Country Profile: Thailand

With its borders fully reopening in October 2022, Thailand’s promoters have been making up for lost time. With many of them – including AEG Presents Asia and Midas Promotions – promoting across Southeast Asian borders, working internationally is an important aspect of excelling in the region.

The local music scene is dominated by global artists, with roughly 70% of the content in Thailand coming from international musicians, says Shawnz Neo, co-founder of LOL International. LOL had a hand in bringing the touring K-pop festival Waterbomb into Thailand during Songkran, the Thai New Year, this year.

Corresponding with Songkran, Rolling Loud debuted in the country with a three-day festival in Pattaya, a beach town on the eastern Gulf coast, headlined by Cardi B, Chris Brown, and Travis Scott.

The local music scene is dominated by global artists, with roughly 70% of the content in Thailand coming from international musicians.

In March, VIJI Corp launched Pelupo International Music Festival with performances by Phoenix, Kings of Convenience, and Men I Trust. The Bangkok-based company will host Bebe Rexha and Fall Out Boy by the year’s end.

In July 2022, Live Nation expanded its role in the region by acquiring the concerts and entertainment division of Thailand-based TERO Entertainment. In the same month, Ticketmaster announced it had partly acquired Bangkok- headquartered Thai Ticket Major.

“We are excited by the growth opportunities of the entertainment business under the one company; this will not only increase the number of leading acts coming to perform in Thailand but now will give local artists the opportunity to work with a global company to manage their live touring here in Thailand, the APAC region, and the rest of the world,” Neil Thompson, CEO of Live Nation Tero, said in a press release.

“The international market is very strong – many shows are sold out, and people love going to concerts, especially since the pandemic.”

Sarun Pinyarat is CEO of promoter Fungjai, and runs the independent 5,000-capacity Maho Rasop Festival, which has Idles and Interpol as headliners for this year’s 2-3 December dates.

“The Thai music scene is really diverse,” he says. “The international market is very strong – many shows are sold out, and people love going to concerts, especially since the pandemic. The fact that shows are sold out just drives demand even higher because people really want to be part of the live experience. We expect to see continuing growth in 2024.” He says TikTok is increasingly popular as a marketing tool.

Live Nation Tero will bring blockbuster tours by Coldplay, Sam Smith, and TWICE before the year is over, with Post Malone in the calendar for 2024.