Feature Film Shooting Logistics

Film Permits

Living Films' production supervisor, Panyawadee Navarat Na Ayutthya (P. Tim) has been getting film permits since she started on "The Deer Hunter," shot in Thailand in 1977. The process of applying for a Thai Film Permit is not as difficult as it seems, but having a long standing relationship with the Thai Film Board does help to streamline the process some.

Film Permit applications for Feature Films usually take three or four weeks for approval. Commercials or documentaries move much faster (one or two weeks) We prefer to apply for the Thai Film Permit before prep officially begins... but, at the very least, we should allow for several weeks between the expected approval date of the Thai film permit and the beginning of principle photography. There are several reasons for this, but for one, we'll need our Thai Film Permit in hand first before applying for various other Thai Governmental permissions (for example, permission to film in a National Park, to use military hardware, for customs clearance, etc.)

The Thai Film Board rarely rejects a script outright, but sometimes they can ask for certain scenes to be changed slightly (see: Censorship.) Living Films is happy to pre-read the script and advise as to which scenes could be potentially controversial before submitting to the Thai Film Board. Unfortunately, there are no official guidelines or rules regarding censorship in Thailand, so we can only advise you from experience. However, Living Films has never had a Thai Film Permit rejected.

Related links: Censorship , National Parks , Government , Work permits , Visas