Written by new-contact on Jan 25, 2012. Posted in On Location

Thailand Film Office focuses on film tourism and calls for regional co-operation

The Thailand Film Office wants to maximise local film tourism and is calling for regional film commissions in South-East Asia to work together more closely. Thais met with their regional counterparts at the Asian Film Commissions Network (AFCnet) in Vietnam and Myanmar this month.

Film tourists are people who decide to visit a location because they’ve seen it in a film or TV show they enjoyed. The biggest film to have shot in Thailand recently was The Hangover 2, and the shoot is said to have boosted local tourism. Thailand is now looking for greater co-ordination between film commissions across South-East Asia to maximise the effect.

AFCnet efforts at encouraging film commissions in the region to share their expertise and co-venture with one another is a way to expand our business efforts in a very competitive international environment.

Worateera Suvarnsorn, Thailand Film Office

Worateera Suvarnsorn is with the Thailand Film Office and promotes film business: “AFCnet efforts at encouraging film commissions in the region to share their expertise and co-venture with one another is a way to expand our business efforts in a very competitive international environment.”

Attracting film fan tourists seems to have become the priority for Thailand. In place of formal filming incentives the country offers production costs that are lower than much of its competition, but in recent years there have been the internal challenges of political turmoil and, more recently, severe flooding.