Thailand's First Global Marketplace for Film, Series and Animation
Bangkok spent the past three days playing host to Thailand's first dedicated international marketplace for film, series and animation. The Bangkok International Content Market 2026 (BICM2026), organized by the Creative Economy Agency (CEA), ran from July 20 to 22 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center as the centerpiece of the wider Thailand Content Market 2026 (TCM2026), a joint initiative with the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) under the Ministry of Commerce.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Suphajee Suthumpun opened the event through her advisor, Banjongjitt Angsusingh, alongside DITP director-general Sunanta Kangvalkulkij and CEA board member Pimjai Leeissaranukul. BICM2026 focused on B2B negotiations, investment facilitation and international co-productions, drawing more than 80 investors and streaming platforms from around the world. Its centerpiece was a content pitching competition across three tracks, Asian Project Pitching, Thai Project Pitching and Thai Story Pitching, featuring more than 55 selected film, series and production-ready projects from Thailand and the wider Asia-Pacific region, with total prize funding of at least $20,000. An exhibitor floor hosted more than 500 booths for studios, creators and creative businesses. CEA executive director Dr. Chakrit Pichyangkul said BICM2026 "marks a significant step in systematically elevating Thailand's content marketplace to the international level," adding that the platform is designed to connect creators, investors and international partners to build a sustainable ecosystem for the industry. The broader TCM2026 umbrella spanned 12 creative sectors, including television, animation, games, art toys and books, and was targeting more than 300 international buyers, 500 exhibitors and 10,000 total participants across its three days.
More Than 2,000 Deals in the Works as Thailand Bets on Content Exports
By the event's opening day, organizers said more than 2,000 business meetings had already been confirmed between Thai creators and international buyers, and the market as a whole was projected to generate more than 2 billion baht in trade value. Officials framed the push around the scale of Thailand's creative economy, which Banjongjitt said contributes roughly 1.44 trillion baht, or about $43 billion, to the country, more than 8% of GDP, while generating close to $12 billion in export value annually and supporting a workforce of nearly one million people. Citing the country's 2020 input-output data, Chakrit noted that every baht invested in Thailand's content industry, particularly film and broadcasting, generates an average return of 1.8 baht.
The launch comes as Thailand tries to convert its screen industry's rising international profile into a bigger export business. Netflix has said it spent roughly $200 million on Thai content between 2021 and 2024, and the country's Boys' Love and Girls' Love series have built a devoted following overseas, helping position Bangkok in a regional field that already includes Hong Kong's Filmart, Singapore's Asia TV Forum, Tokyo's TIFFCOM and Busan's Asian Contents & Film Market. Beyond the business program, TCM2026 included seminars, workshops and a public marketplace, with visitors able to meet artists, actors and singers from Thai content companies including GMMTV, ONE31, oneD, CHANGE2561, MONO and BEC World, alongside celebrity guests from China and South Korea.
