The new incentive of a cash rebate of up to 30% for foreign film shoots in Thailand with no maximum refund limit should increase revenue for the country by 20%, or at least 7.5 billion baht in 2025, attracting more large productions.
The cabinet on Tuesday approved a revised cash rebate scheme for foreign film shoots, as proposed by the Tourism and Sports Ministry.
Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong said many countries recognise the economic benefits of foreign film shoots, resulting in cash rebate upgrades and tax credit incentives to attract foreign productions.
Thailand must revise its film incentives in order to compete, said Mr Sorawong.
Jaturon Phakdeewanit, director-general of the Tourism Department, said the improved incentives should help stimulate revenue from foreign film shoots by 20% from the current level, representing a gain of at least 7.5 billion baht next year.
Film productions worth 1 billion baht have contacted the department to shoot their films in Thailand, he said.
“Earlier, large production companies such as HBO and Disney said they would shoot in Thailand, if our incentive was revised up to a 30% cash rebate,” said Mr Jaturon.
The cash rebate component has now been revised up from 15-20% to 15-30%.
Mr Jaturon said a film involving a 50-million-baht local investment would be immediately eligible for a 15% cash rebate.
Film productions worth 100 million baht and 150 million baht would be able to apply for a 20% and 25% cash rebate, respectively. An additional refund could be granted to films that meet other conditions, but this could not exceed 15%, while the total value of any cash rebate is capped at 30%.
Additional incentives include 3% for local post-production work, and 5% for employing local people in key production roles.
Productions that choose a second-tier city as a location can also get an additional 3% cash rebate, while the requirement for filming second-tier cities has been reduced to only 25% of total filming days from 50% previously.
This new scheme has also removed the maximum cash rebate of 150 million baht in order to attract large filmmakers with a significant filming budget to Thailand.
Mr Sorawong said the budget for cash refunds would be allocated from the Tourism Department.
If the budget required is insufficient, the government can utilise the central budget to support this programme. The new criterion is set to start from Jan 1, 2025.
As of Dec 15, 471 films were shot in Thailand, generating more than 6.19 billion baht.
From 2017 to 2024, 72 films applied for the incentive programme, generating over 16.1 billion baht, while the value of cash rebates tallied 2.84 billion baht.