| To visit Thailand is to experience sensory overload: the blinding glimmer of golden temples, the sting on your tongue from a spicy papaya salad, the restorative chill of those turquoise waters, the fragrant aroma of sizzling meats carrying on the humid air of a Bangkok night market. It’s this sheer breadth of experiences—as well as its seductive combination of deep spirituality and even deeper hedonism—that has made the country a bucket-list destination for tourists from all four corners of the globe.
The latest intrepid traveler to venture deep into the Land of Smiles? Mike White, the maverick writer-director behind HBO’s The White Lotus, who selected the country as the setting for the show’s feverishly anticipated third season. Last month, I was lucky enough to travel to Bangkok for the show’s Thailand premiere, and then to the Four Seasons Koh Samui Resort, which serves as the picture-postcard backdrop to much of this season. (It’s a hard job, but someone’s gotta do it.) As a result, I can confirm with authority that White has once again captured the appeal of his location with aplomb. It’s little wonder that the so-called “White Lotus effect” is already in full swing: there have been significant spikes in hotel reservations across the country as millions of viewers tune in every week and find themselves newly enchanted by the landscapes, the culture, the food, and the people.
On which note, there’s nothing the Thai people revere more than their royal family. Despite being at the center of numerous controversies, the Chakri dynasty—and in particular, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej—continues to occupy a status nearing the divine within the country’s collective consciousness. Back in 1965, Vogue paid a visit to “the Golden Court of Thailand,” resulting in a 10-page spread by the legendary photographer Henry Clarke that captured the royal family’s opulent palaces—and perhaps most importantly for our purposes, Queen Sirikit’s eye-popping collection of dynastic jewels—in all of their gilded splendor. Revisit the story here to discover a very different side to the travel destination that’s on everyone’s lips right now. |
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