Security goons grab the limelight
Janie Tienphosuwan.
Actress Janie Tienphosuwan is under fire after she appeared at a city fashion event accompanied by 10 personal guards.
Janie, who married millionaire businessman Chonsawat "Ae" Asavahame early this month to widespread public criticism, looked miserable as she strode the catwalk at the Paragon department store on Tuesday.
Janie was the centre of media attention as she attempted to pass through a horde of TV cameras to make her way into the hall. Ten security guards in black shades and dark suits formed a human chain around Janie and rushed her into the venue.
The Channel 3 actress looked harried and rarely smiled as her guards pushed reporters and spectators aside. Despite the apparent absence of any security threat, guards shouted at the crowd and insisted journalists keep their distance.
Some coverage focused more on the heavy presence of the guards _ including one Chalerm Yubamrung lookalike, and another who resembled Keanu Reeves _ than Janie herself.
It was Janie's first public appearance alone since she and Ae announced they had registered their wedding.
Janie popped up in the media again on Wednesday to register a new cID card in which she takes her husband's surname. Media reports said she applied for the card at the Samut Prakan local body office, once again accompanied by a wall of guards.
Ae, who works in the same building, is chairman of the Samut Prakan Provincial Administrative Organisation and a motor racer.
Earlier in the week, Janie was seen jumping into Ae's arms after he won a supercar racing event in Pattaya.
The blitz of public appearances, after days in which the couple kept a low profile at her husband's Samut Prakan mansion, appears to have done little to ease public criticism. Critics say they feel sorry for Ae's former wife, and wonder if Janie did it for the money.
Ae's father is former deputy interior minister Vatana Asavahame, who is on the run from a corruption conviction.
A videoclip of her fashion show appearance, posted on the ASTV/Manager website, attracted more than 300 comments, mostly critical. "She's so over-the-top," one netizen remarked. "Only criminals need that many guards."
"Her husband must have many enemies," another wrote.
As Jane stood before journalists she was encircled by her guards, who had linked their arms in a chain. A surge in the crowd nonetheless resulted in a black backdrop falling over. Reports said Janie, looking alarmed, grabbed on to journalists for support, but then "showing spirit", agreed to carry on with the interview.
"My life has changed, because I now have someone looking after me, and I am looking after him too," she said, referring to Ae.
She said the guards were provided by the event organisers, though netizens insist they are hired by Ae himself, and are usually based at his mansion.
An anti-Janie site started last week on Facebook by critics of her marriage now has more than 8,000 likes. Janie has shut down her own Facebook site, after fights broke out on it.
However, the actress still has some fans left, even if they struggle to be heard above the din. "You're all just haters," one wrote in response to her fashion show appearance. "At least she didn't bring her husband."
If he'd kept his trousers on ...
A lakorn producer has lashed out at superstar Jirayu "James" Tangsrisuk's fanclub for disrupting her shoots and for putting the young man under further pressure as he attempts to recover from a fuss over a pair of boxer shorts.
Jirayu ‘James’ Tangsrisuk and Piyawadi ‘Tu’ Maleenon, inset.
Piyawadi "Tu" Maleenon, of the BEC-Tero empire which runs Channel 3, said the young man's avid fanclub had interfered in filming for his latest lakorn, Rak Sut Rit.
"We have shot scenes at a hospital and hotel where the noise was just huge," she said. "The hotel management had a go at me.
"They complained we were disturbing the guests and said if it didn't quieten down they would ask us to leave.
"Sometimes his fans walk into a scene, which forces us to shoot it again. We ask them to get out the way, which they do, but five minutes later they are back again."
James is under fire after he turned down a request by actress and former model Sujira "Nui" Arunpipat that he pose with her for a fan photograph. James was wearing just boxer shorts at the time, and said he was afraid he would look indecent.
After Nui revealed that James had given her the brush-off, members of his fanclub left nasty messages on her Facebook site, making her cry.
Nui's teary scenes in the media prompted an anti-James backlash, with netizens sympathetic to her plight _ and perhaps upset about James' meteoric rise to fame _ creating an "Anti James" Facebook hate site in his honour. It now has more than 19,000 likes.
Producer Tu is the second industry figure to urge James' fans to show more restraint. Director Yuthtana "Pa Jaew" Lopanpaibul stepped into the Nui row recently, telling James fans they were making life difficult for the young man.
James himself says he is prepared to wear the criticism.
"I am willing to accept all feedback, as I am pleased people are willing to look at another side of me," he said. "I will be able to make myself a better person."
Tu said she would rather fans met him at advertised events or public functions.
"I still wonder how they are able to know where we are shooting," she said.
"Sometimes we publish a picture on Instagram which just gives the barest hint of where we are filming, but they still manage to find us."
Actor puzzled over nicked knickers
Actor Pasut "Art" Banyam says he has briefly stopped going to the gym after losing four pairs of underpants to thieves on recent visits.
But he insists he is not afraid of the boxer bandits _ and is still up for a good workout.
Pasut ‘Art’ Banyam.
The Channel 3 actor is warning men who take a shower after a workout to take a towel into the cubicle with them _ just in case they are caught short.
"What do they do with my underpants? I would like to ask them, if I had the chance," he said.
"In just a short time, I lost no less than four pairs. They went missing while I was taking a shower.
"When I entered the shower, I draped my shorts on the top of the door. I turned away to wash my face. When I turned back again, my underpants had gone.
"I was lucky that I took in a towel to dry my head. I was also lucky that I take a spare pair of underpants to the gym, or I would be in a bad way."
Art said he started to worry about his safety at the gym.
"If someone had opened the door of the cubicle while I was taking a shower we would have had a punch-up for sure. There's no way I'd put up with that."
Art says he has stopped going to the gym, but denies its because the underwear thefts spooked him.
Some reports suggested he visited the gym to scout for male talent, but Art, who goes out with actress Namfon "Fon" Patcharin, denies it.
"Yes, I look at men with good bodies, and ask them how they train. One asked if I no longer work out at the gym. I said I don't visit that often any more because my underpants keep disappearing," he explained.
"Many people look at me when I train. But I don't worry about it much.
"These days I work out mainly at home, simply because I don't have the time."
