“I Don’t Want This to End”: Tayme Thapthimthong Looks Back on His White Lotus Fever Dream

The White Lotus isn’t known for giving viewers characters they can root for, but Tayme Thapthimthong’s hopelessly smitten security guard Gaitok is an exception. In the HBO show’s third season, which ends this Sunday, the Thai-British newcomer plays the unassuming and smiley Gaitok with a vulnerability and charm that he based on the real-life hotel guards he observed growing up in Thailand while holding his own opposite seasoned actors and global pop royalty. Over Zoom from L.A., the former nightclub bouncer, bodyguard, and army veteran was all smiles as he reflected on his sudden fame, working with Lisa, and how karaoke can bring any cast together.

———

BEN BARNA: Hey, Tayme. Thanks for taking the time.

TAYME THAPTHIMTHONG: You’re very welcome.

BARNA: Have you been doing a ton of press since the show aired?

THAPTHIMTHONG: Yeah, we did the press junkets and then did a of load interviews. I’ve been enjoying this whole process.

BARNA: I’m sure. What is the biggest difference in your life today compared to the day before the first episode aired?

THAPTHIMTHONG: In Thailand after the first episode aired, people started calling me Gaitok. They don’t call me Tayme. They just call me Pii Gaitok, which is “Brother Gaitok.” It’s everywhere now in Thailand because the posters are on the Skytrain and all the bus stops, so it’s been really nice having people come up and say things like, “Do you mind if I get a picture? I hope you get with Mook in the end.” And also I just came to L.A. four days ago and went to The Grove with my parents to do some shopping and it was really cool taking my mom into Lululemon. The staff was like, “Oh my god, you’re from White Lotus.”

BARNA: Have you noticed anyone taking creep shots?

THAPTHIMTHONG: When I went to Gelson’s the other day and a couple walked past with their phone out but I don’t think they were taking pictures. I think they were googling if it was me. 

BARNA: What have people been asking you about the most? Based on what I saw online, it seems like it’s Lisa.

THAPTHIMTHONG: Yes, that is very fair to say. Almost every interviewer asks what it’s like to work with one of the biggest stars in the world, just off the bat. 

BARNA: A lot of people I know haven’t made the connection. 

THAPTHIMTHONG: Absolutely. Everyone’s used to seeing her in these amazing outfits and, in the series, she’s dressed like a hotel employee. But that’s how I eventually looked at her, not as a hotel employee, but just as a person, because we got to hang out so much on and off set. Mike White wanted us to authentically get to know each other really well because our characters have known each other their whole lives.

BARNA: And you spent most of your time in Thailand with her.

THAPTHIMTHONG: Yeah, because most of our scenes were together. If we were filming, everyone else was off and they’d go and do activities, and when they had to film, we’d have time off and go and do activities. So most of the time it would be just us two, and obviously her team is always there. 

BARNA: I guess her team being always around is what reminded you that she’s a major pop star.

THAPTHIMTHONG: Yeah. In the beginning it was almost like they were protecting her because they didn’t know me well, so they obviously had to be a bit cautious. But I think after a week they were like, “They get along well, let’s just let them do their thing.” But I really enjoyed getting to know them. They obviously hang out with her all the time, so they’re like a little family and I’m kind of the extra one there just tagging along with them. 

BARNA: What was your dynamic like with the rest of the cast when the cameras weren’t rolling?

THAPTHIMTHONG: Everyone got to meet each other at the first cast dinner, and after that, when we got into heavy filming, everyone kind of had their own schedules. But on the weekends it was really nice because the producers made an effort to put on a karaoke party to bring everyone together. Karaoke is probably one of the best ways to break the ice, because you go in there, and some people will want to have a drink just to loosen up. I think after everyone’s first song, it’s like, “Okay, we’re all comfortable together now.”

BARNA: Right.

THAPTHIMTHONG: And it really happened like that, because the first karaoke party that the producers put on, I went in there, and obviously I wanted to sing, but I was like, “I don’t know when I can ask for the microphone.” I’m still a little shy when I’m around Jason Isaacs and Walton Goggins and everyone there. So I just went up to the guy who was controlling the songs and said “Can I have ‘Photograph’ by Ed Sheeran, please?” And it really just broke the ice with everyone. 

BARNA: Group dinners between White Lotus cast members seems to be a thing. How do those come together? 

THAPTHIMTHONG: Everyone would have their favorite restaurant that we would just kind of rotate between because Samui is not that big an island, so everyone just suggested different places. We had a WhatsApp group going on, so it’s like, “Hey guys, I just explored this beach and found this restaurant. It’s really good. It’s like a nice old lady with her daughter making Thai local food for a good price.” But in the beginning we all stayed in the hotel because it was like, “Oh, this is such a beautiful hotel. Let’s just try everything on the room service menu,” until it got to the point where it was like, “Okay we need to get out.”

BARNA: That mirrors the characters on the show, too. Did Mike White tell you a lot about your character before you started filming, and is that pretty much the person that we see on screen, or did he evolve?

THAPTHIMTHONG: He definitely evolved because Mike White just gave me a character description. He wasn’t the macho security guard that people might expect, and when Mike White said that, it clicked, because when I’ve been to hotels around Thailand, and the guards aren’t exactly like your guards at a nightclub. They’re not expecting any physical confrontation. They’re usually there to usher in the cars and open the gate, so their English is not usually very good either, like the staff that work inside the hotel who interact with the guests. So I didn’t want to be some macho guy standing at the gate. I wanted to make it really authentic because my family has a condo near the beach in Hua Hin in Thailand, and the guards there are so nice. I wouldn’t trust them to help me in a physical confrontation, really. They’re very friendly.

BARNA: Right.

THAPTHIMTHONG: I’m quite pleased with it because I designed Gaitok from episode one to three and halfway into four to be this smiley guy, not a worry in the world apart from how to get Mook. And from four onwards, where he loses the weapon and things get a bit crazier, it just changes his character. He is like, “Oh, damn, I’m about to lose everything.”

BARNA: You’ve done some security work too, right? 

THAPTHIMTHONG: Yes. Well, it started in the Army when I got my officer’s commission. From counterterrorism I moved over to work at a place called the Armed Forces Security Center, which is Thailand’s CIA counterpart. I worked in a division that specialized in VIP protection, so we worked for high-ranking army guys, like generals. Eventually I became an instructor, so I trained teams to go out and just be with the Minister of Defense or the Prime Minister and stuff like that. After the army, I started doing private contracting, training other forces, and eventually I found my way back to protection. So I came back to Bangkok and ended up working as a bodyguard for a Thai rapper.

BARNA: Yeah, I read about that. It sounds like you were the opposite of Gaitok.

THAPTHIMTHONG: It was the opposite of Gaitok. I’m still kind of smiley because that is who I am, but I wouldn’t smile as much, and obviously I can just switch it up if something happens. Anyone who’s worked with me in security and seen me switch it up, they’ve always been pretty surprised, especially the first time. 

BARNA: Do you work out a lot?

THAPTHIMTHONG: Fitness has always been very important to me. I started working out properly when I was 13, because I joined the Combined Cadet Force, which is like a boys’ army back in the UK. It’s always been my anchor and what’s kept me out of trouble. I’ve trained in many different styles like CrossFit, circuit training, and now I just do bootcamp kind training and calisthenics because I can do it anywhere. I’ll just find a place to do push-ups and I’ll do 200.

BARNA: So you’re not going to the gym as much these days?

THAPTHIMTHONG: Ever since the show I’ve been traveling quite a bit, and I’m in the process of moving houses, so I haven’t been going to the gym that much in the last few months. I have my pull-up bar at home and my plyo bars, so I just use that. And honestly, it’s worked really well. I’ve never felt like, “Oh, I’m less strong right now because I don’t have an access to a gym.” I believe that you can work out anywhere. Just make sure that when you do push-ups or pull-ups, it’s perfect form. You’re not trying to do it for reps, you’re doing it for time and attention. So sometimes I just do really slow pull-ups, and that tension keeps you kind of shredded.

BARNA: What was your exercise routine during filming? 

THAPTHIMTHONG: It was crazy because Mike White actually didn’t want me to go to the gym. He told me, “You’re already kind of lean, so I want to keep you like this. Do not get any bigger or get any more lean. Otherwise, you’re going to look more scary than the guys who bully you.” So there was no working out for me in Samui or in Phuket, which also helped with developing the character, because when I go to the gym, I get confident. When I haven’t been to the gym for months and I’m doing 20 push-ups in my room just to maintain the veins that really helped with Gaitok’s character. As soon as we wrapped in August, I went straight back to the gym. I was like, “I need to get some of myself back.”

BARNA: Speaking of wrapping, what was that like? It must have been bittersweet, because you must have felt a sense of accomplishment, but also sadness that you were saying goodbye to everyone. 

THAPTHIMTHONG: When it got to June or July and I knew we only had two or three months before everyone flew home, and I felt like, “Oh my god, I don’t want this journey to end. I don’t want to wake up from this dream.” I really felt that. And obviously with Lisa, I felt maybe we’ll never have time to see each other ever again. I think everyone was feeling like that. Everyone was talking to each other in very sentimental ways. It was a lot of reminiscing. And I remember just saying on my last day, like, “Guys, I just really don’t want this to end.” But Mike White and Dave kept on saying to me, “Tayme, this is the end of just one phase. We still got so much work to do. You’ve still got to come to L.A. and do the press junket and premiere and that whole thing.” So it kind of kept me looking forward to that because honestly, when you’ve had fireworks for so long and suddenly it ends, you feel like your whole world’s kind of silent now. I was happy with everything I did and going back to see my family and my daughter was really nice, but I still always have that feeling like, “Wow, did that really just happen? Did I just really spend seven months with all these people that I’ve watched on TV and in film my whole life?” 

BARNA: Walton Goggins seems like a good time. 

THAPTHIMTHONG: Oh, absolutely. I learned he’s kind of a method actor because I had dinner with him and his wife and kid, and he was just so very Walton, this very entertaining guy. He’d sit on one end of the table and get the story of this person, that person, and then he’ll come around to my side of the table, say, “Hey man, don’t let me stop you. Just keep talking. I love this.” I think I was talking to Aimee Lou [Wood] at the time and he would just slip in and be like, “Don’t let me stop you. I love this, people sharing.” But two days after when we did a very early morning scene at 5:00 AM, I was already on set doing my blocking, and Walton came walking onto set and I was like, “Oh, hey Walton, good morning.” And he was  like,”Shh.” I was like, “Oh, okay, sorry.” And then Aimee Lou’s like, “Oh, don’t worry. It’s just his method of acting. It’s nothing personal.” I was like, “Oh, okay, Thank you for letting me know.”

BARNA: Right. Well, Tayme, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. I love the show and I can’t wait to watch the finale.

THAPTHIMTHONG: I think it’s going to be like an hour-and-a-half long. It’s going to be good.