Comedy set in Thailand is top-grossing Chinese film

A low-budget Chinese comedy about Thailand has become the highest-grossing film in the history of Chinese cinema, crossing 1 billion yuan (Bt5 billion) in box-office receipts.

"Lost in Thailand", which was released on December 12 and attracted more than 30 million viewers throughout China, has also been viewed as a factor in drawing more Chinese tourists to the Kingdom. Last year, 2.5 million tourists from China visited Thailand.

The 30-million-yuan (Bt150 million) comedy, which is expected to be shown in theatres until mid-January, is about a pair of co-workers competing to find their company's largest shareholder in Thailand to secure a contract approval, according to the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency.

The film's success surpassed that of the 3D re-release of James Cameron's "Titanic" in early 2012, which took in 935 million yuan (Bt4.6 billion) and was last year's highest-grossing imported film in China.

However, Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar" still holds China's box-office record, grossing almost 1.4 billion yuan (Bt7 billion) in 2010.

"Lost in Thailand" is filmed mainly in Bangkok and Chiang Mai and is a compilation of stories based on real experiences of expatriates who have chosen Thailand as their home. The movie stars Xu Zheng, Wang Baoqiang and Huang Bo.