Design and Development of a Thai Learning Board Game for Chinese Families in Bangkok

Background and Aim: This study investigates the Thai language learning needs of Chinese families living in Bangkok, aiming to design a board game that assists Chinese families in Bangkok in learning practical Thai language. Despite increasing Chinese migration to Thailand and a rising demand for Thai language resources, there is still a lack of board games tailored to Chinese families. Materials and Methods: This study employs a mixed-methods approach, targeting Chinese families in Bangkok and recruiting 10 families as the research sample. By summarizing sentences from the Pickup Thai website and Thaipod101 website and combining them with the results of a questionnaire survey of 100 Chinese in Thailand, the researcher analyzes the Thai learning needs of Chinese families. As well as their preferences for board game art styles. The researcher analyzes six top-selling language learning board games and family board games, learn their advantages, and designs the gameplay of the board game in combination with expert interviews. Results: The findings reveal that Chinese families in Thailand primarily seek to learn Thai vocabulary, sentences, and Thai cultural knowledge, with particular emphasis on six key scenarios: weather, restaurant, traveling, transportation, expressing feelings, and greeting & introducing yourself, as the sentences about these six scenarios are prioritized by over 50% of survey respondents. The content of the final board game includes Thai words, sentences, and cultural knowledge. The gameplay combines CLIL theory with knowledge of Thai cuisine, attractions, etiquette, and history, and is suitable for families. Players’ trial feedback showed that the board games designed in combination with CLIL theory aroused their interest in further learning. The overall art style adopts a hand-painted style, and different theme colors are used to distinguish the learning content. Conclusion: This study summarizes the specific needs of Chinese families for learning Thai and designs a board game product suitable for Chinese families in Bangkok.