Hallyu inspires Thailand to mull ways to export its culture

K-pop girl band BLACKPINK in this 2019 file photo / Courtesy of YG Entertainment

Thai entertainment industry wants government to play role in investment, overseas promotion

By Kang Hyun-kyung

"South Korea made it with hallyu. Why can't Thailand?"

Nobody knows who raised that question and triggered open discussion in Thailand to find ways to spur the global popularity of Thai culture by following in South Korea's footsteps.

However, the idea of exporting Thai culture has intrigued the Thai public.

Thais call it an open debate about soft power. Through it, Thai politicians and people of the country's entertainment scene are calling for the creation of a Thai version of hallyu, also known as "T-culture." Hallyu, or the Korean wave, refers to the surge in popularity of Korean culture globally.

Thailand's progressive Move Forward Party's (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat, who has been at the center of the media spotlight after his party's stunning victory in the recent lower house election, is the latest renowned person to address the topic.

The 42-year-old politician, who attended Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was quoted by some media outlets as saying that Thais want to go to South Korea, wear South Korean brand clothes and use South Korean cosmetics products. And as the Thai people's craze for anything South Korean illustrates, he went on to say that soft power appeals to and influences people's minds and their choices without coercion.

Because of his affectionate remarks about hallyu, South Korean media portrayed Limjaroenrat as a pro-South Korean politician.

Pitchanuch Supavanich, a regional program manager at the Asia Foundation in Bangkok, said the soft power discourse is in full swing in the Thai entertainment scene and people there are calling on their government to draw up supportive policy measures, like the ones introduced by the South Korean government, to boost global demand for Thai culture.

"More recently, many people in the entertainment business, whether they are movie directors, actors and singers, are more vocal about the lack of systematic, sufficient and open support from the government for them to go international," she said in a recent email interview with The Korea Times.

"One movie director recently argued that the government has funded the production of movies that entice nationalism and glorify Thai history, but not other types of movies. Some artists who have successfully gone international also said that they did it by themselves and without any support from the government."

The lower house election was a turning point as many Thai people expressed hopes that the new government will prioritize Thai culture on the agenda, she added.

The global popularity of K-pop and Korean dramas has inspired Thai people to seek ways to help their culture go global.

Lisa, a Thai member of K-pop girl act BLACKPINK / Courtesy of YG Entertainment

Thailand has gotten a taste of what it is like being a cultural powerhouse, thanks to a few Thai-born celebrities who rose to global stardom through K-pop groups. Lisa from the four-member girl band BLACKPINK and BamBam from GOT 7 are Thai.

In April last year, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha praised the two stars for their respective roles to help promote Thai culture overseas. The Thai leader was quoted as saying that he wants to make the soft power and creative industries in Thailand known worldwide. The next day, the Thai ministry of culture unveiled the so-called "5 Fs" strategy aiming to promote food, films, fashion, fighting and festivals in Thailand to attract foreign tourists.

Seiya Sukegawa, a professor of political science and economics at Japan's Kokushikan University, said Thailand is culturally ambitious and aims to become a cultural superpower.

"The target is Korea and Korea is used as a benchmark," he said in an email interview with The Korea Times.

Sukegawa predicted that there will be no dramatic policy change under the new Thai government.

"Thailand has pointed out the importance of soft power in the past. Therefore, the new administration is likely to maintain this direction," he said.

The Japanese academic, who lived in Thailand last year as a visiting professor at Thai-Nicht Institute of Technology, contributed his opinion piece to a media outlet about the Thai government's endeavor to replicate hallyu.

Arapaporn Winijulchai, a senior program officer at the Asia Foundation in Bangkok, said Thailand has the potential to become a soft power country, considering its standing in a global survey.

"The Global Soft Power Index by Brand Finance 2022 ranked South Korea 12th out of 120 countries, while Thailand was ranked 35th. Thailand has the potential to grow," she said.

But she said it will take time for Thailand's charm offensive to bear fruit, because the country has no solid system in place to promote its culture abroad.

"Most Thai policymakers probably realize that a hallyu-like boom is a long shot," she said. "A credible global strategy would be required, along with investments in the industry. In theory, the government could play a role to facilitate the hallyu-like boom. But it seems unlikely."

She said Thailand lacks a sustainable support system and this is an obstacle for Thai cultural content to become globally popular.

The soft power debate in Thailand calls for government intervention to promote its culture overseas. In general, soft power refers to the use of positive attraction and persuasion, rather than coercion, to accomplish a nation's foreign policy objectives.

A government's involvement in creative industries, such as entertainment, is not preferred, since bureaucratic policies could hinder rather than promote culture. This is because government investments usually come with strings attached.

There also seems to be a discrepancy between South Korea and Thailand when it comes to interpreting what made hallyu successful.

Regarding the global success of Korean music and dramas, the dominant narrative in South Korea is that the competitiveness of content, rather than government support, enabled K-pop singers and Korean dramas to appeal to audiences overseas.

Hallyu going global is widely seen here as the result of a decades-long struggle and ceaseless efforts by people in the entertainment industry to create globally competitive content. The government offered support to help hallyu move forward, but it focused mainly on levelling the playing field or building infrastructure, which are areas that are beyond the reach of the private sector.

Therefore, in South Korea, people in the private sector, mostly entertainment moguls, get the credit for spurring the global success of hallyu.

Move Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat speaks to the press while sitting with coalition partners at a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) among eight Thai political parties to form a new government, in Bangkok, May 22. AFP-Yonhap

Speculation on foreign policy direction

The soft power discourse in Thailand, which has gained steam recently, and the MFP's stunning victory in the lower house election are apparently two encouraging signs for both South Korea and the United States in their Indo-Pacific strategies.

The question is whether these events can actually lead the new Thai government to steer its diplomatic direction in favor of the U.S.-led democratic partners, which include South Korea.

The confrontations between the U.S.-led democracies and autocracies consisting of China, Russia and North Korea have intensified and tensions are mounting between the two sides.

A country like Thailand has become more important for the United States and South Korea than ever before, as the heightened U.S.-China rivalry requires the two sides to strengthen their partnerships with countries, particularly those in the Indo-Pacific region, in their favor.

Thomas Parks, country representative of Asia Foundation in Thailand

Thomas Parks, the country representative of Asia Foundation in Bangkok, is cautious about any possible change in Thailand's foreign policy strategies.

"I think that there would be some improvement in U.S.-Thai relations, largely from the U.S. side," he said. "The U.S. has not prioritized Thailand for its engagement in Southeast Asia for many years now. Given regional dynamics and perceptions in Washington of a struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, U.S. interest in Thailand could improve rapidly if there is a new coalition government that has a strong electoral mandate."

But Parks said Thailand's strategic position in favor of China will not change much under the new government. "Thailand will still want to maintain positive relations with China, and will still insist on keeping a channel of communication open with the military regime in Myanmar," he said.