Chula Marketing professor draws attention to the strengths and weaknesses that Thai entrepreneurs and related sectors should immediately address so that the Thai economy can soar with soft power while revealing Chula’s readiness to drive research and social innovation to create the leaders of the future and drive Thai soft power to the global society.
Highlights
- Understand Thai Soft Power
- Empowering Thai Soft Power
- 2 Ts to Promote Thai Soft Power
- Chula's stance as the university to drive Thai soft power
Thai soft power is trending at the moment.
When “Lisa BlackPink wore a traditional Thai skirt while visiting the temples in Ayutthaya” and sent the demand for Thai textiles to skyrocket and sales to increase dramatically around the world;
The creative ice cream inspired by the design on the tiles of Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn) that Thai and foreign tourists flock to try;
The “elephant pants fever” – the popular fashion item among tourists to Thailand, that even locals need to buy and wear them to be “trendy”;
Most recently, the Netflix Korean series “King the Land” in which the main protagonists came to Thailand to pay homage at Wat Arun, took a boat ride on the Chao Phraya River, rode in tuk tuks, ate the famous noodles and drank watermelon smoothies, etc. This has sparked a trend for tourists to follow in their footsteps to the must-check-in spots in the series.
This Thai soft power trend helps revive the Thai economy and tourism after the great slump that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022) during which the number of tourists declined by more than a hundredfold. Yet, in 2023, tourism has swung back to 80 percent growth, and more than 30 million foreign tourists are expected to visit Thailand.
We should not allow these emerging Thai soft power trends to fizzle out with time, but all sectors should help to “empower” and sustain Thai soft power. But how?
Assistant Professor Dr. Ake Pattaratanakun
Assistant Professor Dr. Ake Pattaratanakun, Chula’s Chief Brand Officer, Head of the Marketing Department, at Chulalongkorn Business School, and Board member of the Office of Creative Economy Agency (CEA) (Public Organization), which is responsible for overseeing Thailand’s soft power promotion, discusses the strengths and areas where Thai entrepreneurs and organizations in Thailand should embrace to ignite a strong Thai soft power trend to boost the country’s economy.
Continue reading at https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/133305/
