The Thailand Film Office is planning to hold the inaugural Thailand International Film Destination Festival in Bangkok from April 1-10.

“The idea is to promote Thailand as a film location around the world. We have experienced film crews and equipment ready to provide as well,” says Ubolwan Sucharitakul, acting director of the Thailand Film Office.

“We don’t have a locations incentive programme yet and are working on it. But anyway, shooting in Thailand is maybe 20 – 30% cheaper than in the US or Europe.

“We’ll be screening more than ten foreign films shot in Thailand. We picked films that are hits like The Hangover 2 and some films that have never been screened in Thailand before and films set up as if they take place in other countries like Formosa Betrayed, which is supposed to be in Taiwan.”

Speaking of Prachya Pinkaew, Sucharitakul added: “We will also be screening Elephant White. It’s an American movie that used the Thai director of Tom Yum Goong. It’s the only foreign film that used a Thai director.”

The event includes a one-day seminar on the future of the production services industry and a locations tour.

The festival will also hold a short film competition, inviting 50 teams of young filmmakers from around the world to Thailand to make a short film there. They will pick one winner and show the film at the end of the fest during a red carpet event on April 10.