All change, no change, cold call, katoey from hell?

Changing horses midstream

Tangmo

Outspoken actress Pattarida "Tangmo" Patcharaweerapong is thanking God for Channel 7’s decision to release her from her contract after she accepted work for a rival channel.

Channel 7 boss Palakorn Somsuwan on Friday took the unusual step of telling the media in an urgent notice its contractual relationship with Tangmo was now at an end.

"Talks went well and we do not bar her from future work. She is now a freelancer," the tersely worded message said.

Earlier, Tangmo told reporters she had decided to accept a role in the soap Ploeng Daow with co-star Marsha Vadhanapanich for rival outlet channel PPTV.

She confirmed her contract with Channel 7 still had time to run but said she had received permission to appear in the soap as a special case.

Mr Palakorn’s announcement suggests Channel 7 thought differently. Her manager, May, says the two sides met a couple of times for "consultations". The actress was in talks on a soap for Channel 7, though no decision has been reached.

Tangmo took part in political rallies by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee this year. Her outspoken attacks on politicians and celebrities who earned her displeasure prompted a public backlash, though Tangmo insisted she was still in demand.

She sought a new start in March when she and her new husband, actor Pakin "Tono" Kumvilaisak, converted to Christianity.

Responding on Instagram to Channel 7’s announcement, Tangmo said it showed God was still with her.

"Thank you God, thank you Channel 7. Thank you for all those good things and blessings which the Lord sends my way. All we have to do is have faith and believe."

Her lengthy message is heavy on religious references and does not refer to her talks with Channel 7 or her decision to go freelance. -

To the bitter end

Tony Jaa

Action star Tony Jaa missed his father’s cremation, but insists it’s not because they were estranged.

Jaa turned up for his father’s bathing rites in Surin last Sunday, though he failed to make the cremation a day later.

His father, Thongdee Panom, 67, died in Surin of heart failure on Aug 22. The action star was in Hong Kong making a movie when he heard the news.

Jaa, flanked by security guards and police in plain clothes, turned up for the funeral rites for half an hour.

The funeral

The actor and his family have been at loggerheads for years, with Thongdee allegedly passing on word before he died that he did not want Jaa attending his funeral. 

An alternate version said Jaa was welcome to attend, as long as he didn’t bring his wife.

The two sides clashed physically twice last year when attempted reconciliation meetings turned sour. Critics say millionaire Jaa’s family are really interested in his money, though they deny it.

On Saturday, journalists at the family compound said the scene was eerily quiet, with friends and family alike wondering if the action star would appear. His mother-in-law earlier assured the press he would attend.

As he prepared to leave Hong Kong to return to Surin, Jaa told the Manager/ASTV newspaper that he and his father were close, despite their problems.

"I am meditating and making merit for Dad. I am thinking about him and cherishing our good memories together. He’s always in my heart. We understand each other on a deep level," he said.

"Dad taught me how to ride elephants, how to box. I am sure everything will turn out right in the end," he said.

When the actor turned up on Sunday night, he paid his respects at his mother’s feet.

A relative in the crowd chided him as he knelt before his mother. "So you’re too busy filming to attend your father’s funeral, are you? You’re really working that hard?" Jaa ignored the jibe.

The actor wept as he held a lit joss stick and sat before his father’s body. He took off a yellow sash from around his waist, held it up to his head and prayed.

Jaa also visited the tent at the front of the family home to listen to monks chanting, and chatted to a former teacher and relatives. He received a warm welcome but did not return for his father’s cremation the next day.

Jaa’s wife, Piyarat "Boong-gi" Chotiwattananont, said the actor was needed back in Hong Kong. "He didn’t want to let down the producers, who are spending one million baht a day on set," she said.

"He hoped to tell his mother that he wanted her with him, but did not get the chance," she said. -

When good deeds go wrong

Film

Actor Film Rattapoom says he meant no harm in releasing a video clip of a South Korean policeman nabbing him in the street as he performed the ice bucket challenge.

Film released an edited clip of the incident, which took place on a visit to South Korea. Moments after tipping a bucket of ice water over his head, a policeman nabs him for causing a public nuisance.

Back in Bangkok late last week, Film denied staging the encounter to draw publicity to himself.

His film crew happened to be taping the challenge when the officer, alerted by the din he was making as he shouted in the street, turned up.

The clip shows a policeman grabbing Film’s arm. A bare-chested Film, who has stripped down to his shorts, recoils, but gathers his composure in time to hold up a sodden sheet of paper with the letters "ALS" scrawled on it. The challenge raises money for motor neurone disease (known as ALS in the US), as suffered by Stephen Hawking.

Unimpressed, the policeman asks Film what he’s doing. The young actor replies in broken English that he’s from Thailand, and a comical exchange follows as both sides appear to having trouble understanding the other.

"What, Taiwan?" the cop asks.

"No, Thailand," says Film.

"Taiwan?" the cop asks again.

"What are you on about, Taiwan?" Film exclaims, cursing the policeman for his ignorance.

Film said he was fined the equivalent of 5,000 baht. "I could see the police car in the distance, but didn’t think they’d cause us any bother," he said.

"In Korea they don’t perform the challenge in public, but do it in the privacy of their homes," he said. Since returning to Thailand he had donated another 100,000 baht to the cause, to show his goodwill.

"I don't regret releasing the clip. I edited it to entertain my fans. The real encounter wasn’t nearly as much fun," he said. -

Online war of words

Tack

DJ and actor Paranyu "Tack" Rojanavudtitham has a stiff warning for transgender student activist Saran "Aum Neko" Chuichai, wanted by the junta for alleged lese majeste offences.

Tack published an image of himself on Instagram standing with a collection of handguns at a shooting range. He said he hoped he and Aum wouldn’t have to meet.

"You can’t tell the difference between the higher things worthy of respect, and those below," he said. "Watch out, and you’d better hope we don’t run into each other, you katoey from hell."

Aum Neko came to fame last year when she challenged Thammasat University to drop its compulsory uniform rule. She has since run foul of the lese majeste law, and on May 24 she was called in by the military junta.

Aum

The celebrity activist refused to turn up by her reporting date, and in June published a video on Facebook giving a one-finger salute to the coup leader, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Tack’s comments appeared a day after police chief Pol Gen Somyot Pumpunmuang said he believed Aum Neko had fled overseas.

"If that’s the case, we won’t be deterred, as she has many charges against her. I will urge them to follow her trail and bring her to justice," he said.

Police were keeping an eye on her social media activity, and trying to block her Facebook account.

Writing on Facebook in response to Tack’s taunt, Aum insisted she was still in Bangkok.

"I'm in a taxi and have just gone past Chitralada Palace," she said.

Aum predicted the palace would one day return to the people from whose taxes it is funded.