An ideal technique to plan a visit to Thailand — the nation the place Mike White plans to movie season three of The White Lotus — is to mix beachy adventures (similar to Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as soon as had on the Amanpuri resort on Phuket) with a journey to the mountainous north and a stint within the epicurean capital of Bangkok.
“One of many absolute highlights of my tour across the globe with Peacock’s journey docuseries Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss had been some epic adventures in Thailand, the jewel of Southeast Asia,” Rainn Wilson tells THR. “This peaceable tradition made up of so many united tribes has at its heart the idea of sanuk, a religious/cultural idea of discovering a loving, fun-filled pleasure in no matter you might be doing.”
For sand and surf there are numerous prospects in a rustic with seemingly infinite coast, to not point out many islands. Cher and the Loneliest Elephant director Jonathan Finnigan of Fortunate Satan Movies tells THR that his favourite a part of Thailand is Krabi — dwelling to James Bond Island, which appeared in The Man with the Golden Gun — the place he’s sailed to in any other case unreachable islands together with Ko Racha Yai and “the little sandbar island Ko Maiton.”
Lately opened locations to remain on the mainland are cheerful modernist seashore resort The Standard Hua Hin (from $145 an evening) and months-old Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach (from $351 an evening), which has 204 rooms and villas plus a 70-year-old heritage home–turned–beachside seafood grill for ocean-to-table dinners.
On a non-public seashore on Ko Samui, Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa (from $200 an evening) has drawn Oliver Stone and Elle Macpherson with its digital detoxes and Japanese-meets-Western therapeutic philosophies.
Kimpton Kitalay Samui (from $280 an evening) bowed in 2022 with oceanfront pool villas for VIPs to cover away.
And on the favored island of Phuket — the place Chrissy Teigen has raved about unplugging and enjoyable at a Banyan Tree Phuket villa — 2022 introduced Banyan Tree Veya Phuket (from $500 an evening), a flagship well-being resort for bespoke “embodiment therapies”, aware grounding lessons, and plant-forward delicacies.
A terrace jacuzzi in a deluxe tent on the 4 Seasons Golden Triangle in Thailand.
Ken Seet
Ben Feldman, one of many stars of Netflix’s new movie A Vacationer’s Information to Love, as soon as stayed on the “bougie as hell” Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle (from $2,795 an evening) the place “the elephants are all rescues and had previous lives, like, in a Japanese Coke business or the circus.” The bucket record luxury-camping property the place Feldman fed child elephants bananas at breakfast presents an enveloping off-the-grid exploit in its two-bedroom Explorer’s Lodge with an infinity pool overlooking the jungle. “I’d return in a second however I have to win the lottery,” says Feldman.
Additionally in a glowing inexperienced zone, beside a UNESCO World Heritage–protected nationwide park, the Invoice Bensley–designed InterContinental Khao Yai Resort (from $203 an evening) opened in 2022 with some suites constructed inside precise heritage practice vehicles. The railway-themed resort has a number of lakes and choices that immerse company in nature and Thai historical past.
A collection inside a heritage practice automobile on the InterContinental Khao Yai Resort in Thailand.
InterContinental Accommodations & Resorts
Three hours southwest, ”Bangkok comes alive at night time underneath the neon and the smoke developing from the road distributors,” says Finnigan, who’s filmed so much within the capital and says it has essentially the most proactive and hard-working crews in Asia. “It’s acquired an actual vitality and character all of its personal.”
With its thriving artistic scene, Bangkok — the place Charlie Hunnam filmed a lot of Apple TV+’s Shantaram — has felt particularly buzzy of late.
Earlier this yr, Soho Home’s first Southeast Asian outpost bowed within the pulsing Sukhumvit neighborhood with design that attracts inspiration from Thai crafts and an artwork assortment comprising many native names. Together with fashionable eating places and beautiful BKK Social Membership, Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River (from $640 an evening) companions with MOCA BANGKOK for its ART Area gallery exhibiting rotating exhibitions that includes usually up-and-coming Thai artists. Presently on show: vivid work by Bensley that profit nonprofit organizations.
On the serene and sanctuary-like Capella Bangkok (from $650 an evening), room and suite balconies provide spectacular Chao Phraya River views and the glamorous Bar Stella hosts stay music after darkish. The 6,400-square-foot Presidential Villa (from $10,200 an evening) by the river presents final privateness with its personal separate entrance. Visitors may also expertise Buddhist monk–led meditations and check out blind menus at Michelin-starred Côte by Mauro Colagreco, the place the chef surprises diners with unique, tailor-made creations based mostly on seasonal substances.
Opened in 2022, The Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon (from $367 an evening) — with rainbow-hued Memphis Group–esque interiors — is a hub for memorable meals at its eight retailers, together with Mexican spot Ojo, plus vibrant presents and tchotchkes at The Store.
Ojo restaurant on the The Commonplace, Bangkok Mahanakhon.
The Commonplace Accommodations
The Peninsula Bangkok’s (from $450 an evening) Mei Jiang Cantonese restaurant has simply reopened with a plant-based menu and Thai tea pairings, one factor of a aware, wholesome focus celebrated with kombucha-making periods, Thai boxing, and a Could 26-28 wellness pageant.
On the Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok (from $240 an evening), heads of state, actors, musicians and C-suite execs have slumbered within the 3,444-square-foot Celeb Suite (from $2,800), which has customized Christian Develter for Tube Gallery robes, a shower bomb menu, jacuzzi and tremendous king mattress.
And within the coming yr, there are a slew of upcoming openings together with Aman Nai Lert Bangkok set in a verdant park; Tonino Lamborghini in Phuket; InterContinental Bangkok’s post-reno reopening; and the brand-new InterContinental Bangkok Sukhumvit. InterContinental Chiang Mai Mae Ping (from $235 an evening), within the former Imperial Mae Ping Lodge, is ready for a summer time debut with a deal with the thirteenth century Lanna period.
“I discovered an excellent deal about happiness from the radiant individuals of Thailand. Plus elephants,” provides Wilson, who frolicked in Chiang Mai. “When in Northern Thailand you should strive the regional dish that’s hardly ever served within the States however garners essentially the most reverence from the Lanna individuals of the world. Khoa soi is heaven in a bowl.”
A model of this story first appeared within the April 26 situation of The Hollywood Reporter journal. Click here to subscribe.
