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Published on December 27, 2007

But the impact does not end there, as the strike has started to affect Thailand's foreign-exchange earnings.

The Office of Tourism Development announced this week that revenue from foreign film productions in the Kingdom had dropped by Bt300 million from Bt1.927 billion last year to Bt1.6 billion. This figure is well below the target of Bt1.9 billion, even though the number of film projects was close to last year. This year, a total of 488 projects were filmed in Thailand compared to last year's 491.

The office said even though the number of documentaries, music videos and commercials remains satisfactory, feature-film productions, which generate a handsome amount of money, had dropped largely because of the strike.

One big loss is the delay of the latest film by Bruce Willis, entitled "Pinkville", to be directed by Oliver Stone. With a Vietnam War theme, a portion of the film was supposed to be shot in the Kingdom. However, production has been delayed because the scriptwriters have joined the strike.

The Internet Movie Data Base website said United Artists had halted its December production starts due to the writers' strike.

The Writers Guild of America has indicated its industrial action will be a "marathon" and more than 12,000 members have joined the strike. The writers are demanding higher payment from the revenue that films or TV programme generate since, with advanced technology, the channels for film releases have increased to cover a variety of media.

We just hope that the Writers Guild of America will get a fair deal that will lead to a quick ending to the strike. Only then can Hollywood feature-movie productions resume in Thailand. And yes, we are really eager to watch Stone's latest offering.

Jeerawat@nationgroup.com