After Thailand, These Luxe Resorts Are Dying for a “White Lotus” Scandal
The rich have already descended on Thailand—now it’s time for The White Lotus to set its sights on the next paradise where privilege festers beneath the palm trees
HBO’s The White Lotus has done more for luxury tourism than any influencer ever could. Sicily. Hawaii. Thailand. Idyllic and cursed playgrounds for the rich.
With the latest season already set in Thailand, it’s time for Mike White to explore more of Southeast Asia’s lush, haunted, and extravagant destinations.
RELATED: Lost Boys of the West: Why White Guys Flee to Southeast Asia
Think about it: old-money colonial resorts, temples that hum with centuries-old secrets, and sun-drenched islands with an underbelly of something darker. It’s all there, waiting.
Here’s where The White Lotus should plant its next poisoned fruit.
Amanpulo, Philippines
The island of quiet desperation
Amanpulo is one of those places where the ultra-wealthy go to forget about their moral failings—at least until they wash up onshore.
A private island with nothing but white sand, casitas, and an eerie kind of silence.
The staff? Immaculately trained and eerily composed. Someone could go missing here, and no one would know until the resort boat conveniently “malfunctions.”
Capella Ubud, Bali
Jungle opulence, cult vibes
Luxury tents hidden in the Balinese jungle, where everything is curated to feel untouched—except, of course, it’s all been built for the soft-palmed elite.
Picture a group of influencers documenting their “spiritual awakening” while a billionaire couple grapples with their failing marriage over five-course dinners.
A shaman gets involved. Somebody drinks the wrong tea. The jungle watches.
Song Saa Private Island, Cambodia
A paradise with a past
An eco-resort built on twin islands, Song Saa is breathtakingly beautiful, but its history lingers.
Rumors swirl about pirate ghosts, local fishermen forced off their land, and a Western wellness guru who disappeared under “mysterious” circumstances.
Imagine a plot unraveling here—trust fund kids on a “voluntourism” trip gone terribly, terribly wrong.
The Datai, Langkawi
Rainforest gothic
The Datai is where you go when you have too much money and just enough guilt to seek out a place that whispers sustainability.
The ancient rainforest hums around you. The Andaman Sea stretches endlessly ahead. But there’s something uncanny about the way the resort blends into the jungle, the way the trees seem to lean in.
Someone finds a centuries-old artifact. Someone else takes it. The curse writes itself.
InterContinental Danang, Vietnam
French colonial hauntings
Built into the hills overlooking a private bay, this resort feels like a fever dream. Ornate staircases, sun-drenched terraces, a private funicular.
But it’s also haunted—by its colonial past, by old war ghosts, and by something intangible in the air.
Maybe a high-powered diplomat and his scandal-ridden family come here to escape. Maybe they don’t leave.
Southeast Asia is begging for its White Lotus moment beyond Thailand.
Exoticism and exploitation, spirituality and sin, wealth that isolates and devours—it’s all here, wrapped in silk robes and delivered on a silver tray.
The real question is: who wouldn’t watch?
Banner photo courtesy IMDB
