Ice bucket brigade demands |year-round Songkran

The fad spread across Thailand like some sort of diarrhoea outbreak, infecting celebrities, politicians, athletes, businessmen, academics, students and at least one foreign ambassador whose countrymen were not amused. 

So we need everyone who has NOT taken the challenge and posted video proof on YouTube to raise a hand. (Not you, Khun Thaksin – you don’t count.) Whose is that hand over there? Ah, it’s Nichkhun Horvejkul, the Thai member of the absurdly popular South Korean boy band 2PM. He’s refused on Twitter to take the challenge, not because it’s such a dumb fad but because he thinks we should be conserving water. “It’s important to save lives, but it’s also important to save water,” says Nichkhun. “Sorry to disappoint you all. I will donate to a good cause instead.” 

That’s not idle talk from an idol, either. As an ambassador for the Korea International Cooperation Agency, he spent time in Tanzania recently repairing buildings and distributing food to hungry folks. Nice. 

Meanwhile the only nice thing we can say about the Ice Bucket Challenge is that it does promote good causes. The family of bosses at Central Group got the flash-frozen treatment yesterday at Central Embassy. TV host Triphob Limprapat had challenged Suthitham Chirathivat, Bank of Ayudhya CEO Noriaki Gogo dared Tos Chirathivat, and Siam Commercial Bank president Kannikar Chalitarpon told Yuwadee Chirathivat to go get wet. 

Having three members of the Chirathivat clan together at the same public event was bound to draw a media crowd, and other relatives were there to tip the buckets too. So it was a rare opportunity to see the powerful tribe behind all the Central stores and hotels assembled in one place. Ten different charitable foundations will split Bt1 million thanks to the family’s largesse.

 

 

Give Tony Jaa some time

Action-movie star Panom “Tony Jaa” Yeerum was back in Surin over the weekend, attending his father’s funeral. For reasons unknown he waited until the last day of the rites, but still received a warm welcome from his family. There was no sign of the long-simmering feud. Mind you, Jaa was there without his wife, who is probably still in the doghouse. 

Jaa was in tears paying his last respects to his dad, having heard about his death while shooting a film in Hong Kong. “This is a tremendous loss for me,” he said on Facebook. “I still can’t believe he’s gone.” The actor thanked fans and friends for their condolences and vowed to lead the sort of life that would make his father proud. 

The “Ong-Bak” elephant’s pal wants to resume efforts to establish an elephant-conservation foundation. “It was halted temporarily because I ran out of money, but I will definitely carry on that dream in my father’s honour.” 

Jaa says his career, including his appearance in the Hollywood flick “Fast and Furious 7”, is also in keeping with his dad’s dream. There are some things that only he and the old man understood about each other, he adds, and it’s hard to explain it to anyone else. 

Jaa’s manager “Mike” announced on Facebook that the star isn’t feeling comfortable enough yet to grant any press interviews and asked the media to give him private time to grieve.