Michelle Yeoh to Produce Muay Thai Film “Nak Muay” Starring Buakaw and Saenchai
Michelle Yeoh will executive produce Muay Thai drama “Nak Muay,” which is set to begin principal photography in Thailand on August 2. The feature will shoot in Bangkok and Pranburi, placing real Thai fight figures Suablack, Buakaw Banchamek and Saenchai at the centre of a story about fame, guilt and the cost of combat.
Michelle Yeoh Joins Muay Thai Film “Nak Muay” as Thailand Shoot Nears
Nak Muay” follows Yod, an unbeaten Muay Thai champion played by Suablack, also known as Natthaphum Kaeowatthanameth. Yod is a commercial star and public figure in Bangkok, yet he is dealing with the aftermath of a bout that left his childhood friend Krit with irreversible brain damage. As Krit’s condition worsens, the champion begins to unravel.
Buakaw plays Magic Lotus, a famous fighter who withdraws from the sport after a death in the ring leaves him in depression. Saenchai takes the role of Tongchai, Magic Lotus’s longtime associate, who conceals his fighting ability behind the image of an unserious farmer. The pair later take Yod under their wing, bringing three generations of Thai fighting personalities into the same production.
The casting is a natural fit for a film rooted in Muay Thai. Buakaw is one of the sport’s best-known international names, while Saenchai’s technical style and long career made him a benchmark for fans and fighters. Suablack, meanwhile, arrives as an active fighter rather than an actor built for the role, giving the project a link to the current Thai striking scene.
The film is being made entirely in Thailand, with support from the Thai government and the UK Global Screen Fund. Nak Muay” leads a four-film Thailand slate announced by Disruptive Element Films, with filming planned through August and September.
Tinge Krishnan will write, direct and executive produce the film through Disruptive Element Films, the UK and Thailand-based company she runs with Colin Pons. Krishnan is a former doctor whose BAFTA-winning short “Shadowscan” launched a film and television career that includes “Junkhearts,” “Been So Long,” “Industry,” “The Mosquito Coast” and “A Thousand Blows.”
Dominic Buchanan produces, Scott Hornbacher serves as consultant producer, and Gavin Kelly is attached as cinematographer. Yeoh joins Pons, Krishnan and David Ismalone as executive producers.
Krishnan previously made a 20-minute “Nak Muay” short starring Suablack. That version followed a fallen Muay Thai star being pulled toward self-destruction before a hard loss gave him a route to confront his past; the feature expands the concept through Yod, Magic Lotus and Tongchai.
Michelle Yeoh Producing
Michelle Yeoh’s involvement brings a major martial arts cinema name to a project built around Thailand’s national sport. The Malaysian actor trained in ballet before entering Hong Kong film in the 1980s, using her movement background to adapt to stunt work and action choreography rather than arriving through a conventional martial arts upbringing.
During Hong Kong action cinema’s peak years, she became a leading figure through films including “Yes, Madam!” and “Royal Warriors,” before working opposite Jackie Chan in “Police Story 3: Supercop.” Her later work in “Wing Chun,” “Tomorrow Never Dies” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” carried that action identity to a wider global audience.
Her status has grown further in recent years. Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and received the Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement at the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, where she became the first Asian woman to receive the prize.
Buakaw Banchamek is one of Thailand’s most recognisable Muay Thai fighters. He began competing at eight years old in Surin before moving to train at Por. Pramuk Gym as a teenager, later becoming a two-time K-1 World MAX champion, a former Lumpinee Stadium No. 1-ranked fighter and a Thai Fight tournament winner. Known for his physical pressure, punishing kicks and international appeal, Buakaw helped introduce Thai-style striking to audiences well beyond the country’s stadium circuit.
Saenchai is widely viewed as one of Muay Thai’s most inventive technicians. The six-time Lumpinee Stadium champion won titles across four weight classes and was named Sports Writers of Thailand Fighter of the Year in 1999 and 2008, building his reputation through timing, feints, sweeps and unconventional attacks including his well-known cartwheel kick. He left Thailand’s elite stadium circuit in 2014 but continued competing internationally, becoming a major reference point for modern fighters studying the sport’s technical side.
