Thai minister inaugurates ‘OBEC Esports Tournament 2024’

Sudhanshu Ranjan February 4, 2025
Thai minister inaugurates ‘OBEC Esports Tournament 2024’

Esports has evolved from a pastime into a multi-billion-pound industry, creating significant opportunities in education and careers. The Thai Ministry of Education has embraced this trend, integrating esports into the educational framework. The recent OBEC Esports Tournament 2024, held at Fashion Island Shopping Mall in Bangkok, marked a crucial step in this transformation.

The vision behind the tournament

The OBEC Esports Tournament 2024 allows students from across the country to participate in regional and national competitions, including a game software development competition called OBEC Youth Esports Creators. This platform enables youth to develop game innovations.

This was a basic education tournament, and esports itself has been gaining more emphasis as an educational activity. In this tournament, gaming was both recreational and informative. It provided a competitive environment where students could share their social skills and develop teamwork, strategy, and problem-solving abilities.

Held at Fashion Island Shopping Mall, the event attracted young competitors from various regions.

The event was officiated by Education Minister Pol Gen Permpoon Chidchob, who emphasised that esports is much more than entertainment. He stated that it could improve academic performance and open doors to many career paths. Minister Permpoon highlighted that participation in esports can lead to higher education opportunities, scholarships, and careers in game development, digital marketing, and technological innovation.

Significance of the OBEC Esports Tournament 2024

The largest high school esports competition, OBEC Esports Tournament 2024, entered the final round between 1-2 February 2025 at Island Hall, 3rd floor, Fashion Island Shopping Centre, Bangkok. Twenty strong esports teams from five regions, selected from 1,404 teams, competed for the championship title of 2024. Pol. Gen. Permpoon Chidchob, Minister of Education, was honoured to preside over and present trophies to the winning teams on 2 February 2025.

The champion of the OBEC Esports Tournament 2024 received a scholarship of 100,000 baht along with a certificate, medals, and a trophy. The first runner-up received a scholarship of 60,000 baht along with a certificate, medals, and a trophy. The second runner-up received a scholarship of 30,000 baht along with a certificate, medals, and a trophy, and the third runner-up received a scholarship of 10,000 baht along with a certificate, medals, and a trophy.

Additionally, all 20 esports teams that advanced to the final round received a scholarship of 15,000 baht, a trophy, and medals for every team.

The esports driving project to further educational innovation in 2024 is a collaboration between the Office of the Basic Education Commission, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, and the Esports Association of Thailand. This initiative aims to transform students’ free time activities into careers in the world of digital technology and the internet, where games are not just games but opportunities.

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