The Thailand Film Office has not publicly released the figures yet, but estimates that in 2012 46 countries used locations in the kingdom as backdrops for documentaries, music-videos, advertising, feature films and TV productions.
Overall, Thailand has seen 335 foreign projects year-to-date, compared with a record 606 last year.
The Thailand Film Office said that revenue from foreign productions for the first five months of 2012 is already 17.5 percent more than the country’s take for the entire year 2011.
Revenue from foreign feature films, TV series, documentaries, commercials and music videos in 2011 amounted to $39.6 million. For the five-month period through May 2012, revenue from foreign productions has already totaled $46.5 million. That is already close to the level for the full year 2010 and on track to overtake a record set in 2008, according to TFO data dating back to 2007.
The TFO cited two reasons for the uptick: increased outreach at film markets and trade shows in Hong Kong, London, Cannes and Los Angeles and the U.S. dollar’s recent gains over the Thai baht, which has reduced the cost of production for foreign studios shooting in Thailand.
The office said productions from Japan (59 projects), India (50), and Europe (48) were the biggest contributors to this year’s growth – particularly in advertising and TV dramas.
