The year in Thai movies, music and theatre
The Legend Of King Naresuan Part 5.
For love, not history
It's a small surprise when The Legend Of King Naresuan Part 5 — a historical epic full of battles and elephants — was defeated at the box office by something as frivolous as the romcom I Fine, Thank You, Love You. Released after the coup in late May, the Naresuan film made around 160 million baht and was on course to become the year's top-grosser.
Not so fast. Earlier this month the megahit I Fine — about a romance between a mechanic and an English-language teacher — snatched the crown with a whopping 250 million baht-take (and counting) and becomes the third highest-grossing Thai film in history — this despite the fact that the Naresuan film was officially sanctioned by the state and hordes of children were marched off to the cinemas to see it. Capitalism trumps nationalism — hopefully it's a sign of our times.
Ghost films on the wane?
Thai horror films are the bread and butter of the industry, and also export products that have efficiently terrorised the Southeast Asian region. But in the domestic market, their rock-solid bankability seemed to wobble. This year, Thai ghost films underperformed, starting with the much-expected Fak Wai Nai Kai Ther (The Swimmer), a teen pregnancy horror that made around 50 million baht, short of the 100 million-mark projected by the studio.
Two Thai ghost stories released on the Halloween week, The Couple and The Eye Diary, made fewer than 10 million baht each — a real shocker. A mid-size horror such as O.T. and 3AM Part 2 managed to stabilise at 20 million, though they could have done better. Last year, the ghost-comedy Phi Mak Phrakanong made history by scoring an incredible 1 billion baht box office — is the mantra of Thai horror fading? Let's hope not.
Documentary on the rise
Four Thai documentary films were released in the cinemas this year — not a lot, but certainly more than what we expected, and considering that each of them features non-commercial topics, let's hope the momentum keeps going into 2015. A-Wang (So Be It) uses a story of a novice monk to discuss wide-ranging topics, from religion to inequality and social structure. The Master is a strange object. It consists almost entirely of people talking to the camera about a legendary VHS and DVD bootlegger who helped promote film culture in the late 1990s. Poo Somboon (Grandpa Somboon) is an intimate look at the life of an old man who takes care of his sick wife. And the most unlikely of all is Mother, a hybrid of straight doc and dream sequences about a dying mother. These films didn't make much money, but let's hope the cinemas continue to give support to Thai doc-makers.
Regionalism
One film sparked an unusual phenomenon in 2014. Poo Bao Tai Ban, E-San Indy was a movie by a northeastern filmmaker for northeastern audiences, in the northeastern dialect and telling a particularly northeastern story. The film, about a village man whose old flame returns from Europe with a white boyfriend, was originally denied distribution by Bangkok multiplexes, and it opened exclusively in the Northeast where it became a smash hit (it later opened in the capital, with much less success). The film is a case of study of how Bangkok may not be the indisputable tastemaker in the landscape of Thai pop culture.
The end of film
It should be recorded that in 2014, the digital transformation has been completed. All films are now shot in digital, and all cinemas — in Bangkok as well as upcountry — have converted their projection system to digital. The era of 35mm print is over. It's still possible to catch movies screened in film, such as at Thai Film Archive, but only on special occasions. For better or worse, cinema won't look (and sometimes feel) the same.
YouTube Thailand
YouTube officially launched in Thailand this year and that means we have the pleasure of watching advertisements. While some can be skipped, others force us to go through the entire boring length. We complain about them, but they usually help artists and record labels make some money when ads run on their clips of music videos. The dough might not come thick and fast, but at least musicians earn a little something from YouTube. Thailand's YouTube stars, however, have fallen out of public affection. The viral singing sensations who have been all the rage over the past years have hardly made it outside of the internet. People now seem to give more attention to junkies rambling nonsense or compilations of hipster cats. Most talented singers have now joined singing competitions rather than sit at home singing to a webcam.
The most Googled track this year is surprisingly Nakarin Kingsak's Poom Pae Krung Thep (Bangkok Allergy), which features luk thung starlet Tukkatan Chollada. Last year's champion Cocktail made it to the number three of the most searched songs, with Thur (You).
Rock 'n' roll madness
Sek Loso was once at the top of Thai rock. His decision to temporarily move to London years ago to pursue international super stardom and subsequent erratic behaviour resulted in career suicide. Three years ago, his now ex-wife, in a raging temper, released a photo of him supposedly engaging in narcotic consumption, and a spousal battle ensued. In the end, they made up, and all was dandy in the House of Sek Loso. Flash forward to 2014, the marriage collapsed and accusations, defamatory words and out of control internet postings were flying left, right and centre. Amid lawsuits and personal turmoils, Sek Loso also staged a full stadium show, which didn't go as well as he had hoped. The most worrying is Sek's Facebook page which he mans himself. The constant nonsensical postings only highlight his megalomaniac tendency, which is confirmed by his insane interview with Woody, only available on YouTube. Hopefully, he'll be able to bounce back next year because it would be a waste to forgo his talents.
The rise of EDM
About a decade ago hip hop was where EDM is in Thailand right now. Everywhere. There has been an ongoing global debate whether EDM is actually destroying dance music, or is just another fad. On the home front, this is all we get these days and it seems like the kids are crazy for it. On one hand it's not difficult to figure why EDM has become so popular on these shores. It's easy to understand and highly accessible. It doesn't take much for those who are not exactly interested in music in the general sense to get into. It's loud, friendly and capable of keeping the floor alight. The fastest-selling and the most-packed big-scale music events must feature EDM, or else it doesn't sell very well. Just like everything else, there is good EDM and bad. Unfortunately, it's getting hard to tell. Also, it would be good if the youngsters took some time out to become interested in other genres of music, too.
Indie affairs
We've been waiting and waiting for the Thai indie music scene to be resurrected. And we're not quite sure if we're waiting in vain. This year has proven to be no different even if Fat Radio made a comeback as Cat Radio and put on a Cat Expo, which is in a way a continuation of the now defunct Fat Festival. Since we don't have enough established indie bands, you often get the same line-up of performers. Granted that they are good, but it can feel sterile to see repeated performances from time to time. Interesting newcomers include Jelly Rocket, The Whitest Crow, My Life As Ali Thomas and Solitude Is Bliss. Hopefully, they'll be able to survive before fizzling out as many before them did. Slur has also released their first new singles in four years, while Polycat is making a slow comeback with new indie favourite Pob Kun Mai (See You Later), which comes equipped with full, sophisticated 80s sound.
Gender Diversity
The Bangkok stage was at its most feminist and gender-diverse this year. Not only were there more productions that directly tackle women's issues in nuanced ways, a wider range of sexual identities were being represented on the Thai stage.
One-dimensional gay characters have made regular appearances on the mass media and even on the stage as comedic sidekicks for decades. But this year, we saw realistic, complex portrayals of bisexual men in Crescent Moon Theatre's Orada Lelanuja's In the Grey Room and three types of lesbian relationships in Thailand in Pataranun Israngkura Na Ayudhya's Not Him But Her.
Fictional characters continue to dominate queer and feminist theatre in Thailand with Peel the Limelight's staging of Martin Sherman's Bent and Pico Theatre's production of Jane Wagner's The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe. But at the first Bangkok Queer Theatre Festival, we also heard about what it's like to grow up gay in Thailand through real-life stories of Sangsan Santimaneerat in Taro: The Little Poodle, while women of Crescent Moon Theatre in the touching and refreshing Ngao-Rang (Shade Borders) reveal intimate stories of their breasts and bodies.
We also saw an intersection of fiction and reality with In Her View: A Documentary Theatre by Wichaya Artamat of New Theatre Society. The piece brought together 15 actresses to talk about what it's like to be performers and women. These actresses also lent their voices to fictional and real-life women through monologues and solo movement pieces.
New Playgrounds
The scene's energy in the latter half of the year may be due in part to the new small theatres whose stages have been very active. Creative Industries, who bill themselves as an art and cultural management organisation, opened a theatre in the same building as M Theatre and Bluebox Studio this September and have since staged six professional and student productions. Sun Dance Theatre, a tiny space located on the fifth floor of a building in Silom that also houses Silom Society cafe, raised its curtain in September with Bangkok Queer Theatre Festival. The hottest and most active new theatre, Thong Lor Art Space, launched in May and serves not only as a performance space but also as producer. It has a stylish cafe and two black-box spaces spread over three floors of a shophouse. The space has also been behind some of this year's most lavishly and beautifully designed productions by young playwrights and directors, namely Plastic Girl and The Maids. A theatre in Bangkok has never looked so cool.
Fight Against Fear
The theatre has mostly been left alone by the authorities since the May 22 coup, but on Aug 14 and 15, two theatre activists, Patiwat Saraiyaem and Pornthip Munkong, who were part of the play Jaosao Mapa (The Wolf Bride) were arrested on lese majeste charges. The theatre community may not have issued a public statement in response to the arrests, but there are artists who have not remained silent despite the government's mounting censorship and aggressive campaign to put behind bars anyone accused of violating Section 112.
Democrazy Theatre Studio, who curated part of the third Performative Art Festival at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), brought back three productions that stood like small acts of dissent: Anatta Theatre Troupe restaged 2475 The Musical, about the life of Phunsuk Banomyong, and Sri Burapha: Memoir Of Freedom, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the death of journalist, novelist and activist Kulap Saipradit, while director-choreographer Thanapol Virulhakul returned with his Hipster The King, a biting and hilarious critique of authoritarianism.
No other production embodied the suffocation under this dictatorship as powerfully as B-Floor Theatre's Satapana (Establishment). Directed and performed in two instalments (Red Tank and Iceberg) by Teerawat Mulvilai, the piece dug up some of the ugliest chapters in Thai history while diving into the minds of the victim and the perpetrator — a heartbreaking and defiant creation.
Sek Loso and his ex-wife.
Nakarin Kingsak’s Poom Pae Krungthep is the most searched track this year.
Plastic Girl.
