Thailand is just behind Japan after becoming the world's No.2 country in terms of Line stickers downloaded and growth in Line sticker creators.
The four biggest Line sticker markets are Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia. Line sticker creators in Thailand number about 340,000, up seven times compared with last year's level.
The growth of paid stickers downloaded in the first quarter this year grew by 52% year-on-year, said Kanop Supamanop, head of sticker business at Line Thailand.
He said the growth was contributed by a variety of sticker purchase channels, including Line Store, Line prepaid cards, DTAC USSD keypress codes, and Boonterm and Termsabuy Plus top-up kiosks.
"Besides Line Store and Line prepaid cards, people can top up for stickers at 7-Eleven, Tesco Lotus, Family Mart and Lawson," Mr Kanop said.
He said Thai people are likely to communicate and express ideas by sending stickers because of the convenience, which is why the popularity of Line sticker creators is growing rapidly.
"The most popular Line stickers are the categories of sarcastic and funny expressions, because Thais are too shy to type and they feel more comfortable using stickers for their communication," Mr Kanop said.
Line Thailand expects about 400,000 Line sticker creators to have joined the community by the end of this year.
Sticker creators are attracted by the high return from downloaded stickers, Mr Kanop said.
The revenue from downloaded stickers is shared 50:50 between Line Thailand and creators.
Line plans to promote sticker creation as a career by encouraging the use of smash-hit stickers by Thai creators in other countries, while introducing merchandise based on those stickers through the Line Gift Shop.
Naotomo Watanabe, manager of the sticker planning team at Line Corporation, said that apart from their cute drawings, Line stickers have gained popularity because they deliver clear messages and expressions.
