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Ashlyn Chak

This article contains spoilers.
The first episode of The White Lotus’ third season does not feature “Renaissance”, the HBO anthology series’ opening theme song that became a signature of the first two seasons.
It does, however, promise just as much suspense, satire and Schadenfreude.
In true White Lotus fashion, season three – the series’ first set in Asia – opens with a murder at a White Lotus resort in Thailand.
At a one-on-one meditation workshop, a guest hears a series of gunshots that prompt his instructor to run off.
Amid the chaos, he looks for his mother – and stumbles on a dead body in a stream.


The new season sees the return of season one’s Belinda Lindsey, played by Natasha Rothwell, a spa manager at the White Lotus in Hawaii in the United States, who is at the White Lotus in Thailand on a work exchange programme.
Joining her is Lalisa Manobal, better known as Lisa of A-list Korean girl group Blackpink, as Mook, the Thai luxury resort’s “health mentor”.
This marks Lisa’s acting debut, and the Thailand-born K-pop star effortlessly switches between Thai and English throughout.
Her character’s alluring beauty does not go unnoticed – Chelsea, a young English woman played by Aimee Lou Wood, gushes that Mook is “so pretty” – and the resort’s security guard, Gaitok, played by the London-born Tayme Thapthimthong, has a crush on her.
Upon arriving at the resort in Koh Samui, Chelsea is annoying right off the bat – not to the audience, but to her much older boyfriend, Rick Hatchett, played by Walton Goggins. He appears to have an ulterior motive for staying at the resort.

Among the guests is Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs), a stressed-out businessman on holiday with his wife and their three children. Parker Posey, who starred in Richard Linklater’s 1993 film Dazed and Confused, plays his wife Victoria, a quirky, clueless society woman who has been sheltered from the world thanks to her upbringing.
Patrick Schwarzenegger, son of Arnold Schwarzenegger, plays Saxon, the oldest Ratliff son, who works for his father’s business and appears to have an insatiable sex drive.
Then there are three lifelong friends – played by Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon and Michelle Monaghan – on a girls’ trip, although it quickly becomes apparent they may secretly hate each other.

With conflict bubbling just under the surface, the friendship angle plays to the strengths of the three veteran actresses, especially Coon in her role as Laurie, a corporate lawyer and recent divorcee.
Another character from season one makes a return – Greg Hunt, played by Jon Gries, who is a suspect in the second-season murder of Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid. His brief appearance in the first episode foreshadows an unravelling of threads as the season progresses.
At a time when “rich-hating” stories – think The Menu, Triangle of Sadness – are popular, The White Lotus remains sharply self-aware with its “insufferable rich people suffering” stories and is not afraid to make fun of the “older white men in Southeast Asia” stereotype.
The third season of The White Lotus premiered on February 17 in East and Southeast Asian regions on Max, February 16 in the US. Its eight episodes will be streamed weekly until the finale on April 7.


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The White Lotus is back for season 3 with Blackpink’s Lisa, romance and a murder mystery

Thai native Lalisa Manobal, better known as Lisa of K-pop girl group Blackpink, launches her acting career in The White Lotus season three, in which she plays “health mentor” Mook. Photo: HBO

Aimee Lou Wood plays a ditsy chatterbox in the third season of The White Lotus. Photo: HBO

Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb and Michelle Monaghan star as friends who secretly resent one another in The White Lotus. Photo: HBO

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How The White Lotus season 3 is set to give Thailand a tourism windfall

Lisa from Blackpink in a still from The White Lotus season 3, set in Thailand. Photo: HBO

Season 3 of HBO hit series The White Lotus will feature Four Seasons Resort (above), in Koh Samui, Thailand, and is expected to boost tourism in the kingdom. Photo: Four Seasons Resort

Koh Samui Four Seasons Resort. Photo: Four Seasons Resort

A still from No More Bets, the Chinese film about a kidnapping in Thailand, which is thought to have decreased the number of Chinese visitors to Thailand. Photo: Mega Films Distribution

A still from The White Lotus 3, set in Thailand. Photo: HBO

The White Lotus 3, set in Thailand, features Lisa (above) from K-pop group Blackpink as the resort manager. Photo: HBO

White Lotus fans already have Thailand, backdrop to season 3, in their sights

The White Lotus has wrapped filming in Thailand, and tour operators and the country’s hotels, like the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui (pictured), are ready for a bump in tourists. Photo: Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui

The Sicilian town of Taormina has seen an avalanche of visitors after the airing of The White Lotus season two. Photo: Shutterstock

A rise in interest in Leading Hotels of the World properties in Thailand – such as the Capella Bangkok (above) – has been seen, despite none of them being connected with production of The White Lotus. Photo: World’s Capella Bangkok

According to sources, some scenes on Koh Samui were shot at the remote Taling Ngam Beach. Photo: Shutterstock

Fisherman’s Village is one of the best-known tourist attractions in Koh Samui. Photo: Shutterstock

Demand for visits to Sicilian cities like Palermo have increased since they were featured in the show. Photo: Shutterstock

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From a potential romance for Lisa’s character to the return of a couple of familiar faces, here is what to expect from the third season


From a potential romance for Lisa’s character to the return of a couple of familiar faces, here is what to expect from the third season.


HBO and Max