If you’re concerned about what to do with your time now everyone is effectively trapped, you’ve had to cancel or delay your dream trip to Thailand, you see no way out of this desperate situation well there are still a few ways that you can visit this wonderful Kingdom, vicariously.
You can cook yourself a Thai meal, or even better, have one of those amazing food delivery companies bring it to your door!
You can jump on to YouTube and allow yourself to get lost in any of the myriad travel bio’s created by some video-editing experts.
You could spend a few of your frustrating hours learning a few Thai words and phrases so that you’re better armed once you arrive here.
Alternatively, if that all seems too much like hard work (particularly learning the language!) then how about visiting various destinations with a good old-fashioned movie featuring one of the most beautiful countries on the planet.
We’ve polled our team here in Thailand and have listed our top 7 for you to try.
It’s a little-known fact that the Thai movie-industry is global and is hugely successful. Thailand has showcased several films at various international film festivals, receiving accolades-a-plenty from the most respected global movie critics. Films such as the Ong Bak series, Nang Nak, Tom Yum Goong, are still enjoyed by a global audience, particularly foreigners visiting and living in Thailand.
Ong-Bak, a series of incredible action movies helped to raise the profile of actor, Tony Jaa, who has since gone on to appear in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious 7.
This list, however, only features two Thai-made movies, the rest are movies that were shot in, or refer to Thailand.
Storyline: A couple (Owen Wilson and Lake Bell) and their two daughters relocate to Asia, only to find themselves caught in the middle of a dangerous coup. Realizing that foreigners are being murdered on the spot, they make a desperate decision to escape the violence on the streets and seek refuge at the American Embassy, all while trying to avoid detection by the merciless rebels.
Storyline: Bangkok. Ten years ago Julian (Ryan Gosling) killed a man and went on the run. Now he manages a Thai boxing club as a front for a drugs operation. Respected in the criminal underworld, deep inside, he feels empty. When Julian's brother murders an underage prostitute, the Police call on retired cop Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm) - the Angel of Vengeance. Chang allows the father to kill his daughter's murderer, then "restores order" by chopping off the man's right hand. Julian's mother Crystal (Dame Kristin Scott Thomas) - the head of a powerful criminal organization - arrives in Bangkok to collect her son's body. She dispatches Julian to find his killers and "raise Hell".
Storyline: A regular family - Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three kids - travel to Thailand to spend Christmas. They get an upgrade to a villa on the coastline. After settling in and exchanging gifts, they go to the pool, like so many other tourists. A perfect paradise vacation until a distant noise becomes a roar. There is no time to escape from the tsunami; Maria and her eldest are swept one way, Henry and the youngest another. Who will survive, and what will become of them?
Storyline: Booting lives in a small and peaceful village. One day a sacred Buddha statuette called Ong Bak is stolen from the village by an immoral businessman. It soon becomes the task of a voluntary young man, Boonting (Phanom Yeeram), to track down the thief in Bangkok and reclaim the religious treasure. Along the way, Boonting uses his astonishing athleticism and traditional Muay Thai skills to combat his adversaries.
3. Tom Yum Goong (The Protector)
Storyline: In Bangkok, the young Kham was raised by his father in the jungle with elephants as members of their family. When his old elephant and the baby Kern are stolen by criminals, Kham finds that the animals were sent to Sidney. He travels to Australia, where he locates the baby elephant in a restaurant owned by the evil Madame Rose, the leader of an international Thai mafia. With the support of the efficient Thai sergeant Mark, who was involved in a conspiracy, Kham fights to rescue the animal from the mobsters.
Storyline: Stu is getting married. Along with Doug, Phil, and his soon-to-be brother-in-law Teddy, he regretfully invites Alan to Thailand for the wedding. After a quiet night on the beach with a beer and toasting marshmallows by the camp fire, Stu, Alan and Phil wake up in a seedy apartment in Bangkok. Doug is back at the resort, but Teddy is missing, there's a monkey with a severed finger, Alan's head is shaved, Stu has a tattoo on his face, and they can't remember any of it. The wolf-pack retrace their steps through strip clubs, tattoo parlors and cocaine-dealing monkeys on the streets of Bangkok as they try and find Teddy before the wedding.
Storyline: This excellent Alex Garland novel centers on a young nicotine-addicted traveler named Richard, an avid pop-culture buff with a particular love for video games and Vietnam War movies. While at a hotel in Bangkok, he finds a map left by his strange, whacked-out neighbor, who just committed suicide. The map supposedly leads to a legendary island paradise where some other wayward souls have settled.
Official Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqDoxUxpobg
