Ministry spices it up with a cartoon script competition in a talent search

The initiative aims to nurture and develop emerging talents, and potentially turn their works into popular webcomics. This effort is part of a larger strategy to position Thai webcomics as a new “soft power” on the global stage.

Wuttikrai Leewiraphan, the director-general of the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), said that “the DIP places significant importance on promoting intellectual property, particularly creative works that blend Thai soft power with the latest digital technology trends, such as webtoon.

“It aligns with the lifestyle of the new generation and has rapidly gained popularity both domestically and internationally.”

In Thailand, there are more than 3 million webtoon readers monthly, with a substantial number of popular Thai writers and cartoonists contributing to this thriving industry.

The focus of the competition is to provide Thai webtoon writers with the opportunity to showcase their creativity and develop their storytelling capabilities.

The goal is to encourage the creation of high-quality, profound, and engaging scripts that captivate readers and can transform into actual webtoons.

The winning script will be developed into a short webtoon, and distributed both in Thailand and in countries that are major markets for webtoon, such as South Korea.

Additionally, the winner will have the opportunity to travel and observe the production process of webcomics at leading webtoon production companies in South Korea.

All of these initiatives aim to propel “Thai webtoon” into a new, contemporary, form of soft power that aligns with the behaviours of consumers both in Thailand and internationally.

It serves as a platform to enhance and cultivate the cartooning abilities of a new generation of Thai creators, helping them reach international recognition.

Also, it holds the potential to contribute to economic revenue and enhance the overall competitiveness of the country.