In the last few days, a southern singing star who once offered to pay Nathan’s debts has publicly disowned him, and his manager dumped him. Fraud allegations have popped up in places as diverse as Bangkok, Oman, and Sydney.
In the Thai media, Nathan is now known as the young man who deceived the world. Back in July, however, journalists hailed him uncritically as the next big Hollywood star.
Nathan told reporters he had spent the past six months in the Arabian desert making The Prince of Red Shoe, a fantasy adventure starring Bruce Willis and Christina Ricci, directed by Wolfgang Peterson for 20th Century Fox.
He claimed he was getting 100 million baht for the three-part epic, based on his own life as an abandoned half-Thai, half-Nepalese child, growing up amid hardship in the desert.
Sceptics at Thai webboards could find no trace of the movie. A spokesman for the studio, quoted in the media, said the film did not exist.
Amid growing public skepticism about the film, former friends of Nathan’s came forward to claim that he owed them money.
The owners of a coffee shop in Bangkok, a group of four men promised a tour to Nepal, an accountant promised a job in tourism, and Nathan’s former live-in housekeeper, laid complaints with police.
Media attention, once taken up by Nathan’s financial disputes, is now swinging back to the film.
Nathan told his friends that the Hollywood movie would revive his flagging fame and make him rich.
When he returned from filming, he would repay his debts and look after them, he is said to have told creditors.
Pictures were released to the media to back Nathan’s claims that he had been filming in the desert. They showed Nathan wearing flowing Arabian garb and wandering about on a camel.
A photographer/make-up artist told state television this week that he took the pictures of Nathan himself, and was shocked to find Nathan promoting them as part of his Hollywood epic.
Weerapong "Piak’’ Srithong says he was duped by Nathan into travelling with him to Oman.
Piak says he wanted to set the record straight, as media reports had linked him to Nathan’s exploits.
"Nathan told us he was acting in a Hollywood movie, and that the crew was willing to employ two more Thais, including me.
"I went with Nathan and his foster mum. I was excited about meeting his crew, but when we arrived, no one from Hollywood was there. I didn’t get to see Bruce Willis, Christina, or anyone else.
"Nathan asked me to do up his face, and take pictures of him wearing Arabian gear. I was confused...Why was I being asked to do this?
"We hired the camel from the hotel. The man guiding Nathan’s camel was a hotel employee,’’ said Piak.
In late September, media reports said country music singer Ekachai Sririchai had opened his home to Nathan, as he felt upset about the way the media was hounding the young man. He also offered to pay back Nathan’s debts.
He has now changed his mind, after fans took umbrage at reports that Ekachai had taken Nathan on a recent trip to Norway to escape the fuss.
"I did go to Norway, but I went alone,’’ Ekachai insisted on Thursday after his return. Contrary to reports that they were close, he rarely spoke to Nathan.
His fans were unhappy to hear that he was helping Nathan.
"We now live in separate worlds. If I see any more reports linking me to Nathan, I’ll see you in court,’’ Ekachai told reporters.
He was no longer prepared to pay Nathan’s debts, as the number of complaints against him had grown.
"All my problems I put down to the fact that I share the same manager as Nathan,’’ he said. "In fact, if my manager wants to stay with me, I insist that he makes a choice.’’
Manager Anucha "Cee’’ Langprasert promptly told reporters that he would work for Ekachai alone.
Days before, Cee talked to the media about Nathan’s latest troubles.
Nathan, he said, was holing up with relatives in Bangkok’s outer seaside suburbs.
"I have told Nathan that if he has started repaying money he owes to people, it shows that he did in fact borrow from them, and should own up,’’ Cee said.
With his foster mother’s help, Nathan had started paying back debtors who laid complaints with police. He had also paid back the family of disease victim Saowanee "Aom’’ Rittichot.
The girl’s grandmother claimed Nathan borrowed 100,000 baht and refused to pay it back. Aom died of lung cancer in March, aged 26.
Cee said Nathan was in a fragile state and might do himself harm.
Nathan called in from his seaside retreat, and talked to reporters on Cee’s cellphone.
After finishing his "phone in’’, Nathan sent his manager a text message, which Cee showed reporters.
It said: "Am Die Forever’’.
The family of former singer Prissana "Bookie’’ Praisaeng say they, too, were duped by Nathan.
Bookie’s mum, Jaruwan Praisaeng, says Nathan persuaded her younger sister, who lives in Sydney, to help him buy a car, and meet rental payments on a condo.
Five years ago, her sister was putting on a function in Sydney and hired Nathan, then a singer with RS Promotions, to appear.
Nathan turned up with nothing, but quickly ingratiated himself with his hosts. He persuaded Bookie’s aunt and her Sydney friends to help him buy a car, and a condo.
"A friend of mine put up the deposit on the car, and my sister acted as guarantor. When Nathan failed to keep up the payments, creditors came knocking,’’ said Mrs Jaruwan.
"He told my sister that with his Hollywood movie earnings, he would build her a big house and look after her. She believed him, because she has no family and lives alone,’’ she said.
Bookie, who also spoke to the media, says her aunt and her Thai friends in Sydney bought Nathan a camera and a computer, and paid him 3000 baht a day in living expenses.
The requests for loans kept coming even after Nathan returned to Thailand. Nathan asked for money to pay his utility bills, and outgoings on his condo.
"I am coming forward because my aunt is still enamoured with Nathan, and eager to help.’’
One report says the family puts the value of money given to Nathan at 1 million baht.
Alleged victims continue to emerge.
Miss Alcazar 2005 runner-up Amataya "Lookpad’’ Chaiyadam says Nathan duped her family into paying 300,000 baht for a package tour to Kenya which never eventuated.
Nathan pulled out of two meetings with the press this week, but did agree to one interview on state television.
"Everyone around me ends up in strife. For that reason, I don’t ask Thais to believe every word I say...I just ask to be left alone to lead an ordinary life,’’ he said.
Police inquiries into the fraud complaints are continuing. -
2.
Famed woman of the second gender Treechada ''Poy'' Marnyaporn bared her chest in her first movie role recently, but says she draws the line at full nudity.
Poy, winner of the 2004 Miss Tiffany's pageant, took off her top for a love scene in the ghost comedy/ romance Ja Ae...Koey Laew Jaa, her first film role, which opened in cinemas late last month.
However, she has knocked back a seven-figure offer to appear in a Korean film, as the producers wanted her to strip.
"Even though I am a woman of the second gender [transgendered woman], I still have my honour to protect,’ she told Dara Daily gossip rag.
"If I have to kiss for real, or act in the nude, I am not interested. Movies stay around forever. If I go nude, that’s all that audiences would remember about me.
"I have enough work in Thailand to keep me occupied,’’ she said.
The Ja Ae...Koey Laew Jaa love scene was tough, as the director asked her to show more than she was expecting.
Poy says she was nervous and reluctant at first, as she was a first-timer.
However, her co-star Seksan "Deow’’ Suttijan was just as apprehensive, as it was his first time acting a love scene too.
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