As many as 22 movie, documentary and book projects about the Tham Luang cave rescue operation and about the life of the 12 Wild Boar boys and their football coach have been proposed by both local and foreign studios to the Creative Media Committee, said Culture Minister Veera Rojpojanarat on Thursday.

On top of that, there are 27 TV show programmes for the boys and their coach from Thai and foreign TV stations still pending consideration by the committee chaired by the culture minister.

Producers are invited to apply for the rights to shoot movies, documentaries or animation films of the dramatic rescue mission, the life of the rescuers and the boys trapped in the cave complex for two weeks during the period between  November 15-30.

Minister Veera said foreign producers must seek approval from the Ministry of Sports and Tourism whereas the Thai producers must contact the Culture Ministry for approval.

Of the 22 proposed projects, ten are movie projects with five each proposed by Thai and foreign producers and ten documentary projects with the remaining two being book projects.

The minister said the committee agreed that there was no need for the rights to be given to just one producer or studio and all of them would be treated equally and fairly for mutual benefits and for the image of Thailand.

Studios can start their production based on the information which is already available publicly, but for in-depth information about the private life of the boys, consent from the boys and their parents is needed and also with the approval of the committee which will consider the benefits to be offered to the boys, said Mr Veera.

He stressed that any commercial deals involving the Wild Boar boys to be approved by the committee must have the consent of the boys and their parents.