Television series don’t come much buzzier than “The White Lotus,” and audiences are flocking to watch another round of (mostly) new jet-setting characters while awaiting the Max show’s trademark of a murder before the season’s end. Actors like Parker Posey, Walton Goggins and returning star Natasha Rothwell add to the Emmy-winning series’ appeal, but so does another major draw – the location. Season 1 took place in Hawaii, the sophomore installment in Italy and now the current third season has ventured to Southeast Asia to shoot in Thailand — mainly at the Four Seasons in Koh Samui and Anantara Mai Khao in Phuket.
But “The White Lotus” is just one of many film and TV productions — 490 to be exact — that filmed in Thailand in 2024, its highest level since pre-pandemic times. Netflix’s “The Night Agent” shot part of its second season in Bangkok, which is also where FX’s Noah Hawley sci-fi series “Alien: Earth”(premiering this summer) filmed last year. And on the movie side, when Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth” releases in July, audiences will see scenes that were shot last summer in Bangkok, Krabi, Trang, Phang Na and Chiang Mai.
However, the country becoming a filming destination for projects isn’t new to the Thailand Film Office, which points to the COVID-19 pandemic as a time that caused a tsunami of financial damage to most of the world’s entertainment industry… but not Thailand. “The pandemic is our key turning point,” says Supatana Sakpiyaphan Thailand Film Office’s tourism development officer and chief of academic affairs and cooperation.
Once the pandemic hit, guidelines were quickly set up with the country’s Department of Disease Control to keep many projects going (176 in 2020, 121 in 2021) instead of completely shutting down. Word spread fast that Thailand was open for business. “When filmmakers wanted to make productions during the pandemic period, some never thought of or knew Thailand before,” Sakpiyaphan says, adding that the number of Thailand foreign productions (which includes advertising, documentary, travel and music video projects) has increased every year since. “Filmmakers had a good experience filming here and kept coming back.”
That positive experience starts with Thailand’s endless supply of picturesque visuals from the south’s beaches (Phuket, Koh Samui, Krabi) and mountainous regions in the north (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai). Also, the Thai Tourism Office works closely with productions, even aligning them with local coordinators to help with everything from paperwork to hiring crews and scouting locations. However, another huge advantage was financial. Given budgets are tighter than ever since COVID, Thailand’s generous cash rebates, which actually increased last year from a potential 20% to the current 30%, have also become a major draw for foreign productions.
For example, a rebate can be as high as 25% if spending on the project is 150 million Thai baht (approximately $4.3 million) but also come in at 20% for spending in the 100-150 million Thai baht range (approximately $2.7-$4.3 million) and 15% for spending at 50 million Thai baht ($1.4 million). An additional 5% rebate is possible if a production employs Thai nationals in key team positions or promotes Thai tourism, while productions that film in designated provinces and/or complete post-production in Thailand could garner a 3% rebate.
All that is good news and Hollywood is listening. “We have had talks with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and they believe that more filmmakers will come to Thailand,” Sakpiyaphan says. That statement seems accurate looking at the numbers for January, when there were 62 productions filming in Thailand, a good start to what could break records this year.
However, Sakpiyaphan is quick to remind all foreign film productions to not make it all work and no play when they come to the Land of Smiles. “We say Thailand is the best destination for your ‘workation,’” she says, smiling.
