Thai content and IP authorities are throwing everything they have at telling the world that the domestic industry is ready for international prime time – or at the very least a bigger and glossier profile than they've commanded globally so far.

Last week's first international marketplace dedicated to content trading and business matching drew more than 600 participants, and hosted 1,200 business matching interactions over three days. As the show closed, organisers claimed an estimated business value of above THB 2.2 billion (US$65.6 million) during the event, implying a value of approx US$55,000 per match. 

Winners of the three pitches were Taiwanese director Chien Yu Lin's feature film "Honey Milk", which was awarded a US$10,000 production grant in the Asian Project Pitch; Thai director Woottidanai Intarakaset's film "The Mining" (เหรียญ ขุด คน), which won US$5,000 in the Thai Project Pitch; and feature film "The Kindness of Miss Ari" (นางสาว(ไม่)อารี), from screenwriter Chalermpong Udomsilp, which was awarded a production grant of US$5,000 in the Thai Project Pitch. About 55 projects were involved in the pitches.

The government-backed Creative Economy Agency (CEA) said the outcome of the event reinforced Thailand's "growing role as the content hub of Asia". 

CEA executive director, Chakrit Pichyangkul, said at the end of the show that a dedicated marketplace was "the missing piece that Thailand’s content ecosystem has long needed". He also committed to making the Bangkok International Content Market (BICM) – one of the pillars of the multi-sector Thailand Content Market (TCM) – into an annual event. 

"Our long-term ambition is to firmly establish Thailand as the Content Hub of Asia," Pichyangkul said. 

BICM 2026 also strengthened Thailand’s collaboration with film festivals and content markets across Asia, including QCinema International Film Festival (Philippines), JAFF Market (Indonesia), Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) and Danang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF).

BL/GL content predictably took centre stage during the market, building upon what is arguably Thailand's creative superpower despite traditional distribution limitations. Producers, creators and celebrity pairs walked the market floor promoting new titles while commercial teams talked about the value of YouTube distribution in building fan bases around the world. 

The conference track looked at everything from film incentives to deconstructing the rise (& collapse) of Korean drama – and how Thailand might consider avoiding the same fate as producers in Korea.

In an interview at the end of the market, Pichyangkul highlighted Thailand's long-held strengths as a foreign production hub, including a cash rebate for filmmakers.

"We have to amplify that capability," he told ContentAsia, adding that local creators' skills were being elevated to meet global streaming standards. Netflix original "The Evil Lawyer", for instance, emerged from a content lab organised by CEA two years ago.  

He also emphasised the key commercial role played by licensing, merchandising and events in media company business plans.  

"Broadcasting companies these days cannot rely on only selling the IP and advertising as a main revenue," he said.

"We need to create a market that is different... we have to bring in other industries that work closely and collaborate with the content industry to amplify the economic impact," he added.