An animated feature film about an abandoned elephant that saves Thailand from an invasion is spearheading the country's push into the multi-billion dollar global animation industry.
Thailand is banking on the success of the movie, which is being released in Asian cinemas this month, as it prepares its challenge to longtime powerhouses Japan and South Korea as the capital of Asian animation.
"The animation industry in Thailand is much more developed than in Singapore and Malaysia, where no feature animation film has been made," said Auchara Kijkanjanas whose company made the 90-minute movie called Khan Kluay.
PHOTO: AFP
"We have seen significant developments in Thailand recently in terms of craftsmanship and creativity," said Auchara, vice-president of Kantana Animation.
Costing 150 million baht (US$3.4 million), the 3D movie whose name means "pretending to ride a horse on a banana leaf," was the first produced entirely in Thailand.
Auchara hopes the flick, plus the investment in Bangkok's annual international film festival which began in 2003, will focus attention on Thailand and its plan to become a low-cost base for producing quality animation.
More than 90 percent of animation for films and television shows in the US is produced in Asia, mainly in Japan and South Korea. India and China are also emerging as a regional rivals.
With five major animation companies already operating, Thailand is vying for a slice of that market by becoming an alternative outsourcing destination for Hollywood and European animation projects.
"Global outsourcing has moved from North America and Europe to the Asia-Pacific where producers offer cheaper production costs and competitive wages for almost the same quality of animated products," said an analyst from the Kasikorn research firm, which has investigated the market for Thailand's industry.
Thailand has already made solid inroads, selling television cartoon series to China and South Korea where they have proved popular.
Chinese cable channel CCTV is interested in co-producing one of the next series for its subscribers, said Santi Laohaburanakit, managing director of Vithita, the firm that made them.
Thailand also aims to become a leader in animation software, cashing in on a growing demand for the technology in computer games and mobile phones as well as in movies. Animated content accounts for 12 percent of the global digital content market and is expected to be worth US$271.3 million next year.
Research conducted for the industry estimates the export value of Thailand's software will reach 80 billion baht by 2008. But Thailand faces tough challenges in its battle for market share as India is expected to sign US$950 million in outsourcing contracts alone with Hollywood animation houses for delivery by 2009.
And Japan, which produces 60 percent of the world's animation, has moved into China, seen as a burgeoning market for animation.
Thailand's industry is rallying though and the government has promised to help. The stock Market for Alternative Investment signed a memorandum of understanding with the government's Software Industry Promotion Agency to promote Thailand as the "Hollywood of Asia" in the digital content industry.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique