Best Thai movies: a film canon for Thai families abroad

Every Thai family has the film. The one the cousins quote at dinner, the one Mum cried at, the one Dad insists is the best ever made and you’ve never seen. This is a short canon to catch up on, with the facts checked.

It’s not a “best ever” ranking. It’s a shelf: films that tell you something about Thailand, that are easy to watch with family, and that people will be happy you’ve seen. For the nostalgia side (Doraemon in Thai, lakorn with Mum) see what we grew up with.

Which Thai movies should you watch first?

Five to start with, one for every mood. Dates are the Thai release.

• Fan Chan (My Girl), 3 October 2003. A grown man remembers his best friend from a 1980s small town, just as she’s about to get married. Six young directors made their debut with it, and many Thai families know it by heart. We wrote more about it in what we grew up with.
• Hello Stranger, 19 August 2010, directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun. Two Thai strangers travel around South Korea together. It made ฿130 million in Thailand.
• SuckSeed, 17 March 2011, directed by Chayanop Boonprakob. Three schoolboys start a rock band to impress girls. They’re not good.
• Bad Genius, 3 May 2017, directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya. A top student runs an exam-cheating scheme that goes international. It was the top Thai film of 2017 at home (฿112.15 million), earned at least US$36.5 million in China in its first 17 days, and won a record 12 Suphannahong awards.
• How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, 4 April 2024, directed by Pat Boonnitipat. A grandson moves in to care for his sick grandmother, with an eye on the inheritance. Bring tissues. It has its own page: why Grandma hits luk khrueng so hard.

Which Thai comedies and romances do families love?

• ATM Er Rak Error, 19 January 2012, directed by Mez Tharatorn. Two coworkers who are secretly dating make a bet over which of them has to resign after a bank machine pays out double. It made ฿150.11 million.
• Seasons Change, 23 August 2006, directed by Nithiwat Tharathorn. A boy secretly enrols at a music school to be near his crush. A gentle campus film with a lot of music.
• The Con-Heartist, 2020, directed by Mez Tharatorn. A scam-gang leader teams up with a former bank employee to con her ex.
• Pee Mak, 28 March 2013, directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun. A comedy retelling of the ghost story of Mae Nak. Wikipedia lists it as the top-grossing film ever at the Thai box office. More in our Thai horror guide.

Which Thai films are the classics?

• Tears of the Black Tiger, 28 September 2000, directed by Wisit Sasanatieng. A colour-saturated Thai western about an outlaw and a governor’s daughter. It flopped at home and then became the first Thai film selected for Cannes, in 2001.
• Monrak Transistor, 28 December 2001, directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. A young man chases a career as a luk thung singer, and life gets in the way. If your parents love old country songs, this one is for them (and see our Thai music guide).
• Ong-Bak, 2003, directed by Prachya Pinkaew. A village muay thai fighter, played by Tony Jaa, goes to Bangkok to bring back a stolen Buddha head. Wikipedia reports about US$20 million at the box office on a budget of about US$1.1 million.
• The Love of Siam, 22 November 2007, directed by Chookiat Sakveerakul. Two childhood friends meet again as teenagers, with a family story running underneath. Thailand’s submission to the 81st Academy Awards.
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, 25 June 2010, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. A dying farmer is visited by the spirits of his wife and son. Slow, strange and beautiful. The first Thai film to win the Palme d’Or.

What are the newer Thai hits?

• 4 Kings, 9 December 2021, directed by Phuttipong Nakthong. Rival vocational-school gangs in the 1990s. The highest-grossing Thai film of 2021, according to the Bangkok Critics Assembly award it won.
• Hunger, 6 April 2023 on Netflix, directed by Sitisiri Mongkolsiri. A street-food cook is pulled into a famous chef’s fine-dining world. A sharp kitchen drama.
• The Undertaker, 5 October 2023, directed by Thiti Srinuan. A horror-comedy spoken in the Isan language: a law graduate who is scared of ghosts has to take over his father’s work as an undertaker. It made ฿729.6 million nationwide.

Why watch Thai movies with your family?

Because a film gives everyone something to talk about that isn’t “so, when are you getting married?”. Ask Mum which bits of Fan Chan look like her childhood. Ask Dad why he still laughs at Pee Mak. You’ll learn more family history in the credits than in a year of Sunday calls.

Plan it like a proper night out. When the cousins ask who’s in:

ไปด้วยคน

pai duai khon

Draft: waiting for a native speaker’s review.

Practise replying to this in Reply Thai, coming soon to iPhone.

Reply Thai’s Thai with friends your age moment has more of the relaxed Thai your cousins use, and the Thai and proud moment has a small collection of the films, TV and music you grew up with.

Where can you watch Thai movies legally?

Streaming rights for Thai films change by country and by month, so we won’t promise a platform (checked 14 October 2026). Search your local services, Netflix included, under both the English and the Thai title. Some films, like Hunger, are Netflix releases. We don’t link unofficial uploads.

Reply Thai for iPhoneComing soon

Thai words on this page are a draft until a native speaker has reviewed them. Films are listed under the English titles used for their release abroad.