Lost in Thailand

The story begins with a scientist, Xu Lang (Xu Zheng), who invented a solution (youba, lit. Oil Master, translated as "Supergas") which has the power of increasing the volume of any liquid to which the solution is applied. Such a solution implies great potential profitability if applied to gasoline or any precious liquid. However, he needs the authorization of Mr. Zhou, the biggest shareholder, in order to get further funding from an investment fund. Gao Bo (Huang Bo), who was the classmate of Xu in college and his partner at the workplace, wants to sell the invention to a French company instead.

Upon the discovery that Mr. Zhou is in Thailand, Xu Lang immediately embarks on a trip to Thailand, constantly tailed by Gao. On the plane, Xu meets a young man named Wang Bao (Wang Baoqiang), who is going to Thailand to fulfill a list of dreams (including fighting a Muay Thai master, planting a cactus). Wang owns a scallion pancake store in Beijing, and claims that the famous actress Fan Bingbing is his girlfriend. Not wanting to be bothered by Wang, Xu keeps trying to get rid of him, but events unfold in such a way that the two become a team.

The two go on a hunt to find Mr. Zhou. The interaction between the savvy businessman and the pious, simple-minded chef is a source of most of the dialog in the film. Two to undergo major culture shock in Thailand, while Wang is frustrated with the progress in finding Mr. Zhou.

Attempting to blame Wang for the whole mishap, Xu finds cash in Wang's wallet. Considering that Wang lost all his money earlier in the trip, Xu Lang suspects that he is a spy for Gao and tears apart Wang Bao's diary. Xu goes on to read Wang's diary and discovers that Wang is writing tourist diaries attempting to cheer up his mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, is a fan of actress Fan Bingbing, and wishes that Wang was in a relationship. Moved by Wang's diaries, Xu regains his trust for Wang.

Finally finding the temple where Mr. Zhou is supposed to be located, Wang encounters a Buddhist layman who brings a case that contains the authorization letter. The layman goes on to say that Mr. Zhou has indicated that it is up to them what they want to do with the letter. Gao shows up with a Muay Thai master (Saichia Wongwirot) and starts fighting to gain control of the case. Gao and Xu go on to fight frantically for the case, while Wang is overpowered by the Muay Thai master. Xu lets go of the letter and ultimately decides to fulfill Wang's wish of taking a picture of defeating a Thai boxer instead. Xu comes over and lies down and serves as his takeoff board. Stepping on Xu's chest, Wang flies up into the sky and defeats the Muay Thai master with a massive kick to the head.

Upon reading the letter, Gao goes on to find out that they need to cosign the authorization letter to validate it. At this point, Xu discovers that he does not care about the letter anymore, and he feels guilty for not having given enough attention to his wife (Xu Zheng's real-life wife Tao Hong) and daughter. Through the trip, Xu goes through a metamorphosis from a callous, manipulative businessman to an epiphany of what is really important in life. Wang, on the other hand, inadvertently fulfills every single one of his dreams during the trip to Thailand.

Towards the end, Xu reunites with his wife and brings the family back from the brink of divorce. Wang actually meets with the real Fan Bingbing through Xu's arrangement. Fan is moved by Wang's love for his mother and agrees to take pictures with Wang inside a studio. Gao, still trapped in Thailand due to the loss of his passport which was stolen by Wang earlier, is happy to hear his wife giving birth to their baby over the phone. The story ends on a positive note.

• Xu Zheng as scientific researcher Xu Lang (徐朗), invented a solution named “youba”(油霸).
• Wang Baoqiang as Wang Bao (王宝), who owns a scallion pancake store in Beijing, is going to Thailand to fulfill a list of dreams.
• Huang Bo as Gao Bo (高博), a classmate of Xu in college and partner of Xu at the workplace, wants to sell “youba” to a French company.
• Tao Hong as An An (安安), Xu Lang’s Wife.
• Fan Bingbing as herself, famous actress, Wang Bao’s secret crush, is invited to go on a honeymoon with Wang Bao.
• Xie Nan as Xu Lang’s secretary.

Lost in Thailand, as a low-budget film, has won many awards and nominations which makes it one of the most successful Chinese films ever. Around 2012, the Chinese film industry was still in its initial stage of commercialization, many film positioning was still immature.[4] In an interview with Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, the film producer, Chen Zhixi, noted that the film was canceled twice due to financial issues. Investors were worried about the uncertainty of Xu Zheng’s directorial debut. Chen Zhixi still had faith in Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang as actors.[5] In the end, Lost in Thailand was able to generate 1.26 billion RMB at the Chinese box-office.[6] There are three factors that contribute to the success of the film: precise positioning, diversified marketing strategies, and lastly reasonable scheduling of the film release.[4]

Xu Zheng, the director of Lost in Thailand, said the film's success was related to the aspirations and anxieties of ordinary Chinese in a time of high growth and dislocation.[7] He also said that "Lost in Thailand" succeeded by showing a rarely seen subject: modern Chinese life. He thought the reason why the movie rocked was that there was hunger from the audience for movies that talk about the real-life situation in China and there was a lack of films that talk about things that were related to the life of ordinary people.[8]

The film features numerous Thai pleasures, including its historical monuments such as temples, elephant rides, resort lodgings, and particularly the outlandish marvel of "lady boys", youthful transgender men who engage customers professionally.[9]

The theme song in Mandarin is “Wo Jiu Yao He Ni Zai Yi Qi” (我就要和你在一起), also called “Tai Guo Chuan Qi”(泰国传奇), is written by Zhao Ying-Jun, and performed by Zhao Yingjun and Xia Yunyan.

The film bears a similar name to Lost on Journey in Chinese, and shares the same lead actors. It is, however, not a direct sequel to the 2010 movie as the two movies are produced by different companies and have different directors.[20] In March 2013, Wuhan Huaqi Media, the production company for Lost on Journey, filed a lawsuit against the four companies involved in Lost in Thailand before Beijing High People's Court claiming that the production and release of Lost in Thailand involves copyright infringement and unfair competition by exploiting the success of Lost on Journey without its producer's authorization.[21] The court ruled against Lost in Thailand and ordered Beijing Enlight Pictures to cease all unfair practices and pay Huaqi RMB 85 million in damages.[22]

Lost in Russia follows in the footsteps of comedy mega-hits Lost in Thailand (2012) and Lost in Hong Kong (2015), which became the number one and two highest-grossing films of all time in China at the time of their respective release, with a combined take of $463 million.

The Lost in formula combines the classic road movie with a fish-out-of-water slapstick comedy. The sequel centered on a forgotten past romance, and the visual style and various set pieces were packed with references to beloved classic Hong Kong films from the 1980s and 90s. Part of Lost in Russia‘s Chinese title roughly translates to "Awkward Mom". And the story will center on "family relationships."[23]

• Lost on Journey (2010), directed by Raymond Yip, also starring Xu and Wang
• Lost in Hong Kong (2015), directed by Xu Zheng, starring Xu and Bao Bei'er
• Lost in Russia (2020), directed by Xu Zheng, starring Xu , Huang MeiYing and Yuan Quan

• Lost in Thailand at IMDb
• Lost in Thailand at Rotten Tomatoes