EXCLUSIVE: Thai film and TV content is having a moment. The country that is now top of everyone’s holiday destination list after hosting Season 3 of The White Lotus is also producing box office hits like How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, which has grossed $55M worldwide and been acquired for an English-language remake by Miramax.
Thai creators are also behind a string of streaming breakout hits including Netflix’s Hunger, Mad Unicorn and Master Of The House, while the country’s BL (Boy’s Love) and GL (Girl’s Love) series are building a fanbase worldwide. And while local content is on a tear, Thailand’s experienced crews and 30% production rebate are among the factors establishing the country as a hub of inbound production, also drawing major international shoots such as FX/Hulu’s Alien: Earth.
But as Dr. Chakrit Pichyangkul, executive director of Thailand’s Creative Economy Agency (CEA) explains, it can still be difficult for local creators to raise investment and connect with international markets, especially when they’re starting their careers. For this reason, CEA decided to launch the annual Content Lab programme, culminating in the three-day Content Project Market (CPM), which just wrapped its second edition in Bangkok.
“Our ultimate goal is for Thai content to reach the global market but in order to get there we need to make sure we have the infrastructure in place,” Chakrit told Deadline on CPM’s opening day. “We have the potential to become a global creative content powerhouse, like South Korea, but we know that in order to deliver one big hit we need to produce a large volume of strong content. That’s where platforms like CPM can step in to connect our talented producers, directors and scriptwriters with investors in Thailand and beyond.”
CPM (September 10-12) hosted pitching and business matching sessions for 34 projects which have been workshopped through CEA’s Content Lab 2025 across three different strands: Mid-Career: Project, for established creators developing content for international markets; Mid-Career: Story, for screenwriters developing commercially viable scripts; and Mid-Career: Animation, for creators preparing Thai animations for production.
In addition, around 20 professional content teams were selected to participate in CPM through an Open Call.
The projects spanned multiple mainstream genres including horror, thriller, fantasy, romantic comedy, family drama and BL (Boy’s Love – a genre that features romance between men but is often aimed at female rather than male audiences). After on-stage pitching sessions at CPM’s main venue, True Digital Park, they participated in two days of business matching meetings. The event also hosted a Forum series of seminars with industry experts from Thailand and across the region.
Most of Thailand’s major studios and streamers attended the meetings, including GDH (producer of How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies), M Studio (producer of last year’s number one box office hit Death Whisperer 2), True CJ Creations, White Light Studio, Kantana Group, Jungka Studio, The One Enterprise and Benetone Films. Several buyers from outside Thailand also attended – including Singapore-based Mokster Films and Mocha Chai Laboratories, Taiwan’s Studio76, Vietnam’s Skyline Media and Indonesia’s Base Entertainment.
Chakrit said that next year CEA hopes to increase the number of international buyers and will eventually also invite projects from outside Thailand to pitch.
“CPM is breaking new ground in creating opportunities for Thai commercial film and series projects to find international partners for co-production,” explains Thai producer-director Aditya Assarat who was involved in running the Content Lab.
“Unlike Thai arthouse projects, which have a successful history of co-production based primarily off the director’s track record, Thai commercial projects must rely more on the story and cast to connect to audiences across cultural and language barriers. With the recent success of How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies and the popularity of our BL series in international markets, the government is building on this momentum by supporting platforms such as CPM.”
Chakrit explains further that CEA was established six years ago, expanding the remit of the 20-year-old Thailand Creative & Design Centre, to oversee development of 15 industries – including film, series, animation, games, publishing, fashion, craft, visual arts, design and architecture.
The agency reports directly to the Office of the Prime Minister, a post currently held by Anutin Charnvirakul, who was elected by the Thai parliament on September 7 following the ousting of his predecessor and who has pledged to hold public elections early next year.
In addition to its own initiatives, CEA has also been working closely with Thailand Creative Culture Agency (THACCA), part of Thailand’s Soft Power Committee, an initiative of former Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was forced to leave office in July due to controversy over a phone call with Cambodian leader Hun Sen. THACCA has already announced a $6.9M (THB220M) funding round for local projects, but its future probably depends on the outcome of the upcoming election.
Thai productions can also receive support from the Thai Media Fund, a separate organisation under the National Broadcasting & Television Commission (NBTC), while the Ministry Of Culture also has units working with the creative industries. Netflix recently announced that it spent $200M on Thai content between 2021 and 2024.
Looking ahead, Thailand will soon host the first edition of the revived Bangkok International Film Festival (September 27-October 15), a joint initiative of THACCA and Thailand’s Department of Cultural Promotion (DCP), which has moved up from its original planned date in January 2026.
The festival will open with M Studio’s Death Whisperer 3, one of a number of highly-anticipated sequels scheduled for release in Thailand in the fourth quarter, also including Jungka Studio’s My Boo 2 and horror comedy The Undertaker 2.
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