Geeratiya Aunjarorn, like many people in Thailand, didn’t know much about The White Lotus, the series that has gripped audiences in the US and UK, until early last year. But when it was announced that season three would not only be filmed in her country, but would also feature one of Thailand’s most famous pop stars, Lalisa Manobal – better known simply as Lisa – Geeratiya and legions of other fans have followed the filming closely.
Over the past year, photos of the crew filming on the tourist islands of Phuket and Samui have gone viral across Lisa fan pages, and hashtags speculated on the kind of character the singer, from the K pop group Blackpink, might play. A premiere was held in Bangkok on Friday night and season three will be released on Sunday in the US and on Mondaytomorrow in the UK.
“It’s very exciting for me – it’s her debut as a Thai actress, and she’s starring as a Thai character,” said Geeratiya, 36. She felt goosebumps when she heard Lisa, who often speaks in English in international interviews, using Thai in a promotional clip from the series. “I can hear her lines without having to translate it … I feel like it’s a little win for us.”
The country’s tourism sector is also excited. The show’s previous settings, Hawaii and Sicily, both saw surges in interest from tourists after appearing, leading to a phenomenon dubbed “the White Lotus effect”. The first season, which was filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaii, prompted a 425% year-on-year increase in the hotel’s web traffic, according to reports. San Domenico Palace, a former monastery in Sicily that featured in season two, reported that it was fully booked for months.
In Thailand, industry experts are hoping for a similar boost. Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said he believed bookings had already increased. “The high season last year – November, December, and January – in the southern part of the country, especially Samui, was fully booked,” he said.
He expected luxury parts of the market would benefit the most from The White Lotus, a satire on wealth and privilege. The series features some of Thailand’s most exclusive locations, including the Four Seasons Samui, a resort surrounded by pristine sandy beaches, tropical forest and the Gulf of…
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