Thailand Location Series: The Western Thailand

In our previous blog, we mentioned the scenic locations of the Northern Thailand. It is geographically a hilly area and boasts of many National Parks. We selected four locations which are popularly used as a background in many local and international productions. Few of the movies shot around the area have also been mentioned.

In this blog, we take you to the Western part of Thailand. The area is characterized by high mountains, steep river valleys and major dams. The area is also the beginning of the Tenasserim Hills (known in Thailand as Thio Khao Tanaosi) a natural barrier between Burma and Thailand. Western Thailand is important for its history and mining industry. It is also the least disturbed part of Thailand.

We selected few of the locations that would interest any location scouts.

Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary: If you are looking for thick jungles with rushing streams, this UNESCO World Heritage site would be the most ideal. Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary is linked with the Thung Yai Naresuan, Huay Kha Kaeng Reserves, Khlong Lan and Mae Wong national Parks. Together these form South East Asia’s top virgin forest. It also boasts of the country’s largest waterfall, Namtok Thi So Lu.

Sukhothai Historical Park: Fans of the Mortal Kombat movie series can easily recognized this location. It is the ruins of old Sukhothai, the capital of Sukhothai Kingdom which flourished in the 13^th and 14^th centuries. It served as a location for the popular Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997). Interesting Fact: famous Thai actor and martial arts expert Tony Jaa worked as a stunt double in the movie.

Utthayan Mueang Kao Pichit: A famous historical remains of an ancient town dating back to more than 900 years. There are scores of chedis scattered around the site. This location served as a backdrop for song sequences in many Bollywood productions and is also very popular for the local productions.

Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park: A beautiful location with a tragic history, this national park is popular for its vast plain of rocky formations. Its uniqueness makes it ideal for productions that would look for deserted and exotic locations, possibly double up for other planets!  

Thung Salaeng Luang National Park: This location can easily double up for Savannah any day. It is vast grassland against a backdrop of high mountains, endowed naturally with pine trees and wild flowers.

This part of Thailand has not been featured extensively in international productions. Few of the international productions shot in Western Thailand include The Man with TheGolden Gun (1974), Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn (2007) which starred ChristianBale, Vinyan (2008) and both of the Mortal Kombat movies.   

In the next series, we will cover the Eastern and North Eastern Thailand.