KUALA LUMPUR – Thailand’s prime minister said Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour will not reach the nation’s shores because Singapore will subsidise millions of dollars for her concert while ensuring that her performances are exclusive to the city-state, and not anywhere else in Southeast Asia.
Srettha Thavisin said this as he explained to local Swifties (Swift’s fans) why the pop icon is not performing in the kingdom.
According to Thai news portals, the prime minister said Singapore will cover about US$2 to 3 million per show, equivalent to RM9.56 million to RM14.34 million each, in exchange for the exclusivity.
Swift has a not-so-long list of concert dates for the Southeast Asia leg of her tour, with only six shows in tow – March 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9 – all of which are taking place in Singapore.
She sold out all tickets for each show at the Singapore National Stadium, which is a 55,000-capacity venue.
Meanwhile, Srettha expressed determination to have more A-list artists perform in Thailand to boost the nation’s tourism.
The Love Story singer had developed a reputation for driving economic spillovers from her concerts with a phenomenon known as “Swiftonomics”.
The phenomenon, alongside Beyonce’s tour and the simultaneous release of critically acclaimed films Barbie and Oppenheimer, had generated US$8.5 billion (some RM40.63 billion) for the United States economy in the third quarter of last year, according to Bloomberg Economics. – February 16, 2024