Thailand has a rich film history, and the Muay Thai kickboxing epic Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior temporarily gained traction in the United States in the early 2000s. Thai movies are much more than just martial arts, with amusing comedies that cross cultures and horrifying thrillers with cunning twists. Read on for a list of 20+ Thai films.
1) The Teacher’s Dairy
Song is a professional wrestler, but due to his disability, he is unable to wrestle. To find work, Song seeks to be a teacher and is assigned to a rural houseboat to teach a tiny class. He comes without electricity, internet, or a cell phone service. He grows lonely but then discovers a prior teacher’s diary. Ann, the former teacher, left to be with her partner. However, after reading her journal, Song finds himself falling in love with Ann.
2) Hello Stranger
Two extremely different Thai strangers are vacationing in South Korea when they run into each other. The male is on a tour guide alone and gets left behind, whereas the woman is an experienced solo traveler. As the man loses his tour group and tags along with the woman, they decide not to divulge their names and maintain their distance.
3) I Fine..Thank You Love You
Pleng is a lovely English tutor. Her routine life takes an unexpected turn when she is asked to do an amazing favor for one of her students: help her dump her Thai boyfriend, Gym. Gym can not understand English, so Pleng’s student records her voice message and asks Pleng to translate it for him. When Gym realizes he is being abandoned, he blames Pleng for his girlfriend leaving him, claiming that Pleng taught his girlfriend English so she could pass her US job interview. Gym persuades Pleng to teach him English as well, wanting to travel to the United States to reconcile with his girlfriend.
4) Crazy Little Thing Called Love
You may be familiar with the Thai rom-com film A Little Thing Called Love, which has been one of the most successful Thai films since its premiere. The film A Little Thing Called Love tells the narrative of Nam, a bookish girl who for the first time experiences the joy of love for one of her seniors, Shone. Nam uses a variety of measures to win Shone’s heart, including enlisting the support of his friends and using a book with several methods for winning a man’s heart. Nam began to make different adjustments to herself, making her a better person than she was before.
5) Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior
When the head of a village’s precious statue is stolen, a young martial artist travels to the city and finds himself fighting the underworld to retrieve it. Tony Jaa, a Muay Thai master, starring in the 2003 martial arts film, which features his kick-ass style of ass-kicking. It was a worldwide sensation that helped Thai kickboxing gain recognition as a top martial arts fighting style.
6) The Holy Man
If you’re searching for a funny Buddhist movie, check out The Holy Man. The film tells the story of a reformed thug who becomes a monk and moves to a temple in a village where people have lost faith in Buddhism and have instead turned to black magic. The monk seeks to restore their trust in Buddhism and help them live a better life.
7) Ai Love You
In a future world, different humans oversee an artificial intelligence building called Dob. As Dob continues to communicate with Lana, he begins to fall in love with her. Due to a software glitch, Dob escapes his coding and transforms into a human boy to pursue his love for Lana. Watch this Netflix original to discover how Dob and Lana’s romance progresses.
8) The Down
The story begins with Wongtanong, the founder of the independent magazine A Day from Thailand, who travelled to Italy and discovered that the families of persons with Down syndrome let their children to live normal lives alongside others. As a result, he wants to learn more about the plight of Down syndrome children in Thailand, his hometown. Finally, he met five of Thailand’s most interesting Down syndrome children, who lead a regular but delightful existence.
9) SuckSeed
It’s a film with elements of passionate romance and plenty of comedy. This Thai romantic comedy film follows the journey of a band created specifically to seduce girls. The plot of this Suckseed film attempts to represent the dilemma that youths encounter when embarking on a band career. It feels realistic because it is common for teens to establish bands just to get popularity among the girls at their schools. Watching this film will not boring you because the filmmaker has arguably succeeded in balancing elements of comedy, romance, and friendship.
10) Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story
It’s a Thai romantic comedy film released by GTH on October 15, 2009. Adisorn Tresirikasem directed it, while Navapol Thamrongruttanarit wrote the script. The film follows Mei Li, a thirty-year-old woman who feels desperate about being the last of her friends to marry, and her relationship with Loong, an engineer working on the BTS Skytrain system. The skytrain, which celebrated its tenth anniversary the same year and inspired the film’s Thai and English names, is extensively featured throughout the plot.
11) The Maid
Joy is a young housemaid employed by an uptight, rigid, wealthy family to care for their special-needs daughter. Joy encounters supernatural events and discovers that the home has many mysteries just before all hell breaks free. This is a must-see for horror enthusiasts since it is not only satisfyingly terrifying and gruesome but also because the audience’s assumptions are utterly incorrect.
12) Hello Yasothorn
Set in a rural region, the film transports you back to 1967 and immerses you in the comedic story of two couples in Yasothorn. Briefly, the film depicts Yam, a compassionate farmer, and his complex relationship with his maid Joei. This plot parallels the lovely romance between Tong, Yam’s cousin and Soy. Yam dislikes Joei because of her unattractive appearance, but Joei persistently pursues him. While Tong and Soy are in a nice relationship, Dok Toh, Soy’s aunt, intervenes.
13) Low Season
Lin, who has been heartbroken, wishes to escape the large metropolis to recuperate and rediscover herself. She plans to travel north to a distant resort during the “low season” since she does not want to meet or contact other vacationers. Lin, on the other hand, has a unique gift: she can see ghosts, and she encounters weird personalities who have also come to the resort during the off-season to recover from their injuries.
14) My Girl
When Jeab hears that his childhood girlfriend Noi-Naa is getting married, he returns to his provincial hometown. As he does so, memories flood back of his upbringing in 1980s Thailand. He remembers constantly being late for school, so his father would have to give him a ride on the back of the motorbike. After school, he would always play with Noi-Naa and her girlfriends, while the neighborhood lads raced their bikes and played football and Chinese fantasy characters.
15) May Who?
May, the lead character in this Thai romantic comedy film, possesses superpowers. His body has the ability to discharge electricity if he is excessively unhappy, aroused, or both. However, due to his superhuman power, she avoids getting too near to the people she likes because it can be harmful. May Who? features caustic and slapstick comedy.
16) Pee Mak
Banjong Pisanthanakun directed this Thai comedy-horror-romance film. The story is based on the Mae Nak Phra Khanong legend from Thai tradition. It was released on March 28, 2013. The film stars Mario Maurer as Mak, Davika Hoorne as Nak, Pongsathorn Jongwilas, Nattapong Chartpong, Auttarut Kongrasri, and Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasook. Currently, this is Thailand’s highest grossing film of all time.
17) Shutter
There are many complexities to the plot, but the main line is that a man is plagued by the ghost of his ex-girlfriend, whom he broke up with in a horrible fashion. The vengeful ghosts take care of everyone who has mistreated her, devastate her ex-boyfriend’s life, and, most importantly, stalk and scare the hell out of the audience. This is a creepy film with all the tools to frighten the audience.
18) Kung Fu Tootsie
The film centers on three mafia factions at battle with one another. It all started with Ah Tao, who lost his hand while fighting his enemies. Ah Kun, one of the gang members, must locate Ah Tao’s long-lost twin, Ah Tien, in order to reinforce the gang. However, Ah Tien is a homosexual and so unfit to command the group. But, as he has stepped up to the plate, Ah Tien does his best to be macho in order to take on the position of the leader of his parents’ gang, while also allowing himself to fall in love with Pei Pei, a rival gang’s daughter.
19) The Con-Heartist
Tower, a skilled con artist, attempts to dupe Ina out of money. She catches Tower in the act of recording his voice and threatens to report him to the authorities. However, Ina issues him an ultimatum. Her ex-boyfriend had previously swindled her, leaving her in debt. Ina will employ Tower to find her ex and exact retribution, but she will not turn Tower over to the authorities.
20) Oh My Ghost
Oh My Ghost is a comedy about transsexual individuals fighting a ghost in a male dormitory, which sets it apart from other terrifying ghost films. Three transgender persons, known as katoey in Thai, relocate to a new dormitory and must cope with two spirits that have been dead for a long time in that location. The film has many Thai LGBT terms, swear words, and Thai-style LGBT elements that will make you giggle the entire time.
