View Full Version : ShowBiz:Songkram Nangfah
Last Life in the Universe (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0345549/) by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang is released in New York and Los Angeles this weekend.
It gets quite good reviews.
Metacritic.com (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/lastlifeintheuniverse/)
Rottentomatoes.com (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_life_in_the_universe/)
I'm such a big fan of his work. :)
I like the US release poster on the Rotten Tomatoes page
Not only Pen-Ek's movie, but Tanit Jitnukul's "Bang Rajan (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284880/)" is also released this week in Los Angeles.
It gets favorable reviews:
Metacritic.com (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/bangrajan/)
RottenTomatoes.com (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bang_rajan/)
The Thai-language paper Khom Chad Luek (also owned by The Nation) had the same story, but reported that "after checking" they found that the billboard is to promote the new film Suriyakart (Solar Eclipse) that will open October 14. It seems that both articles are identical except that the one on The Nation site omits the line in the first and last paragraph about the billboard being for a film (or perhaps The Nation article was rushed online before the source of the billboard was checked).
The title of this movie, Suriyakart, is a word playing. It comes from suriya (ÊØÃÔÂÐ (http://lexitron.nectec.or.th/sansarn?key=%CA%D8%C3%D5%C2%EC) [N] ; sun) + kaat (¦Òµ (http://lexitron.nectec.or.th/sansarn?query=0f8b19f48e4f4a4d9dd0af672cd6bc87&key=%A6%D2%B5&x=26&y=12) [N] ; death; end; disaster).
SuriyakRaat (ÊØÃÔ¤ÃÒÊ (http://lexitron.nectec.or.th/sansarn?key=%CA%D8%C3%D4%C2%A4%C3%D2%CA&x=35&y=17)) means solar eclipse.
Pen-ek Ratanaruang's "Last Life in the Universe" (http://www.2bangkok.com/news04g.shtml) (>scroll down to June 2) will be shown on Channel 3 Friday, 18 February, at 22:50. (They currently have a series of Friday night movies.)
I just saw this movie, Ong-Bak, a week ago. I know, it was released in Thailand almost 2 years ago. It's a really cool movie. Tony Jaa, the lead actor, is awesome. And I just learned that this movie was released in the US yesterday (Feb 11, 05) and was quite warmly welcomed by most American movie critics (as one of its reviews posted on the 2bangkok.com main page).
For more reviews, visit the following websites:
Metacritic.com (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/ongbak)
Rottentomatoes.com (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ongbak/)
Yahoo.com (http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1808640571)
Imdb.com (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368909/maindetails)
Also...
American Ong-Bak website (http://www.ongbakmovie.com/)
Australian Ong-Bak website (http://www.ongbak.com.au)
French Ong-Bak website (http://www.ongbak-lefilm.com/)
Japanese Ong-Bak website (http://www.mach-movie.jp/)
Feb 11-13 weekend, 17th place, $1,334,869, 387 screens, $3,449/screen.
From Yahoo Movie: US Box Office (http://movies.yahoo.com/boxoffice/latest/rank.html)
Its 2nd week:
Feb 18-21 weekend, 19th place, $852,717, 361 screens, $2,362/screen, $2,814,161 total.
From Yahoo Movie: US Box Office (http://movies.yahoo.com/boxoffice/latest/rank.html)
Its 3rd week:
Feb 25 - 27 weekend, 25th place, $363,004, 180 screens, $3,401,046 total.
From Yahoo Movie: US Box Office (http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/weekend/)
Its 4th week:
Mar 4-6 weekend, 24th place, $296,712, 191 screens, $3,875,926 total.
From Yahoo Movie: US Box Office (http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/weekend/)
Its 5th week:
Mar 11-13 weekend, 33th place, $145,124, 132 screens, $4,159,536 total.
From Yahoo Movie: US Box Office (http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/weekend/)
Its 6th week:
Mar 18-20 weekend, 40th place, $96,047, 91 screens, $4,332,457 total.
From Yahoo Movie: US Box Office (http://)
Its 7th week:
Mar 25-27 weekend, 56th place, $48,788, 51 screens, $4,434,189 total.
From Yahoo Movie: US Box Office (http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/weekend/)
Its 8th week:
April 1-3 weekend, 63th place, $19,474, 38 screens, $4,476,630 total.
From Yahoo Movie: US Box Office (http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/weekend/)
Stacker
13-04-05, 01:36 PM
I hope I am not breaking any rules by relaying this. I did look for rules regarding such a post, but found nothing as it is not advertising.
We have finally activated our torrent tracker at www.ThaiTorrents.com (http://www.thaitorrents.com) and have many many files there. All files are 100% legal, and are 100% Thai. We are the only Thai Torrent so far and our userbase grows by 25% each week, so we are on top. Many files have over 20 seeder's so speeds are very fast.
We have a variety with nearly 2GB per day going up. We have Karaoke, full Karaoke VCD's, Movies, many Lakorn, MP3 & Full Albums. We do not have adult content.
Simply a file sharing community doing things the legal way. If you are ever looking for any media please check us out. We soon will be having contest's with gifts and prizes that we will mail as well.
If I am breaking an unspecified rule, could a moderator please e-mail me regarding it, I mean not to offend.
Thanks,
Stack
What happened to this site? Was very handy for getting Thai TV shows to keep my wife happy.
Any similar sites around?
It just stopped working one day.
One Chic
02-03-06, 11:21 PM
Does anyone know if there is a site that i can maybe stream watch some of the thai lakorns???
Ekkachai Srivichai is a Thai Country singer based near Hat-Yai, who has a huge fanbase amongst slightly older Thai ladies who like 'young', handsome and romantic male singers with a decent voice. His hard-core fans will often try to go and see him a couple of times a month, as he is a very frequent concert performer.
Now he seems to have alienated his die-hard southern fans by appearing on the SAME stage as Thaksin Shinawatra. Many have taken to boycotting his concerts until he comes to his senses.
Ekkachai was on Khun Sarayuth's late night political talkshow on Channel 9 last night, trying to repair the damage. He ended the interview in tears.
I'll try and get some pics and quotes on this.
Now he seems to have alienated his die-hard southern fans by appearing on the stage as Thaksin Shinawatra, and many have taken to boycotting his concerts until he comes to his senses.
Do you mean "coming on stage with Thaksin Shinawatra"?
little confused.
dingo
:o Yes! Definitely! I've made some other slight changes to the original.
Here's a picture of the handsome 'young' devil himself!:-
http://pds.exblog.jp/pds/1/200506/05/83/b0043283_21555967.jpg
I would also like to know if there are more thai lakorn download sites :D
BabyGurl
25-04-06, 09:14 PM
Hi there,
I was wondering how many people would be interested in buying Thai lakorns and movies with english subtitles??
chiplala
23-05-06, 11:32 PM
i'm on d search for lakorn wv subtitles.can u give me d list of lakorn available?:rolleyes: i'm interested in lakorn wv aom n tik in it
BabyGurl
25-05-06, 06:16 AM
Heya,
so far i have:
Hua Jai Chocolate
Hua Jai Lad Fah
Pumeresh
Nai Fun
Luad Kattiya which has Tik in it
another thai one which i do not know the name of but has Chakrit in it.. (will find out soon) )
and a new korean one called Sorry I Love You
And lots lots more to come!
Please email me at skyjustin if anyone is interested.
Thanks.
the.anothai
30-05-06, 07:41 PM
hi, i would like to buy Luad Kattiya lakorn, if there's english subtitle in it. thanks. pls e-mail me with details.
kritt_ter@hotmail.com
BabyGurl
05-07-06, 08:38 PM
www.lakornthai.co.nr
Please check out this site for Thai, Chinese, Korean and japanese series with english subs. :)
The movie director who touched on the problems of the South with 2004's 'Okay Betong', is on the point of making a new movie to be titled 'The Queen of Lankasuka'. The movie title was originally going to be called 'The Queen of Pattani', but the director thought it might be a bit too controversial. Screenwriter is Win Lyovarin of SEA Write acclaim: -
http://www.bangkokpost.com/180806_Realtime/18Aug2006_real001.php
Southern epic
Nonzee Nimibutr, the director credited with Thailand's cinematic renaissance, veers into historical fantasy with his fifth feature, 'Queen of Lankasuka'
KONG RITHDEE
Ananda Everingham plays a sea gypsy in "Queen of Lankasuka."
The palace is a quasi-Javanese structure of real wood and fake gold. A plush divan sits in front of a throne, upon which a royal emblem is intricately carved. Dust glistens in the shaft of light. At one corner, a large canvas partitions a bedchamber on which an injured general lies. He wears a strange mask that covers half of his scarred face. Two servant girls in shoulder-baring costumes attend to him, and when the princess enters they bow and leave the set, allowing the lady a moment of romantic privacy with the man who's just saved her life.
There will be quite a number of life-saving stunts and palace intrigue - as well as eye-bulging whale attacks, sea-gypsy sorcery and political string-pulling - in Nonzee Nimibutr's new undertaking. The director originally called his film Queen of Pattani. Aware how sensitive that title could sound considering the current southern spat, Nonzee has decided to rename his 140-million-baht historical fantasy Queen of Lankasuka, after the ancient kingdom in the Malay peninsula.
"Queen of Lankasuka" is Nonzee Nimibutr's boldest endeavour.
"Yes, the original title was a little too blunt," the director says during a break from the hectic shoot at a giant studio in Min Buri. "There's really no need for something like that now."
Nonzee's fifth feature film will be his biggest and boldest, financially and perhaps politically. The man who's credited as the force that kick-started the renaissance of Thai cinema in the late 1990s with Dang Bireley and Nang Nak is crafting what is destined to become one of the most extravagant Siamese productions - second only to Suriyothai. The script of Queen of Lankasuka, or Puen Yai Jom Salat, has been written by Sea-Write winner Win Leowarin, and it involves ambitious sequences such as CG-enhanced underwater scuffles, a couple of magical adventures with giant whales and deep-sea creatures, a feisty cannon battle among the warring parties, and locations as disparate as sea gypsy villages and the pirates' gunships.
Shooting began in early August at Koh Si Chang in Chon Buri. The crew will complete the interior scenes at the Min Buri studio, before continuing to Krabi and Phang-nga for the seascape action. Hold your breath, the film will take at least a year to finish, but its magnitude and ambition have already grabbed the attention of insiders and international buyers. The Bangkok Post is the first press allowed by Nonzee to visit his set.
"The idea came when I was researching my last film, Okay Betong, which took me around the southern provinces," says the director, whose previous work is about an ex-monk who goes to live in the southern township of Betong. "I became aware that we knew so little about the place, the people and the history of the region. There are so many stories worth telling."
Action star Chupong "Diew" Changprung flexes his muscles as Lankasuka's fearless general.
Among them is the story of the three queens who ruled Lankasuka successively in the 16th century. An independent state, Lankasuka was constantly under the threat of foreign powers bent on capturing this strategic port city. From the historical accounts, which Nonzee retrieved from Malaysian archives, the script seasons the tale with marauding pirates and sorcerers called Du-lum, who have the supernatural gift of communicating with sea creatures.
"I think the story of women who governed the country in a time of political uncertainty has a strength in it," says Nonzee. "And it's a story that we've never heard of before. Most characters in this film are based on true historical personalities, including the Du-lum sorcerers, who're now practicing their special talent by helping local fishermen locate schools of fish. But of course, in the film we add elements of fantasy to make it an adventure story that's more accessible to the people."
It is to be expected that any sharp political pinpricks, especially those concerning the stormy relationship between Ayutthaya and Lankasuka (or Pattani?), will be buried beneath the sumptuous weight of the gold-gilded sets. Queen of Lankasuka will centre on the three sister queens (played by veteran Jarunee Suksawasdi and newcomers Jacky Finanso and Anna Rees) who seek help from a Chinese cannon master and a sea wizard (played by Ananda Everingham) to counter the threat of a rogue prince and his clique of savage pirates who practice a particularly sinister brand of black magic. Jessadaporn "Tik" Poldee plays a Malay prince who adds complication in terms of a love interest, while new action star Chupong "Diew" Changprung will have plenty of screen time to flex his muscles as Lankasuka's fearless general.
The ethno-geography of the film's exotic setting works like a colourful Orientalist fusion. The cast consists mainly of yummy-looking East-West hybrids, but from the look of the set, Queen of Lankasuka will display a sombre mix of Malay, Javanese and classical Siamese visual flavours. According to Nonzee, this was the pre-Islamic period of Lankasuka and Hinduism was still the main spiritual force. "But we won't specify those details in the movie," says the director. "The architecture, too, is based on our historical research, though what we've built here is not the replica of any particular palace. It's all imagination, but one that's firmly based on fact."
He's gathered so many facts during two years of research that Nonzee and his writer originally planned a trilogy of films. But as his studio, Sahamongkol Film, is facing a difficult stretch due to the illness of its big boss, Somsak Techaratanaprasert, such a grandiose scheme has been abandoned for the time being. Nonzee will have his first Queen of Lankasuka, but whether there'll be a second is better discussed later.
Over half of the 140-million-baht budget will be spent on conjuring up the set, supervised by award-winning art director Ake Eium-chuen. And a big chunk of the money will surely go into the special effects - the battle of sting rays, the havoc of whales and the pirates' explosive campaigns against the walled city of Lankasuka. Nonzee has built his reputation as a Thai filmmaker who puts great effort into raising hand-made production values, and this is the first time his vision will be fulfilled by the digital wizardry of computers.
"I worried at first, but I'm sure we have an efficient special effects team working with us," says the director. "And most importantly, I've given them enough time to create the look that I want. I'm not telling them to finish everything in two months - I'm giving them a year. And I'm pleased with the some of the work they've already done."
Whether Nonzee's film will supply a metaphor, albeit vague, about the ongoing tensions between the South and the Central remains to be seen. He tried it once in 2004's Okay Betong, though the message didn't quite get across. But what's certain is that Queen of Lankasuka, if not anything else, will be ready to boast its sheer spectacle a year from now. You'd better start watching out for the whales.
jpatokal
23-08-06, 10:48 AM
Just FYI, the more common spelling is Langkasuka:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langkasuka
Thanks! I kind of took my lead from the article on that one.
Your point also raises the issue of how to spell 'Pattani/Patani/Pattanee/Patanee, at least in English - although I wouldn't be too surprised if it is also an issue in Thai script too. The one 'T' spelling tends to indicate the writer has some sympathy with the local cause. In my case, I tend to use Pattani to indicate the Thai province and Patani for the names of local movements. which is doubtless why the director decided to drop it in the title. If you use a certain spelling on the movie advertising pickups and hoardings, Sompong/Somsri punter may be too offended to go. If you hit them up with something slightly political in the movie itself, they may leave the theater in high dudgeon, but they've already splashed out the cash.
Somehow I doubt that this movie is much more than a jolly romp through some highly dubious history anyway. Even if it has a fairly politicised screenwriter.
I get a bit bored with these blood and guts movies. 'Monruk Transistor' is probably more my line.
I attended this singer concert....Guess who is she...?
http://static.flickr.com/8/9742558_77cdc58137_m.jpg
Both of the gals on the left look a bit like Tammarind Tsugarn the tennis player. Perhaps a change of career is in the offing. She must be getting towards retirement age for topflight tennis players.
http://static.flickr.com/8/9742558_77cdc58137_m.jpg
Who's this? I wouldn't mind betting he's got a following amongst the mature blue-rinse matron set of KL. My next door neighbor is a huge fan and even a personal friend of his. He lives not so far from here. Her house had a small blaze recently. After the firemen hosed everything down, the first thing she saved was the signed photo collection of this handsome young devil.
http://pds.exblog.jp/pds/1/200506/05/83/b0043283_21555967.jpg
Oh over here can post picture...:)
I am not sure who is the guy in the photo leh....he looks like a star from bollywood.
I have insert a clearer photo to give further hint to my earlier post...
http://photos7.flickr.com/9742502_4156c3333a_m.jpg
I believe the disgruntled hardcore fans have now patched up this disagreement with hearts and flowers. Here's the heartthrob in action with his perpetual entourage of onstage dancers: -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrxzMxqEq-8
nineinchwaist
07-02-07, 08:32 AM
http://www.pingpangmusic.com
:D
http://www.asianmediaonline.com
Amazing sites for Khmer songs enthusiasts
It seems Thailand has yet again been casting aspersions on the model Laotian citizenette. I get to hear (rather than see) a lot of these Thai soap operas as I work on the keyboard late in the evening. No cable or sat in this house! They're pretty much all devastatingly banal and culturally insensitive, to say the least. (Small wonder I vaguely prefer the also rather dubious pleasures of Channel 11's Newsline). I somehow doubt that this will get as out of hand as the trashing of the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh a few years ago, after a Thai soap opera actress made some ill-timed remark about Thailand's dubious claims to Cambodian heritage sites. The Thai Embassy had to be rebuilt in a different location, and (I recently discovered that) the Laotian Embassy in Bangkok was also forced into moving by a reciprocal Thai lynch mob: -
Laos urges suspension of a Thai soap opera
Laos has urged Thai television channel 7 to suspend airing a soap opera, the first episode of which will on air tonight, because the Vientiane government deemed the love story a threat to Lao culture.
Vientiane has conveyed their concerns to the television executives through the Thai Foreign Ministry last week that the soap opera "Pleng Rak Song Fang Kong" (Love Song on the Bank of Mekong) contained many scenes deemed inappropriate and contradicting to Lao culture, said Lao foreign ministry's spokesman Yong Chanthalangsy.
"Laos Ministry of Information and Culture has seen the sample of the series and considered it could damage Lao norm and traditional culture," Yong said in a phone interview.
At the centre of dispute is the role played by the Lao-Bulgarian actress Alexandra Bounxuay, the romance series is the love story between a Thai and Lao young couple. To the Lao authorities, Champa, the lead character played by Alexandra, was deemed a bastard child as her mother was married to no man.
"It's against Lao culture to have a child without marriage," said an official at the Lao Embassy in Bangkok.
"Well, Thais might be okay with it but not for Laos," he said.
Champa is a tourist guide who developed a romantic relation with a Thai boyfriend. The pace of their relation was quick to hold on to her catch.
"It's misleading that Lao woman is such an easy woman," he added.
Dialogue in the series is also a dialect of no Lao community as many Thai stars including Sukolwat Kanaros are unable to speak Lao properly and fluently, he said.
"So if you cannot speak Lao, you shouldn't pretend you can and speak such an ugly accent of the language," the official said.
Another scene considered a humiliation to Laos is when Champa threw a white frangipani flower—which is national flower of Laos—into a dustbin.
"You might get angry with your boyfriend who hand you the flower but the national flower should not be thrown away in that manner," he said.
"Why didn't the producer use rose or the other kind, rather than our national flower?" he asked.
Producer Thongchai Prasongsanti from Workpoint Entertainment and Ch7 executives agreed to halt the series after a long meeting with Lao officials at the Lao embassy on Monday and would work with Vientiane to adjust the soap opera.
Thai television has heavy influent over Lao audience as people on the other side of the Mekong River could access to Thai network and enjoy all series.
Clashes on cultures between the two neighbours who share a lot of similarity was always seen in the media. The recent one was last year as Laos angry over a Thai comic movie Makteh (soccer), which portrayed Lao national soccer team in a jokingly manner.
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/13/headlines/headlines_30026752.php
Lao govt knocks Thai soap off the air
Channel 7 television and Workpoint Entertainment yesterday gave in under pressure from the Lao government and suspended indefinitely the airing of a controversial soap opera that was scheduled to make its debut last night.
Channel 7 executive Surang Prempree tried to play down the controversy at a press conference by saying some of the dispute was centred on "technical problems", but she admitted "sensitivity matters" were also involved.
Surang said she would not raise any objections in public and that it was not necessary for Channel 7, or Workpoint Entertainment - the producer of the soap opera - to go into detail about any possible disagreement.
"We cannot say for now when the soap opera will be aired," said Surang. "We give importance to people's feeling. We understand that Lao tradition and culture are different from ours. Let's make this a case study," she added.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/14/headlines/headlines_30026818.php
Scuba22
14-02-07, 04:15 PM
Sometimes it seems that the people who get offended the most care the least about offending anyone else.
Rather ironic that the ever dreadful soap operas are probably about to be replaced by banal and facile propaganda for the outdated values of the over-paternalistic and two-faced elite:
Not the end of the road for soap operas
But only dramas espousing good values to be aired on prime slot
Published on July 20, 2007
The proposed rating system for television programming will not spell doom for TV dramas, academics told a seminar yesterday.
"The new system will still allow TV dramas to be aired," said Dr Panpimon Lortrakul, director of the Rajanukul Institute and an adviser to the committee developing the rating system.
"Dramas that teach about goodness and ethics can be broadcast during the times most children watch TV," she said.
TV soap operas with scenes of violence and rude language could be on air after 10pm, she told a seminar at Thailand Knowledge Park.
Panpimon said children watched TV for three to five hours a day, and so the content of TV programmes heavily influenced their behaviour, thinking and decisions.
"The TV rating system will ensure that children watch what is appropriate for their development," she added.
She said the new system would not only benefit children, but would also encourage more diversity and better quality of programmes.
Sanpasit Kumpraphan, director of the Centre for the Protection of Children, said most soap operas in the country were far-fetched.
"For example, in many soap operas the hero rapes the heroine but they end up living together happily. In reality, no woman would like a person who raped her," he said.
At another seminar on the new TV rating system, Dr Yongyuth Wongpiromsas of the Mental Health Department clarified that programmes with some scenes of violence, sex and bad language could be aired from 9am to 4pm as well as from 8pm to 5am.
"The draft manual released previously contains wrong information," he said.
The draft had said such programmes could be aired from 9am to 4pm on weekdays and between 8pm and 5am on weekends.
Yongyuth told the seminar - organised by The Nation's sister newspapers Krungthep Turakij and Kom Chad Luek - that he supported the new rating system.
He said it would be useful to children and opened up opportunities for TV producers who could create useful content.
Supon Vichienchai, director and executive of BEC Tero, said he supported the ratings and air-time restrictions. However, he felt the rating guidelines should be detailed so that producers would know how to abide by the rules in practice.
"For example, kissing and French kissing are different," he said.
Yongyuth said a committee developing the regulations manual would decide on such points.
Mayuree Sukyingcharoenwong,
Pakamas Jaichalard
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/07/20/national/national_30041637.php
Wisarut
26-07-07, 05:12 PM
Now, even the working class women feel FED UP wiht thsoe Soap Opera since it become more and more monotonous ... 100 dramas but the same themes ...
Even worse, those soapopera ONLY put the stereotype of the Main Actors can RAPE acress with IMPUNITY ... The OUTRAGE thing that thsoe ownere of stations keep feeding into their brains ...
WOrse still, those station owners keep thsoe junk inside the soap opera to attract more advertising money ....
http://www.matichon.co.th/khaosod/khaosod_detail.php?s_tag=03p0105260750§ionid=0301
The Thai Embassy had to be rebuilt in a different location
Are you sure about this? Sounds contrary to the impression I got (from talks with the local trade director as well as two of the chauffeurs) during my week-long sojourn back in '06.
Then I suspect you are right.
I guess what may have happened then is that someone had a change of heart. Certainly, it was being said very strongly that the Embassy had to be moved. Perhaps having secured Hun Sen's compensation they decided not to to bother. Part of the reason given for moving it, as I recall, was bad Feng Shui/Huang Jui.
Hey, I'm not that sure myself! Any how, the embassy in Phnom Penh is one of Thailand's better-designed, better-looking ones (trust me, I've visited a fair share of them over the years).
Air hostesses urge 'Battle of Angels' to be reasonable
Published on January 22, 2008
Culture minister asked to tone down 'revealing' television soap opera
The Thai Airways International Union will ask Channel 5 and Thakonkiat Viravan, an executive of the TV company Exact, to take a more responsible attitude over the new Channel 5 soap opera that portrays hostesses in a negative light.
Exact is expected to hold a press conference on the issue this afternoon.
The union along with flight attendant representatives from other airlines such as Bangkok Airways yesterday lodged a complaint with Culture Minister Khunying Khaisri Sri-aroon. They demanded the "Songkram Nangfah" (Battle of Angels) series, aired at 8.25pm from Monday to Thursday, to be pulled from the air.
Acting union chairman Somsak Srinuan said he was concerned whether people, especially youths, would be able to differentiate which parts were real and which were exaggerations in the programme - which includes violent scenes with female cabin crew fighting in public over a male pilot.
"Exact, which produces this show, must be responsible to society and suspend the airing until the content is adjusted so that it is not so exaggerated," Somsak said.
If Channel 5 and Exact did nothing, the union would take further measures such as asking Thai Airways (THAI) to stop providing financial support to the company and other companies under GMM Grammy Group, Somsak said.
THAI flight attendant manager Phitchitra Thaveerat said she had viewed the first four episodes last week and found they all contained irrational and inappropriate scenes, such as fighting in front of the flight attendant training centre, which would never happen in reality.
She said the hostess uniforms were also too revealing. The uniforms flight attendants wear in real life are tidy and appropriate because they represent their country as well.
"The show, exaggerated to stimulate high ratings, destroys our professional image and dignity. We want the soap opera to be suspended from its current broadcast time and be moved to air after 10pm," she said.
Bangkok Airways representative Preuksa Reunrat said being a flight attendant was a dignified profession. They take care of the safety of passengers and their belongings at every second during a flight, not just serve them food. She did not want the soap opera to devalue the profession.
Channel 5 chief, Lieutenant General Kittithat Bamnetphan, said he had not received a formal compliant from the union and that the station would not be able to scrap the show as the union wanted.
The show had passed the rating committee and obtained the "Nor 13" rating category - restricted for children under 13, he said. It also contained a message to inform the audience that it was based on fiction. There was nothing the station could do with the show until there was clear-cut information of it breaching regulations in some way, he added.
Channel 5 spokeswoman Thawinan Kongkran said there were no plans to pull the soap opera. But it would consider asking the producer to edit out some scenes that were found to be offensive. An Exact PR official said 50 per cent of the drama had been shot, so the other half could be adjusted, including having uniforms with longer skirts.
Thakonkiat and script writer Nipon Phewnen would hold a press conference at 3pm today at the GMM Grammy Building.
One of the show's actresses, Panwad Hemmanee, urged the public to be open-minded. She believed the producer had no intention to tarnish flight attendants.
"We've got no intention to offend, it's a reflection of human reality that is full of love, greed, anger and obsession - be they in any kind of profession," she said, adding there were also many good characters among the flight attendants in the show.
The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/01/22/headlines/headlines_30063001.php
Battle scenes cut
By Amornrat Mahitthirook
Producer Exact agreed on Tuesday to edit out some of the more violent and steamy scenes from its TV soap opera Songkhram Nang Fah (Air Hostess War), but warned protesting flight attendants who demanded that it be pulled off the air not to ask for too much, because producers have the right to continue the show.
From now on, the producer said, none of the air hostesses would be seen fighting in their uniform or in the aircraft cabin.
Exact managing director Takonkiet Viravan told a press conference he regretted the negative feelings of people who may have found the show insulting and damaging to the reputation of flight attendants. It was not the intention to portray them in that light.
Executives of Channel 5, which is screening the saucy drama, warned him yesterday to adjust the script, he said.
Mr Takonkiet came out in defence of the company after the Thai Airways International labour union on Monday contacted its management and demanded that it stop sponsoring his company.
The union complained that the series (Air Hostess War) had cast their profession in an unrealistic and immoral light.
The drama's first episode was aired last Tuesday.
"Showbiz is an art. Whether people like it or hate it depends on their taste and thinking," said Mr Takonkiet.
"This drama is thought-provoking and not just about flight attendants fighting over a man."
He said of the seven episodes broadcast so far, only four of them show air hostesses engaging in fights and slapping each other.
There was far less violence in this drama than in other Thai soaps currently being screened, he said.
Mr Takonkiet apologised for the short skirts and body-hugging uniforms the air hostesses were made to wear.
The skirts, however, were not any shorter than those worn by real-life Thai air hostesses during flights, he maintained.
The plot and the uniforms would be adjusted in future episodes that had yet to be made in an attempt to make everyone happy, he said.
He refused to suspend the broadcasting of the drama, saying it was a tall order and might infringe on the rights of television producers.
He insisted the series had not been shot inside a Thai Airways International plane. The labour union had complained the cabin resembled a THAI plane.
Nok Air executive vice president for marketing Sehapan Chumsai na Ayutthaya said the budget airline had provided locations for filming the soap opera, but had no part in writing the script.
The union also sent a protest letter about the series to the Culture Ministry yesterday.
Deputy permanent secretary for culture Chaweerat Kasetsunthorn said the ministry could not stop the broadcasting of any soap opera, as requested by the air crew.
Somsak Srinual, acting president of the union, said he wanted the protest to be a wake-up call for the Culture Ministry to seriously improve its television ratings system, and order the removal of scenes of infidelity from this drama.
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