Synopsis

Kham, a young man from rural Thailand, travels to Sydney after his beloved elephants are stolen and smuggled into an international crime network. With help from a Thai police officer, he battles gangsters, corrupt officials, and elite martial artists while trying to recover the animals. His search becomes a relentless showcase for Muay Thai-inspired action.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film was released in Thailand on August 11, 2005. International distributors retitled it *The Protector* in the United States and *Warrior King* in the United Kingdom.

• Tony Jaa and fight choreographer Panna Rittikrai developed a specialized style for the film called Muay Kotchasan, or "elephant boxing." Its grappling and crushing movements were designed to evoke the strength and behavior of elephants.

• The celebrated staircase battle was filmed as a continuous shot lasting more than four minutes. According to production trivia, five complete takes were attempted over approximately one month because props and safety equipment did not always work as planned.

• Although Jaa's earlier breakthrough, *Ong-Bak*, was promoted for its minimal use of digital effects, *Tom Yum Goong* used CGI in selected sequences. The background in the climactic building leap was digitally created, but Jaa's fall was performed practically onto large mats.

• The production was interrupted while Jaa traveled internationally to promote *Ong-Bak*. In a 2005 interview, he said that *Tom Yum Goong* had already been in production for about two years at that point.

• The film became a major international showcase for Thai action cinema and helped establish Tony Jaa as one of the most prominent martial arts performers of the 2000s.