Thailand has some of the most diverse filming locations in Southeast Asia, and I’ve been fortunate enough to scout and work there for nearly 30 years.

I first scouted Thailand back in the late 1990s for TV commercials. A Nescafé commercial with Paul Arden, shooting in Bangkok and Phuket, was the first, followed a few years later by Andy Monaghan’s John Smith’s Bitter commercial on Koh Samui.

I returned again in 2003 for HBO’s Fire from Heaven, an epic project about Alexander the Great which unfortunately never made it into production. That scout took me all over Thailand, from Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son in the north, to Ubon Ratchathani and Kanchanaburi, and really opened my eyes to just how incredibly diverse the country is.

Over the years I have watched Bangkok change enormously. I remember the city before the BTS Skytrain, and have since seen it become a major part of everyday life in the capital. Don’t get me wrong, the Bangkok traffic can still be pretty awful, but the Skytrain has certainly helped.

From a Location Manager’s point of view, Thailand really does have an extraordinary amount to offer.

Over the years I’ve scouted temples, rice paddy fields, factories, hotels, beaches, jungles, sea gypsy villages, islands, mountain and hill trails, waterfalls, rivers and elephant trails. Add to that Bangkok’s extraordinary mixture of old and new — canals, markets and traditional neighbourhoods sitting alongside modern architecture, rooftop skylines and some of the busiest streets in Asia — and there really isn’t much you can’t find.

Head south and the landscape changes completely. Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi offer tropical beaches, dense jungle, dramatic limestone cliffs, caves, mangroves and hundreds of islands scattered across the Andaman Sea.

The north gives you something completely different again: mountains, forests, rice fields, rivers, traditional villages and winding roads through some spectacular scenery.

And importantly, the film infrastructure is there too.

Thailand has been hosting major international productions for decades. Films including The Killing Fields, Good Morning, Vietnam and Oliver Stone’s Heaven & Earth were shooting there in the 1980s and early 1990s, while more recent productions have included The Hangover Part II, The White Lotus Season 3, Alien: Earth and Sam Raimi’s Send Help.

There is an experienced local film industry, excellent crews and equipment, good transport links, international hotels and a country that has become very accustomed to servicing large-scale international productions.

For me, though, one of Thailand’s greatest strengths has always been the sheer variety.

You can leave a modern city in the morning and, within a relatively short journey, find yourself surrounded by jungle, mountains, rivers, beaches or traditional rural landscapes. Few countries offer quite that combination.

After nearly 30 years of scouting and working in Thailand, I still find places there that surprise me.

For filmmakers looking for Southeast Asian cities, tropical beaches, jungle, mountains, historic architecture, islands, rivers or simply somewhere completely extraordinary, Thailand really does have it all.

I’ve also spent many years scouting neighbouring Vietnam, which offers an equally extraordinary range of filming locations.