10 movies to watch if you miss traveling in Thailand

Time Out

30-04-2025

1. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
James Bond's showdown with Scaramanga did more than spark bullets. It shot Phang Nga Bay's limestone towers onto the world's radar. Officially Koh Khao Phing Kan, but the world knows it as James Bond Island. The film also captured Bangkok's rough-edged canal life in the '70s, throwing a high-speed chase into the middle of the city's humid, chaotic sprawl.
2. The Beach (2000)
Leonardo DiCaprio stars in this adaptation of Alex Garland's cult novel, following backpackers hunting for the ultimate paradise on a secret Thai island. Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Le is the film's main backdrop, while Phuket brings the drama. Krabi also gets some screen time when DiCaprio takes the ferry from Bangkok to the island. His adventure continues in Khao Yai National Park, where we see the Haew Suwat Falls on the big Hollywood screen.
3. In the Mood for Love (2000)
While set in 1960s Hong Kong, much of the film was actually shot in Bangkok. Where Surawong meets Charoen Krung, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung's characters navigated this Bangkok intersection, mirroring their frustrating romance and impossible attraction under the city's moody glow. Two souls, caught in longing's grip, walked back to separate lives while something electric sparked between them. Against Charoen Krung's dim lights, the setting became visual poetry, amplifying the bittersweet ache of finding love at precisely the wrong moment. This slice of Bangkok transformed into the emotional canvas for one of cinema's most achingly beautiful tales of mistimed love.
4. Butterfly Man (2002)
That moment when paradise becomes personal is what this film is about. As the film begins, we're dropped onto the sun-drenched shores of Koh Samui alongside a British backpacker who finds more than he can bargain for on a Thai island. Beyond the tourist brochure, this indie heartbreaker nails the traveller's sweet spot where holiday romance collides with cultural reality and messy human connections. Equal parts love story and cultural deep-dive, it's Thailand through eyes both fresh and flawed. Worth watching for the scenery alone but you might want to stay for what lies beneath.
5. Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
Nicolas Cage, portraying a jaded hitman, prowls the streets of Bangkok, chasing a storyline where the city's frenetic pulse, with its steamy alleyways, chaotic markets and glittering skyscrapers, forms the backdrop to his brooding assassin. While the plot treads familiar hitman territory (the last job, moral awakening, unexpected romance), it's Bangkok itself that emerges as the true co-star. The camera hungrily captures the city's urban contrasts, from serene temples to feverish nightlife.
6. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
Death comes knocking, but so do ghosts. Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Palme d'Or triumph is a hypnotic plunge into Thai mysticism that feels both ancient and fresh. In rural Thailand, kidney-failing Boonmee spends his final days with unexpected visitors: his deceased wife materialises at dinner while his long-lost son returns as a red-eyed monkey spirit. And yet, it feels almost casual. What unfolds isn't some horror show, but a meditation where the veil between worlds thins to transparency. The film stays with you like a half-remembered dream.
7. The Hangover Part II (2011)
Two years after tearing up Vegas, the Wolfpack is back letting loose in Bangkok. Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug land in Thailand for Stu's wedding, but one wild night later, the groom is missing and their memories are fried. With a handful of absurd clues, they run through the city's temples, tattoo shops and Bangkok's maze-like backstreets, racing to fix the mess before the big day. Bangkok's wild energy feeds the Wolfpack's chaos, turning this trip into an even bigger wreck than the last.
8. Only God Forgives (2013)
Ryan Gosling stalks Bangkok's neon-soaked concrete jungle as a boxing gym boss tangled up in criminal connections. When his mum rolls into town demanding payback for his brother's death, he dives headfirst into the city's back alleys and brutal underworld. This gritty neo-noir drags you through sweaty fight rings, sword swinging, seedy bars and blood-slick streets, where family ties snap under the weight of betrayal and Bangkok's chaos chews you up whole.
9. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
After facing off in Koh Tapu back in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Bond is back on Thai soil but instead of postcard-perfect beaches, this time we're in Charoen Krung, Bang Rak. High-speed chases tear through Charoen Krung 37 while boats rip down the Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem and Khlong Maha Nak canals. It all comes to a head in Din Daeng where Michelle Yeoh's scene-stealing heroine links up with Britain's most famous spy.
10. Mechanic: Resurrection (2016)
Three supposed accidents. One kidnapped girlfriend. A ticking clock on Laem Had beach, Koh Yao Yai. This paradise-turned-prison sees Jason Statham walking the knife-edge of island duality, where sun-drenched beaches conceal deadly intentions. As he hunts down three marked men, his arch-rival tightens the grip on the woman he loves. What unfolds is a lethal charade of calculated mishaps and vanishing time. The island's raw beauty collides with a brutal truth: only flawless execution will save her life. A Thai paradise island has never felt this perilous.