Ain't no Theng: Rapper Joey Boy to star in Holy Man sequel

Phranakorn Film will finally make its sequel to the smash-hit Luang Phee Theng, but Theng won't be playing the title character of a former bad boy turned Buddhist monk. In a bit of appropriate casting, rapper Joey Boy has been cast as the lead in The Holy Man 2. Never mind that his name isn't Theng.

Director Note Chern-yim is thrilled to have Joey Boy, a popular rapper who made his feature-film debut in the 2006 musical comedy The Possible. Note tells Daily Xpress more about Joey Boy and the logic behind making a movie with Theng in the title that doesn't have Theng:

He's of the new generation but a strong believer in Buddhism, which makes him perfect for the role," he says.

Note doesn't feel keeping "Theng" in the title is irrelevant or misleading. "It's like my logo so I don't see why I should change it. The James Bond character doesn't change his name every time they come up with a new actor to take the role," says the director.

Luang Phee Theng, or The Holy Man, was the film that built Phranakorn Film and made comedian Theng Terdterng (Pongsak Pongsuwan) a bankable leading man. The No. 1 Thai film at the box office in 2005, it earned 141 million baht, beating out Tony Jaa in Tom Yum Goong and the critically hailed Midnight My Love starring comedian Mum Jokmok. It helped that Luang Phee Theng was released during the lucrative March school holidays, and since then other studios have been rushing to make films to fill that timeslot, which is the equivalent of the summer blockbuster season in the US.

Luang Phee Theng also established the formula for Phranakorn comedies: Assemble a cast of popular TV and cafe comics, have a grain of an idea for a plot or a genre (horror, romance or farcical action or all three), and then say "action!" The company is now quite prolific, rolling out a comedy about every other month or even more frequently.

Theng, meanwhile, signed a five-year contract with Workpoint Entertainment. He had already joined fellow cafe comic veterans Mum Jokmok (Petchtai Wongkamlao) and Nong Cha Cha Cha (Choosak Eamsuk) on a hit daily variety television series, Ching Loi, Ching Lan. He is featured as the main host on at least one other variety show, and now stars in comedy films produced by Workpoint for Sahamongkol Film International. His upcoming film is Thewada Tha Ja Theng or The Angels Must Be Crazy, which opens on May 1 and is directed by Adirek "Uncle" Wataleela. Theng co-stars with the cherubic Kotee Aramboy, who's also a regular in films by Phranakorn and other studios, and Thailand's answer to Scarlett Johansson, Bongkot "Tak" Kongmalai.

Luang Phee Theng 2: Roon Ha Rumruay, meanwhile, promises "fans some relief from the frequent appearances of Kotee Aramboy, Kom Chuanchuen and Jaturong Mokjok", says the Daily Xpress article. Instead, it will bring back veteran comedians Thep Pho-ngam, Choosri Chernyim and Yong Chernyim.

(Photos courtesy of Phranakorn Film, top, Thep Po-ngam and Note Chern-yim "ordain" Joey Boy; inset, the newly shorn Joey Boy)

Me ... Myself and Ananda

Busy actor Ananda Everingham will be on hand at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand on Thursday night for an 8 o'clock screening of his romantic comedy-drama Me ... Myself as part of the FCCT's Contemporary World Cinema series.

Me ... Myself was also among the seven Thai films featured at this year's Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy.

I can just about use just my fingers to count the films that Ananda has appeared in over the past couple of years. Since his 2004 starring role in the original Shutter and in addition to Me ... Myself, in which he played an amnesiac gay transvestite cabaret dancer, he appeared in Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Ploy and Pen-ek's short film Twelve Twenty, Ekachai Uekrongtham's Pleasure Factory, and Santi Taepanich's Bangkok Time.

This year, the Bangkok-born Lao-Australian model and actor is appearing in at least four five six seven films:

• The Memory -- Opening May 15, this Thai thriller has Ananda cast opposite Mai Charoenpura.
• The Leap Years -- A Singaporean-produced romance co-starring Joan Chen. It is due for release in Bangkok on May 22.
• Sabaidee Luang Prabang (Good Morning, Luang Prabang) -- A Lao-Thai co-production, this road-trip romance opens in Thailand on June 5.
• Happy Birthday -- Pongpat Wachirabunjong's followup to Me ... Myself. It is due out on July 3.
• Queen of Langkasuka -- Nonzee Nimibutr's historical fantasy is due sometime in the coming months.
  
• The Coffin -- A Thai-Hong Kong thriller, directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham, co-starring Karen Mok.
  
• Red Eagle -- Ananda steps into the role made famous by legendary action hero Mitr Chaibancha for a reboot of the 1960s movie series by director Wisit Sasanatieng. The first of possibly two parts is due out later this year.

In addition to all his work in film, Ananda is among five young Thai celebrities shilling for Pepsi Max in a series of commercials, signs and billboards plastered all over the country that also feature 13 Beloved star Noi Sukosol.

Just today, Ananda was featured on the front page of the Daily Xpress in the celebrity-penned "Good Morning, Bangkok" column, in which he expressed his desire to move from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Here's what he wrote:

I'm moving to Chiang Mai. It's an entirely new life. Living in Bangkok has for too long falsely convinced me that I'm at the centre of the universe. I'm overloaded with work and overwhelmed with frustration. Working in Chiang Mai for two months rejuvenated me. It will be a leap of faith. It is my master plan now.

Something has to change, and it concerns my state of mind. I should be moving there before the end of this year.

Well, with all that going on, I'd be ready for a change of pace, too. Selfishly though, I hope he finishes part one of Red Eagle -- safely -- and then takes a rest before getting to work on Red Eagle 2.

Fans who want to hear Ananda's talk at the FCCT are advised to show up early in order to get a seat, or make reservations, if possible. Admission is 150 baht for non-members. Judging by the reception for Akara Amartayakul at the screening of My Talking Dic and Muay Thai Chaiya a couple of weeks ago, there will be a big crowd on hand, and the tables tend to fill up pretty fast.

(Cross-published at The Nation Weblog)

Links roundup: Thai action cinema

Here are a few recent items concerning Tony Jaa, the Chocolate DVD release in Thailand, a Tom Yum Goong spinoff and some old Thai action DVDs and VCDs.

• Tony Jaa is on the set of Naresuan III, playing a slave boy in chains named Kham. Photos from Pantip.com show him working with director MC Chatrichalerm Yukol. It is entirely possible this film will be released on December 5, His Majesty the King's birthday. For Tony, this small role in Naresuan III is in addition to work on his own Ong-Bak 2, which he is directing and is also due out later this year. (Via TonyJaaBlog.fr)
• The Thai DVD release of Chocolate is set for this week. As usual for Thai-film DVDs, it won't have English subtitles, but Chocolate is apparently very much sought after, and the Thai DVD release will be the first chance for eager action fans who can't wait for a possible English-subtitled release to get their fix of Jeeja. Twitch is hinting at possible problems with The Weinstein Company's U.S. distribution deal, but doesn't really give any details about what those problems might be. Meanwhile, Chocolate has opened in Hong Kong cinemas, so perhaps there will be another venue for a subtitled DVD in the coming months. The Thai DVD of Chocolate is available for pre-order from HK Flix.
• Nathan Jones, the towering former WWE wrestler who sparred with Tony Jaa in Tom Yum Goong has been filming a kid-friendly sort of food-themed spin-off of Tom Yum Goong called Somtam, co-starring Narawan Techaratanaprasert, the child-actress daughter of Sahamongkol Film International boss Somsak "Sia Jiang". Prachya Pinkaew is producing, with stunt work by Panna Rittikrai. From the poster, it appears the spicy papaya salad fed to him by the little Thai girls turns the hulking Jones into a red-faced madman. Popcorn Mag has photos from a press conference, with Nathan taking a turn at the mortar and pestle to chop up some spicy salad. (Via Deknang)
• Jong-arng Payong, a 1971 action flick starring Sombat Metanee, Suthisa Pattanuch and Lee Ling Ling is reviewed over at Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill! Says reviewer Todd: "When the action comes, it's gratifyingly feverish and insane ... I enjoyed the scenes where people's arms kept flapping around after they'd been lopped off." The VCD released by Triple X is available through eThaiCD.
• Finally, a bit of a belated shout-out to Rikker, who has been an active and helpful commentator here. Over on his Thai 101 blog, he's compiled a list of old Thai movies on DVD, covering the action-packed releases by Triple X, such as Chumpae with Sombat Metanee, Tone, Insee Thong, Ruen Pae, Piak Poster's Adulterer and Narok Tarutao, which all have English subtitles, plus a load of other fun films that don't have subs, such as Operation Bangkok, Jao Insee (another in the Red Eagle series with Mitr Chaibancha), and Monrak Lukthung, the classic, beloved 1970 musical romance that stars Mitr and Petchara Chaowarat.

'It is really a corpse, not a film'

As a followup to his "Stranger Than Fiction" tale that broke the news of Syndromes and a Century: Thailand's Edition, producer Keith Griffiths has more commentary about the censored version of the film.

In his introduction, he draws parallels between censorship in Thailand and the so-called "Degenerate Art" of Nazi Germany, before reporting on the angry feelings of director Apichatpong Weerasethakul and the reactions of the baffled, clueless audiences that have been confronted with "meaningless blackness". Here is an excerpt from his guest blog at Film In Focus:

The show apparently opened with a discussion and Apichatpong recognizes that he was tired and has written that he "became very aggressive lambasting the stagnant system that we are floating in… Something possessed me and I couldn't help it. Somehow I thought this was useless in this glitzy cineplex…but this was the last chance to display my accumulated anger. This was not only about this film…there are countless films, self censored, censored, banned. Where is the audience's voice? In a way it was liberating but while watching the film, I felt so bad of course. It was the most stupid film ever shown. (Even though I enjoyed the black scratches…) Somehow with some scenes removed, especially the longest one, it completely changed the movie. When you consider that the cut scenes don't have much narrative connection with the others, the movie just fell apart…so, it is really a corpse, not a film."

Unsurprisingly quite a number of people, both Thai and foreign visitors, complained to the cinema about the film when they were confronted with "meaningless blackness". The cinema was forced to display a board at the ticket booth explaining what was actually screening and that they should only see it, at their own risk. "I feel sorry for the unknown audience to have to put up with our 'statement.' But come to think of it, this is amazing…maybe this will be only one time we could do this in a commercial theater here."

I thought it was interesting that when I called Paragon Cineplex to check on showtimes for the film, the guy who answered made a point of telling me that it is censored and has black scenes to replace the scenes that were cut. I guess I take it for granted that people who are going to see a film like this were making an informed decision, and not just walking in blind, with popcorn and Coke in hand. But that is the danger inherent, as well as the ironic opportunity, when a film like Syndromes is presented in a shopping-mall multiplex.

See also:

• Review: Syndromes and a Century: Thailand's Edition
  
• Two Thai people's reactions to censorship and Syndromes and a Century: Thailand's Edition
• The six censored scenes of Syndromes and a Century
• 'Thai people want to see comedy'
  
• Syndromes and a Century: The long road home
  
• Syndromes and a Century: Thailand's Edition set for release on April 10
  
• The Film Act and censorship of Syndromes
  
• Apichatpong exhausted; 'officially approved version' of Syndromes prepared for screening in Thailand
  
• Syndromes and a Century on DVD
• Review: Syndromes and a Century

(Via Filmmaker Magazine)

May Day, May Day, it's Theng

Popular comedian Pongsak Pongsuwan, better known as Theng Terdterng, is starring in Thewada Tha Ja Theng (The Angels Must Be Crazy or Theng's Angel), which opens on May 1.

This is the second film in the directorial comeback of former Film Bangkok studio head Adirek "Uncle" Wataleela, following 2005's all-star horror spoof Ghost Variety. Since his studio went belly up, Uncle now has a home as a director under the umbrella of Sahamongkol Film International.

Theng's Angel also marks the first time that funnyman Theng co-stars with the prolific Kotee Aramboy, the cherubic comic actor who is in nearly every Thai comedy these days. Uncle told the Daily Express that it is a classic pairing.

Soopsip has more:

All we have to do is say, 'Action', and that's it. They just unleash their gags and great dialogue. It's like watching Robert De Niro and Al Pacino together - only funnier."

Or how about Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, Uncle?

From the preview, I can't quite tell what is going on. Rather than spend any more time on research, I'll just guess and see how close I come, which is always fun. It seems Theng's character is hoping for a guardian angel, and envisions a beautiful female angel (played by Bongkot "Tak" Kongmalai), but is instead saddled with an annoying, short, fat male cherub (Kotee). Slapstick pratfalls ensue. Theng dons a variety of disguises, including Elvis (harking back to his very first film role, in Yuthlert Sippapak's debut, Killer Tattoo) and Rambo. It's a bit of Capra's It's a Wonderful Life as seen through a Happy Madison filter by Uncle, with the Sandleresque Theng opposite a Schneideresque Kotee.

The comic policeman duo of Uncle and Boonthin Thuaykaew from Yuthlert's Buppha Rahtree and many other films (including, most recently, Hormones) will of course make a special appearance, as will Yuthlert himself, as a favor to both Uncle and Theng. Yuthlert briefly cameoed in Ghost Variety, as did nearly every other living Thai director.

Meanwhile, Phranakorn Film's long-proposed sequel to the 2005 smash-hit Holy Man, which starred Theng, has languished as Theng has vaulted to superstar status as host of at least a couple TV variety series and starring roles in films produced by Workpoint Entertainment and Sahamongkol.

Now Luang Phee Theng 2 is off the back burner, with a new star: rapper Joey Boy. More on that in the coming days.

See also:

• Theng's Angel press conference at Popcorn Mag via Deknang
• Trailer at YouTube
  

Celebrity role models: The backlash

Seems there is some confusion about exactly what role the girl band Girly Berry was supposed to play as role models for proper behavior during Songkran, and even what behavior is proper. Just a week or so ago, they were trotted out for the press, wearing demure traditional Thai ceremonial gowns, to talk about proper dress and behavior during the Thai New Year holiday.

But during Songkran festivities this past weekend, the quartet was back in pure Girly Berry mode, wearing shorts and tank tops as they performed their bump-and-grind show on Bangkok's Khao San Road, where the most raucous of the water-throwing celebrations go on.

The band came under criticism by Culture Minister Anusorn Wongwan, who was shocked, shocked, I tell you, shocked, to find the singers had reverted back to their customary skimpy clothes. According to the Bangkok Post (cache), he threatened to blacklist the band. And this is after an Associated Press article, in which he said the girls "should not be judged by how they dress on stage".

Hyprocrisy, like logic, is a concept I don't think many Thai government officials have entirely wrapped their heads around.

Anyway, why all the fuss? Though they were pictured in the Daily Xpress, dressed politely but casually in pink polo shirts, "waiing" to say "sorry" to the Ministry of Culture, the story took on a different tone. One of the band's members, Piay "Giftza" Pongkullapa said Girly Berry was just being Girly Berry. Their Songkran performance outfits, tastefully layered tops and colored swimming trunks over shorts, enabled them to still effectively perform as Girly Berry and take part in the water mayhem. Giftza was quoted as saying in Daily Xpress:

We all feel glad we took part in promoting culture for youth. But we want to say that we have more than one role.

“We are young people who campaigned for youth to be safe while having fun with water, raising awareness of Elderly Day and warning people not to drive drunk. We were excited to dress up in traditional costumes during the Culture Ministry’s Songkran festival conference.

“But our second role is that we are all artists who entertain people and make them happy with our songs.

“As everybody knows, Girly Berry is a girl group whose image, singing and dancing are influenced by Western culture. That day we were Girly Berry."

The rest of the singing group are Vanida "Gybzy" Termthanaphorn, Mananya "Belle" Limsathian and Phattaranan "Nannie" Deeratsamee.

Sudhipong Vatanajang, executive vice president at RS Music, the band’s record label, sought to clarify their role, telling Daily Xpress:

“The truth is that Girly Berry wasn’t the ministry’s presenter for promoting traditional costume or anything. They took part in promoting culture.”

Culture. Get it? Girl bands are culture.

RS Public Company Limited spokeswoman Nusra Kongsujarit had more. She is quoted in the Bangkok Post (cache):

The campaign had its time [only during the Songkran festival]. The band had offered their services free to the ministry and the girls had to 'live a normal life'.

The Bangkok Post additionally quoted an unnamed official in the Ministry of Culture, who said the Ministry normally sets a "high standard" in choosing its cultural ambassadors. Here's more:

In the past, we have turned down many, many companies that offered sponsorships just because they are producers of liquor or other questionable products. Cultural campaigns need consistency and presenters who lead by example. Without both elements, it is better to do nothing," said the official, who asked not to be named.

Meanwhile, the three young actresses appointed as deputy spokeswomen for the Ministry of Culture have their first big job: Explaining what they will be doing as deputy spokeswomen for the Ministry of Culture.

Thaksa-orn “Aaf” Paksukcharoen, Woranuch “Noon” Wongsawan and Pornchita “Benz” na Songkla will be making public-service messages, says Ministry spokesman Prompong Noppalit, adding that young people would be more likely to listen to celebrities than they would politicians and bureaucrats.

Each actress will have a different role to play, Prompong says. Thaksa-orn will handle issues concerning teenagers and good manners. Woranuch will focus on performing and the arts, while Pornchita will be involved with family matters.

Pornchita offered her take on her new role, telling Daily Xpress (an earlier story, can't find the link):

“Older people have more experience, but teenagers do love to hear what young celebrities have to say,” she said.

She believes she can promote better communication between the young and elderly.

Pornchita was quick to add didn’t want to become a politician even though she was working for the Ministry.

(Photos via Khao Sod and Daily Xpress; bottom photo, from left: Aef, Woranuch and Benz)

Wonderful Town opening in Bangkok on May 15

Aditya Assarat's Wonderful Town will have a limited commercial release in Bangkok, opening on May 15 at SF World cinemas in CentralWorld.

The screenings are part of the new Director's Screen project, which is a collaboration between SF World and some independent filmmakers.

Wonderful Town also is getting a commercial release in France, where it opens on May 7, according to IMDb.

See also:

• Official site (French)
• Wonderful Town heads to San Francisco
• Wonderful Town reviewed in New York
  
• Wonderful Town wins Fipresci award in Hong Kong
• Hong Kong roundup, Wonderful Town, Handle Me With Care reviewed
• Wonderful Town, Flower in the Pocket share prizes at Deauville
• Kino goes to Wonderful Town
• Wonderful Town, Flower in the Pocket share honors again in Rotterdam

(Via ThaiCinema.org)

Fantasy horror from Phranakorn: Deep in the Jungle

Be very careful. There's a fantasy horror film coming from Phranakorn Film: Deep in the Jungle.

It is written and directed by Teerawat Rujeenatham and stars Jesadaporn Pholdee (Dang Bireley's Young Gangsters).

Phranakorn is a prolific studio, and churns out a lot of comedies, all with the same cast of comedians doing the same scatalogical jokes, double entendres and slapstick pratfalls. Nonetheless, audiences eat the stuff up, because, well you know ...

The studio also has done some horror and fantasy films. In the Name of the Tiger was one of their fantasy titles a couple of years back. It had some cool stuff going on, with some fancy stunts and a bit of flashy CGI. I tried to watch it, but couldn't get through it. Perhaps, with some patience I'll be successful in figuring it out. Horror titles from Phranakorn have included Pern Maung: The Haunted Drum, which got some attention from the awards earlier this year, and Train of the Dead, which is being marketed overseas.

Now comes Deep in the Jungle, which from the poster looks to be another retelling of The Snake King's Child, an old Cambodian legend that was last depicted on film in 2001.

It's basically the same story, just given an injection of sci-fi fantasy horror, placed in a contemporary setting, and perhaps this time some CGI snakes, instead of real snakes glued to a bathing cap, like the Cambodians did for Snake King's Child. Here's the synopsis for Deep in the Jungle from the company's website:

Nawin, an army secret service agent decided to withdraw from a scientific investigation because of unlawful procedures that involved International forces. Although he had tried desperately to avoid the illegal acts of the armed forces, it seems the harder he tried the more involved he became. He was constantly under surveillance no matter where he went or what he did which made him realize there was more to the situation that meets the eye.

Jin, a young woman who Nawin once saved from a brutal attack is undergoing a strange transformation within her body as her blood circulates through mutation. This transformation on Jin, is what Nawin believes the International forces are after. The half breed mix between animal and human.

Nawin decides to help Jin by taking her back to her birth place. As he leads her home, her illness seems to subside. They will soon grow close and fall in love. When it comes time for Nawin to choose between her and his life, he awakes to find that it has all been an image of his imagination…or was it?

Deep in the Jungle is scheduled to open in Thailand cinemas on July 17.

(Via 24 Frames per Second)

Outside Out, Outside In: An eight-year retrospective by Thunska and Panu

Thai Indie filmmakers Thunska Pansittivorakul and Panu Aree have been making films for eight years, and to celebrate, they are having a retrospective, Outside Out, Outside In, this weekend at Gallery Ver.

Thunska, 34, was among the Silpathorn Award honorees in 2007. He is an art education graduate of Chulalongkorn University, and he teaches at Bangkok University in the Communication Design department and School of Fine and Applied Arts. He has made around a dozen short films and two features. He also writes for several magazines.

Panu, also 34, graduated from the Film and Photography Department at Thammasat University. He worked on the staff of the Thai Film Foundation, and contributed to the foundation's journal, Nang: Thai. He has served as a sound recordist for many film productions. He made his first short film in 2000, Once Upon a Time, which played at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and the Millennium Film Festival in Malaysia. He is an organizer of the First Frame Festival, which was first held in 2003 at the Goethe Institut Bangkok. He is currently working as a director of acquisitions at Sahamongkol Film International.

I've long been curious to see Happy Berry, Thunska's 2004 feature documentary film, which won the Grand Prize at the Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival. This Saturday night will be my chance. Thunska's 2002 feature, Voodoo Girls, also will be shown on Saturday night, with the program beginning at 7pm.

Sunday night offers Thunska's new short films, "Action!" and Soak, which I missed at the recent Bangkok Experimental Film Festival.

The complete schedule is at ThaiIndie.com.

Gallery Ver is in Klong San, on the Chao Phya River, accessible by ferry from River City near the Royal Orchid Sheraton.

(Via Matthew Hunt)

Review: Syndromes and a Century: Thailand's Edition

• Written, produced and directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
• Exclusive censored version for Thailand in limited, two-week release at Paragon Cineplex from April 10, 2008
• Rating: 5/5
  

Love is fleeting, and the chance of making a meaningful connection with another human being is damn near impossible. And try as hard as you might to make that connection happen, it doesn't usually work out. Perfect moments are rare. Learn to recognize when they are happening and savor them.

Despite being gutted by censors, the core stories of Syndromes and a Century play out. A female doctor is pursued by a young man who trembles in her presence, and can barely get a word out, he is so terrified and awestruck by her strength and beauty. The female doctor, meanwhile, has her eyes on a handsome orchid grower, but the man clearly only loves his flowers. A dentist, who wishes he was a singer, develops a strange relationship with a Buddhist monk, who dreams he was instead a DJ. A male doctor is looking to devote his life to making a go of his career in a Bangkok hospital, but his girlfriend has plans to move to a remote industrial estate in the provinces. You can kiss that relationship goodbye.

None of these people are able to make that crucial connection, and it is all really very sad. One of the daily aerobic exercise sessions in a city park illustrates isolation. Even though the music is energetic -- celebratory even -- and people are dancing, they are all dancing alone. Hopping up and down, their hearts racing, but going nowhere.

Whether all this would have come to me while watching the uncut version of Syndromes and a Century for a second time, rather than the censored version, I'll never know. And, if one day I see this film on DVD or in a cinema outside Thailand, who knows what revelations will hit me then.

The utter futility of it all came to me sometime after the nearly 7-minute blanked-out "Doctors Drink Whiskey" scene, during which I nodded off and then came to once there was something happening again on the screen.

During the five other black-out scenes, in which scratched, black film leader replaces footage that was snipped away by Thai censors, I could have easily nursed my contempt for the authorities who butchered this near-perfect film, and said it was "devoid of artistic merit", but I'm over that. Instead, I tripped out on the colors of the scratches and became so mesmerized that when the action kicked back in, it was a bit of a shock.

Anyhow, it is time to move on. I want to see what Syndromes director Apichatpong Weerasethakul comes up with next, and will it also rile the Kingdom's cultural minders?

Can he make a film that makes a connection to the ordinary Thai people he depicts in his films, the hipsters and intelligentsia who champion his works and the elitist conservatives who feel so threatened by him, that they must belittle and humiliate the director and censor his films?

Oh, just an additional note: The film is preceded by Anthem, Apichatpong's "audio-visual purification service", and it is meant to serve a similar function to another reel that is commonly played before films.

See also:

• Syndromes and a Century official site
• Syndromes and a Century: Thailand's Edition official site
• Two Thai people's reactions to censorship and Syndromes and a Century: Thailand's Edition
• 'Thai people want to see comedy'
  
• Syndromes and a Century: The long road home
  
• Syndromes and a Century: Thailand's Edition set for release on April 10
  
• The Film Act and censorship of Syndromes
  
• Apichatpong exhausted; 'officially approved version' of Syndromes prepared for screening in Thailand
  
• Syndromes and a Century on DVD
• Review: Syndromes and a Century

(Cross-published at The Nation Weblog)