Trade show puts character market under the spotlight

The Digital Content Association of Thailand (DCAT) says Thai characters have strong growth potential and urges creators to quickly adapt to new trends in order to compete effectively with foreign-created characters.

- KUAKUL MORNKUM

Thai creators promote their character products at the Licensing Show ASEAN 2025. The event got underway on Tuesday at Bitec Bang Na and comes to a close today.

DCAT president Sumith Simargool said the association had seen an expansion of the character market.

The growing recognition of characters, partly from the art toy boom, is influenced by brands such as Pop Mart, a Chinese toy company based in Beijing.

Moreover, Thai characters are gaining significant popularity, such as the pygmy hippopotamus Moo Deng and the cute and charming Butter Bear, both of which have helped shine a spotlight on locally-created characters.