00:00It says the world's biggest Scrabble tournament in Bangkok.
00:02So it's the biggest Scrabble tournament.
00:04It's in Thailand.
00:05About 450 players, 30 countries competing.
00:08So we have Bloomberg's Thailand reporter Randy Thanthong Knight.
00:12He talked about why this board game is so popular in the Southeast and Asian country.
00:16Listen up.
00:17Part of Thailand's success can be traced back to the classroom.
00:21The country's English teaching has long been criticized for focusing heavily on memorization and exams.
00:27Lots of learning words and grammar and not much conversation.
00:32But those exact skills translate surprisingly well to Scrabble.
00:36There's also a broader pattern here.
00:39Thailand has long punched above its weight in sports like boxing and weightlifting.
00:45Areas where smart training can outweigh the advantages of bigger nations.
00:50And Scrabble has become one of those arenas.
00:53The game was introduced through Thai schools in the 80s.
00:57And over time, it evolved into something much bigger.
01:01A pathway to scholarships and elite universities.
01:06So despite ranking relatively low in global English proficiency,
01:11Thailand has produced multiple world Scrabble champions.
01:15And remains the only Asian country to ever do so.
01:19And now a new generation is emerging.
01:21Among the youngest competitors this weekend are nine-year-old Thai twins who only started playing
01:27a little over a year ago and are already competing internationally.
01:31At the highest level, Scrabble isn't just about knowing words or having good memory.
01:37It's also about strategy and psychology and sometimes pure luck in the draw of the tiles.
01:44Oh, I love me a good Scrabble game.
01:45Do you love it?
01:46I do.
01:46I get competitive.
01:47I get nasty.
01:49First, shout out to Randy.
01:51He shot and did that whole thing for us on Very Little Notice.
01:53It was awesome.
01:54Randy, that was great.
01:54Hey, Randy.
01:55Second of all, I am.
01:56I'm dyslexic, so I'm not playing Scrabble.
01:58That's not happening.
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