Vanishing Marshland

  1. Bangkok Connection
  2. Thai Election Kicks Off
  3. Mochit 2
  4. Bangkok Express
  5. Rayong Birds
  6. Talad Thep Chinda
  7. 9 Days in the Kingdom
  8. FAT Festival
  9. FAT Concert
  10. Sticky Tuk Tuk
  11. Birthday Merit
  12. Feed the Fish
  13. Moonlight with DH
  14. Patpong for the King
  15. Paul’s Birthday
  16. Step – Stylish Nonsense
  17. Trading Buddhas
  18. Grand Palace
  19. The Unstoppable Samak
  20. Likay Portraits
  21. Vanishing Marshland
  22. Talk to the Other Side
  23. Bangkok Daybreak
  24. Residencies of Gods
  25. 10 Years Tom Yum Goong Disease
  26. Demolishing Old House
  27. Constructing Bangkok
  28. Not Far from Home
  29. The Lost Three Gems in the City of Gods
  30. Mochit 2 Revisit
  31. Mobility of Faith
  32. Home Song Satellite
  33. Lost in Transportation
  34. Go with the Flow
  35. Error Ferris Wheel
  36. Thailand Random Symmetry
  37. Day and Night at Siam Square
  38. Trap Doors

Change is inevitable and it comes at a cost.

Before the Fill

First morning light in Thailand trip revealed an empty marshland in the back of my brother’s house where I stayed for a few weeks. This property was left unoccupied quite sometime ago. I was really glad that there were many green areas remained untouched in Bangkok.

Over the Domain

Marshland Home

It created a nature micro ecology as an oasis in Bangkok’s urban desert. Bird’s habitats were protected by willows and plants grew organically as well as frogs and snakes in the marshland.

Flattening

Filling the Land

Then the land owner decided to develop the property and profit from this investment. The marshland has to go and give way to another housing estate. An excavator squashed the unwanted weeds down to the ground and concrete rubble from other demolition was used for filling the marshland.

Local Gatherers

Scraps Hunters

Full Bag

A new ecology was generated from this transforming landscape. It welcomed people into once an abandoned field. Local members seized the opportunity to collect scrap metal to sell it.

Marshland Exposure

Somewhere to Hide

The flattening made it easier for a predator to look for food on the ground since the hide was destroyed whereas some found that its dwelling had gone in a flash. However, sooner or later, there would not be any food or home left for the wildlife benefited from this vanishing green.

It was a heart-broken to witness this change. It was happening in front of my eyes and I am sure it is everywhere.

Cinema 16 British

16 doses of shorts from UK masters.

Cinema 16

It seems unreal that someone put my favourite filmmakers on the same disc: Ridley Scott, Peter Greenaway, Mike Leigh and even Martin Parr, who are more recognised as a documentary photographer. It is the compilation of early works that gave them the launch pads to their big career. You can find that shorts are likely be more freely creative, sometime more indulgent than feature length films. But that craft of producing a long movie is another complex story. And this proves how these directors still keep the their own story telling style.

The usual themes are about coming of age which is fair enough that artists’ first picks are close to themselves. Anyhow, growing up in the UK is just a tad out of my cultural references. They are just too bleak for my liking. The piece I like the most is Telling Lies by Simon Ellis with its humour and simple graphics. His first feature debut will be released soon. Watch out for this guy.

There are more in this Cinema 16 series: European, American, European (US Edition) and World which is due in early 2008. Can’t wait to see more.

Likay Portraits

  1. Bangkok Connection
  2. Thai Election Kicks Off
  3. Mochit 2
  4. Bangkok Express
  5. Rayong Birds
  6. Talad Thep Chinda
  7. 9 Days in the Kingdom
  8. FAT Festival
  9. FAT Concert
  10. Sticky Tuk Tuk
  11. Birthday Merit
  12. Feed the Fish
  13. Moonlight with DH
  14. Patpong for the King
  15. Paul’s Birthday
  16. Step – Stylish Nonsense
  17. Trading Buddhas
  18. Grand Palace
  19. The Unstoppable Samak
  20. Likay Portraits
  21. Vanishing Marshland
  22. Talk to the Other Side
  23. Bangkok Daybreak
  24. Residencies of Gods
  25. 10 Years Tom Yum Goong Disease
  26. Demolishing Old House
  27. Constructing Bangkok
  28. Not Far from Home
  29. The Lost Three Gems in the City of Gods
  30. Mochit 2 Revisit
  31. Mobility of Faith
  32. Home Song Satellite
  33. Lost in Transportation
  34. Go with the Flow
  35. Error Ferris Wheel
  36. Thailand Random Symmetry
  37. Day and Night at Siam Square
  38. Trap Doors

Moving

Have a closer look at some of the likay performers on the night I visited them.

Petch Jing, the leader of the troupe, worried about sound system
Tattoo of Rue See Pho Kru (ฤๅษีพ่อครู), a god of arts, on a lilkay performer
Likay performer
Nok Krajib in school uniform while putting on her make up for the show
Nok Krajib as a karaoke dancer
One of the son in Petch Jing likay family who is yet to be trained in the art
Patch Jing s Joker
A number one fan of Petch Jing who has been watching all through the show while sniffing glue
One of Petch Jing likay trying to fix crashing computer
Concentrating in his dressing and personal portion of the theatre before the show

A Night at the Likay

Likay is the most popular Thai folk theatre in the country. Because the practice of likay is not confined to strict classical Thai performances, it has a long history of its adjustments to audience demands and technologies while maintaining the traditional integrity. Richard Barrow has a sample clip of a likay. In the old days, when it was their peaks, some hi-profile troupes had their own TV programs. However, since the popularity is going down, surviving the fierce competitions from modern entertainments is not easy.

Nok Krajib (นกกระจิบ), 11, is the youngest of 14 performers in Petch Jing Troupe (เพชรจริง), where she is being trained by her extended likey family from Sukothai Province in the north of Thailand.

After school tonight, she gets back home, putting on make up and dressing up to get ready for the show.

Her home is the theatre which is moving around Bangkok for the best deal to temporarily reside in the community. They have been here in the market of Chaeng Wattana Housing Estate, northern suburb of Bangkok, for a month.

Just a quick preparation before the show by the key performers while others are still dressing.

Petch Jing, the leader of the Troupe, is fixing the mixer. The audio system has been the mojor problem since the show started tonight.

Nok Krajib’s small appearance is while the market is closing down for the night. No one really pays attention to the performance except a bunch of local kids and a glue sniffer. The troupe shares electricity with the market therefore they can only use the full power after the market shut down.

Then she goes off the stage to sell garlands to the audience in the market. The only show income is from the garland selling to the patrons so that they can wear them to the favourite likay performers.

And she is back on the stage again as a dancer in the last half of the show which is just a sing-along with karaoke but it is the peak of the night when they can interact with the crowd and sell the most garlands. Unfortunately, the audio issue is getting worse. The noise is too hard to fix so they have to wrap up the night with frustration.