Thailand is no stranger to pop-culture fuelled overtourism. But behind the scenes there are islands, wild places and temples to explore

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Much like the problems of the show’s deplorable characters, the White Lotus effect cannot be escaped. After writer-director Mike White’s second season of the black comedy was released, tourists flooded its Sicilian coastal setting of Taormina, and its luxe backdrop of the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace was booked out for six months straight post-filming.

The new season of The White Lotus is upon us, or rather it’s upon Thailand. Hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to descend on the paradisiacal setting of Koh Samui, while cashed up guests at the island’s Four Seasons are already requesting upgrades to the $10,000 a night villas featured in the show. For a country that already struggles with overtourism, Thailand is bracing for impact. Local environmentalists are feeling uneasy, and quite rightly too – the Thai government closed Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi for four years in 2018 after boat anchors and propellers, sunscreen contaminants and sewerage destroyed the corals and marine life off the white-sand bay after it went mainstream with 1999 movie The Beach.