Soft power strengthens ties

Media accelerates Sino-Thai bi-cultural flow

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As Thailand and China celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2025, the spotlight falls not just on official statecraft but on a flourishing cultural alliance driven by entertainment, streaming and soft power.

Over recent years, Chinese platforms like WeTV and iQIYI have invested heavily in Thai content, going beyond distribution to co-produce original Thai-Chinese series and films.

WeTV Originals now include Y Series (Boys’ Love) dramas and reality-variety shows such as Chuang Asia: Thailand, featuring Jackson Wang as mentor—projects that showcase Thai youth culture, local fashion, language and sensibilities to audiences throughout Greater China and Southeast Asia.

iQIYI, in turn, partnered with Thai production house Be On Cloud to create the hit BL series KinnPorsche The Series La Forte (2022), whose massive Chinese fandom underscores Thailand's increasing influence in the region’s entertainment landscape.

The Chinese tech giant Tencent has also made strategic moves in Thailand, acquiring stakes in GMM Music and JOOX through Tencent Music and positioning Thailand as the first Asean market to host Tencent Video, complete with regional data centres.

These investments in music, cloud infrastructure and streaming services serve a dual purpose—exporting Chinese media to Thai audiences while facilitating Thai content delivery into Greater China. It's a symbiotic strategy that reinforces both technological and cultural integration.

Entertainment formats have become the new frontier of Sino-Thai cultural diplomacy. Chuang Asia: Thailand—also known as Produce Camp Asia and produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures in collaboration with ONEE and Kantana—brought together contestants from across the region to form the idol group Genles. The series represents a hybrid of Chinese production formats and Thai creative energy, amplifying regional youth appeal and positioning Thailand as a nexus for cross-border talent exchange.