Photo: Unit 2 Games Limited
Phuket metaverse and technologies event is a great way to bring attention and inspire change towards more gender equity.
“Phuket Goes Borderless in Health, Wellness and Hospitality to Prepare for Metaverse City Development,” a press conference held by the Borderless Health Care group on Monday to discuss the process of their collaboration with players from different industries, including real estate, hospitality, fitness, nutrition, pharmaceutical, and health care, in Phuket.
The partnership has helped bring the latest innovations in immersive technologies for Metaverse City, a development by the Tourism and Sports Ministry and Digital Economy and Society Ministry.
Those in attendance at the conference noted how metaverse cities could be an advantage for marginalized groups as much as the general population, particularly those who identify as LGBT.
The metaverse is an immersive digital world where people can socialize. With the notion of social media, it uses augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain to create an environment for people to entertain themselves.
The worldwide LGBT community is a population of 400 million people, and among the largest populations are found in Thailand (4.2 million), China (75 million), and India (more than 70 million), according to HIV and LGBT Medicine Specialist for the Aids Project LA Health and Wellness and the University of California Internal Medicine Specialist, Wayne Ho.
“Together, this group had the annual spending power of $3.9 trillion [about 130 trillion baht] and $23 trillion in global household wealth. Despite the population size and economic significance, LGBT healthcare remained inadequate,” he stated.
With over 50% of the LGBT population receiving discrimination in healthcare settings, many choose not to seek medical help for sexually transmitted diseases like HIV because they fear it will only worsen, he said. It’s a vicious cycle that needs an end.
Furthering his comments on the topic, he revealed that a Thailand metaverse could afford new possibilities for this marginalized group of people.
The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association found that members of the LGBT community are more likely than others to travel and spend more. In 2018, they spent over $218 billion in total expenditures- mainly from Brazil, Japan, the UK, and Germany.
