Fifty-two years after The Ugly American was released in cinemas, with Marlon Brando presiding over the US follies in Southeast Asia, some Thais are savouring the odd chance of relishing that phrase in real life.
This week a group of patriots gathered in front of the US embassy armed with rage rather than reason, to protest against the speech by US envoy Daniel Russel, which called for the lifting of martial law. The patriots announced that “Thailand has been a free state since the Sukhothai era”. I thought they would brandish newly-minted swords and screen Bang Rajan to prove their point.
Mr Russel’s meeting with former PM Yingluck Shinawatra on Monday also riled some people up to the extent that, on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry summoned the US charge d’affaires to acknowledge Thailand’s unhappiness. And when you think the new low in terms of old people acting like children is already low enough, you have a new-new low, and a new-new-new low − ad infinitum − when a member of the National Legislative Assembly used the Thai expletive S-word, a rude way of saying “none of your business”, referring to the American interference.
Not to mention our Dear Leader, wagging his finger and throwing tantrums, as he spewed invective and moaned that no one understood Thailand. More summonses — forced invites — naturally followed, including one to Ms Yingluck’s aide Surapong Tovichakchaikul.
Who’s next? The chief devil in the White House himself?
Throughout history there’s The Ugly American, of course. There’s the breathtaking hypocrisy, and there were those wars conceived in sins. But on the world stage — and we’re still on the world stage because it’s the only stage available — the ugly role can be surpassed by something uglier, and a clumsy actor can expose himself as the ugliest. The US is playing its role, and the inability to know that and to respond by playing our role convincingly is evidence of a poor foreign-policy vision. Thaksin Shinawatra botched it too with the now-classic “The UN is not my father” motto — and we thought our Dear Leader had learnt something from his foul-mouthed predecessor.
Now that we’ve resurrected The Ugly American, I’m reminded of The Ugly American, the 1963 movie. Marlon Brando, in his authoritative peacockiness, plays a US ambassador to a fictitious Southeast Asian country called Sarkhan; it was meant to be a metaphor for Vietnam in the communist heat, but since the film was shot in Bangkok, “Sarkhan” became a moniker (now old-fashioned) for our country. Adapted from the book by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer, the plot concerns the role of the US in Southeast Asian politics at its critical juncture. There’s a scene of a violent anti-American mob (worse than on Tuesday) that blossoms — or degenerates — into a near-Communist revolution.
At this point, enters a Thai prime minister. This one is worth noting because he plays his role much more suavely than the current one: MR Kukrit Pramoj, a scholar, aristocrat, politician and finance minister in the 1960s who would go on to become PM in the 70s, was invited by a Hollywood studio to work as a cultural adviser on The Ugly American, and he ended up playing a crucial role in the movie, that of the Sarkhanese premier who has to deal with both the Western meddlers and the local mob. MR Kukrit’s performance earned a rave review.
In his book Muang Maya — City of Illusion — MR Kukrit wrote at length about his movie-making stint. In the opening chapter he recounts (with amusing flourishes) his first meeting with the film’s director, George Englund, in an office in Los Angeles. Mr Englund asks the Thai man if he has any acting experience:
“Yes,” MR Kukrit replies.
“Great, where did you learn to act?” the director asks.
“I never learned it.”
“Then how can you act? Are you a professional?”
“Yes, I am,” replies MR Kukrit.
“How? I don’t get it.”
And here comes the prized dialogue from the Thai politician to the Hollywood director: “Everyone born in this world has to act since he has memory. We act every day, and we’re all professional. If your acting is good, you prosper. If not, you’re in trouble.”
Dear soldiers, watch and learn. Playacting is all that counts on the world stage, back then and especially now. Some roles are meant to be ugly, but when you lose your head and behave as if you were Marlon Brando when in fact you’re just an extra with no speaking part, it’s worse than ugly. It’s pathetic.
Kong Rithdee is deputy Life editor, Bangkok Post.