From a Snake Farm to Luxury Resorts: Every Filming Location in 'The White Lotus'

Matador editor Suzie Dundas did a deep dive into what it would cost to stay at the Four Seaons Koh Samui like a White Lotus guest and reports the Ratliff family’s three-bedroom villa will set you back around six grand a night with wellness treatments costing up to $300 for a 90-minute de-stress session. If your bum just clenched reading those prices, check out my run down of how to do an affordable wellness vacation at other reputable health-focused resorts on the Thai islands.

As with the prior two seasons, producers maintained their partnership with the Four Seasons brand, filming primarily at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui for season three. However, they also showcased four additional luxury resorts to enhance the ambiance. The Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas‘ Wellness Sanctuary Spa provided the setting for spa manager Belinda’s (Natasha Rothwell) scenes, while the Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort served as the hotel lobby, resort entrance, and jewelry store. The Singing Bird Lounge, located at the Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort, hosted the bar scenes, and the Rosewood Phuket‘s Ta Khai restaurant became the backdrop for dinner sequences.

Outside the resorts the filming locations spanned the Thai island’s beaches, coastal clubs, and towns, and key venues in Bangkok. Here’s a run down of some of the locals used — for those yet to watch, spoiler alert, I’ll also share plot lines.

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Episodes one and two — Awkward arrivals and opulent suites

The first two episodes were filmed between the resorts with key scenes such as Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) discovering the floating body in the lake being shot at Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas and the wealthy Southern Ratliff family — Timothy (Jason Isaacs), Victoria (Parker Posey), and their children Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), and Lochlan (Sam Nivola) — and the rest of the guests checking into their opulent suites at the Four Seaons.

Guest arrivals by boat were captured against the scenic backdrops of Ko Lawa Yai near Phang Nga Bay in Phuket, Ya Nui Beach in Phuket, and Mu Ko Ang Thong National Marine Park in Koh Samui. The chaotic shopping trip with Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) that ends in a violent robbery where Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) is injured, and all security station scenes used the grounds of the Anantara Bophut.

Episodes three — Getting stoned at a snake farm

Episode three opens with Victoria waking from a disconcerting dream of a pre-tsunami beach. The vision she reluctantly recounts during the fraught family breakfast was filmed at Cape Pawna Hotel in Phuket. The episode’s chaotic energy crescendos when Rick (Walton Goggins) gets stoned and releases a collection of snakes during a live snake show. Shows like this are a legitimate tourist attraction in Thailand. According to HBO, it was filmed at the Snake Farm, which looks like it’s in Taling Ngam in the south of the island.

Episodes four — Gary’s yacht and water guns

What happens on a yacht stays locked away for a lifetime unless there’s a therapist on retainer. Am I right? Leaving Phuket Yacht Haven Marina and sailing Phang Na Bay, the Ratliff family embarks on a yacht excursion, with Greg (Jon Gries) and Chloe joining Rick and Chelsea. You can actually rent the yacht used in the filming, but you’ll need lottery money as it costs just over $160,000 per week.

Back on land, “friends” Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon) go exploring and find themselves swept up in the raucous local celebration of Songkran filmed at Koh Samui Town Center and the Fisherman’s Village. As night falls, they regroup with Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) and his Russian buddies at an exclusive beach club filmed at Café Del Mar in Phuket.

Gary’s luxury villa is also features in this episode. According to HBO, the shooting was split between two properties: Samujana Villa 12 in Koh Samui and Villa Amaravida in Phuket.

Episodes five — The full moon party

The full moon party scenes were filmed between Choeng Mon Beach in Koh Samui and Haad Rin Beach in Koh Phagnan, and I don’t think we need to discuss the drug-fuelled incest back on the super yacht.

On the mainland in Bangkok, Rick reconnects with his old friend Frank (Sam Rockwell) in one of the finest hotels in the world, the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, where the five-star’s lobby and the moody Bamboo Bar were used during Rick’s telling of his wild and increasingly bizarre time in Thailand.

Episodes six — Bangkok and the monastery

Episode six takes us to Bangkok’s refined culinary and residential spaces, with Rick meeting with Sritala (Patravadi Mejudhon) at the restaurant Royal Osha and Sritala’s home set at Siri Sala Private Thai Villa. In this episode, we also get a better look at the monastery, with Piper taking her family on a tour to convince them it’s not a cult. From what I can gather, most of the interior filming was at Wat Phu Khao Thong in Koh Samui.

Episodes seven — Boxing and sex clubs

The penultimate chapter of this season was a chaotic (and dark) ride with the addition of a couple new core filming locations: The Muay Thai boxing stadium at Bangla Boxing in Phuket where Gaitok goes on a date with Mook (Lalisa Manobal) and finally links Valentin’s entourage with the robbery and the sex club, Sing Sing Theater in Bangkok, where Rick and Frank paint the town red.

Episodes eight — Farewells

In the climactic final episode, simmering tensions erupt into chaos against the backdrop of the island’s luxurious resorts and surrounding scenic locations like Phang Nga Bay. The episode concludes multiple narratives: Timothy Ratliff’s desperate attempt to shield his family from financial ruin culminates in a near-poisoning murder–suicide, Rick’s confrontation and shooting of Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn) — who is his dad (anyone else fall off the couch?) — and the tragic death of Chelsea and subsequent shooting of Rick by Gaitok. The serene beauty of Thailand’s islands and coast closes out the final moments as the surviving guests leave The White Lotus resort to build (and re-build) their lives.