All the Thai moves

THE TV SHOW “Thailand’s Got Talent” is known for springing surprises and it was certainly a shock – albeit a happy one – to see five boys from a school in rural Phu Khieo district, Chaiyaphum, brushing aside their urban competitors, child star Chaba Keaw and theatre troupe Sabud Lai, to be crowned the winners of this year’s series. 

“Dancing must come from the heart and soul, because it is the communication of emotions,” Sawit “Ball” Prathumkaew, the youngest member of the school group, told XP. “We never expected to beat other teams from Bangkok, which have such a good foundation and definitely one that’s better than ours.”

“At first, all I wanted was to give them a chance to appear on TV,” adds their coach Dechapat “Tae” Saimano. “But, after having watched them practise, I saw both their charm and perseverance and became confident that we could compete with other teams. Of course, we wouldn’t have the same dance skills and techniques as other teams, but we have our local characteristics as our selling point,” he says.

The boys – Phairat “Trai” Srisawat, Thanayut “Pond” Ardjai , Pholkit “Earth” Phimrueang, Nicky Vendelbo Jakobsen and Sawit – usually dance with a 15-member group called Young PK Step, which coach Tae founded last year as the school’s “To Be Number One” club. Young PK Step won the top prizes at the regional and national “To Be Number One Teen Dancercise Thailand Championships 2015” and received scholarships and a trophy from Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya, who initiated the “To Be Number One” anti-drug campaign and remains its patron.

“Winning the ‘To Be Number One Teen Dancerise Thailand 2015’ made history for Chaiyaphum, but winning ‘Thailand’s Got Talent’ is much bigger. Now people all over the country know Phu Khieo district as well as Chaiyaphum,” says Tae.

Ball, 13, quickly became the group’s star because of his distinctive kathoey mor lam character – an effeminate man with an Isaan dancing style – which made him stand out from his four peers who showcase their power and strength. 

Originally, though, the youngster was told he couldn’t join the troupe.

“I gave him the chance to practice for two days, and he proved his ability to be one of my dancers,” recalls the young coach. “Now, Ball has become an outstanding member and really draws people’s attention.”

Ball is also the poorest and most needy member. Left by his parents with his grandmother, he lives three kilometres from Phu Khieo School, and receives little in the way of cash – never more than Bt50 a day. When he received his practice schedule for “Thailand’s Got Talent” at Earth’s house, he asked his grandmother for Bt200 and was driven out of the house. 

He became known as “Bally Ulike”, after a clip of his kathoey mor lam dancing was recorded on National Thai Language Day on July 29 and uploaded to the Ulike video site, where it went viral, garnering more than 100,000 likes.

Money has been a nagging problem for the Tai Phu Khieo team with the coach and all the members struggling to raise cash to pay for costumes and travel to Bangkok. Ball found work cutting sugarcane to pay his share. Fortunately, the troupe’s success at the audition generated interest and while small, some financial aid came their way.

“I wanted to promote the culture of Tai Phu Khieo and Phu Khieo district, so I mixed their folk dance with hip-hop moves such as locking and popping. I didn’t expect our show, which is typically Isaan, to win the attention of judges or the audience. Now I think it’s become the Thai people’s property. Ball is outstanding in his Isaan dance, and our Thai-Danish member Nicky is also superb. The response was way beyond our expectations,” says Tae.

As the winners of the fifth season of “Thailand’s Got Talent”, Tai Phu Khieo went home with Bt10 million.

“Some of the money will be divided up between the five boys to cover the living costs and education. I will also create an activity for the local community and use the reminder to cover 50 scholarships for other students,” says Tae, adding that Tai Phu Khieo will soon be travelling around Chaiyaphum to meet local fans.

Third prize went to Sabud Lai, a contemporary theatre troupe formed by veteran artist Manop “Nai” Meejamrat, who says the recognition should help revitalise his career.

A long-time stage performer with the Patravadi Theatre who was among the honourees for the Silpathorn Award for contemporary artists in 2005, Manop has seen his career decline since Bangkok’s riverside Patravadi Theatre closed down a few years ago and its founder Patravadi Mejudhon moved to Hua Hin. 

He tried his hand at business but wasn’t successful, and returned to his hometown in Ratchaburi to stage seasonal shows at Suan Silp Ban Din, a small-town arts centre he founded in 2003.

In fact, he was invited to take part in the first series of “Thailand’s Got Talent” but turned them down.

“At that time, I still had a big ego having won the Silpathorn Award. I thought that any contest devalued the high art. More importantly, the show’s audience members aren’t really my fans,” Manop says.

He changed his mind after a fan praised his work. 

“He told me that my work is valuable. Although it is hard to understand, it is interesting to watch. So I thought why not present my work to Thai people around the country ,even if I don’t win any prizes? The most important thing is sharing,” Manop says.

Teaming up with other Suan Silp Ban Din performers under the name Sabud Lai, Manop found that adapting his esoteric contemporary dance theatre work for a broader television audience was going to be a challenge. 

 “One of my team even said that my work was hard to understand, so I thought about how I could change that. I originally intended to present an abstract performance with symbolic gestures and music representing the emotions, like the stirring sound of drumming or a plaintive pipe reflecting the impatient Phi Suea Samut [the giant ogress from the epic poem ‘Phra Aphai Mani’]. But I was warned that this wouldn’t work even with those who knew me. So I adapted my work to include verse and prose.

“But I also wondered whether by doing this I would lose my sense of self after having been in the performing arts for nearly 20 years. Would my loyal fans complain? Even Kru Lek [Patravadi], complained about the competition for two hours,” says Manop.

With third place and Bt200,000 to their credit, Manop and Sabud Lai are now feeling more optimistic about the future.

Aungsumarin “Chaba Keaw” Khongthai, a six-year-old from Bangkok’s Wat Tiantawai School, won over the hearts of the judges and audience and went home with second place and Bt500,000.

The youngster has loved singing, dancing and acting since the time she could walk. She previously auditioned for the “Family Gang” on the “At Ten” TV variety series, though she failed to land a part. But she caught the attention of Yai Waew, a comedienne with “At Ten”, and the Chaba Keaw was pressed into performing a comedy sketch with her.

To get ideas for her song-and-dance performance, she watched music videos of Thai and South Korean artists on YouTube with her parents, Anantapon Khongthai and Doungsuda Yodsongtrakulm.

“I watched Phi Ben Chalathit’s music videos, especially ‘Happy Dee Aok’ and ‘T26’, and Khru JDa [Apissara Phetruengrong, executive director and founder of the Harlem Shake Studio and a choreographer of ‘Thailand’s Got Talent’] helped me with my dancing,” says Chaba Keaw.

“Phi Ben is my idol, and he is so nice. I want to be just like him,” says Chaba Keaw, who learned her acting skills from watching dramas like “Sud Kaen Saen Rak” and “Raeng Ngao”.

Chaba Keaw sang Ben’s song for the audition and in the semifinal performed “Pleng Sudthai” and “I Will Survive”. She chose “T27”, an adaptation of “T26”, for the finale.

She will use the prize money to pay for a new house for her parents and two brothers.

“I have three dreams; firstly to be an actress, secondly a veterinarian, and third a choreographer,” says Chaba Keaw. “For now, my friends can call me dara [star].”

 

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