The 2006 Bangkok International Film Festival was held from February 17 to February 27. The festival's events were held in the newly opened Siam Paragon, the first time all the festival's screenings, sidebar events, activities and film market were gathered under one roof. The festival opened with the Asian premiere of Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's Invisible Waves. The closing film was Rent by Chris Columbus. Celebrity highlights included director Terry Gilliam giving a master class, actor Christopher Lee giving a talk and introducing a screening of The Man with the Golden Gun, as well as appearances by Catherine Deneuve, Willem Dafoe, Tadanobu Asano, Rita Moreno, Rufus Sewell, director Oliver Stone and cinematographer Christopher Doyle.

Golden Kinnaree Awards

International Competition

Best Picture

Best Director

Best Actor

Best Actress

Best ASEAN Film

New Voices

Best Documentary

Special Awards

Controversy

Ahead of the 2006 festival, Somsak Techaratanaprasert, the president of the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand, called for a boycott of the festival by group members, because festival organizers, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, had not included Federation in the film-selection process and marketing plans for the festival, as it had in past years. Member film studios Five Star Production, GTH and RS Promotion did not agree with the boycott, which led to Somsak, also the chief executive of Sahamongkol Film International, to resign as chairman of the Federation. But as a result of the boycott, some films produced or distributed by Sahamongkol were pulled from the festival program.