Passing of a Fighter

Thai martial-arts choreographer, actor and film director Panna Rittikrai, best known for his work mentoring action star Tony Jaa on the worldwide hit movies “Ong-Bak” and “Tom-Yum-Goong”, succumbed to liver disease on Sunday, his family announced yesterday. He was 53.

The stunt-master’s condition was revealed on the TV news last month, with images showing him in his hospital bed after losing 20 kilograms, shocking those who hadn’t even known he was ill.

Panna first fell ill last November and appeared to respond to treatment. He was re-admitted to Lat Phrao hospital again in April after his condition worsened. Doctors diagnosed a brain abscess that was later determined not to be malignant and was removed during surgery, with his studio Sahamongkol Film covering all the expenses.

Director and long-time friend and collaborator Prachya Pinkaew visited him for the last time about two weeks ago and told the press that Panna had greatly improved, his memory was returning and that he was gaining weight.

However, his condition deteriorated and he died on Sunday at 12.50pm at the hospital.

Word of his passing reached the Thai media and social networks, and tributes were soon pouring in.

On Twitter, Panna’s former protege Jaa posted a photo of the two smiling as they posed in front of a poster for one of their hit movies, “Tom-Yum-Goong”. “No matter the difficulties in relationships, people should be happy at the end of the day. Rest in peace old friend,” Jaa said.

Director Gareth Evans, who brought 

 Indonesian martial-arts cinema to the world in much the same way Panna put Thai action on the global map, also paid tribute on Twitter. “What Panna and Jaa did with “Ong-Bak” revitalised martial-arts cinema. The importance of that film on the genre is huge.”

On Facebook, Thai film expert Don Saron, lamented Panna’s passing, and explained his legacy.

“Panna Rittikrai’s [early] films were not recognised by audiences in the big city or media on the days they were released in Thailand. In Bangkok, his films were screened at second-run movie theaters for only one week before sent to screen in rural areas,” Don said. “Panna contributed a lot to Thai action films. He worked too hard and sacrificed his life for it. It’s quite sad that when people start to re-evaluate his works, it is too late, and now he is no longer with us.”

A fan of Hong Kong kung-fu movies as an adolescent, the Khon Kaen native studied at Maha Sarakam Physical Education College before heading to Bangkok in the 1980s to train actors for Coliseum Film. He later returned home and started making his own action movies, which proved popular at home as well as among migrants from the Northeast.

Among his successes were the “Kerd Ma Lui” (“Born to Fight”) franchise, “Peen Kliaw” and “Pluk Man Khuen Ma Kha”, and these attracted action movie fans who asked to become to his protege, among them a young Phanom “Jaa” Yeerum, a youngster from Surin province.

With Hollywood films taking over the big screen in the 1990s, Panna stopped making films. Jaa nonetheless stayed on and his talent for martial arts became increasingly evident.

The opening came in 2002, when Panna was contacted by Prachya, who proposed that the two collaborate on a Thai action film.

The project, “Ong-Bak” starring Jaa won approval from Sahamongkol Film and put both stunt choreographer and actor on the road to success. They again collaborated on “Tom-Yum-Goong”, and Panna directed a 2004 remake of “Kerd Ma Lui”. He also coordinated the martial-arts sequences on a number of other Sahamongkol action films, including Jaa’s “Ong-Bak 2” and “Chocolate”, a film directed by Prachya and starring female martial artist, Yanin “Jeeja” Vismistananda.

In recent years Panna has been kept busy sorting out the problems between his former protege and the production company, but even he was unable to smooth over the cracks when Jaa departed Sahamongkol to work in Hollywood on “Fast and Furious 7” and “Skin Trade”.

Panna’s last film was “Rew Talu Rew” (“Vengeance of the Assassin”), which has not yet been released. It stars Choopong “Diaw” Changprung and Kessarin Ektawatkul, who had earlier been the lead actors in Panna’s “Born to Fight” remake.

He is survived by his wife and two children. Funeral rites are being held at Wat Nuan Jan, Sala 3. The cremation ceremony will be on Saturday at 1pm.