The number of fake products has more than doubled from 10-20 per cent of the movie market a few years ago to 40-50 per cent now, industry executives say.

The value of the market would be B4 billion this year, or 20 per cent more than projected, if there were no copyright violations, according to the federation.

Surasak Sanpitakseree, secretary-general of the federation, yesterday said the movie industry's growth rate fell 20 per cent in first quarter due to the slowing economy and political turmoil.

Illegal copies are now going on sale one week after a movie debuts, resulting in a sharp drop in ticket sales in the second week, Surasak said, adding that the fakes are produced upcountry.

Surasak said the federation's would call on the government to set up a taskforce to suppress illegal products. The federation wants a long-term solution with ongoing enforcement and stiff penalties, he said.

Thai filmmakers are not the only ones affected. Hollywood has long complained about the proliferation of pirated movies in Asian countries, including China and Thailand.

Jaruek Kanjaruek, president of Kantana Group, said its popular animated film "Khan Kluay" grossed Bt100 million in ticket sales, but this was lower than projected.

Illegal VCDs were distributed just one or two weeks after the film premiered last month, causing it to fall short of its revenue projection, he said.

"Schools that purchased all the seats for a single showing cancelled and screened illegal VCDs in their school instead," Jaruek said. "We lost at least 30-40 per cent of revenue to copyright violations."

Hence, the forecast that sales of "Khan Kluay" VCDs would total at least Bt1 million will be missed, Jaruek said.

Kantana spent Bt150 million and three years working on the film.

Visute Poolvoralaks, a manager at GTH, said the political problems would take a bigger toll on the movie industry in the second half while the slowing economy would make consumers more cautious about spending.