YouTube opens Space for creators in Bangkok

 

YouTube, the Google-owned social media video-sharing phenomenon, opened its first YouTube Pop-up Space in Bangkok last week, the first such space for the company in East Asia, to facilitate Thailand-based video creators to produce content, attend workshops and collaborate with others.

Thailand was chosen for the venture because it is among the top 10 countries globally when it comes to YouTube watching time. YouTube Space is intended as a home for creators to develop and produce content, network and exchange ideas and creations with their counterparts. YouTube teams help creators make great content through strategic programs and workshops mainly administered at the YouTube Space production facilities.

The space is referred to as a Pop-up Space because it is temporary in nature. YouTube has established permanent Spaces in Tokyo and Mumbai, as well as in Los Angeles, New York, London, Tokyo, Berlin, Paris, Sao Paolo, and Toronto. The company did not say whether it will eventually make Bangkok’s Pop-Up Space a permanent Space.

On a professional level, Thailand has a reputation for video creativity as evidenced by the trove of awards its television advertising industry routinely wins in Asia-wide industry competitions. Several Thai television advertisements have received global attention for their touching or heart-wrenching plot lines and high production value. Many that have garnered attention did so because they went viral on YouTube.

Thailand has 36 million Internet users out of population of roughly 68 million people, and 26.25 million of them are YouTube users, for 75 percent of the country’s online community, according to Thailand Social Media Landscape 2016. That makes YouTube the second-most popular social media platform in Thailand after Facebook.

A total of 3.4 million YouTube videos have been created in or uploaded from Thailand. YouTube has an average of 2.14 million average daily visitors in the Kingdom, and the average visits per month for Thai YouTube users is16.6 times, with an average duration per visit of 17.3 minutes.

The top 10 YouTube channels in Thailand are all owned by local entertainment companies, such as RSVDO, rsiammusic, Genierock and vrzochannel. The top spot belongs to GMM Grammy, which produces music, television shows and movies. GMM Grammy’s YouTube channel had 3.8 million subscribers in mid-2014, according to the most recent statistics available.