SOUTH KOREAN ONLINE GAME INDUSTRY IN THAI MARKET

In the past South Korea used to be an online game importing country, but now it has becomes the empire of online game in the global market. Online games are also a part of the creative economy which President Park Geunhye mentioned it would lead Korea to a new era of hope and economic development. Therefore, this research aims to study online games as a part of the creative economy and its role in the revitalization of the Korean economy, to study the development of the Korean online game industry and the factors that have affected its development, and to identify the factors affecting the growth and popularity of the Korean online game industry in the Thai market. The research is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on online game industry as a part of Korean creative economy. For this part, the researcher will make use of document-based research examining on the previous documents, such as theses, journals, books, and so on. Then it will focus on the Korean online game industry in the Thai market. The study will be conducted through in-depth interviews with employees of game companies in Thailand. The results of the research show that Korean creative economy has gotten strong support from both the government and private sectors, especially the online game industry which is an essential part of Korean creative economy. This is why it is efficient enough to flourish both at the nationally and internationally. The cause of the growth and popularity of Korean online games in the Thai market is not related to the Korean wave, but rather the high quality and content of Korean online games and also the advantage as the first mover in Thai market.