Jaa and Sia Jiang might have to call in Tony Blair

Sia Jiang has of course held two press conferences on the matter, lamenting first that Jaa didn’t tell him he was off to Hollywood to co-star in “Fast and Furious 7”. Then he angrily insisted that Jaa and the Hollywood crowd had better get his permission first, since he has the young actor-cum-director under contract. 

Jaa had basically pulled another Houdini while all this was going in, staying out of sight for more than two weeks, but he’s now issued an open letter to the news media. Striking a retaliatory tone, Jaa moans that he’s been nothing but an Sahamongkol “employee” for the past 10 years, drawing a monthly salary of just Bt50,000.

“Yes, only Bt50,000, along with other benefits in terms of movie revenues,” he writes. Sia Jiang claims Jaa recently extended his contract for another 10 years, but Jaa insists he did no such thing when it expired on July 24 and he’s now a free agent. Meanwhile he’s lost a slew of chances to star in foreign movies. “After the success of ‘Ong Bak’ I was approached about a number of Hollywood projects, but my employer turned them down on my behalf, thus deciding my future. Those projects include ‘Rush Hour 3’ and ‘Fast and Furious 6’.”

Jaa says he’s willing to forget all such grievances and let bygones be bygones – if Sahamongkol lets him join the cast of “Fast and Furious 7”.

“My big selling point isn’t my looks – it’s that I’m an action star. And my time is limited, like an athlete who can only keep playing until he reaches a certain age,” he says. 

So, what we have here is a failure to communicate, cinematically speaking. 

Obviously Sahamongkol and Jaa have a fundamental difference of opinion about whether his contract remains valid or not, and that seems to be a likely starting point on the road to reconciliation.

Jaa says the studio sent the contract to his home in Surin, and yet “they know I haven’t lived there for ages. And no one informed me that a letter had been sent. I consulted a lawyer, and I know how to prove that I didn’t receive the letter. I’m ready to fight this out in the courts and seek justice.”

Jaa closed his epistle by saying he still respects Sia Jiang, as well as Prachya Pinkaew and Panna Ritthikrai, who took over the director’s chair from Jaa to complete “Ong-Bak 2” and “Ong-Bak 3” when he did his last vanishing act. “I owed them for my success and fame,” he writes, “but I think I’ve paid my debt as an employee.”

Jaa says his wish now is to be an independent actor – and he’ll accept the consequences if it turns out to be a lousy career choice.