MUMBAI: The representatives from the Department of Tourism, Thailand Film Office have called for increased regional cooperation among film commissions in the Asean countries during the recently concluded Asian Film Commissions Network (AFCnet), ASEAN – ROK Cooperation Project in Vietnam and Myanmar.

“AFCnet efforts at encouraging film commissions in the region to share their expertise and co-venture with one another is a way to expand our business efforts in a very competitive international environment,” said Thailand Film Office Film Business Promotion Section chief Worateera Suvarnsorn,.

Suvarnsorn along with Ubolwan Sucharitakul, Chief of the Thailand Film Office Shooting Permit Consideration Section ,had presented a Thailand Case Study titled “Invigorating Tourism Through Films” at the event.

Citing several of Thailand’s high profile foreign productions filmed in the Kingdom, such as 20th Century Fox’s The Beach (2000), and Warner Bros‘ The Hangover Part II (2011), Sucharitakul called for coordinated film tourism routes to be promoted which will facilitate increased tourism between neighboring countries.

The Seminar, a series of information and networking meetings sponsored by AFCnet and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea, was held with film commission representatives of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, and the Philippines in preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which will come into effect in 2015.