Gink (as Pimchanok Leuwisetpaiboon, right) and Palm (Naphat Siangsomboon) in Friend Zone, a popular Thai movie - Photo: IMDb
The new agency, the Thailand Creative Culture Agency, is expected to be operational by mid-2025, subject to parliamentary approval and funding commitments from several ministries, National Soft Power Strategy Committee director Surapong Suebwonglee told Variety.
Efforts to develop Thai cinema
A subcommittee headed by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and reporting directly to the prime minister, has also been empowered to initiate reforms in the feature and documentary film industries.
Expected changes include easing the burden of censorship, establishing an agency to support filming locations and licensing, as well as a larger discount program for domestic productions and more funding to develop the film industry.
“Canada, Romania and Iceland all have regulations on film cost rebates for film crews shooting in their countries. The incentive in Japan is currently 50%, India 40%. We need to increase Thailand’s rate to 30%.
But first we need to prove that it works. We need to develop the film industry at the same time," Chalermchatri Yukol, chairman of the National Soft Power Development Board for the Film Industry, told Variety.
Thailand currently applies a 15% discount, plus 5% for projects that use a lot of local resources, but previously it was also capped at $2.25 million.
“We need to collaborate with the best from Korea, Taiwan and the US and are looking to set up a co-production fund next year,” said Chalermchatri Yukol.
“And we also need to maintain a diverse range of local productions that can reach the global market. Some that can be selected for film festivals, others by new directors. There also needs to be a fund for children’s films.”
The censorship committee may have also undergone some changes. Instead of having a 4-3 majority of government officials over industry members, the censorship committee has been streamlined, with a 3-2 ratio of industry experts to officials.
Ultimately the ideal would be to replace the censorship system with a rating system.
“We are global citizens and global citizens need to think globally. Our cultural borders are no longer relevant,” said Mr. Chalermchatri.
Blockbuster Fast & Furious 9 filmed in Krabi and Phuket, Thailand - Photo: Universal
Advantages of Thai cinema
Thailand has long been a favorite location for Hollywood, Chinese and Indian filmmakers.
Thailand has many advantages to build a large film industry, such as diverse locations, skilled crews, studio facilities, incentive policies, etc.
However, the country's film industry is sometimes held back by the mindset that cinema is only a tool to support tourism.
Besides, domestic box office revenue is also low and censorship regulations are not optimal.
But the current civilian government says it does not view culture as mere decoration and is committed to a wave of “soft power” initiatives to develop nearly a dozen industries, from food, music and dance to Muay Thai.
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