Thailand’s Top Market Locations for Film Productions
For decades, Thailand’s unique cultural diversity and inexpensive infrastructure have made it a top-tier foreign film production location. The famous old and new markets in Thailand are some of the most lively markets. If you are looking for markets as locations for scenes in your upcoming project, Thailand is the way to go.
Night Markets
Thailand’s night markets are world-famous for their diversity, liveliness, and thick visual landscape and are perfectly suited to movies that have to depict the nation’s nightlife.
- Chatuchak Weekend Market (Bangkok): With the world’s largest and most famous market, Chatuchak boasts an incredible amount of booths with anything from food and clothing to souvenirs and antiques. Its size and vibe are ideal for action scenes or romantic scenes. The 2020 Thai time-traveling movie, Alive, features scenes shot at the Chatuchak Market.
- Patpong Night Market (Silom): In the midst of Bangkok’s nightlife, this night market provides the city’s neon-lit streets and nightlife. Crime fiction and thrillers’ ‘go-to location’, Patpong’s characteristic setting can raise the level of a movie’s story with depth and intensity. Beautiful Boxer, the critically acclaimed Thai movie released in 2003 features scenes shot at Patpong Night Market.
- Hua Hin Night Market (Hua Hin): Offering a more casual seaside atmosphere, this market is a good choice for capturing true Thai culture with beach surroundings.
Floating Markets
Floating markets are among Thailand’s most well-known sights and provide a visually appealing glimpse of Thai life. The floating markets offer an excellent place for movies that require a unique, scenic backdrop.
- Damnoen Saduak Floating Market (Ratchaburi): Perhaps Thailand’s most famous floating market, the vibrantly colored boats, wooden canoes, and Thai sellers in traditional attire make it a perfect location for period dramas or travel documentaries. Bangkok Dangerous, starring popular Hollywood star Nicholas Cage, has scenes featuring the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market.
- Taling Chan Floating Market (Bangkok): This market is located in the capital itself and is ideal for productions that need to have a floating market setting without having to travel too far from the city. The Man With the Golden Gun, a movie that is part of the hit James Bond series, has scenes shot at this location.
- Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market (Bangkok): A smaller, more local alternative to Damnoen Saduak, offering a more intimate glimpse of Thai river culture.
Street Markets
Thailand’s street markets are excellent places to film movies portraying local culture, street life, and cultural mix.
- Sampeng Market (Bangkok Chinatown): With narrow side streets lined with parallel rows of shops selling accessories, fabric, and jewelry. Perfect for scene shots of Bangkok Chinatown to capture the taste of a lively market town. The hit comedy, The Hangover Part 2, features scenes shot at Thailand’s Chinatown.
- Khao San Road (Bangkok): The location is famous for backpacker culture and a bazaar with plenty of street food of all types, music, and nightlife. It is a good location for both comedy and drama shootings. Leonardo Dicaprio’s The Beach features the road that showcases Thailand’s backpacking culture.
- Pattaya Walking Street (Pattaya): This Thai market is a walking street that comes to life at night. and the lively setting is perfect for travel films and scenes that require partying or other nightlife scenes. The Thai movie, Pattaya Heat, shot prominently in Pattaya, has scenes that are shot in the famous Walking Street.
Other Unique Markets for Distinct Cinematic Appeal
Some of Thailand’s most bizarre markets offer unique settings that can add to the visual beauty of a movie.
- Mae Klong Railway Market (Hoop Rom Market): Renowned for its vendors rolling up their stores to allow an incoming train to pass, the market is the ideal location for nail-biting, action-packed scenes.
- Yaowarat Market (Bangkok): Filled with gold shops, temples, and restaurants, Yaowarat offers an ideal backdrop for producers looking for locations with large neon signs, gold shops and many Asian restaurants. The Hangover Part 2 features scenes shot at Yaowarat Road.
- Pratunam Market (Bangkok): A wholesale clothing market that is dense and unorganized, providing a real image of Bangkok’s trading industry.
Thailand’s multi-cultural markets provide something more than retail; they offer visual, cultural richness that can be used to tell stories for film. A shoot may require the chaotic activity of a night market, the calmness of a floating market, or the authentic nature of a street market. Thailand’s market locations provide everything a producer requires from a market location. As the global productions begin to explore Thailand, these marketplaces are waiting to be shown on the big screen.
