During my holidays in Thailand, I came across a cinema and a shopping center and other buildings with the name แหลมทอง, which literally means golden peninsula/cape. Is there any meaning behind this name?

It's just a guess, but could this be the Thai version of Suvarnabhumi which also means "golden land" and the less commonly used Suvarnadvipa ("golden peninsula")? Both Sanskrit words refer to an area in South East Asia.

แหลมทอง is the Southeast Asian Peninsula. Consisting of Myanmar, the three Indochina countries, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.