A string of box-office failures, an absence of hits, an onslaught of Hollywood blockbusters, an economic slump, the vacillating, unpredictable taste of audiences — all of this has plunged the Thai film industry into a gloom in the first half of 2015. Home-grown cinema can barely compete with the American juggernauts, but the past six months have been particularly wounding. Usually, Thai films take around 25% of the ticket sales, with Hollywood gobbling up the rest (the total box office value was around 4.5 billion in last year). This year, so far, local movies took a paltry 10%, according to industry analysts.
Some have already predicted the worst. In two years, Thai cinema will suffer the tragedy of the early 1990s, when fewer than 10 titles were made each year and the scene was depressing and moribund. But other insiders are less cynical. They believe that, just as Thai cinema braved the economic downturn of 1997, and as the excitement of Pee Mak's whopping, record-breaking 1 billion baht revenue in 2013 still lingers, things will soon pick up. Even with the recent slack of the overall economy — when a middle-income person has to think hard before paying 200 baht (or more) to watch a film — it is likely that Thai film should be able to withstand the debilitating factors and spring back to firm footing.
So far this year, the highest-grossing local film is The Legend Of King Naresuan 6. It made around 115 million baht — the lowest for the series (and as with all Naresuan films, this one occupies an unusual status in terms of financing and marketing that makes it a poor industry indicator). Nearly all the rest of the pack — of around 25 local films released so far — is a parade of box-office disappointment, with titles that should've scored at least 50 million falling way short (romcom Single Lady, Cat-A-Wab, and Miss Happy, see box). A recent casualty was the big-budget Chalui Tae Kob Fah: Lost In Seoul, which made an astonishingly low 3 million baht. Not to mention a number of mid-sized films, such as the Buddhist-inspired Krua Toh and romantic drama Si Sao, that earned merely 1 to 2 million, or even less.
At the same time, this year we saw Fast And Furious 7 speeding past rivals to become the highest grossing foreign film of all time, with 388 million baht receipts. Economic crunch or not, it seems that people are still willing to pay for movies, it's just that they're not ready to pay for Thai movies.
Understanding the audience
"Thai people don't want to watch good movies. We want to watch movies that look like something we want to watch," said Amornthep Sukmanont, an independent box-office analyst who has reported extensively on the subject.
By this logic, Amornthep says, how a film markets itself is sometimes more important than what the film is actually about and more important than its "quality": the poster, the title, the "look" of the film, these are all indicative of the film's possible success before the plot or the stars. He also believes that the current woes of many Thai films this year have been the result of many factors, from poor marketing plans, the strength of Hollywood blockbusters and the reverse impact from two hugely successful films, Pee Mak and I Fine, Thank You, Love You, which made 330 million baht last year (both films were made by the sure-fire hitmaker GTH Studio).
"Like a stock market, a number of mid-sized producers flocked into the market after seeing those two films making phenomenal money in the past two years," says Amornthep. "They're like moths to a fire. They jumped in without a clear idea how to market their products. They don't look at the programming schedule of Hollywood films that often squeeze local movies out. And they don't understand the complex layers that make up the audience of Thai films.
"You have to go beyond Paragon or CentralWorld to see that the real audience is larger than the urban middle class," he adds. "There are working-class people in the suburbs, or factory workers in the province. They don't read film magazines or follow Hollywood reports. They look at the title and the poster to decide if they will pay for a film and we have to think about them too."
The stark contrast between a 1 billion baht film like Pee Mak and several recent films that earned just 1 million or less — 0.01%! — sounds freakish and incomprehensible, but it also shows the lopsided makeup of the industry.
"These days, marketing is 90% and quality only 10%," says Adirek Wattaleela, director of Chalui: Lost In Seoul. The film, a reboot of an old franchise released last month by Transformations studio, was one of the biggest flops when it made just 3 million baht despite the cost of nearly 30 million.
"It's the lowest in my life!" Adirek says with a laugh, adding that his original Chalui film made 25 years ago earned more in sales — and the ticket was just 20 baht back then.
Adirek believes that the industry will continue to suffer, mainly because of the unassailable power of Hollywood films and because the audience is hooked on the kind of Thai films that feel like "convenient store products" — familiar and easy to digest, without any real content.
"I think things will get worse and in a few years, the industry will regress to the nadir of the early 1990s," says Adirek, who has been making films for 30 years. "Maybe that's a good thing. That's when the slate is wiped clean and we'll start making something of quality."
Waiting for salvation
One reason that mainstream Thai cinema was in dismal shape during the first half of the year is because the major studios have not released any movies.
Like the past two years, the likeliest saviour is GTH, which has become nearly the sole heavyweight in the deflating industry. GTH has two films slated for opening in the second half of this year.
Last year, the studio had two major hits, I Fine, Thank You, Love You and Teacher's Diary, and the year before, Pee Mak — the studio has been the factor that shored up the market share of Thai films to around 25%. It is also a company that designs the marketing plan for each film carefully, while factoring in other economic variables to ensure the possibility of hits. Love it or hate it, GTH is the force that keeps the engine of mainstream Thai film running, as well as shaping the "popular taste" of Thai audiences.
"The economic situation clearly has an impact," says Visute Poolvoraluck, co-chief executive officer of GTH and a respected marketing expert. "From my personal survey, people used to go to cinemas every week. Now it's once or twice a month. That means they have to choose which film they're going to. Of course, they're more confident to watch a Hollywood film.
"We can never dream of competing with Hollywood in terms of investment and technology. But what we have is the local content — the relatability of the story. We're the host, we're making films for our own people, we have to find a story that the people can relate to. That's the only way to compete in the market."
In the mid-2000s, the market share of Thai films used to go up to around 35%, Visute said (he keeps track of all the numbers). But when Hollywood stepped up its offence and began to see the world as its market — not just the US — the storm blew over and swept local films away.
"Hollywood used to be about summer movies," says Visute. "Now they programme the blockbusters to come out all year round. After the superhero films and Jurassic World, you have James Bond and Star Wars later. It makes it all more difficult for Thai films."
But GTH has proved its mettle — after all, it boasts the highest-grossing Thai release in history, way ahead of American blockbusters. Critics said the studio is a marketing expert that can turn so-so films into hits, but Visute believes that marketing isn't the sole answer, especially in a world where social media and online feedback can make or break a film.
Before, Visute came up with the term si wan antarai (the dangerous first four days), referring to the performance during the opening weekend of a movie that will determine if the cinemas will keep it or chuck it. Now it's not four days — not even one.
"People start tweeting right after the press screening, then after the first day of release the online opinion of each new film is so powerful to its future. It's a force that we can't fight, no matter how much money we pour in to counter it.
"So, a good marketing plan helps before the films comes out. But once the film is in the cinemas, it can survive only if it's good enough. At that point, no marketing effort can save a bad film once word gets out."
GTH will release two romantic comedies later this year, Freelance and May Who (the titles follow the relatable, catchy, jargon-ready philosophy), and naturally, observers believe that they will become hits that put some gusto back into the exhausted Thai film scene.
"Their timing is good," said Amornthep, the analyst. "There are viewers who haven't spent money on Thai films this year because they're waiting for the right film to spend on. Hollywood will continue to pound on us, but there's still hope that things will rebound."
Krua Toh.
Chalui Tae Kob Fah: Lost in Seoul.
Pee Mak Phra Khanong.
I Fine, Thank You, Love You.
