The Serpent to film in Thailand with Tahar Rahim

Major new drama The Serpent will shoot in Thailand for around four months from late August for Netflix and BBC One.

French actor Tahar Rahim (The Looming Tower, A Prophet) will star in the 8 x 60 series which will see Thailand ‘playing’ itself as well as doubling for other world locales in the story setting.

The Serpent is based on the true story of Charles Sobhraj, the chief suspect in the unsolved murders of up to 20 young western travellers across India, Thailand and Nepal during the mid -1970s.

London-based Mammoth Screen is making the series with Tom Shankland directing from scripts by Richard Warlow and Toby Finlay.

At the start of 2019, Netflix announced its first Thailand original, The Stranded, about a group of teenagers on a remote island who survive a tsunami. In early 2019, Thailand also hosted filming on the Netflix kidnap thriller, Dhaka, starring Chris Hemsworth.

Thailand is an important filming location for international shoots and is considered the main production hub for south-east Asia. It offers a base 15% filming incentive that rises to 20% for productions employing key Thai crew and promoting the tourist sector.

Look out for more details on filming in Thailand on our country bulletin – coming soon.

Thailand photo: Sasin Tipchai/Pixabay
Tahar Rahim photo: Thomas Niedermueller/WireImage