Netflix has strategically invested over $200 million in Thailand's creative content industry from 2021-2024, positioning the Southeast Asian nation as a crucial regional production hub while mirroring South Korea's successful cultural soft power strategy.
The streaming giant's comprehensive investment has generated remarkable returns, with Thai content attracting 750 million viewing hours globally and more than 15 Thai originals reaching Netflix's Global Top 10 Non-English list, while employing over 13,500 cast and crew members.
Malobika Banerji, Director of Content for Southeast Asia at Netflix, emphasized the company's commitment to "ramping up local storytelling with local investments" and training the next generation of Thai storytellers, with nine original titles planned for 2025 including six films and three series.
Netflix's strategy aligns perfectly with Thailand's One Family, One Soft Power (OFOS) initiative, which aims to train 20 million Thais in specialized skills by 2027 and generate at least 4 trillion baht annually through creative industries across eleven soft power sectors.
The investment has delivered substantial economic spillover effects, generating over 300 billion baht in cultural tourism and product demand while improving Thailand's global soft power ranking to 40th worldwide and 6th in Asia according to Brand Finance's 2024 Global Soft Power Index.
