When the third season of the HBO series “The White Lotus” debuted on Sunday, the spectators will be transferred to the Koh Samui island in Thailand. And if the previous seasons are any indication, many of them will soon keep a vacation there.
The show, which takes place in a different fantastic luxury Lotus Loxury resort of each season, focuses on a group of rich tourists, their interpersonal dramas and the inevitable intensity with staff and locals, all against Paradise Skewed.
With a wave of tourists washed ashore, about 68,000 residents of Koh Samui are about to become familiar with the “White Lotus” result.
In the virgin white sand of Chaweng’s beach a recent night, Tey, 46, a local carpenter who refused to give his surname, said he didn’t really know much about the series. But then came a flash of recognition.
“Yes, yes. Lisa’s show was filmed here,” she said. Lisa, or Lala Madobal, is a member of Thai K-Pop Blackpink band debut in this season of “The White Lotus”.
Had heard something else about it? Tay shook his head.
Sale of a luxury taste
Reservations at the $ 2,000-a-night Koh Samui resort of Four Seasons, where a large part of the season 3 has been shot, have already jumped 40 %. And as soon as the new season begins, Marc Speichert, executive vice -president and head of the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts, said demanding that demand would increase “exponentially”.
“We saw an increase of 10x in the properties of Maui and Taormina,” said Mr. Speichert, referring to the Four Seasons resorts in Hawaii and Sicily where many seasons were shot 1 and 2. The high -ranking virtuoso travel network stated that his data showed a one -time. 424 % increase in sales in Sicily after the season 2.
For visitors to Koh Samui who want a taste of sweet life “White Lotus” but do not have the banking balances to match, Four Seasons offers day passages that allow beach use and access to restaurants and bars if you spend at least 5,000 Baht, or about $ 150, said Jasjit Assi, general manager of the resort.
Other businesses, local and global, are also banking in an explosion. The American Express offers a White Lotus Thailand Experience package to some card members. Includes three days at the Four Seasons resort and a full moon party.
Even about 200 miles west on the popular island of Phuket, where some parts of the season 3 were shot, hotels are trying to redeem “The White Lotus”. Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas, for example, can boast that it offers a luxury level similar to that of the four -seasons, and as opposed to Koh Samui, Phuket hosts a Michelin restaurant.
Phuket, Bangkok and Koh Samui are all the stops on the journey of the seven night Lotus white Lotus offered by the unforgettable travel company, a luxurious travel agent, for just under $ 8,000 per person. Includes private tours of Bangkok and Sunset Cruises in Bangkok and Koh Samui.
“I think it will be huge for Samui,” said Michael Brasier, the owner of Nahm, a simple, airy fusion restaurant that climbs over water near Koh Samui Airport. Mr Brasier has already benefited from his own benefit: a group of actors, such as Walton Goggins, who plays one of the resort guests, visited Nahm several times a week during filming, he said and had the photos to prove it .
‘Gorgeous, paved, complex’
But the trend has taken off in recent years, with events such as “Bridgerton” -Style Balls and “Emily in Paris”-inspired girls’ trips to the French Riviera. In 2023, the Black Tomato Travel Travel Provider has begun to provide experiences such as private tours on James Bond, including a speed of speed on the Tamesis River, for $ 18,500 or more.
But in the past, the setters visited mainly places they had already seen in their favorite movies or shows. With the season 3 of “The White Lotus”, they do not wait.
British actress Jason Isaacs, one of the stars of the new season, said she was surprised to hear that the setters were already traveling to Koh Samui.
“I didn’t realize that it was already something,” he said.
Mr Isaacs, who spoke by phone as he was on the way to the premiere of the season in Los Angeles, said he managed to make a slight exploration of his own during the two months at Koh Samui for the filming. He mentioned visits to the temple, waterfall hiking, massage and training in Thailand boxing as some of the most important points. “Samui is a beautiful, paved, complex place, full of incredible beauty,” he said.
However, he warned that the expected influx of visitors and accompanying development would also have disadvantages, reflecting the issue that has the issue. Despite the beautiful environment, there is “poverty and deprivation,” he said. “Visitors will see a lot if they are weird and keep their eyes open.”
Tey, the carpenter from Chaweng beach, knows very well what change has brought to the island. He remembers when he was a child, the view of an alien was a big event. The hills were then not covered with expatriate villas and the roads were not lined with marijuana shops, which was decriminalized in Thailand in 2022.
But at the same time, Tey, who learned English working for a British developer who manufactures the same villas, was realistic for the changes.
These tourists and expatriates bring money to the island, he said, expressing a feeling that would not be out of place in a “White Lotus” episode: “They can do whatever they want”.
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