MOTS to hold film festival promoting Thailand's film locations



BANGKOK, 24 January 2015 (NNT) – The Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) will be hosting the international film festival to promote Thailand as a potential filming location, while expecting a 10% increase in revenue from this plan.

The MOTS Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul revealed that the MOTS will host the Thailand International Film Destination Festival 2015 (TIFDF 2015) under the theme ‘Scenery, Scene, Seen on Screen’ on 4-12 February 2015. This festival will promote Thailand as a potential filming location to foreign filmmakers.

The TIFDF event will also be a promotional incentive for the 12 ‘Can’t Miss Cities’ tourism destinations as well.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Department of Tourism Arnupap Gaesornsuwan has said that the department has requested the Fiscal Policy Committee to provide policies to encourage foreign film productions to use Thailand as a filming location through return incentives of up to 15-20 percent in production expenses.

He has said that this measure will also increase Thailand's competitiveness in the ASEAN Community.

The production of the sequel to the famous movie ‘Lost in Thailand’ that stirred a tourism boom in the northern region of Thailand, due to its filming location in Chiang Mai, is currently waiting to be approved from the department.

The Lost in Thailand 2 is expected to be filmed during March-April 2015 and is expected to hit the theatres by the end of this year. The movie will mostly be filmed in Yaowarat, Chinatown of Bangkok.

Thailand received approximately a 1.934 billion baht revenue from 600 film shootings in 2014. This figure decreased from 2 billion baht in 2013 due to the political issue in early 2014.

In 2013, Thailand receives most filming income from England, followed by the United States, India, China, and Hong Kong.

The authorities are expecting a 5-10 percent growth in the filming income through promotional roadshows with the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture in major film festivals across the world.


-- NNT 2015-01-24

Hey, great idea. Can't wait to see the new film, 'Murdered in Koh Tao'.

Hey, great idea. Can't wait to see the new film, 'Murdered in Koh Tao'.

OR "17 farangs arrested in Chiang Mai."

Soon in this theater:

"Smoldering Plain" - A couple of shady land developers establish an illegal landfill in a Bangkok suburb, inviting foreign companies to import and dump their industrial waste there as well. The duo believe nobody will notice, since the entire country is awash with trash discarded by the locals anyhow. But then the landfill catches fire...

"Island of No Return" - A popular holiday island experiences a string of grisly murders of foreign tourists, with a good many local suspecting the involvement of the offspring of an influential local community leader. Master sleuth Sgt. Somchai is brought in to investigate the murders, but arrives at the conclusion that "no local could have possibly done it". Instead, a duo of poor migrant workers are arrested. Then the next killing occurs...

"All the Time in the World" - This highly acclaimed documentary follows the daily lives of dozens of high-ranking government officials who were delegated to inactive posts for various infringements ranging from embezzlement to extortion, . In stunning visuals, the film tries to answer the primary question that lingers in the minds of the disgraced officials: "What are we going to do if we don't have to do anything?".

"The production of the sequel to the famous movie ‘Lost in Thailand’ that stirred a tourism boom in the northern region of Thailand, due to its filming location in Chiang Mai, is currently waiting to be approved from the department... The movie will mostly be filmed in Yaowarat, Chinatown of Bangkok."

That's a relief. Bangkok can now get all the Chinese tourists driving on the wrong side of the road (The hand sign in the above photo must be some representation of the size of the average Chinese tourist's field of vision while driving), stopping in the middle of the street and blocking traffic in order to snap a photo, and throwing their garbage/spitting wherever they happen to be. Another MOTS campaign for quality tourists.

This should make CNN's Anderson Cooper's "RedicuList".

Again, I think this is a case of people who don't' know anything about anything creating a Thai style show to impress their own. I doubt there will be ANY return on this investment.

I'd like to see a follow-up news story on the results.

Tourism ministry involved in a film festival, why? Oh yeah, last time a government official made a fortune in bribes that also sent a USA producer to jail.

101 ways to make a movie about spirits and ghosts...yawn.

Making a movie to promote making movies is not a bad idea and a PAID film screening (dont call it a festival, joke use of the word) party is also helpful. However, Thailand will have to pay key location scouts (do you know that word and meaning?) all expense paid trips to Thailand just to get them here; same for some producers and writers, but finding WHO to invite is a difficult problem for film industry amateurs.

Thailand has some HUGE blocks to feature films being made here:

-CENSORSHIP of scripts before the films are made.

-CENSORSHIP during shooting.

-CENSORSHIP of finished films prior to showing here.

-No local on-camera English language expert talent, none.

-Limits on truck movement in cities, a biggy too, and amateurs ignore that.

-Local hire rules encourage featherbedding.

-Local crew talent is sub standard and language blocked.

-Advance people must have good translator on hand at all times.

-Greedy charges for location shoots due to fiction that all films in making are loaded with money.

-Image of rampant bribing is a negative.

-Lack of an effective "film office" of Thailand and also in the large cities (including good pre-scouting assistance).

-Permits, fees, sound and crowd controls, can appear overwhelming.

And that is the "good news." It gets worse.

Reasons to shoot here:

-exotic locales ...unfortunately totally equaled by other locations.

-uh, uh, male producers think it is a sexy place to shoot.

I hope someone sees what I am talking about.

ko tao for an action / murder / thriller

phuket for a scam movie

pattaya for a porn

bangkok for a comedy

Making a movie to promote making movies is not a bad idea and a PAID film screening (dont call it a festival, joke use of the word) party is also helpful. However, Thailand will have to pay key location scouts (do you know that word and meaning?) all expense paid trips to Thailand just to get them here; same for some producers and writers, but finding WHO to invite is a difficult problem for film industry amateurs.

Thailand has some HUGE blocks to feature films being made here:

-CENSORSHIP of scripts before the films are made.

-CENSORSHIP during shooting.

-CENSORSHIP of finished films prior to showing here.

-No local on-camera English language expert talent, none.

-Limits on truck movement in cities, a biggy too, and amateurs ignore that.

-Local hire rules encourage featherbedding.

-Local crew talent is sub standard and language blocked.

-Advance people must have good translator on hand at all times.

-Greedy charges for location shoots due to fiction that all films in making are loaded with money.

-Image of rampant bribing is a negative.

-Lack of an effective "film office" of Thailand and also in the large cities (including good pre-scouting assistance).

-Permits, fees, sound and crowd controls, can appear overwhelming.

And that is the "good news." It gets worse.

Reasons to shoot here:

-exotic locales ...unfortunately totally equaled by other locations.

-uh, uh, male producers think it is a sexy place to shoot.

I hope someone sees what I am talking about.

Positives? Exotic locales AND the ability to get around union and safety regulations. People running around on the set in bare feet and thongs. No nurses on hand. People doing things with electricity, fire, and water that will send you on a trip to the next life sooner rather than later. And, if something goes wrong? Settlements and cash payouts are tiny if existent at all.