Film is considered to be an important art form and a source of popular entertainment. Its value as a powerful media for raising public awareness is also widely recognized. Hence as part of its tourism marketing strategy, TAT is seizing every opportunity to present on film visually powerful images of destinations around Thailand. This includes on screen exposure for Thailand through Korean prime time television dramas, video documentaries, other highly rated programmes, including game shows, as well as through music videos.

TAT Seoul has been actively courting Korean film directors, producers, actors and pop stars, urging them to consider Thailand as a film location. TAT Seoul plans to send Korean film crews to locations around Thailand once a month.

In TAT’s latest effort to raise the kingdom’s profile via television broadcasts, TAT is supporting the filming of “The Hour of Dog and Wolf”, a Korean television drama about the lives of three Korean teen-agers and the happy memories they shared as they reflect on their travels around the world and fondly remember each of the places visited.

Thailand will be featured as one of the memorable destinations and will appear in five out of the 16 segments of the series produced by MBC TV. Each of the segments will be 70-minutes long and will air on Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 22.00 hrs Korean time.

Filming is scheduled to start in late June. The film crew of 40 will be in Thailand for approximately a month.

With the key characters being played by three of South Korea’s hottest young stars – Lee Jun Ki, Jung Kyung Ho and actress Nam Sang Mi, “The Hour of Dog and Wolf” is expected to attract over 10 million viewers. Not only do these three enjoy superstar status at home, they also have a huge following of fans in several other Asian countries. Given their popularity around the region, “The Hour of Dog and Wolf” is expected to attract as much interest in Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan where the series will also be shown. All are important target markets for promoting outbound travel to Thailand.

MBC TV’s “The Hour of Dog and Wolf” is the third Korean TV drama to be shot on location in Thailand. The first two series were The Full House and The Palace.

Films, television dramas and music videos that feature footage of travel destinations around Thailand create positive first impressions of Thailand as a world-class travel destination. It is hoped that increased visibility and awareness of Thailand as a travel destination will trigger the desire among Korean TV viewers to travel to Thailand.

Additionally, with an increasing number of films being shot on location in Thailand each year, this track record reflects the professionalism and high level of readiness of pre- and post-production capabilities available in Thailand. This increases Thailand’s attractiveness as a preferred film location.