Following the recent Bangkok Design Week, Thailand aims to further boost its creative economy, propelling strategic efforts to facilitate the development and financial growth of the country.
Thailand held its staple arts and cultural festival Bangkok Design Week in February inspired by the theme “urban‘NICE’zation.” Running its sixth edition of the event this year, Bangkok Design Week continues to play a pivotal role in spotlighting local creatives and talents, while promoting ingenuity within the industry, promoting significant economic value for the country.
In recent years, the Thai government has extended their efforts to boost its creative economy and scale strategic development of all sectors overseen by the Creative Economy Agency (CEA) in Thailand. As part of their plan, the CEA appeals to the local talent and design community to provide essential support and drive collaborative opportunities within the sector, tasked to help propel economic growth.
Established in 2019, the CEA has since organised various events and campaigns bringing together local think tank organisations and market experts, and creative talents to exchange ideas, drive industry-wide reform, and advance efforts towards future development. Its three major annual projects include Bangkok Design Week, Chiang Mai Design Week, and Isan Creative Festival, generating considerable economical yields yearly by boosting local GDP growth.
CEA’s work also aims to carry out empowerment initiatives for the local population in helping build a greater appeal for Bangkok in six fundamental areas, including environmental, travelling, cultural, business, community, and diversity.
Mr Chakrit Pichyangkul, the Executive Director of the Creative Economy Agency, conducted the opening speech at the Bangkok Design Week 2023, highlighting the pivotal work of CEA in supporting the government’s policy to drive the country’s creative economy. Additionally, the Thailand Creative District Network (TCDN) initiative was launched in response to the success of the recent events. The previous design festivals in the country, from 2018 to 2022, have cumulatively generated US$40 million.
This year, the design week featured over 530 programmes, including various exhibitions, talks and workshops, as well as other key events to spotlight creative market platforms, aiming to offer local businesses collaboration opportunities and generate income. More than 60 private and public entities, and over 2,000 visionaries and talents participated, along with hosting international enterprises from Taiwan and Moscow.
Mr Pichit Virankabutra, Deputy Director of the Creative Economy Agency, recently represented Thailand at the Bangkok Creative City Dialogue, where he shared that, “Design has been highlighted as an element to help solve existing problems for Bangkok with the aim of promoting better welfare of the people.”
The CEA has joined forces with other corresponding organisations to build a robust framework and develop a roadmap to drive the growth and success of Thailand’s creative economy, positioning Bangkok as the Design hub under the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
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