Chinese fans dominate Thailand’s nascent ‘T-wave’, but is it enough to boost tourist figures?
- As Thailand’s economy slows, it is mulling a move to a ‘creative economy’ by emulating South Korea’s entertainment sector
- But unlike South Korea’s K-wave, Thailand’s emerging T-wave still appears too weak to significantly attract Chinese tourists post pandemic
Tanapon “Perth” Sukumpantanasan was a lead actor in the popular Thai television series Love by Chance. The crowd was mostly Chinese and Thai, with a smattering of fans from other countries.
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The most popular actor, Mike Angelo, has more than 8 million followers on Weibo. Younger rising actors, such as Chanon Santinatornkul and Metawin Opas-iamkajorn, have some 2 million and 1 million followers, respectively. Dubbed the “T-wave”, the popularity of Thailand’s performers has some commenters speculating that soon, Thai music and dramas will overtake South Korea’s K-wave.
Unlike the K-wave, however, this emerging T-wave still appears too weak to significantly attract Chinese tourists to Thailand post-pandemic. In fact, Thailand reported a sharp fall in Chinese tourist arrivals, from 2019’s 11 million to 2.2 million from January to September last year. By end-2023, Thailand expects to receive only 3.5 million Chinese tourists, a far cry from its initial target of 5 million for the year.
More broadly, the South Korean entertainment industry has had a much longer trajectory of global expansion, beginning in the 1990s, compared to Thailand, which saw its star rise starting from the late 2010s. The impact of Thai cultural influence on Chinese and other fans – and by extension the fans’ home countries – will naturally be limited in comparison to South Korea’s.
Unlike South Korea, Thailand’s strong tourism industry relied largely on its cultural, wellness/medical, and food industries before the Covid-19 pandemic, with the media industry only comprising a small slice of the pie. With Thailand’s economy slowing, there have been talks on how to boost the media industry through shifts towards a “creative economy”. This includes emulating South Korea’s investment in and export of its entertainment sector.
Thus far, the weak impact of the T-wave in boosting the Thai tourism industry, particularly for inbound Chinese tourists, can be attributed to a few key reasons.
First, the South Korean entertainment industry was state-supported, which aided the global acceleration of the quality and quantity of music and drama produced in South Korea. Industry experts have called for the government to similarly support the Thai entertainment industry, and there were even plans to establish a special ministry for this purpose.
There is an existing government agency, the Creative Economy Agency (CEA), set up in 2018 to further develop the Thai entertainment industry. Taking a leaf from China’s book, the CEA invited South Korean producers to guide Thai filmmakers on how to promote Thai content. However, these initiatives are still new and have had little knock-on effect on other industries such as cosmetics and fashion, or tourism for that matter.
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Second, the effects of the T-wave remain concentrated among fans of Thai dramas and music. While it has and will contribute to tourism in Thailand, its effects are confined exclusively to Chinese fandoms and have not seeped into the general Chinese public’s consciousness.
Chinese tourist numbers in Thailand continue to be affected by China’s domestic downturn, with Chinese airlines cancelling flights due to the low number of bookings. Leong noted that her Chinese friends immediately returned to Thailand to chase their idols after the lifting of Covid restrictions in China. This suggests that the allure of Thai idols does spur dedicated fans to return to the country.