Art Department in Thailand
Set design, set building, props and dressing, with the Thai art team that fits your job.
Production Design and Set Building in Bangkok
Thai art departments build big, detailed sets fast. The hard part is finding the right team.
The best teams are small, work in Thai and get their jobs through producers they have known for years. They don’t advertise in English, so foreign productions often end up with whoever answers an English email first. We have worked with Bangkok’s art directors and builders for years, and we know which team suits a beauty commercial, a car spot or a period set.
Built in Thailand
Thai crews build sets for productions from all over the world. For the third season of The White Lotus, the hotel bedrooms were rebuilt and enlarged on a Bangkok sound stage. For the Indian feature Dhurandhar, a six-acre set of a Karachi neighbourhood went up in Bangkok in about 20 days, with 300 to 400 Thai crew working on it.
Most of the work is commercials. Brands from across Asia shoot their studio spots here, because a set that would be too expensive in Europe or Australia is affordable in Bangkok, and the craft is here: carpenters, painters, welders, scenic artists and prop makers who have done this for years.
How an Art Department Works Here
On a Thai commercial, the art director usually brings the whole team: set designers, builders, painters, prop people and dressers. Many run their own workshop, so walls and set pieces are built there and trucked to the studio for the build days.
The quote is normally one package: design, materials, construction, props, dressing, the standby crew on the shoot day and the strike afterwards. Ask what’s included, especially transport, the studio’s build and strike days, and who clears the set.
Most of the workshop speaks Thai. The art director is the link, so the right art director matters more than anything else.
What We Arrange
Production Design
Mood boards, sketches and plans for every set, approved before anything is built.
Set Construction
Studio and location builds: walls, floors, ceilings and facades.
Location Dressing
Turning a real place into the one in the script, and putting it back afterwards.
Props
Bought, rented or made. Renting is fastest, making looks exactly right, and the markets fill the gaps.
Graphics and Signage
Thai or foreign signs, packaging, menus, posters and screen content.
Food Styling
Food that looks fresh under the lights, with doubles for every take.
Practical Effects
Rain, smoke, haze, wind and breakaways, done on set.
Standby and Strike
An art team on set all day for changes, then clearing the set and returning the location.
Bringing Your Own Production Designer
Many international productions bring their production designer and hire the art team here. That works well when the designer has the right Thai art director beside them: someone who can turn drawings into a build plan, find materials locally and run a Thai-speaking workshop.
We pair your designer with an art director who suits the job, translate where needed, and keep the build schedule tied to the shoot schedule.
The Right Team for the Job
Teams have their strengths. Some of what we look for:
Beauty and fashion
- Clean, precise studio sets and an eye for colour and texture.
Product and tabletop
- Small sets built to the millimetre, with room for the product rig and the camera.
Food
- A team that works with the food stylist and has doubles ready.
Cars
- Large studio builds, road dressing, and experience around camera cars.
Period and drama
- Research, aged surfaces and furniture from the right decade.
Music videos
- Fast builds and bold ideas, often on a smaller budget.
Large builds
- Their own workshop and enough carpenters to build a stage set in days.
What Thai Rules Mean for Your Set
Shoots by foreign productions go through the Thailand Film Office. The storyboard or script is approved before the shoot and a Film Board officer is on set, so the set has to match what was approved. A few things need care:
- The Thai flag can’t go on products or packaging without approval, and misusing it is a criminal offence.
- Police and military uniforms are restricted. Plan them with us before the costume fitting.
- Royal symbols, including the Garuda, need permission.
- Prop banknotes need Bank of Thailand approval and must differ from real notes in size or colour.
- Buddha images and monks need care. The censors take their portrayal seriously.
- Prop weapons, explosives and chemicals must be on the equipment list for the permit.
- Historical parks and national parks need their own permits, with a deposit for film and TV.
More on film permits in Thailand.
Timeline and Budget
A typical commercial has about two weeks of prep. A dressed location can be ready in a few days. A studio build needs the design approved first, then the build, so allow at least a week, and more for a large set.
An art quote covers design, materials, labour, props, transport, the standby crew and the strike. Big builds cost less here than in Europe, the US or Australia, mostly because skilled labour costs less.
Avoid building exterior sets in August and September, the wettest months in Bangkok.
Sets We’ve Built and Dressed
Case: A Set Built Around a Robot
For the Clones music video with Young Stunners and Velo Sound Station, we built and dressed a studio set around the moves of a Bolt high-speed camera robot. Every wall, lamp and piece of furniture had to sit where the robot’s programmed moves could pass, take after take.
Case: A Neon Set on a Sound Stage
For FBS commercials with Kan Kanthanavorn, the set was a tunnel of green neon frames built across a large sound stage, with room for the camera to travel through it and haze to carry the light.
Questions About Art Departments in Thailand
How early should the art department start?
As soon as the script or the boards are close to final. For a dressed location, a week before the shoot is workable. For a studio build, two weeks or more.
Can you build on location?
Yes, if the owner agrees and the location can be put back as it was. We agree what can change before anything is touched.
What happens to the set after the shoot?
The art team strikes it and clears the studio or the location, and that is in the quote. If you want to keep pieces or props, tell us before the build.
Can you find props for a European or American setting?
Yes. Bangkok has imported goods, antique markets and prop houses, and anything missing can be made or printed.
Can we see the art team’s work before we decide?
Yes. Before you approve a team we send their portfolio and, where it helps, set up a call with the art director.
Planning a set build in Thailand? Send us your boards and the dates.
Send us your boardsThe Right Team, Not the First One
Send us the boards or the script, the dates and the location. We suggest the art team that fits, and put the rest of the crew around it.
Contact Us
Contact us anytime through the channels below.
- 723 Charoen Nakhon Rd, Khlong Ton Sai, Khlong San, Bangkok 10600 (3rd Fl, Unit 3A.09)
- Monday to Friday, 10am to 7pm
- hello@bangkokproductions.com
- +66 086-655-5936 (English)
+66 089-9876-444 (Thai)