27 Jan, 2021
The Ministry of Tourism this week said that it plans to attract over 3 billion baht in revenue from foreign film productions coming into Thailand.
The plan is to offset the loss of tourism-related income from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The plan is not actually as far-fetched as some people have made it out to be. Thai film and production crews are actually sought after around the region both for their expertise and their low cost-to-quality value. Thailand has stood in for a variety of places around the world and our unique geography and quality of infrastructure continues to make us a sought after destination for crews.
But in terms of legislation, there are many things that the Thai government can still do to attract Hollywood, Bollywood and other multi-million productions to Thailand. On this matter, the government can look to the policies of surrounding countries who have liberalized their laws to attract foreign productions.
Increase Film Rebate
Under Najib Razak (and perhaps for less than innocent reasons), Malaysia actually introduced some of the most sought after tax-rebate laws in South East Asia for foreign films being made in the country. That is why large-scale productions like Crazy, Rich, Asians was filmed in Malaysia even though the film itself was set in Singapore.
Thailand already has in place a film rebate program of 15-20 per cent of production costs for films shooting in Thailand that reach a certain spending threshold. There have been plans by the Ministry of Tourism to increase that number to 25 per cent. Doing so will only increase the attractiveness of the country as a filming location.
Make clear grey areas
As someone who has worked in the film industry on and off for the past several years, one of the things that drives foreign producers crazy is the amount of grey area that foreign crews have to deal with working in Thailand.
One of the most requested areas which foreign productions have asked the Thai government to address is the issue of tax for talent. A foreign actor tax exemption is a policy that has been in place in many countries around the world and would be key in attracting more foreign films to come to Thailand.
But even if it was something that the Thai government wasn’t willing to wholeheartedly commit too, clearly legislating and defining what kind of tax foreign actors face when shooting a few scenes in the country would put many producer’s mind at ease.
Encourage local talent
When one looks at the film industry in Asia, the golden standard over the past two decade seems to be South Korean cinema. In a recent podcast with film critic Kong Rithdee (listen here), the argument was made that the central reason why the Korean film industry has boomed creatively and in business terms is because of supportive government policy.
Recently the military-backed Prayut Chan-ocha government signaled that it was interested in funding local films but with the caveat that they be ‘patriotic’ in nature. This is the wrong move and something that the Koreans have already paved the way on.
More than likely, the Thai Ministry of Culture will choose to fund ‘safe’ films and done by directors that are conservative or have a pro-government line in order that the films have the necessary propagandist value.
This is the wrong move. Creativity must be nurtured and young Thai filmmakers can regularly compete on the world’s stage given the right amount of support. Hell, even without support, a Thai director won the Palme D’or.
Look to the South Korean films that have taken the world by storm in recent years, none of them could really be counted as pro-Seoul propaganda. If anything, many of them highlighted the inequalities and issues that have plagued Korean society past and present. Parasite, which won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, was a harsh look at the disparity in income in Seoul.
But directors like Bong Joon-Ho received the backing of the government not because they were going to make sweeping historical epics that reinforced the nation-state but because they’re talented and they would do much to further the industry.
There are a wealth of young Thai directors out there now that could use the government support to realize their vision – doing so with funding and logistics would only enhance the quality of the industry in Thailand and make it more attractive for companies like Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video to fund local productions.
