Aum wins at court, Num's bored with louts, Poj's dope oil scare

Lawyer has his regrets

Aum

Actor and director Atichart ‘‘Aum’’ Chumnanont has won another 1 million baht in damages against the company which he took to court almost three years ago after it accused him of running a soap opera badly and doctoring the accounts.

The Criminal Court in Ratchada last week awarded damages against Blue Ribbon Advertising which Aum hired to work on his soap opera, Chao Weha, in late 2015. Aum said he was happy with progress in the case, in which the company has also agreed to issue a public apology in the media.

Aum took three cases against the firm in September 2016, in a dispute set off by four young actors in the series who complained they had yet to get paid for their work. Both sides traded blame for the non-payment.

In October last year the Taling Chan District Court upheld Aum’s civil claims of defamation against the firm, awarding him 11 million baht, down from the 50 million baht claimed. The firm, which sought five delays to the decision, said it would appeal.

Aum claimed a similar amount in the latest case, which once again has been plagued by delays. At the outset of last week’s hearing the company’s lawyer said the firm objected to the cost of the newspaper ads, and also sought more time to raise the damages. The court has called both parties back on July 19 to see if the firm can go ahead with the agreement hammered out in talks with Aum’s side.

Aum’s company Hok Hanuman says it hired Blue Ribbon to scout locations and hire some of the cast and crew for the 26-part series which Aum made for True4U, the project owner.

However, Aum insists all his bills were paid and he stopped working with the firm long ago. The four actors said they were owed 500,000 baht from their work.

They contacted Blue Ribbon owner Winai Yiamprasert, who claimed Hok Hanuman had yet to transfer the money it received from the project from True4U.

“Next we contacted Aum, who presented paperwork showing he had transferred the money for our wages to Blue Ribbon. That’s when we decided to alert police,” the young actors said at Bangkok Noi station when they laid their complaint.

In his initial response to the saga, Aum presented receipts from Blue Ribbon which he says showed he paid the actors’ wages, part of the 39 million baht his firm received from True to make the series.

Aum said his company oversaw all aspects of the production, working with hundreds of people. “If we had really not paid our bills as claimed, someone else would have come forward,” Aum said.

Aum said his company paid freelance actors in the cast directly but for those who already had agents, he would send the money to the agents instead.

Responding to Aum’s claims, Blue Ribbon lawyer Pathipan Wanatsabordee denied the company was a mere agent looking after actors, and claimed Aum’s firm sub-contracted it to make the entire first instalment, plus the next two which were to follow.

“Hok Hanuman hired us for 39 million baht to make the first 26 episodes, and entered into a contract in which it agreed to pay in six instalments,” he said.

Speaking at the court last week, where he also offered a public apology to Aum, Mr Pathipan admitted his information was wrong, though he stressed he did not intend to malign Aum’s reputation.

“I spoke wrongly on many matters because I misunderstood, but I do my job honestly and never meant to infringe on his rights,” he said.

Aum said he tempered his demands as the case went on, but said the company still has to meet the terms of their agreement.

“Anything which could have led to resentment I dropped, anything where I could forgive, I did ... I just wanted them to accept responsibility,” he said. The case continues.

Concert bores inflame Num 

Num

Rocker Naphasin “Num” Sangsuwan, frontman of the band Kala, says he has had enough of concert louts who on two days last week gave him trouble at different venues.

After performing in Rangsit, Num said he and his production team noticed someone had slashed the tyre of his minivan. He was standing by the van at the time posing for pictures with fans but his team decided to call it off, fearing for their safety.

A day later, he was performing at Surat Thani when local lads of influence slapped about his manager and started attacking another member of his crew after they tried to skip the queue to get their picture taken.

He said the interlopers claimed to be event organisers but really were just trying to cut in front of the crowd. Num was unsparing in his criticism.

“You behaved like ruffians. Who are you, to flout all the rules? You showed no consideration, even in front of more than 100 people waiting. First the tyre incident at Rangsit, now this, I am fed up with this kind of person ... it’s more than I can take.

“If types like this show up again and try to cut queue, they can forget about getting their pictures taken as I will refuse. In fact they should not bother coming,” said Num, who has earned public sympathy in recent months as he reported to courts up and down the country as part of a copyright dispute over the popular 1990s hit Yam.

The song’s owner laid a complaint with 44 poice stations nationwide after Num performed the song on a road tour months ago, sending police to track him down at concerts even though he stopped performing the song when the fuss broke out last year.

For months Num had to visit each station as he was summonsed to answer the complaint that he performed the song without permission.

Appearing before the Intellectual Property and International Trade Court in March, he admitted 17 charges of breach of copyright brought by the owner, Chanin Warakulnukhro, director of Power Treasure Co, better known as Music Bugs.

The court agreed he had done wrong but suspended sentence for one year as Num had no previous history with the law, which effectively brought the cat and mouse game to an end.

However, the company was still taking civil action against Num’s label, GMM Music Publishing International, in relation to the dispute.

Avoid the oil, says director

Poj

Director Poj Anon is urging fans to avoid using cannabis oil after he applied a single drop under his tongue but suffered extreme symptoms which required a hospital visit costing 50,000 baht.

Poj said he bought two bottles of cannabis oil to help him cure insomnia. He had seen it promoted on television as a cure, and contacted the presenter, a friend of his, who vouched for its effectiveness.

The director said he was nervous about applying it, after suffering a prank as a child when some bullies mixed cannabis with brownies, knocking him out for days.

However, in the end he summoned up the courage and applied one drop under his tongue.

“Before long I woke up shaking, couldn’t breathe, and felt like my heart would stop because it was going so fast. I thought I would die for sure, I had never gone through such suffering,” Poj wrote on social media last week as he recounted his ordeal.

He managed to get himself to a hospital nearby, where doctors said
his pulse was weak, and blood pressure had dropped.

“When I told him about the cannabis oil, the doctor said he had come across many other such cases. He gave me an injection to help me sleep but when I woke I was dizzy, vomitted, and speaking nonsense. Two weeks later I am still suffering,” he said, urging his fans to avoid cannabis oil as it could put their lives at risk.

Quoted in media reports, Chulalongkorn University biology teacher Jessada Denduangboripant said people should not believe the hype about cannabis. “It’s not the universal miracle drug to the extent everyone says,” he said.