[5] Apichatpong has received numerous additional accolades, including the 2016 Principal Prince Claus Award and the eighth edition of the Artes Mundi Prize.

[11] Apichatpong grew up in a traditional Buddhist family, exposed to rituals that incorporate animism and Hinduism, spiritual practices retained in the surrealist tones of his works today.

[9] Apichatpong's feature-length debut, Dokfa nai meuman (Mysterious Object at Noon) is a documentary[12] and was conceptually based upon the "exquisite corpse" game invented by surrealists.

The list of other founders includes Gridthiya Gaweewong and Suaraya Weerasethakul and the company co-organised the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival in 1999, 2001, 2005 and 2008.

Between Blissfully Yours and Tropical Malady, Apichatpong co-directed The Adventure of Iron Pussy with artist Michael Shaowanasai, who starred as the main character, a transvestite secret agent, while pop singer Krissada Terrence, better known as Noi from the Thai band Pru, portrayed the male lead.

His film was called Worldly Desires, while Japanese filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto made Vital, Bullet Ballet and Song Il-gon from South Korea created Magician(s).

[18] In 2005 Apichatpong served as the consultant on the Tsunami Digital Short Films, a series of 13 films commissioned by the Thailand Culture Ministry's Office of Contemporary Art and Culture as a memorial tribute to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the resulting tsunami that struck Thailand.

[19] In 2006, Apichatpong released a feature film, Syndromes and a Century, that was commissioned by Peter Sellars for the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.

A replacement for the 1930 film act, the ratings law contained a restrictive ratings structure and retained the government's powers to censor and ban films it deemed would "undermine or disrupt social order and moral decency, or that might impact national security or the pride of the nation".

Other contributors include the cultural and political theorist Benedict Anderson, filmmaker Mark Cousins, art curator Karen Newman, critics Tony Rayns and Kong Rithdee, and actress Tilda Swinton.

In September 2009, the exhibition was shown in Liverpool, United Kingdom (UK) at FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology).

[36] The work was commissioned by Haus der Kunst, of Munich, Germany, with FACT and Animate Projects, and was produced by Illuminations Films, London and Kick the Machine.

Curator Karen Newman wrote in the introduction for the exhibition: "His works are also vehicles that take us between different worlds, asking questions about the future and revealing a much bigger story than at first appears."

[43] Apichatpong was also awarded Japan's "Fukuoka Art and Culture Prize" in June, alongside Indian visual artist Nalini Malani, worth 3,000,000 yen (US$30,530).

[44] In March 2014, it was announced that Apichatpong will feature among 32 directors from four continents, including Vincent Gallo and Gaspar Noé, to direct Short Plays, a soccer-themed omnibus production shot around the world.

[49] It was reported in October 2024 that Weerasethakul is preparing a new feature film set in Sri Lanka, with production expected to begin in 2026.

[50] The film is likely to be inspired by Arthur C. Clarke's The Fountains of Paradise (1979) as well as an article written by a Thai woman who went to Sri Lanka on a religious pilgrimage.