Facebook currently has 51 million users in Thailand

Facebook is going to let gamers in Thailand make money off their livestreams.

At the Thailand Game Show this year, the social media giant said it will allow viewers to send “stars” to the gamers as the livestream is going on.

Each star is worth THB 0.99 (US$0.03) and it will be charged to the viewer’s credit card or mobile phone bill.

This game revenue feature is part of  Facebook’s Gaming Creator Programme, which the company introduced to the country in June this year.

The aim of it was to help video game livestreamers (or game casters) better engage their fanbase as well as increase their audience. Examples of games being livestreamed in Facebook Thailand include Garena RoV, PUBG, GTA V and Minecraft.

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Through this, Facebook hopes to get an edge over other video-streaming giants, such as Twitch and YouTube — both of which have a growing presence in Asia.

For example, the Amazon Prime membership, which launched in Singapore last year, come packaged with a Twitch Prime subscription offer free channel subscriptions, ad-free viewing and other exclusives, such as characters and skins. Twitch Prime is also available in Thailand for those who have Prime Video.

Facebook currently has 51 million users in Thailand, according to social media analytics firm, Wisesight. This represents a large hitherto untapped revenue stream for these game casters.

According to the Bangkok Post, Thailand has around 1,000 game casters, with over 18 million gamers.
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