Last month, it was France's turn to stage a cultural revolution in the city, with La Fete. Featured was rare photography by world-class artists like Sarah Moon and Deborah Turbeville, plus cutting-edge dance and theatre combining circus techniques with extraordinary lighting and stage design by Compagnie 111.

Throughout August, it will be England's turn to dominate the creative arena. Among the talents parading their skills, the UK arts invasion will feature innovative exhibitions by artists Damien Hirst and Douglas Gordon, designer Vivienne Westwood and the much-anticipated arrival of hot Brit rockers Keane.

Unlike the artistic activities coordinated by the French Embassy however, these anglophile arts events will arrive independently, offering a variety of British culture to slot into every cultural niche.

A retrospective exhibition featuring the work of the queen of Cool Britannia herself, Vivienne Westwood, is already on display at the Thailand Creative & Design Centre in The Emporium.

Hosted by the British Council, the visual-art exhibition "Monologue/Dialogue", featuring Hirst and Gordon, along with Wolfgang Tillmans and Mark Tichener, opens next week at three art venues across town.

Cutting-edge short films from the UK will also be screened as part of the Thai Short Film and Video Festival, hosted by the Thai Film Foundation and which runs from August 17-26 at the Pridi Banomyong Institute on Soi Thong Lor.

These events are bound to give a tremendous boost to Bangkok's arts scene by cementing cross-cultural ties between the two kingdoms and creating a broader perspective for local art lovers.

The imported events that are flooding the scene at the moment also include a variety of quality shows by commercial galleries. Among them are Timothy Yarker Fine Art - the Bangkok branch of the Beverly Hills-based original gallery that sells works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein - and the Beijing-born Tang Gallery chain. Located in the Silom Galleria, Tang Gallery has shifted its policy away from targeting the business market with popular landscape paintings to promoting contemporary Chinese artists' more avant-garde paintings. Among the hottest artists showing here are Zhang Xiaogang and Weng Feu.

In fact, before all of these imported shows started hitting the city, the local scene had become rather stagnant. Although exhibitions still opened weekly across town, interesting works were a rarity, and the majority of these shows were by small-time artists, with all the real stars of the local scene having upped and left to make their name in the international arena.

And contemporary Thai art is already making noticeable ground-breaking moves on the world stage.

The arrival of the first-ever Thai arts festival in Paris, featuring visual art, experimental cinema and music, has heralded a new international era for Thai art. More than 40 leading and emerging contemporary Thai artists, film-makers and musicians will share innovative ideas about the contemporary arts scene at "Tout a Fait Thai 2006", to be held from September 15 to October 30 at various venues around Paris, including the Pompidou Centre and the Palais de Tokyo.

The Thai Culture Ministry has spent more than Bt15 million on bringing together dozens of works of installation art, multimedia art, paintings, sculptures, live music and short, experimental and feature films that will be shown in art galleries, theatres and public spaces across Paris.

The ministry's Office of Contemporary Art and Culture first exhibited Thai artists' works abroad in 2003 at the 50th International Venice Biennale. Since then, the office has continued to support local artists in the international arena, but the French-Thai festival represents the biggest and most costly event of its kind to date.

Across the pond, a production by Bangkok-based American Tim Carr is making similarly creative waves. A group of Thai artists and contemporary musicians - including huge home-grown talent like Modern Dog and Sek Loso - have taken to the stage at New York's Lincoln Centre for the world premiere of an avant-garde rock opera titled "Ramakien: A Rak Opera", based on the Ramayana epic. The highlight of this year's Lincoln Centre Festival, the show is directed by prominent Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, who has teamed up with established young multimedia artist Wit Pimkanchanapong, and choreographer/dancer Pichet Klunchun.

Elsewhere, Japanese curator Fumio Nanjo, painter Chatchai Puipia and conceptual artist Patchya Pinthong are among more than 400 artists from around the globe who will exhibit their works at the first Singapore Biennale, from September 9 to November 1. Simultaneously, South Korea's prominent international contemporary art festival Kwanju Biennale will once again feature Thai artists, including Manit Sriwanichpoom, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook and Vasan Sithiket. The festival runs from September 10 to November 16.

Even one of Bangkok's premiere artists, Surasi Kusolwong - best known for his interactive installation "One Pound Turbo Market (you'll have a good time)" - has recently pretty much set up temporary residence in the UK, with a run of shows all over Britain. That includes the much-celebrated "marketplace", the Tate Modern, where he won the hearts of art lovers on the other side of the world and inspired a lot of pride back on his home turf.

This phenomenon of import-export and artistic cross-insemination is certainly giving new life to a formerly faded scene. But lest we forget the way the talent had leaked out of Bangkok prior to this revival, we should be mindful of the importance of two-way traffic and the dangers of exclusively importing or exporting artistic talent. Contemporary art relates to our everyday life and experience, and each audience should be able to benefit from the insights it offers. The more the local audience is given a stable foundation of understanding as well as practical and financial encouragement, the more strength the scene will have to flourish.

Phatarawadee Phataranawik