Over the last few years, Asian pop culture such as Korean Pop, Thai Pop, Chinese Pop, and Japanese Pop has made quite an identity for its uniqueness, versatility and talent in the form of music, dramas, fashion, and movies. Has it received love from their own nations but the western culture has also come forward to appreciate it. With its increasing popularity worldwide, it would be fair to say that the Asian pop culture will undoubtedly rise and dominate over Hollywood.
T-pop, as in Thai pop is seen to be one of the most emerging pop cultures over the last few decades. Thailand’s entertainment industry is well known for its boy groups, girl groups, and for its movies that have gained a worldwide fan base. Even though Thailand is still one of the developing countries in Asia, and their movie industry may not be as broad as Hollywood or Bollywood still, it is known for its horror movies as they sincerely believe in superstition and their beliefs.
Here are some of the best Thai movies that did incredibly well on the box office
1. The Down (2015)
The movie starts with a writer who traveled all the way down to Italy from Wongtanong . During his trip, he met with several people with Down syndrome, and it surprised him how those people managed to live everyday life and associated with ordinary people. It led him to research on how Thai people with Down syndrome managed to live their lives, so he went down to his hometown and met a few teenagers and discussed their hardships and bonds of family. It was the first ever Thai movie to create an extreme amount of hype all over the country, and also sparked a debate for the crucial subject.
2. The Overture (2004)
The film is set in ancient times, back in the reigns of Kings Rama V to VIII. Inspired by the life of Luang Pradit Pairoh, the most revered traditional Thai music master, Overture became one of the most famous historical Thai films. The film bagged as many as ten nominations at several international film festivals and won at Asia Pacific Film festival and Miami Film Festival for Best Music, Best Sound and Audience Award for Dramatic features.
3. My Girl (2003)
Just Another feel-good romantic comedy about a Boy who was devastated after finding out that his childhood sweetheart was getting married, so he decided to revisit his hometown. He was hit by sudden nostalgia after remembering incidents from his childhood, his school life , and neighborhood friends. This movie is a slice of life as it brings back many memories we all had at some point in our lives.
4. Last Life In The Universe (2003)
The movie revolves around a dark and mature theme about two people who form a bond over their misery after realizing that both the man and woman had gone through an inevitable loss which was one thing they had in common. It’s an offbeat romance surrounded by quirky characters and their experimental approach towards their thoughts and dreams.
5. Ong Bak : Muay Thai Warrior (2003)
A martial arts movie filled with brutal fight scenes that could take your breath away. It became one of the most internationally proclaimed Thai films that made headlines at the American Box offices. The movie received such a fantastic response from all over the world. After riding high on the success of its first part, the director Prachya Pinkaew directed two more prequels that continue the legacy of the movie.
6. Tropical Malady (2004)
The movie managed to get mixed responses from the critics all around, and yet it did surprisingly well at many international film festivals, including the Winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, 2004. The film revolves around a Thai folktale about the romance between a soldier and a country boy. It received the Critics Award at the São Paulo International Film Festival and the Special Jury Prize for Directing at the 2005 Indianapolis International Film Festival.
7. Shutter (2004)
The mystery movie became one of the biggest hits after being released in the early 2000s. It received reasonably great recognition and was awarded in numerous international film festivals, as well as at the Bangkok International Film Festival, where it bagged nomination for the 2005 Golden Kinnaree Award for best film. It follows the storyline of a young Thai couple in the aftermath of a car accident. After a night out drinking with friends, Jane runs over a woman with her car and leaves her for dead. Following the accident, Jane and her boyfriend Tun find themselves wrapped up in a strange series of events, one of them being several of bizarre images appearing in Tun’s developed photographs.
8. Chocolate (2008)
The movie is another brainchild of Director Prachya Pinkaew, who also directed gem of all Thai films, Ong Bak: Thai Warrior. The film also has a scene of Ong Bak. The storyline follows a young girl named Zen as she becomes a skilled fighter by watching Ong Bak and imitating soldiers at the Muay Thai gym adjacent her home. When her mother is diagnosed with cancer, Zen embarks on a journey to collect debts of her mother to pay for her cancer treatment and later on she discovered her skills as Muay fighter where things turn a violet turn.
9. The Protector (2005)
Another masterpiece of martial arts directed by Prachya Pinkaew, and starring Tony Jaa looks very promising as the plot of his new film is pretty much identical to the rest of his previous works, except for the statue is now a baby elephant and his mother. It keeps one wondering what's with all the unfollowable subplots that happen once Jaa is in the city (Sydney, in this case) that makes it almost impossible to keep up with the storyline. The fight scenes from the movie kept the audience glued to their seats until the end. The film received a great response from the fans and critics becoming one of the most popular martial arts movies ever made.
10. Beautiful Boxer (2004)
It’s a biopic of transgender Muay Thai Parinya Charoenphol, who pursued the sport to pay for her gender reassignment surgery. The film did unexceptionally well and received a great response from the critics. Moreover, real-life Nong Toom herself makes a cameo appearance as a facial masseuse in the film, showing her support for her story turning into a cinematic masterpiece inspiring many others. Beautiful Boxer is a touching film with heart-wrenching fight scenes, which also showed the most phenomenal performance by actor Asanee Suwan who had a ten-year-old career as a Muay Thai fighter.
