section_path: Production/Development
section_name: Development
paragraph_text: Development
  
  On November 18, 2022, preceding the premiere of the second season, HBO renewed The White Lotus for a third season. Following the second-season finale, series creator Mike White hinted that it would be set in Asia and invoke a "satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality", similar to how the first season focused on money and the second season on sex.
  
  According to executive producer Mark Kamine, White decided at the outset that the third season would explore Eastern philosophy, so the original list of candidate locations included Bali, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Through various discussions and research, the list was narrowed to Japan and Thailand, and then Kamine, White, "and others" took research trips to both countries.
  
  On one of those trips, White contracted bronchitis and was given a steroid nebulizer. While recovering, "he found himself imagining a group of Westerners who descend on Thailand in search of spiritual revival". The art seen in the opening credits was inspired by murals in Wat Supat, one of the temples visited by the producers.
  
  White scouted locations in other Thailand destinations but initially refused to visit Ko Samui. He did not have fond memories of the island, because he had already stayed there twice before when he competed on The Amazing Race and the island was used as the show's elimination station. Since the first two seasons of The White Lotus had already been filmed at Four Seasons resorts, another producer went to scout the Four Seasons resort on the island, and eventually White was persuaded to give it a chance.
  
  The third season's production was disrupted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, resulting in the release being pushed to 2025.
  
  On November 18, 2022, preceding the premiere of the second season, HBO renewed The White Lotus for a third season. Following the second-season finale, series creator Mike White hinted that it would be set in Asia and invoke a "satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality", similar to how the first season focused on money and the second season on sex.
  
  According to executive producer Mark Kamine, White decided at the outset that the third season would explore Eastern philosophy, so the original list of candidate locations included Bali, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Through various discussions and research, the list was narrowed to Japan and Thailand, and then Kamine, White, "and others" took research trips to both countries.
  
  On one of those trips, White contracted bronchitis and was given a steroid nebulizer. While recovering, "he found himself imagining a group of Westerners who descend on Thailand in search of spiritual revival". The art seen in the opening credits was inspired by murals in Wat Supat, one of the temples visited by the producers.
  
  White scouted locations in other Thailand destinations but initially refused to visit Ko Samui. He did not have fond memories of the island, because he had already stayed there twice before when he competed on The Amazing Race and the island was used as the show's elimination station. Since the first two seasons of The White Lotus had already been filmed at Four Seasons resorts, another producer went to scout the Four Seasons resort on the island, and eventually White was persuaded to give it a chance.
  
  The third season's production was disrupted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, resulting in the release being pushed to 2025.