Thailand is to cut income tax for foreign actors, in an attempt to woo more film makers to its shores.

Several foreign film makers have complained about the high taxes in Thailand and opted to film elsewhere, Somsak Thepsuthin, a minister in the Prime Minister's office said last week.

"Actors who earned more than 100m baht (�1.58m; $2.28m) would not come for movie shooting here because of our high tax. They would go to our neighbours instead," he said.

Currently, actors are taxed on a sliding scale of between 5% and 30%.

Under the new proposal agreed at a weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday, there will be a new flat rate tax of 10%.

Thailand recently served as the backdrop for the Hollywood blockbuster The Beach, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio.

Boom industry?

Even with a tax cut, the potential revenues from foreign film productions is huge.

Last year, Thailand earned about 1.27bn baht in tax revenues from more than 400 films, double the previous year's earnings.

The increasing popularity of Thailand as a film destination means that this figure is likely to hit 2bn baht this year, Mr Somsak said.

Alain Brulfert, who organises international film productions at J-Class cinema in Bangkok, says the attractions of Thailand are clear.

The low cost of production, beautiful scenery and relative ease of filming there compared to other Asian countries all count as attractions, he told the BBC's World Business Report.

European and US film makers have long been aware of the attractions of Thailand, but interest from Indian film companies is now starting to grow.

"We receive maybe two, three requests every week, I think this is maybe the new market," he said.