March 26, 2015 The public sector joins forces with the private sector in organizing the mega event ‘Bangkok Entertainment Week’ to promote Bangkok as an entertainment business hub in the ASEAN region in response to the booming digital content industry
Seven public organizations - namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Information, Communication, and Technology; the Ministry of Culture; the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP); the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT); the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA); and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau - TCEB (Public Organization) - join forces with giant digital content and entertainment organizers to hold a mega event entitled “Bangkok Entertainment Week,” featuring Bangkok Comic Con 2015 x Anime Festival Asia Thailand 2015, to be run by BEC-Tero TrueVisions Co, Ltd.; Bangkok International Digital Content Festival 2015, to be run by five major associations in the Thai digital contents industry; Thailand Comic Con 2015, to be run by Kantana Group Public Co., Ltd. in collaboration with P.P.W. Interactive Co., Ltd.; and Thailand Toy Expo 2015, to be run by Wisely Tradings Co., Ltd. All the events will be organized during April 27 and May 3, 2015 at venues along the BTS route, including the Centara Grand Hotel at Central World, Central World Shopping Center, Siam Paragon, Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Center (BITEC) Bangna, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, and along the BTS SkyWalk.
Seven public organizations - namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Information, Communication, and Technology; the Ministry of Culture; the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP); the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT); the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA); and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau - TCEB (Public Organization) - join forces with giant digital content and entertainment organizers to hold a mega event entitled “Bangkok Entertainment Week,” featuring Bangkok Comic Con 2015 x Anime Festival Asia Thailand 2015, to be run by BEC-Tero TrueVisions Co, Ltd.; Bangkok International Digital Content Festival 2015, to be run by five major associations in the Thai digital contents industry; Thailand Comic Con 2015, to be run by Kantana Group Public Co., Ltd. in collaboration with P.P.W. Interactive Co., Ltd.; and Thailand Toy Expo 2015, to be run by Wisely Tradings Co., Ltd. All the events will be organized during April 27 and May 3, 2015 at venues along the BTS route, including the Centara Grand Hotel at Central World, Central World Shopping Center, Siam Paragon, Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Center (BITEC) Bangna, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, and along the BTS SkyWalk.
The organizers of these four events aim to transform Bangkok into a city of happiness filled with fun, colorful, and entertaining activities, and to creatively add economic and business value to this metropolis through a parade of activities from across the world. This is considered a big leap toward promoting Bangkok - well prepared in terms of its capacity and all relevant aspects - as a hub of the digital content business in the ASEAN region and encouraging Thai professionals to step into the global stage in both quantitative and qualitative terms, in response to the booming digital content industry.
Bangkok Entertainment Week is a collaboration between the public and the private sectors to ensure the grandeur of the event while fostering industries relating to entertainment and digital content, including animation, games, characters, computer graphics, and mobile applications, to secure their status on the international stage. This major event is of great business, industrial, and academic significance showcasing creativity and inspiration, ultimately leading to the accomplishment of sustainable creative economy in line with the public sector’s vision for driving the country toward a digital economy.
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Therefore, the seven public organizations have attached importance to Bangkok Entertainment Week. Not only have they allocated the budget required, but they have also provided other types of support with the collaboration of agencies under the supervision of relevant ministries, such as inviting renowned guest speakers from abroad, organizing seminars and workshops, conducting business matching, carrying out trade negotiations, granting awards to exceptional pieces of work, running activities for children and teenagers as well as interested persons, arranging demonstrations of creative works, holding fairs featuring handicrafts and other forms of art, and publicizing information locally and abroad.
In this regard, Ms. Pranee Satayaprakop, Director-General, Culture, Sports and Tourism Department of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), said that, “BMA is pleased to co-host Bangkok Entertainment Week, aimed at promoting Bangkok as a hub of the entertainment and digital content business in the ASEAN region. This will in turn enhance Bangkok’s tourism industry in response to its ‘Metropolis of ASEAN’ policy. Furthermore, all the activities showcased at the event will accord with the ‘Bangkok Smiles’ tourism promotion policy, to which the BMA has provided full support, be it in terms of the utilization of its premises, the facilitation of the organization of activities, and public relations through its media. The operations will strengthen the collaboration between the public and the private sectors, thereby elevating Bangkok to a ‘Metropolis of ASEAN’ having the capacity to organize national and international events.”
Professor Apinan Poshyananda, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, commented that, “the Ministry of Culture, as the party providing support in terms of film and visual materials, is aware of the significance of enabling the film and the digital content industries of Thailand to enter the international arena. This is in response to the government’s policy involving moving the economy forward with the application of digital technology - which has enhanced efficiency and added value to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country by not less than THB70,000 million per year. Therefore, it is our pleasure to take part in the organization of Bangkok Entertainment Week by holding an exhibition featuring the history of the animation and the digital content industries in Thailand, and the origins of Thai cartoons and contemporary Thai characters that have become popular in the form of Line stickers. We will also be running several other activities, such as giving instructions on how to make easy animations and draw cartoons.”
Mrs. Supawan Teerarat, Vice President, Strategic and Business Development of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), is confident that Bangkok Entertainment Week will underline a positive image of Thailand as a hub of international and mega events in the ASEAN region.
“Bangkok Entertainment Week will highlight the position of Thailand as a country with great potential in this regard and be a golden opportunity for leading the organization of a mega entertainment event on the international level. We are ready in terms of strategic location given our status as a gate to the ASEAN region, infrastructures, venues and facilities, as well as the strength of the private sector, and the collaboration of the public sector - all the key success factors required. The event will play an important part in attracting 10% more quality tourists to events, conventions and fairs in Thailand, from the existing rate of 3 - 5%,” Mrs. Supawan concluded.
According to the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Public Organization) -SIPA, the animation, game, and e-learning sector of the digital content market in Thailand in 2011 was worth THB16,467 million in total, divided into THB8,806 million for the game sector, THB5,623 million for the animation sector, and THB2,038 million for the e-learning sector. 71% of the total market value was attributable to imports with the remaining 29% accounted for by the works of Thai entrepreneurs. This could be further divided into 23% produced for local markets and 6% for international markets.
The total value of animation products and game products of Thai entrepreneurs equaled THB1,100 million and THB387 million, respectively. Console games, all produced for export, constituted the sector with the highest growth rate of 190% and online games enjoyed a growth rate of 150%—both of which a result of the high degree of business accessibility and the low degree of investment for the game industry.
Mr. Nitipat Somsaman, President of the Thai Animation and Computer Graphics Association - TACGA, a delegate of one of the organizers, said that, “the public sector’s support of Bangkok Entertainment Week - serving as both a forum for the dissemination of knowledge and a venue for creating business opportunities - will result in networks of collaboration between Thai and foreign entrepreneurs, thereby establishing business alliances that accommodate the expansion of the film and the digital content industries. Moreover, Thai entrepreneurs with potential will be promoted and prepared for expansion into foreign markets. Furthermore, personnel involved in the creation of new intellectual properties will be inspired to produce their own masterpieces in addition to producing to order. In this regard, Thailand should take pride in its preparedness in terms of human and other resources as well as design and production capacities - all the factors required to be the center of the ASEAN region.”
Join the fun to the fullest throughout this 7-day event in ‘Bangkok: City of Smiles’ and share our pride in hosting ASEAN’s largest international digital content and entertainment event at Bangkok Entertainment Week during this coming April 27-May 3. Follow us for a wide variety of fun activities at www.bkkentweek.com.
