Muay Thai over Miami

Fresh off its leading haul of five golden swans at the Suphanahongse Awards, Muay Thai Chaiya is set for the Dramatic Features category of the World Cinema Competition at the Miami International Film Festival from February 28 to March 9.

The gritty drama, set in the underworld of Thai boxing in Bangkok of the 1970s, stars best-actor winner Akara Amarttayakul as a hot-headed fighter who is banned from the ring and becomes an unlicensed bare-knuckles brawler and mob enforcer, assisted by his childhood buddy, best supporting actor winner Sonthaya Chitmanee. Meanwhile, another childhood friend (Thawatchai Penpakdee) follows the straight-and-narrow path to become a top contender in the ring.

In Miami, Muay Thai Chaiya is a nominee for a Knight Foundation Grand Jury Prize of US$25,000.

Other films in the competition are The Drummer by Kenneth Bi and Getting Home by Yang Zhang.

(Via press release from Five Star Production)

Kino goes to Wonderful Town

Aditya Assarat's Wonderful Town has been picked up for US distribution by Kino International, in a deal reported by Variety.

Wonderful Town, a romantic drama set in post-tsunami Phuket, was a winner of the Tiger Award at the recent International Film Festival Rotterdam.

It also won the New Currents prize at the Pusan International Film Festival last year. The film was screened at the recent Berlin International Film Festival, in the Forum program, and Director Aditya sat on the NETPAC jury at Berlin.

I've still not heard any word about when or where Wonderful Town might screen in Thailand.

The film was well received by critics in Berlin. One of them, Daniel Kasman, writing in The Auteurs Notebook, called it a great debut film, but was searching for something deeper. He writes:

Each shot is rendered with skill and consideration, has a light loveliness to it, but never seems fully earned, the expression said and said well, but not believed, not reaching past the surface of the characters. There is little richness beyond this lovely surface, but, at least until the awkwardly divergent ending, Assarat’s film stands beautifully, movingly on its own, and points towards greatness to come.

Sales agent Memento International has been selling Wonderful Town to many territories. It will release the film in French cinemas on May 7. Rights have also been sold to Soda in the U.K., Aztek in Australia, Trigon in Switzerland Stadtkino in Austria, Rosebud in Greece and Alliance in India. Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Norway and Belgium-Luxembourg are also on the hook.

Wonderful Town is the fifth Thai film in the Kino International catalog. The arthouse distributor has published Region 1 DVDs of Nonzee Nimibutr's ghost classic Nang Nak and his erotic drama Jan Dara, as well as the musical historical drama The Overture, and, standing out like a sore thumb, the shoot 'em up drama, Hit Man File.

(Via Variety)

NGOs to new government: Don't approve film censorship law

It was only a small item on the bottom line of a graphic at the bottom of Page 2 of the Sunday Nation, but it caught my attention. Among the three "don'ts" issued for the new government by the Non-governmental Organization Coordinating Committee on Development: Don't approve the new film censorship law.

The call to reverse the film censorship measure is lumped into the NGOs' "don'ts" on human rights. Don't enact the national security bill (which increases electronic surveillance); don't enact the film censorship (and ratings) law; don't enact the broad computer crimes law; don't enact the law on broadcasting wavelength.

Other's "don'ts" for the government: no nuclear power project and no free-trade talks until a relevant law is approved.

Passed as a rubber-stamp item by the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly, just before the December 23 election, the film censorship and ratings law would replace the 1930 Film Act, under which all films shown in Thailand are subject to scrutiny and cuts by the Board of Censors. To get the new film act enacted, it will need another law or perhaps a ministerial regulation, which would stipulate how the ratings would be assigned and observed by the cinemas. The new act also retains censorship powers, and gives the censorship and ratings board the power to ban films.

Until a new law is enacted, the 1930 censorship law is still in effect. It is open to broad interpretation, and has never been consistently applied. Most often, depictions of sex and nudity were dealt with harshly, with cuts or some method of blurring.

Recently, though, violence has come under scrutiny of the censors. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street went in for cuts, and when they were done, "foggy blurring" pixellation covered up Johnny Depp's razor cutting the throats of his customers, though the blood could still be seen spurting.

American Gangster was also given the blurry treatment, with guns and drugs being pixellated out. Charlie Wilson's War removed the nipples from the naked breasts of a stripper in a hot tub.

There's fear that the upcoming releases of the Oscar-nominated No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood will also be censored.

The censors, right now, are operating without a mandate, basically doing as they please and serving no interests but their own sense of superior morality. They are out of control. There is no end in sight, as the current government has yet to find its footing and turn its attention on such things as the film act.

But, money talks. And if Thailand's 22nd-richest man, Major Cineplex owner Vicha Poolvaraluck sees a threat to his bottom line, because moviegoers aren't flocking to see the butchered films, well, I think the Ministry of Culture's pixellation squad might have to close up shop. But that will take time, and will require a major effort to inform moviegoers of the censorship beforehand to make them stop going to Thailand's cinemas to see Hollywood films.

Pleum: 'Thailand's answer to Brad Pitt'

I've just started reading The Nation's Soopsip column again after missing it for many months. For time, I was quoting it regularly, but it was hard to access and it fell off the radar. But now it seems to have a regular home on The Nation's ever-evolving website.

Hopefully it will continue as The Nation spins its entertainment and lifestyle content off as the anchor for a new daily mass-circulation free English tabloid called Xpress, which debuts on March 5.

This week Soop Sip puts Pleum in the spotlight. That is M.L. Nattakorn Devakula (whose name is also stated as Nuttakorn Taewakul - the unSanskrit transliteration).

Pleum, whose day job is host of the talk show, Pen Pleum on ModernNine television, as well as a columnist for the Bangkok Post and a pop singer, makes his acting debut in the lead role as Detective Khan in the upcoming horror-crime thriller Soul's Code (Tod Rahad Vinyarn).

Soop Sip has more about the prospect of seeing the jowly Bangkok polymath on a screen 3-meters high, and what he's doing to promote the film:

Evidently he's pulling double duty as the film's publicist, batch-emailing his pals to get them into the theatres. He is, he assures them, Thailand's answer to Brad Pitt, as seen in Seven.

"That's not an exaggeration," he writes. "Must see it whether you like me or not. This will be one of my legacies of the year to remember."

"Khan shares many things with the 'real' me," he writes. "He's sceptical about everything and he likes to investigate and track down the facts."

Pleum apparently underwent some training for the role - how to use a gun, how to beat up bad guys and how to belittle subordinates - but he's still modest about his embryonic acting abilities. He's urged his friends to avoid comparing him to veteran stars.

Nevertheless, he told them, they have to catch the film in the theatre, even though he's unable to send everyone invitations to the premiere. No doubt he's got too many friends and the producers want to limit the drain on ticket revenues.

Most importantly, he's telling people, this will be their only chance to see him on the big screen.

"I won't act in any other movie apart from this one - except if the film has a sequel and Khan is needed to start another case."

There's always a sequel, isn't there? Certainly in Thai politics, with which Pleum is not unfamiliar.

Soul's Code opens on February 28.

More information:

• The horror: Soul's Code, The 8th Day, Phranakorn comedy open on February 28

Love of Siam, Muay Thai Chaiya top Subhanahongsa Awards

A drama about family dysfunction and gay teen romance, The Love of Siam, won the two top Subhanahongsa Awards on Sunday night.

The Best Director award went to Chukiat Sakweerakul, who thanked his parents for teaching him what love was all about. He also thanked the drama's ensemble cast, saying "this award is not for me alone, but for all who acted in the film." Chukiat, 26, had previously directed the psychological thriller, 13 Beloved, and made his feature-film debut with 2004's psychological horror Pisaj (Evil). He will next be working on a follow-up to 13 Beloved, 14 Begin.

Winning the Best Film award, Love of Siam producer Prachaya Pinkaew thanked Sahamongkol Film International executive producer Somsak "Sia Jieng" Techarattanaprasert "for not allowing commercial gains be the priority in producing The Love of Siam", according to The Nation.

Although the filmmakers made a conscious effort to market the film to mainstream audiences by omitting aspects of the gay romance between the two male characters in the film's posters and trailers, The Love of Siam was still a commercial risk because of its length, of around 2.5 hours. A three-hour director's cut has been showing to sold-out audiences at the tiny House cinema in Bangkok.

The Love of Siam also won Best Supporting Actress for Chermarn "Ploy" Boonyasak's role as the lookalike of a sister who had disappeared. (Or was possibly the sister, but had amnesia - who knows?)

The Best Actress award was an upset, going to Marsha Wattanapanich for her role as conjoined twin sisters in the horror thriller, Alone. This shut out a National Film Association win for Sinjai Plengpanich, who played the troubled mother in The Love of Siam. Sinjai had already won other Best Actress awards for her role, include Starpics and the Kom Chad Luek Awards. This year's Best Actress category was very competitive, though, featuring many fine performances by some veteran Thai leading ladies. Others nominated were Lalita Panyopas Sasiprapha for Ploy, Woranuch Wongsawan for Perng Mang the Haunted Drum and Suwajanee Chaimusik for Seven Days to Leave My Wife.

Akara Amarttayakul and Sonthaya Chitmanee won the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards for Muay Thai Chaiya. Akara portrays a boxer caught up in the gritty underground world of Muay Thai in the 1970s, while Sonthaya played Akara's character's loyal friend.

Muay Thai Chaiya won the most awards. In addition to the best actor and best supporting actor nods, it also won for Best Editing, Best Make-Up and Best Art Direction.

The homosexual crime action thriller Bangkok Love Story won Best Screenplay (for director Poj Arnon) and Best Cinematography (for Tiwa Moeithaisong). It also won for Best Sound, and was tied for second place with three awards with The Love of Siam, which won Best Film, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress.

Alone also picked up the award for Best Song, "Suan Nueng Khong Chan", which was sung by Marsha. The Life of Buddha won for Best Score, which was one of the highlights of the animated drama.

The awards ceremony was held at in Bangkok at Siam Niramitr Theatre and was attended by about 1,000 celebrities. From what I gather from the photos of the ceremony, it was a relatively understated, austere affair, in memorium of HRH Princess Galyani Vadana, who died on January 2.

Black was the color of choice for most gowns, Marsha Wattanapanich's red dress (to match her lipstick) being one of the exceptions. There were a few others, too, including some actors wearing all-white suits.

Some of the dresses sported by some of the guests in attendance were a bit too revealing. But there was nothing approaching the flesh-baring, liberating gutsiness that Amy Chotiros showed last year, which caused a huge scandal that saw the actress being harshly disciplined by her university and cut out of a movie role. This year, presenters were under orders to keep their wardrobe tasteful. For a look at some of the celebrities and what they were wearing, check out this gallery at The Nation Weblogs.

Widely viewed as "Thailand's Oscars", the Subhanahongsa Awards are given by the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand.

Subhanahongsa Awards for films released in 2007

Best Picture

• The Love of Siam (Sahamongkol Film Internationa)

Best Director

• Chukiat Sakweerakul for The Love of Siam

Best Actor

• Akara Amarttayakul for Muay Thai Chaiya

Best Actress

• Marsha Wattanapanich for Alone

Best Supporting Actor

• Sonthaya Chitmanee for Muay Thai Chaiya

Best Supporting Actress

• Chermarn Boonyasak for The Love of Siam

Best Screenplay

• Poj Arnon for Bangkok Love Story

Best Cinematography

• Tiwa Moeithaisong for Bangkok Love Story

Best Film Editing

• Sonit Atwinigon for Muay Thai Chaiya

Best Sound

• Wachai Rawongsarut for Bangkok Love Story

Best Original Song

• "Suan Nueng Khong Chan", from Alone, performed by Marsha Wattanapanich

Best Original Score

• Gaywan Golawanotai for The Life of Buddha

Best Art Direction

• Tana Maykaampoot and Natniti Sotganwijit for Muay Thai Chaiya

Best Costume Design

• Charaa Wanaalai for Kung Fu Tootsie

Best Make Up

• Marit Choakbecha for Muay Thai Chaiya

Best Visual Effects

• Julien Vanhoenacker and Joaquim Montserrat for Body #19

More information:

• Subhanahongsa Awards 2008 photo gallery at Nation Weblog
• Love of Siam takes top Subhanahongsa Awards
• Love of Siam leads Subhanahongsa nominees

(Via Lakorns; Photo: From left, best supporting actor Sonthaya Chitmanee, best supporting actress Chermarn Boonyasak; best actress Marsha Wattanapanich; best actor Akara Amarttayakul, via The Nation/Warisara Wuthikul)

Ready to embrace Handle Me With Care

Kongdej Jaturanrasamee's romantic comedy, Handle Me With Care (Kod, or, literally, Hug) will be the sole Thai release this Thursday in Thailand cinemas.

The story is about a guy named Kwan, who has two left arms. His mother was the only one who thought the third arm was a gift - I mean, I think there are plenty of instances when a third arm has been wished for. But Kwan views the extra appendage as an encumbrance, so after his mother's death, he decides to hit the road from his hometown of Lampang to Bangkok, where he'll have an operation to remove it.

Kwan is played Kiatkamol Latha, or Tui AF3, from Academy Fantasia 3, Thailand's answer to American Idol. It is his first major film role.

Along the way, Kwan meets Na , a woman who attracts a lot of unwanted attention because of her large breasts, and Kwan saves her from being raped. She is played by Supaksorn "Kratae" Chaimongkol. This could be a break-out dramatic role for the actress, who has been in many films, like Dangerous Flowers and Andaman Girl, that made her bikini-clad curves a focal point. She had a meaty starring role in the first Art of the Devil, and also stretched her drama chops in last year's stuntfest, Brave.

Judging from the expanded trailer, I think the film has some things to say about body image, which means there is something more going on with Handle Me With Care than most Thai romantic comedies, which are mainly about romance and comedy, nothing more. I'll be interested to see if some type of message actually comes through, which would be unusual for a film from GTH, which is the most formula-driven of the big Thai production companies. Will they make Kongdej fit the GTH feel good mold?

Anyway, the concept of the third arm looks to be imaginatively and humorously handled. It gives the film a quality not unlike Michel Gondry or Spike Jonez film.

The actor and actress had some things to say about the upcoming film in an interview in last week's BK magazine. BK asked them: What is the message Kod is trying to convey? Tui says:

Don’t be negative while you are in trouble. Don’t make a decision alone when, in fact, there is someone who wants to help you.

Kratae says:

Don’t take your life too seriously. Though you are in a difficult situation, there are always solutions. Take it easy and don’t be afraid to talk or consult with other people.

Handle Me With Care opens in Thailand cinemas on Thursday, February 21.

More information:

• Trailers for Handle Me With Care, Soul's Code
• More about Kod, a.k.a. Handle Me With Care
• Official site

Video: 'Oldest Thai boxing footage ever'

Found on YouTube, a video that the original poster, Good Dog Films, purports to be the "oldest Thai boxing footage ever". It is possibly from Khrai Di Khrai Dai (None But the Brave), from the late 1920s or early '30s.

The original poster's description:

This is the rarest Muay Thai boxing footage around. I got it from the [National] Film Archive [in Bangkok]. I had to get it transferred from celluloid onto digital. I also included a trailer of Fight or Flight.

The 5:31 video features the three-minute clip of a Muay Thai match, split by a trailer for Fight or Flight, a documentary about a Westerner studying Muay Thai in Thailand. The fight clip switches to the documentary trailer after about two minutes, and then resumes after the trailer is complete.

The original poster does not give the name of the old film clip, but his description of it matches that of a piece of ephemera held by the National Film Archive. From Cinema of Thailand, in Wikipedia:

Seventeen films were made between 1927 and 1932, but only fragments have survived, such as a one-minute car chase from Chok Sorng Chan [Double Luck] or a two- to three-minute boxing match from Khrai Di Khrai Dai (None But the Brave).

The film fragment has a voice-over and a soundtrack of the traditional Muay Thai music. The tone of the voice-over commentary is similar to that of Merian Cooper's and Ernest B. Schoedsack's 1927 docudrama, Chang - that of a wide-eyed, naive Westerner describing something he thinks must be totally new and strange. It's a manner that says, "Gee, look at these quaint people." I wonder at what point the voice-over and music were added to the clip? Where, indeed, does it come from?

The clip itself bears the title "A Fistic Contest", and the following title card:

A much-beloved Siamese sport. They dance, kick and fight to the rhythmic strains of an orchestra.

The voiceover narration then kicks in:

The Siamese boxing contest opens with a sort of weird dance to the strains of an orchestra. The dance symbolizes that the boxers are looking over the ground for the combat. All during the round, the orchestra plays, starting slowly and getting faster and faster, encouraging the boxers to fight furiously.

Siamese boxing is the real art of self-defense. It teaches defense against everything. Kicks, fist blows, elbow jabs, knee punches or what-have-you. One of the favorite blows is knee to chin, which is often a knockout.

Here is another kind of blow, known as the rear attack.

The YouTube clip then switches to the trailer for Fight or Flight. At about 4:30, it resumes with the old footage. The voiceover narration continues:

Siamese boxing is not cluttered up with a lot of rules and red tape. They go in to fight and they do. Oh boy, what a fight! Look at that fellow, he's woozy! There he goes ... down! 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 ... by the count of 20 he is definitely out.

The horror: Soul's Code, The 8th Day, Phranakorn comedy open on February 28

Pick your favorite flavor of horror on February 28, when three Thai films open in local cinemas. There's bump-in-the-night ghost thrills in Soul's Code, mysterious, film noir atmosphere in the indie effort, The 8th Day, and all-out absurd comedy in something called Phi Tawaan Kab Archan Taa Boe.

From Alangkarn studio is Soul's Code, a thriller that appears to be a combination of a CSI: Miami episode and a Nissan car commercial.

M.L. Nuttakorn Taewakul stars as Detective Khan, who's assigned to investigate the case of a dead girl who's found folded up in a cardboard box. The body is taken to a forensic pathologist, Dr. Nicha, who cuts off the orange cloth used to bind the girl's wrists and ankles. The spirit of the dead girl seems to be trying to communicate with the investigators, which unnerves Dr. Nicha, and brings confused looks to the face of Khan.

Meanwhile, the dead girl's boyfriend, C (Patiwat Ruengsri) wanders aimlessly through the city, and sits listlessly on the edge of the roof of a building. The dead girl comes to sift her hands through his hair, and sit on his lap. She also smears bloody handprints across the paintjob of a tuned Nissan car.

The 8th Day is an interesting-looking, noirish psychological thriller, which I found out about a month ago. In black and white, it is directed by Chodchai Yoadsaranee and written by Warisara Puthpavana. According to the film's website, the story is about a mysterious old lady in a mysterious old house who abducts a little girl, whose entry into the house was witnessed by a young doctor, who then must figure out what to do.

As for Phi Tawaan Kab Archan Taa Boe, well, I have no idea what it's about, nor do I necessarily even care. It appears to be a loose collection of gags that somehow involve the krasue ghost - the Southeast Asian legend of a woman's head that floats about, trailing its entrails and feeding on the flesh of livestock. It's from Phranakorn Film, and it stars a bunch of comedians - the usual suspects like Note Chernyim and Kotee Aramboy.

Trailers:

• Soul's Code
• The 8th Day
• Phi Tawaan Kab Archan Taa Boe

Laos ready for its close up

The sleepy, land-locked Southeast Asian country of Laos has never been known for its prodigious output of films. That's because it hasn't produced much of anything since 1975, when the country was taken over by communists, and has since been largely isolated from world affairs.

Only two films have been produced since 1975, the 1983 docudrama Siengpeun Chak Thonghai (The Sound of Gunfire from the Plain of Jars), which was a co-production with Vietnam, and 1988's Red Lotus (Bua Daeng), a romantic drama set in 1972 and directed by Som Ok Southiphonh.

Since then, the "film" industry of Laos has been confined to video, primarily made-for-television features and state-controlled propaganda works. Digital technology makes filmmaking more accessible, but with the media under strict control of the Laotian government, these tools won't be finding their way into the hands of any independent Laotian directors.

Nonetheless, Laos seeks to break out, with a new film called Sabaidee Luang Prabang, or Good Morning, Luang Prabang, which I wrote about in an earlier post. The romantic drama is a Thai-Lao co-production, and Kong Rithdee has more on the film in today's Bangkok Post (cache):

Principally a curiosity, but hopefully a seed of cultural revival, Sabaidee Luang Prabang is going through the final phase of post-production in a Bangkok editing room. The film bears the Lao flag, but its true lineage is a heady cross-pollination of different personalities and cultures: Sabaidee Luang Prabang is co-directed by Kiev-educated Laotian Anusorn Sirisakda and Thai filmmaker Sakchai Deenan (who's originally from the province of Surin in the Northeast), and stars red-hot Bangkok-based Laotian-Australian actor Ananda Everingham and Vientiane beauty queen Khamlek Pallawong.

Sabaidee Luang Prabang is described as a road movie, covering Pakxe in the south, and up the Mekong to the capital Vientiane and then the Unesco World Heritage city of Luang Prabang. Ananda portrays Sorn, a Bangkok-based Laotian-Australian journalist who travels to Laos and gets in touch with his family roots and develops feelings for his guide, Noi (Khamlek).

This makes for at least five films by Ananda Everingtham this year. In addition to Sabaidee Luang Prabang, they are Queen of Langkasuka by Nonzee Nimibutr (possibly for release in time for the Cannes Film Festival), Red Eagle with Wisit Sasanatieng (possibly for release in August), The Coffin by Ekachai Uekrongtham, and something called Memories. (ThaiCinema.org has more on that.)

Ananda, 25, who was born in Thailand to an Australian photojournalist father and a Laotian mother (a legendary romance that was the subject of an American made-for-TV movie), reduced his fee in order to take part in the production. He talked to Kong Rithdee about Sabaidee Luang Prabang:

It gave me a special energy to be in a production like this. It's a small movie. We didn't have much money, so we hit the road and shot our scenes along the way. Sometimes we just knocked on a stranger's door and asked if we could shoot a scene in their house, and wherever we shot it became an event for the whole town.

As a half-Laotian, I feel a connection to the country and I want to know more about it. This film is very personal to me. In my mind, I want Sabaidee Luang Prabang to become more than just a movie: I want it to become something that can represent Laos, something that the country can be proud of. As a matter of fact, a lot of Thai people still look down on Laos, and it stings me sometimes to think about that.

Cultural ties between Thailand and Laos haven't been on the best terms. Laotian officials are sensitive to the fact that television sets along the Laotian side of the Mekong are tuned in to Thai soap operas. One of them, Pleng Rak Song Fang Kong (Love Songs Across The Mekong), was the subject of complaints last year, when a group of Laotian women protested against the depiction of their countrywomen as a bunch of conniving, man-stealing, know-you-whats.

In 2006, the release of the sports comedy Lucky Loser was postponed after Laos objected to the depiction of the Laotian national football team as a bunch of backward hayseeds. Lucky Loser was eventually released after all references from Laos had been digitally removed or dubbed over.

According to an earlier Vientiene Times report, Sabaidee Luang Prabang was aiming for release around the Lao (and Khmer and Thai and Vietnamese - TetBurmese) New Year holiday of April 13, but I'm not sure when the release is planned for Thailand.

More information:

• Red Lotus at The Nation Weblogs (streaming, Explorer only)
• Laos Cultural Profile: Film (at Visiting Arts)

(Photo via Deknang)

Oh, I deny the whole thing

Thailand's new prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, has come under heavy criticism after he answered questions in a CNN interview in which he drastically downplayed the number of deaths that occurred during the 6 October 1976 Bangkok Massacre, and denied his involvement.

Samak says only one person was killed in the violent anti-communist crackdown by the police and military, while the official death toll was 46, and it's likely much higher.

At the time, Samak was a commentator on the Royal Thai Army's radio station, and his opponents say he made broadcasts to provoke the violence. Here is an excerpt of the exchange between CNN's Dan Rivers and Samak:

Rivers: Some people are very critical of your past in Thailand. Some people have even said you've got blood on your hands. What would you say to that?

Samak: Oh, I deny the whole thing. I had nothing to do with that at all. I was an outsider at that time.

Rivers: Would you like to take the opportunity now to condemn what happened in 1976?

Samak: Actually it was a movement of some students. They didn't like the government.

Rivers: But dozens of people, maybe hundreds of people, died.

Samak: No, just one died. There are 3,000 students in the Thammasat University.

Rivers: The official death toll was 46, and many people say it was much higher than that.

Samak: No. For me, no deaths; one unlucky guy being beaten and being burned in Sanam Luang. Only one guy died that day.

Rivers: So there was no massacre?

Samak: No, not at all, but taking pictures, 3,000 students, boys and girls lined up, they say that is the death toll: 3,000.

Wow. Boggles the mind. What was Samak thinking during that interview? What planet was he on? Is he responding to Rivers' questions, or does he have them mixed up with some other event, from a different dimension?

I mean, there are photographs of protesters who were shot, beaten, burned and mutilated. Be forewarned, they are quite graphic.


Former student activist Suthachai Yimprasert, now a history lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, says Samak is trying to dodge accusations that he was responsible for the 1976 massacre. He told the Bangkok Post:

I don't want to debate the facts with him. He should know himself that this isn't the first time he has lied.

Another former student activist, Thaweep Kanchanawong, told The Nation that Samak is drastically downplaying his involvement in the massacre:

If there were no Samak, no Army radio station and others who stirred up hatred against the students, there would not have been any violence. There has never been killings as brutal as those on October 6.

Another critic of Samak's denial, former senator Chirmsak Pinthong had his radio show taken off the air after he talked about the issue. The radio station is operated by the Public Relations Department of the Prime Minister's Office.

The Nation says Samak "got angry" when asked by a Government House reporter to confirm his statement that only one person died in the massacre. This is all Samak wants to say about it:

The incident happened 31 years ago. I don't want to talk about it. Every time I say something about this, there's a quarrel. If I had been involved, I would not have got all the support to come this far.

In a recent posting on Limitless Cinema in Broken English, Jit Phokaew says the recent news about Samak "reminds me of some people who deny that Holocaust ever happened." He points to Claude Lanzmann's relentless Holocaust documentary Shoah, and then laments that there are no directors in Thailand like Lanzmann, who would be daring enough to confront people and probe about the past.

Nonetheless, Limitless Cinema notes that there are at least three short films that address the 1976 Massacre: Don't Forget Me by Manutsak Dokmai (2003), Re-Presentation by Chai Chaiyachit and Chisanucha Kongwailap (2007), and "Red" at Last by Suchart Sawasdsri (2006).

While mainstream industry directors lack political will (or financial motive) to directly confront Thailand's tumultuous, conflicted political scene, or even satirize it, it seems the job has been left up to independent directors.

After seeing Pimpaka Towira's feature documentary, The Truth Be Told: The Cases Against Supinya Klangnarong, and the Spoken Silence program at last year's Thai Short Film & Video Festival, I find it encouraging that indie filmmakers are willing to address the 800-pound gorilla of Thai politics. It'll be interesting to see the films that will be made under the Samak administration.

(Thanks to Matthew Hunt and Bangkok Pundit; photo credits: Samak via OK Nation; 1976 hanging via Limitless Cinema)