Thai cinema has taken a long, meandering journey over the past hundred years, but it has arrived in a place of real confidence. There are milestones in every genre, including romance, action, and horror, that manage to surprise audiences at home and abroad.
Recent Netflix hits, such as The Murderer and How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, show that Thai filmmakers can make stories that feel at once local and universal. What helps, of course, is an ecosystem that works: skilled crews, budgets that stretch a long way, and a reputation that continues to attract international filmmakers looking for atmosphere and efficiency.
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A Short History of Thai Film
The very first Thai feature, Miss Suwanna of Siam (1924), was directed by an American filmmaker Henry McRay in collaboration with the State Railway of Thailand. By 1932, the country had produced its first “talkie”, Gone Astray, and entered what many call its golden age. Fast forward to 1997 and Nonzee Nimibutr’s Dang Bireley’s and Young Gangsters, with its gritty, ad-man polish, jolted the industry into a so-called new wave.
Then came the studio era. GMM Grammy’s GDH 559 (formerly GTH) became a brand in itself, cranking out commercial juggernauts such as My Girl (2003), Pee Mak (2013), and more recently How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies. GDH isn’t just a studio; it’s a machine that has shaped what modern Thai cinema looks like, packaging up melodrama, comedy and genre
thrills for the multiplex generation.
Must-See Thai Films in Each Genre
Drama
Behind the Painting (2001)
A lush melodrama adapted from a 1937 novel. A young Thai student in Japan falls in love with Kirati, an aristocratic woman trapped by duty and class. The film luxuriates in doomed glances and melancholy set-pieces, proving that Thai cinema can do heartbreak with the best of them.
Hunger (2023)
A Netflix drama with knives out – literally. Aoy, a street-food cook, climbs into the rarefied world of haute cuisine under a tyrannical chef. What could have been a foodie drama turns into something sharper: an underdog tale about class divides, ambition and the cost of wanting more. The immaculate food cinematography doesn’t hurt either, and the result picked up global
plaudits and a fat Rotten Tomatoes score.
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024)
The title hints at a cheeky caper, but this is a tear-stained family drama in disguise. M, a drifting gamer, moves in with his cancer-stricken grandmother, hoping to inherit her house. What starts as cynical opportunism slowly softens into something deeper: a study of family rivalries, unspoken love and the bittersweet duties of care. Both funny and quietly devastating, it’s a reminder that Thai cinema can still surprise.
Action
Killer Tattoo (2001)
Post-apocalyptic Bangkok, US control, and an aging hitman assembling a team of assassins, including one who thinks he’s Elvis. This is pulp, loud and messy, but stylish enough to have left its mark on Thai action cinema.
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003)
The one that launched Tony Jaa. No wires, no CGI – just bone-crunching stunts and Muay Thai acrobatics that made global audiences sit up. Jaa’s Ting heads to Bangkok to retrieve a stolen Buddha head and ends up fighting his way through the city’s underworld. It was a calling card that earned Jaa comparisons with Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.
Tom-Yum-Goong (2005)
Internationally known as The Protector. Jaa again, this time tracking a kidnapped elephant all the way to Australia. The plot is thin, but the action sequences are pure adrenaline, blending long single-take fight scenes, exquisite Muay Thai choreography, and stunts that redefined modern martial arts cinema. A $5 million production that grossed $27 million worldwide and won director Prachya Pinkaew international acclaim.
Horror
Nang Nak (1999)
The Mae Nak ghost story is as Thai as Pad Thai, and it’s been retold countless times. But Nonzee Nimibutr’s Nang Nak gave it an atmospheric, polished treatment that resonated during Thailand’s financial crisis. A soldier comes home from war, blissfully unaware that his beloved wife has died in childbirth. It was lushly shot, unashamedly sentimental, and became the first Thai film to break the 100 million baht mark at the domestic box office.
Shutter (2004)
Photographs that reveal sinister shadows; a young photographer who can’t quite escape what’s staring back. Shutter is a horror movie with real bite, delivering both jolts and a surprisingly emotional punch. The reveal still lands with force. It has since been remade in Hollywood – albeit poorly – but the Thai original remains a genre classic.
4Bia (2008)
An anthology of four horror shorts, each with its own flavour of unease. A vengeful spirit haunting a lonely girl, a bullied boy’s revenge, a flight attendant trapped in the air with a deceased passenger; the stories subtly bleed into one another with a slow chill. Less about cheap scares and more about mood, it’s the kind of film that gets under your skin and stays there. A sequel inevitably followed.
Laddaland (2011)
Suburban ghosts, familial tension, and paranoia. A family moves into a shiny new housing development only to find it haunted by more than bad neighbours. What starts like a routine spook story deepens into something about family fracture and the rot beneath middle-class aspirations. A big hit at home and unsettling enough to travel abroad.
Comedy
Pee Mak (2013)
The Mae Nak ghost gets a rom-com makeover, fronted by heartthrobs Mario Maurer and Davika Hoorne. Against all odds, the film makes slapstick antics and spectral eeriness coexist. It was a juggernaut: 16 million tickets sold, over 1 billion baht grossed, and audiences across Asia roaring with laughter and shrieking in equal measure.
I Fine..Thank You..Love You (2014)
A mechanic hires an English tutor to win back his Japanese girlfriend, and ends up falling for the tutor instead. Cue misunderstandings, culture clashes and broad laughs. Light, silly, but unexpectedly sweet, it raked in 300 million baht and made its female lead Preechaya Pongthananikorn a household name.
The Murderer (2023)
Netflix served up this dark comedy about a blood-soaked village whodunit. A Thai woman, her English husband, and a pile of corpses: what follows is satire dressed in gore. Anchored by comedy veteran Phetthai Vongkumlao, it mixes social commentary with stylised violence. Slightly uneven, yet memorable, and one of the boldest Thai films to hit Netflix in recent years.
Romance
Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story (2009)
A rom-com set against the daily grind of Bangkok’s Skytrain. Mei Li, a 30-year-old singleton, falls for Loong, an engineer working on the system. The Skytrain itself becomes part of the romance: a symbol of modern city life, crowded commutes, and fleeting encounters. It struck a chord with young professionals and turned into a domestic box office hit.
Hello Stranger (2010)
Two Thai tourists meet in South Korea and strike a pact: spend time together but never exchange names. What begins as a playful travelogue morphs into a tender meditation on loneliness and risk. The snowy backdrops and K-drama references add charm, but it’s the bittersweet ending that lingers.
Thriller
13 Beloved (2006)
A man in debt is offered riches if he can complete 13 tasks. Each one is darker than the last. A high-concept premise turned into a grim parable about greed and desperation, with genuine suspense and brutality. Its cult status was sealed when lead actor Krissada Sukosol Clapp won Best Actor at the National Film Awards.
Bad Genius (2017)
A heist thriller about exam cheating based on a true story. A gifted student exploits the system, turning multiple-choice questions into millions of baht. Slick, tense and socially sharp, it won awards across Asia and proved Thai cinema could do genre with brains as well as flair.
The Medium (2021)
Found-footage horror meets folk religion in rural Thailand. A shaman, her reluctant niece, and the creeping dread of inheritance. The slow burn builds into a frenzied climax, and audiences couldn’t look away. It scooped 13 awards at the National Film Awards and confirmed Thailand’s knack for horror-thrillers with a folkloric twist.
Animation
Khan Kluay (2006)
The story of a royal war elephant, told in glossy CGI. Aimed at families but with a patriotic tug, it resonated enough to win Best Picture at the National Film Awards – the first time for an animated film. Proof that Thailand can do well in animation too.
Yak: The Giant King (2012)
The Ramayana retold with robots. Ambitious, imaginative, and undeniably odd, it took five years to complete. International screenings followed, but the box office figures didn’t quite match the ambition. Still, it remains a fascinating curiosity in Thai animation.
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