In a significant move to bolster Thailand’s creative economy, Thai authorities plan to further explore the potential of its costal city Pattaya and build it a hub of film industry -- a crucial role in the country’s soft power strategic plan.
“Pattaya is not only well known as a tourism city, but also holds strong potential to become Thailand’s ‘City of Film’, taking the center stage in the film and creative industries,” said Deputy Director-General of the Thai Public Relation Department Arunya Keatkeaw.
Speaking during the Pattaya Film Festival, one-week event that kicked off on Wednesday, she said Pattaya continues to rise as a significant contributor to the national economy and also supports of dreams of Thai films going global in order to make the country’s soft power and creative industries better known worldwide.
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Early this year, Thai government announced its development plan, known as Ignite Thailand, which attached great importance of its soft power with an emphasis on 11 sectors, including food, sports, tourism and films. Soft power is believed to add value to the country’s economy and tourism through cultural capital.
As a crucial part in film industry, Pattaya is expected to be built as a “City of Film” and also a location for film shooting. Pattaya Film Festival, which was initiated last year, aims to bring films of diverse sensibilities to audiences free of charge. It also featured a film competition, workshops, and seminars.
Moreover, Pattaya is also applying to be a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of film, Siwat Bunkerd, deputy permanent secretary of Pattaya city, revealed Aug 22.
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“Under the plan, the city will be a one-stop-service center for film and creative industries. In addition, a theme park covering 640,000 square meters will be built to accommodate film industry,” he said, adding that there are also educational institutes that will provide curriculum and training to support the industry.
Well-recognized as one of the world’s investment hubs for film-making, Thailand’s earnings from foreign film-making reached more than 6.6 billion baht ($192.45 million) last year, according to the Thailand Film Office under the Department of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
It shows that a total of 466 films were shot in Thailand last year by filmmakers from 40 countries and territories. The United States ranked first, followed by China’ Hong Kong Special Administration, the Chinese mainland, Germany, and South Korea.
“China is our major target market. In fact, we’ve realized the fact when we participated a major film festival in China years ago and surprisingly found that Chinese audiences are very interested in Thai films and TV dramas,” said Nuanvan Daraswasdi, expert in policy and strategy from the Ministry of Culture.
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In an effort to give a major boost to films promoting Thailand’s soft power, the Ministry of Culture has offered a subsidy of 30 million baht for each project of movie or animated movie production.
In order to reward foreign filmmakers for investing 50 million baht or more in filming in Thailand, the government introduced a cash rebate program. Under the program, 20 to 30 percent of investment can be rebated in total and the cash rebate ceiling has also been raised from 75 million baht to 150 million baht from January.
“We believe that the development of Thailand as a center for film-making will also help promote other related industries, generate more employment and income, and distribute wealth to the regional areas of the country,” said Panidapa Suankaew, Chief of Film Business Promotion Section Thailand Film Office under the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
Contact the writer at yangwanli@chinadaily.com.cn