In the first season of Mike White’s globe-trotting anthology series “The White Lotus,” actors like Connie Britton, Steve Zahn, Murray Bartlett, Jennifer Coolidge, and Natasha Rothwell brought their characters to the stunningly beautiful island of Maui in Hawai’i. Then, for the second go-around, White and his cast, including a returning Coolidge alongside Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Aubrey Plaza, Meghann Fahy, and Theo James, headed to the town of Taormina in Sicily. Clearly, White — and HBO, the network behind “The White Lotus” — will spare no expense to shoot on location. So, where was Season 3 shot?

Back when the Season 2 finale aired in December of 2022, White revealed that the third season would have a religious bent in a featurette that ran on HBO and Max alongside the episode, saying, “The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex. I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus” (via Variety). With that in mind, it makes sense that White and his crew brought the third season of “The White Lotus” to Thailand, a Southeast Asian paradise filled with cityscapes, mountain vistas, stunning beaches, and clear blue oceans. 

Wondering where they specifically shot the third season of White’s Emmy-winning series (which brings Rothwell back into play and introduces a whole new cast of badly-behaved wealthy characters)? Here are some of the major locations that White and HBO used for “The White Lotus” Season 3.

Because the first two seasons of “The White Lotus” shot at Four Seasons properties in Hawai’i and Sicily, respectively (a fact confirmed by Conde Nast Traveler’s ongoing coverage of the show’s shooting locations), it’s not a huge surprise that Mike White and his crew picked a third hotel in the world-famous chain for Season 3. Located on Thailand’s second-largest island Koh Samui, HBO’s official press notes for “The White Lotus” confirm that the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui serves as the location for most of the hotel’s shots, including the sprawling pool, common areas, the restaurant where characters like friends Kate (Leslie Bibb), Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), and Laurie (Carrie Coon) eat lunch, and several of the villas, including those belonging to mismatched couple Chelsea and Rick (Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins) and the wealthy Ratliff family from North Carolina (including Jason Isaacs’ Timothy, Parker Posey’s Victoria, Patrick Schwarzenegger’s Saxon, Sarah Catherine Hook’s Piper, and Sam Nivola’s Lochlan).

Again, it makes sense that White returned to a Four Seasons property for the lion’s share of the locations in “The White Lotus” Season 3, most of which highlight the hotel’s many amenities, including the very real spa (in the show, Rothwell’s character Belinda is there to train with fellow spa employees). Apparently, the mere act of filming at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui mimicked the tension seen in “The White Lotus.” In a piece from The Guardian sharing behind-the-scenes secrets for Season 3, Isaacs said the following about his time at the resort: 

“It’s a kind of crucible, a five-star gilded cage. There’s no question that sometimes it is absolutely fabulous, and sometimes it’s ‘Lord of the Flies.'”

What is surprising in Season 3 of “The White Lotus” is that Mike White didn’t stick to just Four Seasons properties (though, it should be said, this season is the first of the three thus far to shoot in a world not undergoing strict COVID protocols). Several of the scenes set in the (obviously fictional) White Lotus hotel weren’t filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui; rather, they were shot at various properties under the Anantara umbrella.

While Anantara has luxury resort properties all over the world, only a handful of the ones located in Thailand were used in Season 3 of “The White Lotus.” The bar, which is featured in the first episode when a lonely Chelsea meets a new friend named Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), is actually the Singing Bird Lounge at Anantara’s Lawana Koh Samui Resort. Meanwhile, spots like the hotel lobby, the security room — where we spend time with guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) — and the jewelry store that gets robbed with Chelsea present in the season’s second episode are all located at another Anantara resort, Anantara Bophut, which is also located in Koh Samui. Interestingly, though, the spots where Natasha Rothwell’s Belinda spends most of her scenes, meaning the “wellness sanctuary and spa” and Belinda’s private room, were filmed at Anantara Mai Khao Phuket. Phuket, as it were, is an hour-long flight (or a six-hour drive) away from Koh Samui.

You might think, if you’re not paying close attention, that the restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui — where the characters on “The White Lotus” Season 3 enjoy relaxed lunches — would be the same one they go to at dinner. But you would be wrong there! The Rosewood Phuket is the real shooting location for all of the season’s tense dinner scenes, and based on some of the photos on this particular Rosewood’s website, it seems like it’s the establishment’s high-end Ta Khai eatery.

This is, again, pretty interesting because Phuket and Koh Samui aren’t anywhere near each other. Still, Rosewood is also a luxury hotel chain with stunning properties all over the globe, so it does make sense to add in some other filming locations in Phuket if some of the cast members were gathered there anyway. Just like it does on the series, the Ta Khai restaurant serves elevated Thai cuisine, lending a perfect setting to those awkward Ratliff family dinners or the seemingly endless scenes where Rick and Chelsea argue over their evening meals.

When the Ratliff family gets to the White Lotus, we learn that Piper, the middle child of the family, is there to study a Buddhist temple for her college thesis — and unsurprisingly, Mike White took full advantage of Thailand’s rich religious history and shot at real sacred locations. According to HBO’s press notes for the series and outlets like Conde Nast Traveler, the temple that Piper hopes to visit and study during her time in Thailand is Wat Phukhao Thong on the coast of Koh Samui.

All of the outside decor — including the large Buddha — seen on “The White Lotus” are real features of Wat Phukhao Thong, and it’s a spiritual site that you can visit if you find yourself in Thailand. Based on White’s comments about how important religion is to this particular season of “The White Lotus,” it seems safe to assume that we’ll keep returning to this temple whenever Piper does.

The “arrival” scene is, at this point, a staple of “The White Lotus.” Because Mike White wisely splits the focus of the show between the often odious and extraordinarily wealthy guests and the employees who wait on them hand and foot, the season premiere typically focuses on the staff welcoming everyone to the in-universe resort. Plus, when you consider that it gives White a chance to neatly introduce each “group” in an obvious and easy way, it’s a no-brainer.

The arrival scenes in Season 3 of “The White Lotus,” which sees the guests arriving by boat — bringing to mind the fact that White famously appeared as a contestant on “Survivor” and then felt inspired to work on “The White Lotus” — were split between a few locations. Mu Ko Ang Thong National Marine Park (in Koh Samui) is pretty likely the backdrop for that boat ride, where Rick pisses off the Ratliffs by smoking a cigarette, while the beach scenes were apparently filmed at Ko Lawa Yai (a beach near Phang Nga Bay in Phuket) and Ya Nui Beach. As with the previous seasons of “The White Lotus,” these arrival scenes give us the first glimpse of the stunning backdrop for the season, and these real-life natural beauties look pretty unbelievable.

There are still a ton of locations we haven’t seen quite yet as “The White Lotus” continues airing its latest season, but based on the final trailer that dropped at the end of this past January, we’ll get to explore more of Thailand through these characters pretty soon. Photos of Kate, Jaclyn, and Laurie exploring a market have made the rounds online (and you can spot the scene in the trailer), and according to the same Conde Nast Traveler report, that’s likely Fisherman’s Village in Koh Samui, which hosts an annual water-gun fight to celebrate the Thai New Year. That article also specifies that the Haad Rin beach on Koh Phangan, an island near Koh Samui that always hosts the Full Moon Party, is seen in the trailer, with a few characters attending the festivities.

Audiences will have to wait and see which other real Thai locations are featured on “The White Lotus” Season 3, but based on what we’ve seen so far (and the show’s previous seasons), we’re in for a treat. 

“The White Lotus” drops new episodes on Sunday nights at 9 P.M. on HBO and its streaming service Max.