Thailand's first Emmy nominee

The International Emmy Awards were handed out on Sunday night, with 41 nominees from 17 countries competing in 10 categories.

Among them was a first-time nomination from Thailand. It was Lharn Phoo Koo E-Joo (หลานปู่กู้อีจู้), an entry in the Children and Young People category.

Lharn Phoo Koo E-Joo is produced by Work Point Entertainment and is broadcast on Channel 7. It's hosted by ubiquitous TV personality Panya Nirankul.

In the clip on the International Emmys website (I couldn't embed it for some reason), a boy wearing blinder goggles tries to describe one of his teachers to his grandfather, who has to pick the woman out of a line up. The comedy factor is upped by the fact the teacher is a farang -- a white-skinned foreigner. A person's physical appearance is always good for a laugh.

More humor is mined from the boy's and the grandfather's clumsy attempts to speak English and extract a nugget of information from the teacher -- what is her favorite food?

Lharn Phoo Koo E-Joo didn't win an Emmy. The prize went to the biggest winner this year, Britain, for Dustbin Baby.

More examples of Lharn Phoo Koo E-Joo can be found at the Work Point website, some of which feature popular comedian "Tukkie" Sudarat Butrprom.

Other nominees from Southeast Asia came from the Philippines. Angel Locsin was up for an actress award for The Wolf from ABS-CBN. And two Filipino telenovellas were nominated in that category, Magdusa Ka from the GMA Network and A Time for Us from ABS-CBN. The Singapore-produced The Amazing Race Asia, a staple on AXN Asia, was up for a prize in Non-Scripted Entertainment.

The winners are listed at the International Emmys website.

Update: The Bangkok Post has a story.

(Via AFP)