Fresh from winning an award in Germany, renowned film director Somtow Sucharitkul decided to optimise his quarantine period in Phuket to carry out social activities.
Somtow and 30 of his crew were required by the rules of the Phuket Sandbox scheme to stay on the island upon returning to Thailand, after attending the 28th Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany between Sept 15-19, where he won the 2021 Spirit of Cinema Award.
The first activity will be a viewing of his award-winning movie The Maestro for Phuket residents, in the public event "Gala Movie Premiere Event of The MAESTRO: A Symphony of Terror" -- which will be followed by music courses for local children and enthusiasts by Somtow and his crew.
Today, his team will bring a donation to Cheong Talay shrine in support of the island's Vegetarian Festival, while on Thursday and Oct 3, public concerts will be organised at Angsana Laguna Phuket Hotel and Central Festival Phuket, he said.
Somtow said he was surprised to win the biggest prize of the festival, as The Maestro was the last movie to be viewed by the festival's committee.
He added he was happy to win the award, as the film was made under tight restrictions made necessary by the third wave of Covid-19 in Thailand.
The film, he said, also created jobs for musicians who lost their source of income as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thailand logged 12,353 new Covid-19 cases and 125 more fatalities over the past 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry announced yesterday morning.
There were 11,821 cases in the general population and 532 among prison inmates.
On Saturday, 14,305 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the coronavirus.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said yesterday Bangkok accounted for 27 fatalities and the rest were registered in 40 other provinces, including the capital's five neighbouring provinces.
Bangkok also led new infections with 1,976 cases.