the digital economy hub of Asean.”

“Metaverse is a global trend. Thailand is at the stage where all stakeholders are beginning to explore, then search for business-appropriate concepts,” said Sanjay Popli, Cryptomind Advisory's co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

The event also hosted two other stages — Showcase and Workshop — where insights into the metaverse were well-known, and up-and-coming NFT artists and communities were introduced. Some of the well-known NFT artists were Play Isreyah, MaArt Studio, Eveden, Warden, Atevada, Latte Latte, Coconut Sunday, ARCHIVERSE, Taitern, Maxyverse, CHANGLAND, Frontyr Studio, etc.

Thitiphan Thapthong, better known as Taitern, said: "If we can make something invisible to be recognisable, then we have no fear of losing our identity."

Orchaporn “Jean” Warasirikul, owner of Latte Latte, said: “Latte is coffee. Latte, latte, is like offering happiness. Born of love, dream and bonding together, it has become an inspiration to create each piece that wants to make those who see it smile.”

“NFT is the future, good experience at your fingertips There's no such thing as late if you're thinking of starting. The world can be changed by our own hands.”

Coconut Sunday, a Thai band that performed on Metaverse in the Decentraland System, showed up live at Thailand Metaverse Expo 2022. One of its band members said, “Metaverse and NFT have opened doors that were previously closed for us to meet new friends, new fans around the world. It is a warm community and the hope of our music journey.”

In addition, there was also a significant development in the Thai sports industry with the "Sport Metaverse Challenge #1," an idea competition to find talents. The teams presented their ideas on developing athletes' potential through the virtual world with the mentors of the metaverse industry closely mentoring each other, whether it's Khun Sanjay Popli, CEO of Cyptomind, or Pongwut Praipaisalkit, CEO of Multiverse Expert, Thailand’s fourth unicorn.

The winning team this first year was SKiVERSE, a group of young students from Chulalongkorn University, inspired by skiing that could only be held in winter cities. But virtual reality technology could break all barriers to pave the way for the sport on the metaverse.

SKiVERSE won the judges' nod and grabbed the first prize of 100,000 baht. The runner-up was BS — Muay Thai — which received 30,000 baht; third-placed AS2P — table tennis — got 25,000 baht; and the Dragon Boat sports team received 20,000 baht for finishing fourth.

Preedok Thongwandee, president of the event’s sponsor, B-Lay Plus Co Ltd, the official supporter of Sport Metaverse Challenge #1, said: "Congratulations to the youngsters who came to show their ideas on developing athletes' potential. I believe that this is a very good extension."

Media activities aimed at helping develop Thai journalism at Thailand Metaverse Expo 2022, involved two parts: the presentation of AI Reporters in collaboration with deus.works, and the second event was the press conference on “Developing news stations on Metaworld with OK Nation, Metaverse Thailand, and Erectus, which were believed to be the starting point for media outlets in Thailand to fully enter the Metaverse world.

Also making major contributions towards the success of the event were the main sponsors: Metaverse Association of Thailand, B-Healthy, Bitkub, Healthverse Island, PRX Metaverse, 9 Cat Digital, Multiverse Expert (MiGroup), Sabuy Digital, Kantana, along with B-Lay Plus (Sport. Metaverse), MQDC, Translucia, D.OASIS, and AIS.

Other sponsors included True, Thai Smile, Puff & Pie, and Mind Pixels.

Participating brands included Block Mountain, Bitkub, Metaverse Association of Thailand, Chiangmai Crypto City, Thonburi Group, Art Story to The Moon Project (NFT booth for autistic kids), MetaverseXR, Merkel Capital, Erectrus, Spatial, Thai Metaverse Association, 63Buildcybertech, Grafity, Blue Ocean. Technology, deus.works, Om Platform, B-Healthy, Healthverse Island, PRX Metaverse, Multiverse Expert (MiGroup), Sabuy Digital, Kantana, and Pro-toys.

For more information:

https://www.thailandmetaverseexpo.asia/

Main FB Page: Metaverse Thailand Expo 2022

https://www.facebook.com/ThailandMetaverseExpo

FB Page for Sport Metaverse: https://www.facebook.com/sportmetaverse/