Thailand Movie Locations: Films and TV Series Shot in Thailand

Thailand has been used as a filming location for international films and television series for decades. Bangkok, Phuket, Phang Nga Bay, the Phi Phi Islands, Krabi and Ayutthaya have all hosted very different productions, from James Bond films and The Beach to Mortal Kombat, The Hangover Part II and more recent productions such as The White Lotus.

For travellers, these locations offer another way to explore Thailand. Some became widely known through a film, while others were already established destinations before appearing on screen.

Where are films shot in Thailand?

Filming is not concentrated in one part of the country. Bangkok is frequently used for urban settings, while southern Thailand provides beaches, islands, limestone cliffs and tropical landscapes.

Northern Thailand and the country’s historic cities have also been used as locations for international productions.

Some of the main areas associated with films and TV series shot in Thailand include:

The data currently compiled by the Movie Scene Map website includes just under a hundred locations in Thailand in its English-language database. However, this figure encompasses various categories: towns, landmarks, streets, landscapes and natural areas. Some locations also overlap, such as Phuket, which is listed as a town, an island and a province. These are therefore not specifically distinct tourist attractions.

Bangkok: a regular filming location

Bangkok is one of the main filming centres identified in Thailand.

The city has featured in productions including The Hangover Part II, The Beach, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Deer Hunter, Only God Forgives and Da 5 Bloods. Many other international and Asian productions have also used Bangkok as a filming location.

The settings vary considerably from one production to another, including streets, neighbourhoods, hotels, markets, modern buildings and locations along the Chao Phraya River.

The Hangover Part II is a good example of this variety. The Thai production used Bangkok as well as locations in Krabi. Lebua at State Tower and the Soi Cowboy area are among the locations associated with the film.

For travellers, these places provide a way to see parts of Bangkok that have appeared on screen without turning the city itself into a film attraction.

Phuket: from adventure films to recent productions

Phuket has also appeared in a number of international productions.

The Beach used the On On Hotel in Phuket for scenes involving Richard’s arrival and stay in the city. Phuket and the wider province have also been associated with Tomorrow Never Dies, The Man with the Golden Gun, Good Morning, Vietnam, F9 and several more recent productions.

It is important to distinguish Phuket city, Phuket Island and Phuket province. Filming-location databases sometimes list these entities separately.

This distinction matters for travellers who want to identify a specific filming location.

Phang Nga Bay: the James Bond setting

Phang Nga Bay is one of the Thai landscapes most closely associated with international cinema.

Khao Phing Kan and Ko Ta Pu are particularly linked to the James Bond franchise. The Man with the Golden Gun, released in 1974, used the area as one of its most recognisable settings.

Years later, Tomorrow Never Dies also used Phang Nga Bay to represent Vietnam in the film.

The cinema therefore helped give this part of Thailand’s Andaman coast an international profile. In both cases, however, the Thai locations represent other places within the films’ stories.

Read also

James Bond Filming Locations in Thailand: The Man with the Golden Gun and Tomorrow Never Dies

The Phi Phi Islands and The Beach

The Phi Phi Islands are another particularly well-known example.

Danny Boyle’s The Beach, released in 2000, was filmed in several parts of Thailand. Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Leh became the location most closely associated with the film.

The production was not limited to Phi Phi. Scenes were also filmed in Bangkok, Phuket, Khao Yai National Park and the Krabi area.

The filming locations recorded for the production include Maya Bay, Phuket and Khao Yai National Park.

Read also

The Beach Filming Locations in Thailand: Phi Phi, Phuket and Khao Yai

Krabi: beaches, islands and natural landscapes

Krabi has featured in several international productions.

The Beach and F9 are among the films associated with the province, while The Hangover Part II used a resort in the Krabi area for scenes connected with the wedding.

The region also offers a distinctive setting for filmmakers, with limestone cliffs, beaches and islands that can represent very different locations on screen.

Railay Beach, for example, was used as a filming location for Mortal Kombat in 1995. Some scenes from the same film were also shot in Ayutthaya.

Ayutthaya: historic temples on screen

The former royal capital of Ayutthaya has also attracted film productions because of its historic architecture.

Mortal Kombat, released in 1995, used several historic temples in the city, including Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Wat Chaiwatthanaram and Wat Ratchaburana.

The historic sites were incorporated into a fantasy film set far removed from their actual heritage function.

Ayutthaya therefore illustrates another relationship between cinema and place: historic monuments can become settings for international productions while remaining active heritage sites in their own right.

Kanchanaburi and war films

Kanchanaburi has a particular place in cinema connected with the Second World War.

The Bridge over the River Kwai and the railway infrastructure associated with the former Thailand–Burma Railway are linked to The Bridge on the River Kwai, released in 1957.

The area has also hosted other war-related productions, including Casualties of War.

These locations are more than film sets. They are also connected with an important and often visited chapter of Thailand’s Second World War history.

Chiang Mai and northern Thailand

Northern Thailand appears less frequently than Bangkok or the southern islands, but Chiang Mai and its surrounding region have also been used for international productions.

Chiang Mai is recorded as a filming location for Da 5 Bloods. Other productions have used Chiang Mai or the wider northern region, including Rambo III and more recent productions.

The north provides filmmakers with landscapes and environments that are very different from Bangkok and the islands of southern Thailand.

From Thai and Asian productions to international films

Cinema filmed in Thailand is not limited to Hollywood productions.

Filming-location databases also record Indian, Chinese, Korean and other Asian productions. This is particularly relevant in destinations and cities that already attract large numbers of Asian visitors.

Indian productions associated with filming locations in Thailand include Ek Tha Tiger, Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, Bang Bang!, Chandni Chowk to China, 7aum Arivu and Madras Cafe.

Indian cinema deserves separate attention because of the number and variety of productions connected with Thailand.

Read also

Indian Movies Filmed in Thailand: Locations You Can Visit

Well-known films and series shot in Thailand

A number of international productions have strongly associated their stories or visual identity with Thai locations.

Some of the best-known examples include:

This is not an exhaustive list. The exact locations associated with each production also depend on the sources available and on how filming locations are documented.

Can you visit filming locations in Thailand?

In many cases, yes.

Some locations are established tourist destinations, including Maya Bay, Phang Nga Bay, Ayutthaya and the Bridge over the River Kwai. Others are hotels, streets or neighbourhoods that continue to serve their everyday purpose.

A location appearing in a film does not necessarily mean that it has been turned into a film attraction. Visitors may simply be seeing a place that was used as a setting during production.

Access conditions can also change, particularly in national parks and protected natural areas.

A map of filming locations in Thailand

Movie Scene Map provides an interactive map showing locations associated with films and TV series shot in Thailand.

Its database is based mainly on filming-location statements recorded in Wikidata, supplemented by locations mentioned in the filming sections of Wikipedia articles. The site distinguishes between these sources.

This distinction is useful because a filming-location database cannot necessarily be expected to include every production filmed in Thailand or every scene shot in the country.

The map nevertheless provides a useful starting point for identifying locations and the productions associated with them.

Why is Thailand used for so many film productions?

One of the country’s most obvious advantages for filmmakers is the diversity of its landscapes.

Within a relatively short distance, a production can move from an international city to a historic capital, a tropical beach, a forest, an island or a mountainous region.

Thailand also has a local production industry capable of supporting international shoots, with experienced crews, infrastructure and a long history of working with foreign productions.

The result can be seen in the range of films and television series that have used the country as a filming location.

Main filming locations to explore

For travellers interested in the connection between cinema and Thailand, several areas provide a useful starting point:

This is not a ranking. It is simply a selection of locations where the connection between cinema and place is particularly well documented.

FAQ – Films and TV series filmed in Thailand

What famous films were shot in Thailand?

International productions filmed partly in Thailand include The Beach, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Man with the Golden Gun, Mortal Kombat, The Hangover Part II, The Bridge on the River Kwai and F9.

Where was The Beach filmed in Thailand?

The Beach was filmed in several parts of Thailand, including Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Leh, Phuket, Bangkok, Khao Yai National Park and the Krabi area.

Which James Bond films were shot in Thailand?

The Man with the Golden Gun and Tomorrow Never Dies are among the James Bond films associated with filming locations in Thailand, particularly around Phang Nga Bay and Bangkok.

Can you visit the filming locations?

Many places are open to visitors, but access conditions vary from site to site. In particular, nature reserves and national parks may be subject to restrictions or temporary closures. In addition, for example, some places or buildings may have undergone restoration work that completely alters their atmosphere, as was the case in the film In the Mood for Love.