With its tropical beaches, emerald rice paddies and expanses of wild jungle, Thailand is a natural choice for foreign film crews looking for exotic locations to shoot in Asia.
But the government hopes Hollywood will soon look to Thailand as a highly skilled Asian film-making centee with a lot more to offer than pretty scenery.
"Productions in Hollywood can create any place, anywhere," said Pakinee Chaisana, executive producer of the Sixth Element, the international section of Thai entertainment company GMM Grammy.
PHOTO: AFP
One recent example is Jackie Chan's latest action flick, the Hong Kong-financed, US$35 million Highenders, which has just completed filming in a massive exhibition hall on the outskirts of Bangkok. Some 250 craftspeople, mostly Thai, worked to create the gloomy interior of a sixteenth century Irish castle, complete with twisting stairwells and Gothic archways.
Sculptors, usually employed on Thai temple restoration projects, crafted the heads of bulls, goats and deer that dotted the interior.
"They are the best sculptors I've met in my life," said standby art director Connor Dennison. "They're phenomenal."
Cheap, too -- and that's the bottom line for international film-makers looking to shift production out of high-cost locations like the US and Europe.
"The industry is now saying to the foreign filmmakers ... the quality is high here for your budget," said Pakinee.
Industry insiders say that with last year's threatened actors' strike in the US, a window of opportunity has opened for Thailand.
"There is a backlog of US productions looking for places to go now," said Don Balfour, managing director of Bangkok-based production company Phenix Films Asia. "For producers looking to film in Asia, Thailand is the best choice," he said.
The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are seen as unsafe, Hong Kong is expensive, China can strangle producers in red tape, and Thailand's poorer neighbors lack the infrastructure filmmakers require, Balfour said.
But the next year will be crunch time for Thailand as its bid to establish an Asian Hollywood is put to the test.
"We need to get it right. I don't think the current focus on Thailand will come around again," Balfour said.
Success will depend on better cooperation between the Thai government and film-makers who in the past have criticized the bureaucratic approach of the Thai Film Board, which issues the necessary permits.
Industry observers say things have improved since Sidhichai Jayant took over as Film Board director a year ago, revising actors' tax schedules and amending old permit regulations that had discouraged film-makers from heading here.
Sidhichai said he wants to set up a government committee charged with "helping facilitate foreign filmmakers in Thailand."
"Permits can now be issued very quickly, even quicker than in the United States," he said.
The verdict so far is good. "He's actively cut a lot of red tape, he's liaising between groups, he's giving us help in talking to higher people in ministries when we need it," Pakinee said.
But Ctar Sudasnd, chairman of production house Siam Studios, believes more must be done to ease the path of foreign film-makers who are often tripped up by Thailand's free-wheeling approach to business.
"A lot of people go away with a nasty taste in their mouth, saying that `Hey, this is a ripoff place man,'" he said. "So we need to address that."
Ctar said it was vital Thailand looked to the future and ensured a constant stream of talent continued to come on line.
"Our crews are fantastic. But how many crews do we have? Who's looking after the training of the next generation of crews?" he asked.
"The guy who did James Bond in 1974, he doesn't move so fast anymore," he said, referring to The Man with the Golden Gun, which was partly filmed around the dramatic limestone coast of southern Thailand.
The consensus is that Thailand only has the capacity to supply crews for three major productions at any time. And demand over the next year could exceed that.
"We have skilful people, but we don't have enough of them," Sudhichai acknowledged.
Nevertheless, the Film Board is still hoping to attract three or four foreign productions with budgets of over 200 million baht (US$4.6 million) each this year.
Some 59 foreign films were at least partly produced in Thailand last year.
Sudhichai said he also aims to overcome the negative press that surrounded probably the best-known film to be made here -- The Beach, starring heart throb Leonardo Di Caprio.
Thai environmentalists grabbed headlines around the world after complaining that the film crew tore away native plants alone the dunes of stunning Phi Phi Island and planted coconut trees in order to create their idea of paradise.
"Our image was not so good after the shooting of The Beach," Sudhichai admitted. "But I think things have changed since then."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source