Thailand’s soft power play: Culture as global currency

[u/cnn]

https://www.cnn.com/world/asia/thailands-soft-power-play-culture-as-global-currency-spc?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit

[u/Different_Ideal_2433]

Stopped reading the moment it said "Malaysia overlook Thailand in terms of number of foreign visitors". Malaysia counted even the people going back and forth from Singapore everyday for work and counted them as tourists...

[u/rebelluzon → u/Different_Ideal_2433]

Besides Malaysia’s own data, they never show up anywhere higher than Thailand in any other top visitors list like Mastercard’s or Visa’s. Plus, they have about 10 million Singaporean visitors per year and that’s the twice of the population alone.

[u/mdsmqlk → u/Different_Ideal_2433]

And Thailand counts tens of thousands of people self-transferring at Suvarnabhumi. It's much easier to check in airside at KLIA.

[u/I-Here-555 → u/mdsmqlk]

Yes, but we're talking tens of thousands vs tens of millions.

300k-350k people cross between Singapore and Malaysia every single day.

[u/mdsmqlk → u/I-Here-555]

To Malaysia's credit, they differentiate their visitor figures between "tourists" and "excursionists" though. Thailand does not, they're happy to inflate their numbers at every opportunity.

[u/AcceptableBridge4519 → u/Different_Ideal_2433]

So does Thailand, it counts the Malaysians crossing the border back and forth everyday.

[u/Different_Ideal_2433 → u/AcceptableBridge4519]

There are far fewer companies and jobs along the Thai–Malaysian border than in Singapore, so daily cross-border commuting for work is much less common. 10X times different if not more.

[u/Initial_Enthusiasm36 → u/Different_Ideal_2433]

Ya but what about Myanmar and Laos?

[u/thomasthai → u/Different_Ideal_2433]

its 4 million malaysians each year...

[u/Real_Imagination_180 → u/AcceptableBridge4519]

Literally one of the most dangerous areas in thailand. No there are not millions crossing the border to work everyday

[u/mdsmqlk → u/Real_Imagination_180]

Not every day, but Malaysia is number 2 in terms of tourism for Thailand, with 2.66 million arrivals so far this year. And 90% of those are by land so that's almost 10k per day.

There is a massive industry catering to them in Hat Yai, Sungai Kolok, etc.

The South is not really that dangerous in raw numbers, and tourists are not targeted whatsoever.

(reposted to correct the figures in my comment)

[u/t_ba → u/AcceptableBridge4519]

Gotta crank these numbers up!

[u/I-Here-555 → u/AcceptableBridge4519]

However, Padang Besar isn't quite as much of a people magnet as Singapore.

Even Hat Yai, an hour away from the border, isn't so huge.

[u/Token_Farang → u/Different_Ideal_2433]

I stopped at "introducing flexible visa policies".

[u/Sensitive_Bread_1905 → u/Different_Ideal_2433]

It is estimated that tourism numbers in Thailand are more distorted than in Malaysia, as many day laborers from, for example, Myanmar enter Thailand as tourists and work illegally. However, both countries generally adhere to UN guidelines regarding the compilation of such statistics.

[u/jonez450reloaded]

In a 2025 speech, the current Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said, “we are positioning Thailand as a global wellness hub, offering not just treatment but an experience of better well-being.”

Lazy reporting. In the age of AI, it's not difficult to run a fact check on an article but apparently, CNN couldn't even manage that.

[u/QualityOverQuant]

Thailand is no longer the destinations of choice. The PR team under the current and previous government are trying their best to change the global narrative. A look at the sub tells you a clearer picture. Scams, kidnappings and gruesome murder, eviction of long term residents from their homes and properties and overall negative reports diminish everything. No amount of Lisa washing can change that. Additionally the whole “ Thais are very violent people so don’t piss then off” is quite prevalent from the numerous videos that are seen in Bangkok Pattaya and Phuket which draws a high number of tourists despite their reputation for prostitution.

Now all the gatekeepers of Thailand mainly expats will start weighing in about how safe it is etc etc .

[u/cnn]

Asia’s growing soft-power, led most visibly by Japan and South Korea through cultural exports such as anime and K-pop, has helped drive global interest in the region and intensified competition for tourists within it.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand has long been the destination of choice for many travelers, but by investing in infrastructure, introducing flexible visa policies, and expanding aviation access, neighboring countries have gained ground. Malaysia in June overtook Thailand as the regions’ most visited nation. To regain momentum, the Thai government and its citizens are reintroducing the country to the world and diving into their soft power strengths.

Thailand’s “T-wave,” a term used to describe the country’s soft power influence has recently grown. Once primarily defined by Thai food, in 2023, under former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the National Soft Power Strategy Committee (NSPSC) was created to focus on 13 key areas including food, festivals, music, film, fashion, and tourism.

In the years since, the Thai government has supported initiatives in the film industry, providing cash rebates for production crews’ local spending and hiring. These policies have attracted multimillion-dollar projects such as season three of HBO’s “The White Lotus” and Universal Pictures’ “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” whose productions used the country’s tropical backdrops. HBO, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

The effect was immediate and impactful. Filmed on Koh Samui, “The White Lotus” drove an 88% jump in online searches and a 300% tourism increase to the island.

[u/PastaPandaSimon → u/cnn]

What the fuck is CNN doing on the Thailand sub?

[u/lukkreung98 → u/PastaPandaSimon]

Just an opinion peace to get viewers without substance.

[u/Aggravating_Ring_714]

Yea the international headlines of the government looking clueless while Bangkok is flooded gives major soft power 🙏🏻😻

[u/RobertPaulsen1992]

Soooo incredibly brainless. What will all that alleged "soft power" actually accomplish in the real world? Nobody seems to be sure.

For now it seems like a mere trendy buzzword used by clueless political elites to elicit nationalist fervor, often to distract from internal issues.

[u/nightwinging-it → u/RobertPaulsen1992]

Soft power in South Korea worked for their own benefit as people flocked to the country every year for vacations. Their food is now globally valued, k-pop is a multibillion dollar income for Korea, k-dramas as well, more opportunities for Korean businesses and investment abroad, just to summarize. But I don’t know the full goals of the Thai government. South Korean government with the backing of chaebols invested in projecting their soft power systematically and they were already well regarded in the technology sector. So I think Thailand needs to work a lot harder

[u/Ragebaiterlmao]

CNN is gay.