How "Tang Wong" missed out on history

“Teacher’s Diary” was the first Thai movie to crack the Bt100-million mark in earnings this year, but that’s hardly a reason to put it in the running for Hollywood’s Academy Awards, says veteran film critic and newspaper columnist Nakorn Veeraprawat.
And he runs the selection committee for the Federation of National Film Association of Thailand!
The committee doesn’t usually have much on its plate, he admitted in the official federation press release on the choice. It automatically picks whatever movie wins the best-picture trophy at the Subhanahongsa Awards. The federation panel just wraps it up and mails it to LA.
This year’s winner, though, was “Tang Wong”, directed by Kongdej Jaturanrasame, currently roaming the festival circuit and due in Tokyo soon, and unfortunately it was released last September 29 – two days too early to qualify for this season’s Oscars.
With “Tang Wong” out of the question, Nakorn’s committee mulled other potential candidates, including the indie hit “Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy” by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit and Tom Waller’s “The Last Executioner” (“Petchakat”). When it came to a vote, though, each of those received four out of seven nods. “Teacher’s Diary” won the chance to represent Thailand by a score of 5-2.

Wisdom of a pop star
 
We’re a little miffed that Nichkhun Horvejkul, the Thai member of sensational South Korean boy band 2PM, gave an interview to our sister newspaper Kom Chad Luek last week and they didn’t invite us. Listening through the door, though, we overheard some of the stuff he was saying while on a rare return visit to Thailand.
For one thing, he revealed that being an idol is awfully tiring. “I know everyone would love to be in my position, with all the attention, fame and whatever, but being an idol isn’t everything in life. It’s just a job like any other. I just wish everyone could get what’s best for them and discover their own career instead of following in other people’s footsteps.”
Nichkhun is also feeling a lot of pressure because he’s a role model for so many people. “I’m just a kid, an ordinary person who makes mistakes. But my father says I should just treat my responsibility as a life lesson and do my best so that the people watching me can follow my example.
“I just hope they follow my example when I do something good, not when I do bad!”
Having been raised and schooled in New Zealand and the US since childhood, Nichkhun finds it easy adapting to different cultures. “When you’re a foreigner in any country, you have to respect their way of thinking, their culture and everything. ‘Do as the Romans do.’ It’s tough at first, but I never feel lonely anymore.”
His family and best friends are his pillars of support in life. “I try not to disappoint them. I don’t want to do anything that might embarrass them. Whenever I think of them, I gain so much power in my work.”