State working to boost film industry
The prospects of Thailand’s film industry and entertainment business remain promising, with the Commerce Ministry vowing to help create more business partnerships and promote co-production and joint investment with foreign companies this year.
Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said the ministry is also working closely with all responsible state and private units to develop Thailand as the centre of production and post-production for the film industry in Southeast Asia.
The ministry is also committed to engaging more in developing human resources for the film industry, expanding the export market for Thai movies, and promoting the development of more creative content, intellectual property, and Thai film brands.
“The film industry has generated over 30-billion-baht worth of revenue in a year,” she said. “Once it flourishes, other related industries such as studio services and film equipment, car rental services, actors, location shooting services, visual effects, movie theatres, food and catering will also grow accordingly.”
According to Mrs Apiradi, Thailand’s film industry is expected to see active growth this year, particularly driven by the government’s generous tax incentives given to foreign movie shoots, which are due to become effective this year.
The tax incentives include a cash rebate of 15% for every 50 million baht spent for foreign big-budget films shot in Thailand and another 5% for filmmakers hiring Thais and promoting tourism.
The Tourism Department earlier estimated the government’s new tax incentive for foreign big-budget films shot in Thailand would boost revenue from these shoots substantially.
The department predicted the incentive would drive revenue from Thailand being used as a location for feature films, documentaries and reality shows to 5 billion baht in 2018, up from an average of 2 billion a year now.
The Tourism and Sports Ministry has said that presenting Thailand as a destination for big-budget films should also help tourism if one hearkens back to the success that saw Koh Tapu dubbed James Bond Island after it was featured in The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974.
The ministry said Thailand has potential as a film location because it has professional production houses and supporting actors.
The country expects to receive not only revenue from film production but also an image boost among tourists.