The advertising association recently submitted a letter to the Government asking it to bring up the issue with its Malaysian counterpart, while the association itself tries to coordinate action with ad associations in the region.
In brief, the policy stipulates that commercials running in Malaysia must be produced by and feature Malaysians; and, generally, filming, film processing and all post-production work must be done in the country. "The Made in Malaysia policy is unfair practice not only for us, but also for the whole of Asean, said association chairman, Parames Rachjaibun, who estimates an annual loss of "hundreds of millions of baht directly from it. Although it has been in existence since the 1970s, it is only in the last couple of years that the rules were tightened and loopholes closed.
"In the past we hired a few local (Malaysians) to help, said Parames. "Now the rules are much tighter."
Also agencies in the past made commercials in Malaysia only once or twice a year. "Now, because many international clients want to centralise production, we do this every month so it's a much more serious issue, said Ogilvy group vice-chairman, Witawat Jayapani.
What really irks the Thai industry is that not only does it lose business to Malaysia, but also it ends up paying more for less. "In many cases, we produce regional campaigns for Thai brands in Malaysia where the costs are higher and the quality of production is much lower, said Witawat.
Witawat, who estimates that costs are routinely 20 to 50 per cent higher in Malaysia, will be coordinating responses from the various regional advertising associations.
Both Parames and Witawat are hopeful that the issue will be taken up sooner rather than later. "I think it's a high possibility because the Prime Minister (Thaksin Shinawatra) owns an ad agency, so he is aware of this problem, Witawat said.
Thailand may get some unexpected help from Malaysian advertisers who have, in the past, complained that the rules isolate the local advertising industry from the outside world, in terms of both competition and new advertising concepts and ideas.
