Thailand Location Series: The Northern Beauty

Thailand is increasingly becoming a popular destination for the productions from all over the world. In one of our last blog, we covered reasons for shooting in Thailand despite the lack of incentives. In this new series of blogs, we cover locations from each part of the country.  Many might already know of the locations we will cover. A few we believe are unknown to many of the international location scouts. The series will show that there is more to the country than the notorious nightlife and the beautiful beaches.

We begin with the Northern Thailand. The north of Thailand is geographically a hilly area. There are many national parks, indigenous villagers and rare wildlife and plants. The area is often hailed as the most culturally significant part of Thailand. Chiang Mai is the largest city of this part of Thailand in addition to being the second largest city of the country.

Below are few of the locations

Doi Inthanon Chedi

Doi Inthanon National Park: Imagine for a moment. A beautiful location populated by beautiful waterfalls. All around you can see the source of the rivers. And this location is located at the highest point of the country, at 2,599 meters to be exact. This is Thailand’s most well known national park and one whose beauty make your work more than enjoyable.

Doi Mae Salong plantation

Doi Mae Salong: The area’s plantation doubled for many local and international productions notably American Gangster (2007), Ridley Scott’s helmed project starring DenzelWashington and Russell Crowe. It is however a beautiful tea, coffee and fruit plantations and not drugs as depicted. It has also been featured in many productions for romantic backgrounds.

Wat Chedi Luang

Wat Chedi Luang: This particular location is very popular for local productions for many reasons. The main reason is its location among the beautiful hills. The second is the long staircase with what is believed to be the most beautiful man made methodological serpents rambling from the entrance of the chapel to the door, on both sides of the staircase. For a shoot that covers exotic Thai temple not flanked by the usual skyscrapers of Bangkok, this is total ideal.

Doi Phu Kha

Doi Phu Kha National Park: If you have watched a little known movie titled “The Elephant King”, this location’s beauty will not be of a surprise to you. The pink flowers are in here in this park, Chomphu Phu Kha to be exact. They are in full bloom during February. This location has been a favorite for both local and international productions alike. Permits can be applied for and accommodation services inside the park are available.  

Some of the international productions shot here in Northern Thailand included American Gangster (2007), Rambo(2008), Rambo 3 (1988), Surf Ninjas (1993), Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), TheElephant King (2006), Somewhere (2004), Hot Potato (1976) and Sniper 3 (Video2004).  Northern Thailand has also been featured in the famous TV series “The Amazing Race”. Lost in Thailand(2012), the highest grossing Chinese movie was also shot around in the area. 

In the next series, we will move downward to cover the beautiful locations in the north western.