Lights, Camera, Location! Famous Movies That Used Thailand as a Location

If you’re itching to travel again, you’re probably thinking of what to put on your bucket list as early as now. Lots of travel guides are available on the internet, but if you’re also a movie geek, there’s another way you can discover a place to put in your itinerary — to find movies set in the country you’re going to.

Thailand, for example, is no stranger to being the film location of many international movies and TV series. Just recently, Mike White, director of “The White Lotus,” said the third season of the hit HBO anthology will be shot in Thailand.

While we are waiting for that to come under the wraps, here are some American movies that were set or had location shoots in the country.

‘The Beach’

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Virginie Ledoyen, Guillaume Canet, and Robert Carlyle, “The Beach” is a 2000 adventure drama film based on a 1996 novel of the same name by Alex Garland.

Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a young backpacker looking for a thrill-seeking adventure in Thailand. He meets Daffy (Robert Carlyle) who told him about a beautiful uninhabited island paradise with a hidden beach. Curious about the said beach, Richard sets off on an adventure but later discovers that the “paradise” is hiding a dark secret.

The film was set in Ko Phi Phi Leh, the second-largest island of the Phi Phi Archipelago in the Strait of Malacca covering about 6.6 square kilometers. The archipelago became an instant tourist destination, but as of 2019, the government had to close Maya Bay to visitors due to environmental issues caused by overtourism.

‘Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason’

Starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant, “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” is a 2004 romantic comedy film based on a 1999 novel of the same name by Helen Fielding. It’s the sequel to the 2001 “Bridget Jones's Diary” movie.

The story picks up four weeks after the end of the 2001 film. Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) started dating Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), but her confidence in their relationship was soon shattered after meeting Mark’s assistant — Rebecca Gillies (Jacinda Barrett). Bridget eventually breaks up with Mark and travels to Thailand.

Some scenes from the movie were shot in Soi Cowboy (a red-light street in Bangkok), Koh Panyee (a floating village in Phang Nga Bay), Nai Yang (a beach located in the north-western part of Phuket), and Phuket International Airport.

‘The Hangover Part II’

Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Jeffrey Tambor, Justin Bartha, and Paul Giamatti, “The Hangover Part II” is a 2011 comedy film distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It’s the sequel to the 2009 “The Hangover” film and the second installment in the movie trilogy.

The film tells the story of Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis), and Doug (Justin Bartha) as they travel to Thailand for Stu and his fiancée (Lauren)’s wedding. The mood was ruined during the rehearsal dinner because of Lauren’s father, but Stu later joins his friends for beer and raised a group toast for his and Lauren’s future happiness. The next day, the guys had another bad hangover with no memories of what happened the previous night.

Some of the iconic scene locations in the movie are Chinatown, Soi Cowboy, Chao Phraya River, The Dome at Lebua (a five-star rooftop bar), and the Ancient City of Samut Prakan.