The incredible story unravels, duped into revealing too much

Nathan

The newspaper which reported most enthusiastically claims by former singer Nathan Oman that Hollywood had hired him to appear in a blockbuster is now doing its best to demolish them.

Two weeks ago, Nathan contacted the ASTV/Manager newspaper to say he had spent the past six months in the Arabian desert, acting in The Prince of Red Shoe, an adventure-fantasy directed by Wolfgang Peterson for 20th Century Fox. He was returning to Bangkok for a break in filming, he said.

The newspaper carried a lengthy interview with the former RS Promotion singer, just as they did last February when he said he was about to depart for his overseas location shoots.

After the interview appeared, sceptical Thais started digging. At the popular webboard, self-styled ''people’s detectives'' contacted the studio: No one had heard of the film. Agents and fan clubs for Willis and Ricci said the same.

Eventually, reporters themselves started asking questions. Interest peaked last week when a joint shareholder in a cafe which Nathan part-owns told police that he had made off with rent money.

Julie Jamjuree Kasher (DJ ''JJ'' at Easy FM 105.5) said she and Nathan are among five business partners in the Jamaree Yak Cafe Gallery in the Rama IV area.

She said Nathan had spent the last six months not in the exotic Middle East, as he claimed, but helping run the cafe with her.

The Manager newspaper is not the only media outlet which failed to probe Nathan’s claims, but is probably feeling the most embarrassed. All media enthused about his claims to have ''gone inter'' on such a grand scale.

Since Julie came forward, questions are also being asked about Nathan’s claims to be part-Thai, part-Nepalese.

A Channel 9 entertainment news show tracked down a man whom it claims to be Nathan’s father, living in a housing village in Phitsanulok.

While he declined to comment, neighbours said he was all-Thai, and well-known in the area as Nathan’s Dad.

He and Nathan’s mother parted when Nathan was a child, they said.

Since then, the Manager has travelled to Surat Thani, where it spoke to a woman who claims to be a friend of his mother. The reporter also met other relatives on his mother's side, including Nathan’s grandmother, and his aunt.

In another piece, the paper spoke to ''Pop'', an old school friend of Nathan who says she went to primary and secondary school with him in Nakhon Si Thammarat. He moved to the province to stay with relatives after his parents split up.

All cast doubts on Nathan’s claims to be of exotic mixed race, or spent his childhood until the age of 15 in Nepal. He is Thai, grew up here, and was poor, they said.

Nathan has not responded to the latest claims. However, late last month he insisted on the truth of his story, and claimed that a group of malcontents was out to get him. -

2.  

Actor/presenter Kanchai ''Noom'' Kamnerdploi says fortune teller Mor Krit should take a look at what his own stars say, before predicting that other people are likely to meet with misfortune.

On television last week, Mor Krit (Sukrit Patumsriwiroj) predicted Noom would marry, but not to his long-term sweetheart, May Fuengarom.

In 2011, he would marry a woman with a plumpish figure from outside the industry, Mor Krit forecast.

This upset Noom, who only recently bit the bullet to declare that he and May probably would marry early next year.

''Doctors are supposed to have ethics. They don’t come out and tell everybody what’s wrong with the patient.

''If I can liken Mor Krit to a doctor, then I would say that if he finds something bad in the stars, he should keep it to himself, or tell that person only, not bandy it about in public,'' said Noom.

''Mor Krit probably likes to be unconventional. Every other celebrity fortune teller has confirmed that we are meant for each other. But he comes out and says we won't marry.

''We will have to go to a fortune teller again and ask what he sees for the year ahead. But Mor Krit should look to his own stars first before anyone else,'' he grumbled.

Noom admits that on one previous occasion when Mor Krit read his fortune, he was right.

''Once Mor Krit predicted I would meet with legal strife. At the time, I was not involved in any legal action. But two months later, it came true,'' he said.

Noom is suing his step-mother Wimolrat and her son Akkara over the 100 million estate left by his father, amulet collector Prakob.

Mor Krit himself is no stranger to legal trouble: pop singer Saranrat ''Lydia'' Wisutthithada is suing him for 50 million baht, after he incorrectly forecast that she was pregnant.

Noom reckons the young celebrity fortune teller could still be wrong. ''Ultimately, we can control our own destiny. We can change our own fortunes overnight.''

However, he admits girlfriend May, who he has seen on and off for the last 10 years, is worried. ''She’s probably asking herself what she’s been doing all this time, if ultimately we are not meant to be together.

''I can’t offer words of comfort. I tell her that if she has doubts about his accuracy, she only need ask Lydia,'' he joked. -

3.

Worapoj

Former Olympics Thai boxing star Worapoj Petchkoom is red-faced after he agreed to pose in skimpy outfits for a men’s magazine – only to discover that it sells to the gay market.

The Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand has set up a panel to investigate Worapoj’s conduct. It believes his cover shoot for this month’s Stage magazine may have brought the association into disrepute.

Worapoj, who has gone to the media claiming he was duped, says he agreed to the shoot after a friend invited him to do the cover, to mark the magazine’s third anniversary.

''I thought they were doing me an honour by asking me to pose for their birthday issue,'' he said, insisting he did not know at the time that the magazine was aimed at the gay market.

''I started to have my doubts on my first day, when they brought out a pair of underpants for me to wear.

''I thought I would be wearing just a swimming costume. I refused, but they coaxed me into it, saying they wanted to see my six-pack.''

He called his girlfriend, who accompanied him to the second day of the shoot.

''She asked the organisers if I could pull out, but they said I had signed a contract. If I cancelled, I would have to pay compensation,'' he said.

Worapoj denies he has squandered his 10 million baht prize money and has ended up broke and desperate, like other Olympics boxing champions before him.

''I have enough to live on. The magazine paid just 15,000 baht for two days’ work.

''I still have the motorcycle and car I was given by sponsors, and am building a resort, the Worapoj Resort and Gym, on Khao Sok in Surat Thani.

''Since the magazine appeared, another two gay titles have offered me work, but I turned them down. I meant to show my six pack – not my private parts,'' he told Thai Rath newspaper.

Worapoj says the boxing association’s rules say members must get permission before accepting modelling or advertising work. He did not ask, as he thought it was an ordinary, mainstream fashion job.

He is training for the 2012 Olympics, where he again hopes to compete for the country. Worapoj won silver for Thailand at the 2004 Olympics. -

Rita

4. 

If actress Sririta ''Rita'' Jensen looks distracted, it might be because she has a 10m baht tax bill hanging over her.

''I am stressed!'' she admitted when journalists asked about the taxman’s demand.

''How did you know? These things are supposed to remain secret,'' she grumbled.

Rita says she had told virtually no one about the tax saga, which she says arises from a change in the rules.

Rita hires an accountant to manage her affairs, and says she pays tax regularly. The rule change requires her to pay backdated tax, though she won’t say for how long, nor confirm how much. ''Many other people in the industry are affected as well,'' she says.