Animated tribute to Khun Thongdaeng deserves a belly rub

Every Thai knows about “The Story of Thongdaeng”, the book that the His Majesty wrote about his favourite pet dog, and now some of the royal recollections have been given fresh appeal in this cinematic rendition. A neat trailer for the movie has already been released, along with a delightful music video for “Ang Mang”, the film’s theme song, performed by the Sincharoen Brothers on acoustic guitar and kazoo.
The brothers, a “feel-good music” group, wanted to capture the simplicity that makes His Majesty’s story so charming.
The term ang mang refers to a dog rolling onto its back, either out of sheer pleasure or as an invitation to scratch its belly. In his book, the King would tell Khun Thongdaeng to ang mang so that he could rub flea powder on her tummy.
Vinij Lertratanachai’s Fresh Air Festival Co spent more than Bt150 million producing the animations, each a different story recreated by a different studio.
The opening sequence, “Mah Wad” (“Mid-Road”) by Imagimax Studios, depicts the life of Jorn, a dog raised at a temple by an elderly monk. Its name is short for mah jornjad (stray dog). “Thong Lor” by the Monk Studios is about the relationship between a blind girl and her pooch, Thong Lor. And “Little Copper” has Workpoint Studios continuing the animation style it debuted with “Yak”, with all the characters taking the form of malfunctioning robots. It’s about a boy who gives new life to a tin-can pup named Copper.
Khun Thongdaeng was a stray that the King adopted in 1998 and her name does indeed mean “copper”, in reference to the colour of her coat. The King’s book about his beloved pet recounted her life and also offered advice in general, such as how to be a good person and the foolishness of wasting money on unnecessary things.

Chaiyapol thinks big and small
Now a recognised star of movies made by Sahamongkol Film, actor Chaiyapol Julien Poupart is still under contract to Takonkiet Viravan’s X-act TV-production outfit, with a year still to go before the deal lapses. Not that he’s in a hurry to be free of his commitment there, though.
In a recent interview Chaiyapol said he does want to focus on the movies, but his TV contract has its own benefits too, so he’ll reconsider extending it again when the time comes. He’s also interested in spending time living overseas, but he remains loyal to X-act because it was the first place to give him a chance as an actor.
Chaiyapol appeared in several TV dramas before making the jump to the big screen in the dramas “Jara Dara” and “Plae Khao”, as well as this year’s hit musical comedy “Muen Love Sib Muen”. He says he’s ready to do more TV shows in the future, but that’s among the details that will have to be worked out when negotiations begin with X-act.