Rocker's latest brush with law
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| Num |
“Is this a case over breach of copyright or a murder case for sure?” asked an exasperated Naphasin “Num” Sangsuwan, frontman of the band Kala, who is involved in a rights dispute over the popular 1990s hit Yam.
He managed to evade police who turned up at a concert at the Big Mountain Music Festival last week in Nakhon Ratchasima, his latest brush with the law as the song’s owner attempts to have him arrested up and down the country after he performed the song on a road tour months before.
Police turned up at the request of the owner, Chanin Warakulnukhro, director of Power Treasure Co, better known as Music Bugs, with an arrest warrant issued by a Chumpon court on Dec 7.
Media reports said his lawyer had originally asked police in Rayong to serve him there after he performed the song at the Red Cross festival in Chumpon last year, but they did not reach him in time.
The next day he was performing in Nakhon Ratchasima, and the company’s lawyer contacted local police in Pak Chong district. But by the time police armed with the Chumpon warrant made their way through the crowd of 100,000 revellers who had turned up for the festival, in which 100 bands were slated to play,
Num realised the law was approaching the stage and fled the scene rather than have to go through hours of ensuing legal drama.
The legal cat and mouse game comes after Mr Chanin laid a complaint with 44 police stations nationwide in pursuit of Num, who in theory has to visit each station as he is summonsed to answer the complaint that he performed the song without permission.
He was arrested most recently at a Bangkok bar in November for failing to report to police in Krabi, stemming from a performance of the song he gave there in November last year. He was first arrested for performing it in Pattaya last year.
Num, in a social media post last month, insisted he had not performed Yam, originally by the popular band Labanoon, since the dispute broke out last year.
He had contacted police in Krabi about the summons and they acknowledged that he wished to report at a later date. However, they still nabbed him. “I am reporting to authorities as required under law,” Num wrote.
“In some cases the matter has reached prosecutors and the courts. I have to report to the police in 44 provinces; be sent to prosecutors 44 times; go to court at least 44 times (each court may require one to three appearances).
“I can’t say how many times I must report in total, but I am not fleeing anywhere, and in fact I have nowhere to run,” Num said.
After his latest near-arrest in Nakhon Ratchasima, Num asked the company to give him a break. “I have admitted I was in breach from the outset and for the past year have tried not to refer to any third parties; but it looks as if they will just not let up or give me a break, even though I am complying with all processes under the law,” he said.
Media reports say that Num reported to Samut Prakan police on Nov 9, and the two sides were able to talk. “They want both criminal and civil damages of 60 million baht. I don’t have that kind of money. If they demanded damages at a more reasonable level, I would be prepared to pay.
“As far as the song is concerned, I started performing it after the band Labanoon moved to the Grammy camp where I was signed. Grammy was also collecting royalty fees for Music Bugs.
“However, the two sides fell out and their contract ended on Oct 31 last year. During that time I was on the road constantly and didn’t know Music Bugs had forbidden Grammy artists from performing it,” he said. The dispute continues.
Hostile beach-note mystery solved
Actor Navin “Tar” Yavapolkul and his wife have accepted an apology over a highly publicised incident in which a motorist parked them in on an outing to Bang Saen beach then smeared their name when challenged about it.
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| Tar, Numwanz |
Tar and his wife, Passawee “Numwanz” Payakbud, last month called in the lawyers after a relatively peaceful beach-side incident in which the motorist parked in their vehicle for two hours ended in a fiery row on social media.
The row broke out after Jurawit Bunhoom, 19, driving a Honda City, parked in Tar’s vehicle and left the hand-brake on, forcing Tar and a group of five or six friends to do the rounds of beach-goers asking if they’d seen the Honda City’s owner.
They were joined by traders and others willing to help until the group swelled to about 20. They also contacted the local tourist office, tetsakit, police, and a tow-truck company before the owner was finally located.
Mr Jurawit’s girlfriend, Charintorn Saengthong, 22, later complained on social media about the way Tar and Numwanz had conducted themselves. She claimed that after her boyfriend moved his vehicle, Tar doubled back and left an unpleasant hand-written note on their car.
Tar and Numwanz insist they did not return to the scene or leave the couple any message. They also took umbrage at a message left on social media by the other side in which they suggested Tar and his wife might come to grief if they happened to meet again.
The threat of legal action finally prompted an apology by the couple, who said they didn’t mean to smear Tar and his wife. Pleading for sympathy, they said they have three children to support and didn’t want to go to court.
Earlier this month the couple took that a step further, inviting Tar and his wife to Bang Khen police station where they made a formal apology.
Accompanied by Ms Charintorn’s elder sister, Kanyarat Yookong, 30, another defendant in the case who also criticised Tar and his wife on social media, they admitted the story about Tar leaving them a nasty note was fabricated and that they had in fact written it themselves and tried to pin the blame on him.
Speaking at the station, Tar said he had agreed to withdraw his defamation complaint as he can see the young couple were not adult enough to know what they were doing.
“Motorists parking in others’ vehicles is a problem in which Thais are taking great interest these days. People will resort to emotion but we have to look beyond that if we are all to rub along together. In this case we think that forgiveness is the best way we can all get along together peacefully,” he said.
Stage-struck toy boy
A star-struck moment on stage is paying off for singer Thanwa “ToyToy” Bunsungnoen, who was feted in Korea last week as he stumbled through his acceptance of an award for best new Asian performer.
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| ToyToy |
Toy, who is well-known for posing frozen-faced for pictures with his Thai fans, has now found a new group of admirers taken by his nervous appearance at the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards.
While in Korea Toy, 23, tried to make a so-called mini heart gesture with his fingers, but got his hands tangled up, even though he can perform the gesture capably enough when he is with his Thai fans.
He also got confused about where to go on stage to accept the award, stood at the mic breathing heavily, and struggled to get out the words as he thanked the organisers for the prize.
His nervous, stage-struck manner caught the attention of fans and media alike, who coined for him the name of Thai “flower child” and “shy boy”. The spurt of interest propelled views of his clip to second most popular overall. Toy’s name also emerged as the top search inquiry at the Melon music website in Korea.
However, Thai netizens criticised his fumbled mini-heart gesture, asking if he was not putting it on to attract publicity. When he came under similar attack earlier this year for refusing to smile for fans, he insisted he was just tired rather than putting on artistic airs.
Back from his Korea trip, and apparently over his attack of stage nerves, Toy, wearing a handkerchief over his mouth to disguise the status of his smile, posted an image in which he performs the mini-heart gesture correctly. “Looove!” he wrote.
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