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The government says it wants to follow suit with Singapore, which reportedly secured an exclusivity deal in Southeast Asia with Taylor Swift
By Lisa Henderson on 04 Mar 2024
image © Wikimedia Commons/Eva Rinaldi
The Thailand government has revealed ambitions to become a ‘strong hub’ for international concerts and festivals.
Prime minister Srettha Thavisin said he wants to follow suit with Singapore’s reported exclusivity deal with Taylor Swift to make the island nation her only Eras tour stop in Southeast Asia.
The government plans to meet top record companies and promoters, such as Tero Entertainment, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, to investigate how the country can better facilitate such events for artists, crews and concertgoers.
Tourism and sports minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol said investment in infrastructure might be necessary if the private sector agreed that it was essential for hosting events, such as a large-scale indoor concert hall, which Thailand still lacks.
“Before investing a fortune, we must understand the whole structure of the current market and clear existing obstacles to make our investment worthwhile,” she said. “Economic benefits are quite high, as we saw from the period during international concerts in Thailand this year. Daily arrivals shot up to 140,000 per day, from an average of 100,000 per day.”
“Before investing a fortune, we must understand the whole structure of the current market”
One concern about Thailand’s ability to host overseas concertgoers – who reportedly spend three times more than general tourists – is the public transport system, which does not extend to every neighbourhood in the city and results in taxi companies overcharging customers.
“All major venues have been facing such prolonged problems of overcharging,” said Chakkarin Aungpratip from BITEC Management, the operator of Bitec Hall.
Aungpratip believes that, aside from some infrastructure issues, Thailand stands among the top destinations for international tourists due to tourism attractions, Thai food, a wide range of accommodation and friendly LGBT+ laws.
Thailand isn’t the only Southeast Asian country that has reacted to Singapore’s deal with Taylor Swift. A lawmaker in the Philippines has criticised the island nation for the arrangement, urging the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to formally protest against the grant.
However, the rep acknowledged that the “policy worked” for Singapore but said the Philippines needed to improve its infrastructure to be able to host global superstars.
“In the long run, though, we need to step up our game,” he added.
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