Creativity is, by its very nature, practically impossible to measure. However, while rankings, even very methodically prepared ones, cannot hope to portray the whole truth about the state of the creative scene in this country, what they can do is give us an idea of how the rest of the world views us.
Years ago I was delighted to read somewhere that Thailand was regarded as the 17th most creative country in the globe and I remember how the 2011 Cannes Report judged Bangkok to be the 16th most creative city in the world.
However, the more recent Bloomberg Rankings, released earlier this year, named the 30 most creative countries in the world, and Thailand didn’t make the cut. Singapore, our tiny neighbour to the south, was placed at number seven, while South Korea topped the list.
Does that mean that the level of domestic creativity has been completely reversed in less than three years? Or does it merely mean that creativity is notoriously difficult to evaluate and that different surveys use different parameters to reach their conclusions? So it is simply a matter of people viewing the same picture from very different perspectives or do we really need to do something drastic in order to catch up with all those bright creative lights in other parts of the world?
In an effort to get a few answers, Life recently spoke to Apisit Laistrooglai, managing director of the Thailand Creative & Design Centre (TCDC), who observed that while rankings might not reveal the whole truth, we do indeed have a lot of work to do. Not necessarily because we have stalled or lagged behind, he was quick to add, but because the creative scene in many other countries is developing at such a rapid rate.
“Being creative is like having a golden touch, being able to transform an ordinary product into a spectacular rarity. All around the world, creativity is perceived as an important part of the economy, and countries with outstandingly creative industries, such as Japan, grow much faster,” he said.
Asked to comment on the situation on the home front, Apisit said that we aren’t doing too badly at all. Whatever the rest of the world can make, we can make it, too. We have lots of great artists as well as cool innovations that appeal to the international market.
“There’s no denying the fact that, whether it’s in the form of products or of services, we have seen great progress in terms of creativity in Thailand. The market is more diverse and niche products are growing fast. One example would baby products. In the past, there weren’t many items to buy for a baby, but now there’s a whole department [in department stores] dedicated to them. Whatever the trend is, we catch up fast.”
The problem is exactly that: we’re good at catching up with others, but we don’t seem to be too hot at trend-setting, at leading from the front. Apisit said that, based on his experience of Thailand’s creative scene, the problem is that we are always the followers, never the inventors.
“The question is how to stimulate original ideas instead of just adjusting to other people’s bright ideas. If we can be a hub of creativity, we can progress much faster,” commented the head honcho at the TCDC, which was established 11 years ago.
Apisit also pointed out that Thais seem to function best, thrive even, when they work alone, but progress slowly when they are members of a team. Teamwork is an important tool in creating something unique. Apisit explained that innovation comes from integrating various fields of expertise and that if you cannot collaborate with other people, no matter how skilled you are, it is hard to grow.
“In creating something new, there needs to be integration and adoption of other people’s expertise. Cooperation is a skill that Thais need to work on, and it will help us grow tremendously. It is good to be confident about what you are good at, but remember that other fields of expertise can help you become even better.”
One example he gave was that Thai people are very good at offering hospitality, but not so good at dealing with technology. Even though technology has now become an integral part of virtually every business, many Thai people are still reluctant to embrace it, only do enough to get by, or refuse to learn it altogether. A hotel with incredible service, but a lousy website might not do as well as it deserves to do given the demands of a modern, international clientele.
A way to improve the situation, Apisit commented, is to push for the inclusion of “creative economy” as an item on the national agenda. The term means promoting creative industries as being key for national economic development and integrating creativity into every field. Even though the term was coined many years ago, not much has happened in the interim, and the TCDC aims to revise its creative-economy plan and make it happen, especially since creativity will be a vital asset once the Asean Economic Community is launched next year.
“We can’t just think of what we [Thais] are doing; we need to think regionally,” Apisit said.
“Whether you travel to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta or Chiang Mai, the differences [between these cities] are no longer that distinctive. The world has become smaller and the lines have been blurred. We have to take the creative-economy plan more seriously now because we are serving a much bigger community.”
