Looking from Thailand's success
Thailand is a country that is showing dynamism and sensitivity to the cultural and performing industries. This country is becoming the most famous film studio in Southeast Asia.
In 2023, Thailand earned 6.75 billion baht (about more than 190 million USD) when 466 films from 40 countries around the world came here to film. By 2024, the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports expects to reach 7.5 billion baht (more than 200 million USD) from film production activities of foreign companies in Thailand.
Film crews from India, Japan, and the United States are flocking to Thailand to rent sets, production workers, and technical systems in this country for filmmaking. In addition, government support from tax reductions, set rental discounts, and plans and strategies to attract international film crews to film have helped Thailand become an ideal destination for hundreds of film crews from all over the world.
Foreign film crews coming to Thailand not only help this country earn huge revenue, create jobs for workers, professionalize the film industry, but also help spread the image and culture of Thailand, and help promote tourism widely for this country.
What does Vietnam need?
In recent years, Vietnam has also welcomed many international film crews to film in many locations. Most recently, the story about the "extraordinary" scenes filmed in Son Doong Cave (Quang Binh) in episode 6 titled "Extreme" of the documentary "Planet Earth III" produced by BBC (UK) has delighted the audience.
When the show received 2 Emmy nominations, Vietnamese audiences “searched” for eye-catching footage from episode 6 of “Extreme” to watch. The cave world of Quang Binh in the British documentary appeared both mysterious and incredibly magnificent.
Previously, in 2017, when the blockbuster "Kong: Skull Island" dominated the box office, promoting the beautiful landscapes of Vietnam from Quang Binh, Quang Ninh to Ninh Binh to the world, Vietnamese cinema and experts discussed many times how to promote tourism through cinema, and at the same time, called on international film crews to come to Vietnam to film.
Talking to Lao Dong reporter on this topic, director Bui Tuan Dung said: “Vietnam does not lack beautiful landscapes, we have great natural resources, but to attract international film crews here, many factors are needed. What we lack most is human resources, professional personnel in many stages of the film production system. Many Vietnamese film crews have come to Thailand to hire their workers and technology for post-production (sound, lighting...) and are truly... overwhelmed. Thailand has a system of extremely modern technology and machinery, plus high-quality human resources in all stages of the film industry. We still have to prepare a lot to have the same attraction as Thailand.”
According to director Bui Tuan Dung, if we plan to become a film studio in Southeast Asia like Thailand, first of all, we must have a strategy to train high-quality workers and personnel, meeting international standards for the film industry, from filming, lighting, set design, post-production to... extras. Along with that is investment in technical infrastructure and technology.
In addition, support policies from authorities, from licensing to tax rates and rental prices, all need to be systematic to be competitive with other countries. Particularly for films shot in cave areas, natural heritages need special attention to conservation and preservation, setting specific requirements for international film crews coming here to film.
