ReelShort, the popular microdrama platform, has launched in Southeast Asia through a partnership with Thailand’s top 5G provider, Advanced Info Service (AIS), using the country as a launchpad for wider regional growth. The co-branded 5G ReelShort add-on, priced at just THB39 ($1.15) per month—versus the usual THB599 ($17.50) VIP fee—delivers AIS prepaid and postpaid subscribers ad-free access to the full library, daily new episodes, and included 5G data. This represents ReelShort’s debut telco partnership in Southeast Asia.
The app arrives with almost 3,000 titles in genres like romance, CEO intrigue, Chinese stories, and twisty plots; hits such as “Bound By Honor,” “True Heiress vs. Fake Queen Bee,” and “Move Aside! I’m the Final Boss” have racked up hundreds of millions of views each. Thai viewers get solid localization too, with about 300 fully dubbed episodes and more than 1,000 subtitled.
AR Asia Productions brokered the deal as ReelShort’s sole regional distributor. Joey Jia, CEO of parent company Crazy Maple Studio, described Southeast Asia as “one of the most exciting and competitive mobile entertainment markets globally,” adding, “Thailand is just the beginning of ReelShort’s much broader regional expansion strategy.”
Read more: Why Microdamas Are Taking Over Asia And Why The West Could Be Next
From AIS’s side, chief mobile business officer Lertchai Kodsup emphasized blending networks with premium content. “ReelShort is a global leader in the vertical short-drama market,” he said, pointing to its 2,700+ series with Thai dubs and subs. The rollout includes a massive two-month promo blitz—the platform’s biggest in the region yet—with influencers, ads, digital campaigns, and store activations to hook Thai audiences.
Kodsup noted the tie-up gives AIS’s 52 million-plus customers (including 46.8 million 5G users) on-demand entertainment that matches fast-paced modern lives. As vertical short-dramas surge across Southeast Asia, this move underscores how telcos are fueling the bite-sized video boom on mobiles.
