Pokémon fever sparks new business
THE Pokémon Go digital hunting frenzy which swept Thailand after True Corp launched the augmented reality game here on Saturday has led to a new business which is renting out vehicles to chase these digital creatures, new)108 free newspaper said today.
Many people have taken the opportunity to make it easier for gamers to chase the Pokémon monsters by renting out hunting vehicles. Such advertisements have appeared online and either a lone gamer or a group could hire these vehicles.
Vehicles offered for rent include sedans, vans as well tour coaches taking gamers on a trip to catch these digital creatures.
Gamers can rent hunting vehicles by the hour or the whole day with the price ranging from a few hundred baht up to thousands, new)108 said, adding that this service is attracting a lot of hunters.
Meanwhile the Thai Culture Ministry is getting ready to send a letter to the Ministry of information and Communication Technology about regulations on playing the Pokémon Go game because this takes them to real locations and gamers might go into ancient buildings, temples and palaces and cause damage.
This step was taken after people flooded a temple in the heart of Chiang Mai to hunt for these digital creatures which troubled the monks residing there because they did not have space to carry out their daily activities.
For those who do not know about this amazing digital game, Lifehacker.com explains that Pokémon is the portmanteau of “pocket monsters” which roam the lands and the gamer’s job is to find, capture and train them after which put them in battle against other players.
“Pokémon Go is a free-to-play mobile app that you can download for iOS or Android. It’s free to download and start playing, but you have the option to use real money to buy in-game currency called PokéCoins. (Between $0.99 for 100 PokéCoins and up to $99.99 for 14,500.)
“Those PokéCoins are used to purchase Pokéballs, the in-game item you need to be able to catch Pokémon. Now you don’t have to spend real money, but that simply means you need to pay with your time and energy (which is the fun of it, anyway!),” Lifehacker.com added.
CAPTIONS:
TOP: A hungry Pokémon creature wants to share this snack. Photo: Susanne Nilsson
INSET: Pokémon creatures are now roaming the globe with this one sighted at a Chicago street. Photo: Topher McCulloch
By Thai Residents reporters
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