Name: Meet the Cast of the Real White Lotus
Uploaded: 2025-07-18T16:53:41.000Z
Duration: 10 min 52 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

People think running a five-star resort is all about serenity and luxury.

I always like to describe hospitality as we are like swans.

Adverbs of degree

Above the water level, we're very elegant, very eloquent.

And below the water, we try to stay alive.

Behind the scenes, it's like conducting an orchestra.

At three Anantara resorts, featured in the White Lotus, tens of thousands of guests pass through every year.

We full, my mixology shaking, the cocktail, sweaty armpits every night.

With hundreds of staff and rooms and villas costing from $500 to over $5,000 a night, the guests' expectations are extremely high and not without a side of drama.

What they get is sometimes even more surprising.

If you find a Burmese python and it gets hungry, maybe it's the last day of your life.

But in general, the Burmese python will run away from you, so don't worry about it too much.

Filmed at four luxury resorts in Koh Samui and Phuket, where you can relax in a spot that may or may not have seen an armed robbery or indulge in a serene spa treatment.

Where a body once floated by, we won't say who's.

And if you're lucky, the first person you might just meet is the real life Mook, or as she's actually known, Tata, from the hotel's guest services.

There are 13 different kinds, each carrying its own unspoken meaning.

Even when life isn't perfect, the smile always is.

Thai people, whatever happen, they're going to smile first.

If I happy, it's like, hi, sawasdee krap.

But like, if I have to smile, how to say, like, conflict, it's like, I understand.

I have to smile, but my eye is different.

The Anantara Bhopa, one of the island's first luxury resorts.

A timeless celebration of classical Thai design by renowned architect Bill Bensley.

A place where fantasy meets function, and service is everything.

At the center of it all is Thomas, the general manager.

Koh Samui originally was known as the coconut island.

It is an island where coconut farming has been the key export, actually, of the island.

Obviously, that has changed a bit throughout the years.

There's a lot of coconuts on the island, still some traditional farms, which are beautiful to visit, as well as a cultural, immersive experience, but it is ultimately coconut island.

It's always been a dream of mine to work in hospitality, and the first really vivid memory I have at six years old is driving up into a hotel in Bangkok, having a porter stand by at the car, opening the door, and he's like, hello, Mr. Thomas, welcome back.

Earned my very first dollar at six years old as well in that same hotel.

So I went up to the main entrance door, a big, heavy glass door, and there was a bellman standing there doing nothing else the entire day than just opening and closing doors for guests, and I found that fascinating.

So I joined him as a little six-year-old, and one guest found that so adorable, he actually gave me a $1 tip, and that was my very first dollar earned in hospitality, and I'm very happy to be in this industry.

This is a place where nature isn't just a backdrop, it's the host.

At the Anantara Mai Khao in Phuket, more than 100 species of birds call this resort home.

Hundreds of native plants bloom between villas.

When this resort was built, the nature wasn't cleared.

I am the sustainability manager for Anantara Hotels and Resorts.

My whole life, go in the city, and I can't stand the traffic over there.

When I was 15, my high school arranged a trip to National Park, and at that moment, I know that I love nature and I have to go.

So I asked my mom, mom, I want to go to this trip, and mom said, no, you're not allowed.

So I told her, I didn't ask you for permission.

That's why I'm so into seeking out something more quiet, and I find out that the nature is really help you heal and give you peace.

So our hotel located on Mai Khao Beach, that famous and well-known as the home for the little black sea turtle that still come and nest over here.

We take it serious, and we try to protect the nesting site of the little black sea turtle.

The monitor lizard here, like superstar animal.

The snake here, various, from the little one, like the viper, to the medium-sized cobra, and to the big, big one, the Burmese python, love them.

The migrate bird that fly from the north and the central of Thailand.

So it come here for short vacation during winter.

I think they get used to the farmer, so no fear.

There are spirits in the trees and the soil, the water and in the wind.

Locally, people don't just walk through the forest.

Each morning, offerings are made at the spirit houses.

Food, clothes, incense, a whispered prayer.

Because they believe the spirits protect this land and everyone who comes here.

And in return, the team looks after the spirits.

He was the one who established the spirit house.

After he established the spirit house, I don't know, he got the minor award.

And he still holds that position to this day.

I believe it's because of the spirit house.

Jazz works in the shadow of Nang Takai, on the mysterious tree spirit feared and respected as a powerful forest guardian.

A lady said to bring fortune, though he has never encountered her himself.

Emma never set out to become Thailand's youngest female sommelier.

In fact, her path to wine was anything but traditional.

Born to a family that moved from Isan to Kosovo,     when she was still a baby.

At 15, she found herself directionless, but fiercely independent.

She threw herself into the island's fast-paced, fire-fueled nights, unaware that curiosity and sheer determination would soon reshape her future.

So when I decide to move in Koh Samui, I have to tell my dad.

He be quiet around one or two minutes, and then he ask me back, like, Are you sure?

Because when you step out from my arms, you have no right to call me back for asking for any money.