With the new James Bond movie about to be released, there is a bit of a Bond fever going on at the moment on cable tv. On Star Movies they are re-running the complete series. This reminded me that there are two movies that were shot in Thailand. The 1970’s movie “The Man with a Golden Gun” is the most interesting of the two as it was based on this country. One of the sequences involved a boat chase through the canals of Thonburi.
Rajdamnern Stadium was used for the kick-boxing tournament sequence. Straight after this there was then a car chase through Bangkok. Cannot see that happening easily these days. You never ever see police chases in Bangkok as everyone will spend most of their time stuck in traffic. In the pictures above they passed the Democracy Monument and the Giant Swing. Notice the “black and white” police car inthe above picture. Again, you never see police cars in Bangkok. Only police motorcycles.
The above car jump is probably the most memorable in movie history. Production notes say this was shot across the Chao Phraya River though I am not sure if that is true. Koh Tapu and Koh Khao Phing Kan in the south of Thailand were used as Scaramanga’s island. These rock formations in Phang Nga Bay are a popular destination for tourists coming from Phuket and Krabi. The rock formation is now called “James Bond Island”. The last time I went there the beach facing this formation was covered with souvenir stalls selling the same tacky shell ornaments.
