The Ordinary

Prapassorn Konmuang’s The Ordinary (คนธรรมดา) will be restaged on 19th September at Thammasat University. The play, a monologue about resistance to coups and authoritarianism, is directed by Thunratram Cheepnurat. The performance will take place at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, with tickets priced at ฿112.

19th September

19th September is a significant date, being the fifth anniversary of a protest at Thammasat in 2020, one of the largest student-led demonstrations since the 2014 coup. The play’s revival is one of a series of events organised by the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, and the Democracy Restoration Group, collectively titled ทบทวน 5 ปี 19 กันยา 2563 (‘looking back 5 years since 19th September 2020’).

The date also marks another anniversary, as the coup against Thaksin Shinawatra took place on 19th September 2006. That date appears in the titles of two books published by Same Sky: รัฐประหาร 19 กันยา (‘19th Sept. coup’) and 19–19.

112

The ticket price for The Ordinary is also symbolic: ฿112 refers to the lèse-majesté law, which is article 112 of the Thai criminal code. Similarly, the catalogue for Wittawat Tongkeaw’s exhibition Re/Place cost ฿112, and two poetry books — เหมือนบอดใบ้ไพร่ฟ้ามาสุดทาง (‘we subjects, as if mute and blind, have found ourselves at the end of the line’) and ราษฎรที่รักทั้งหลาย (‘dear citizens’) — were also sold at that price.

There have been other subtle references to 112. Another play, Wilderness (รักดงดิบ), included a recipe stating that food should “dry in the sun for 112 hours”. Elevenfinger’s single Land of Compromise was released at 1:12pm. Vichart Somkaew’s documentary 112 News from Heaven features 112 headlines from a 112-day period, and 112 photographic portraits. The Evidences of Resistance [sic] (วัตถุพยานแห่งการต่อต้าน) exhibition was held in room 112 at Thammasat’s Museum of Anthropology.

“Sending him to hospital was not legal...”

The Supreme Court has sentenced Thaksin Shinawatra to one year in prison, with immediate effect, after ruling that his previous transfer to a police hospital was unlawful. The court ordered Thaksin to be sent to Bangkok Remand Prison yesterday morning, and he was transferred from there to the high-security Klongprem Central Prison.

Thaksin returned to Thailand from self-exile in 2023, and was taken directly from the airport to be sentenced in his outstanding corruption trial. He received an eight-year sentence in that case, though on his first night in jail he was transferred to hospital for unspecified medical reasons.

His eight-year sentence was commuted to one year following a royal pardon, and he was released on parole early last year. He had spent six months in hospital, and had not served any of his sentence behind bars. Announcing the one-year sentence yesterday, the judge said: “Sending him to hospital was not legal... staying in hospital cannot count as a prison term”.

After being paroled, Thaksin was photographed (rather unconvincingly) in a neck brace and sling, though he was accused of conspiring with prison staff to gain admittance to hospital under false pretenses. Those suspicions were confirmed yesterday, when the Supreme Court ruled that his hospital stay had indeed been a ruse to avoid jail time. The investigation was nicknamed the ‘14th floor case’, as Thaksin stayed in a suite on the 14th floor of the Police General Hospital.

On 5th September, just four days before yesterday’s court ruling, Thaksin flew out of the country unexpectedly. After being briefly detained at the airport while immigration police confirmed that he wasn’t subject to a travel ban, he took a private jet to Dubai. This led to speculation that he had fled the country in anticipation of a guilty verdict (as he had in 2008), though he flew back to Thailand via Singapore yesterday.

Did he fly back under the misapprehension that he would be found innocent? And will he suddenly feign another illness, or hatch some other scheme, to avoid serving this new one-year sentence?

เก็บตกวงเสวนา 49 ปี 6 ตุลา: เมื่อเรื่องราว 6 ตุลาไม่ได้ถูกจำกัดไว้เพียงที่ธรรมศาสตร์ (‘a briefing on the 49th anniversary of 6th Oct.’)

เก็บตกวงเสวนา 49 ปี 6 ตุลา: เมื่อเรื่องราว 6 ตุลาไม่ได้ถูกจำกัดไว้เพียงที่ธรรมศาสตร์ (‘a briefing on the 49th anniversary of 6th Oct.: the 6th Oct. event is not limited to Thammasat University’), held today at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Political Science, featured a Q&A with Patporn Phoothong, co-director of the short film The Two Brothers (สองพี่น้อง). The event was a precursor to the upcoming forty-ninth anniversary of the massacre that took place at Thammasat on 6th October 1976.

The Two Brothers was screened as part of today’s event. Directed by Patporn and Teerawat Rujenatham, the documentary features interviews with relatives of two young men who were hanged by police for campaigning against the return of former dictator Thanom Kittikachorn from exile. When student actors at Thammasat staged a reenactment of the hanging, the right-wing Dao Siam (ดาวสยาม) newspaper falsely accused them of hanging an effigy of the Crown Prince (now Rama X), and this inflammatory headline sparked the massacre.

The brutal events of that notorious day are encapsulated in a much-reproduced photograph by Neal Ulevich, which shows a vigilante preparing to beat a hanged corpse with a folding chair. In reference to that image, today’s event included a folding chair on display.

The Two Brothers was previously shown at Hope Space in Bangkok last year, at Thammasat in 2020 and 2017, and at the Thai Film Archive in Salaya in 2017. Thai Cinema Uncensored discusses this and other Thai films that refer to the 1976 massacre.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul

Anutin Charnvirakul, leader of Bhumjaithai, became Thai Prime Minister today, though his term in office may be short-lived. After the Constitutional Court dismissed Paetongtarn Shinawatra last week, Anutin was the clear front-runner to succeed her, and he has now been elected by a majority of MPs, though he will lead a minority caretaker government.

Bhumjaithai was the first party to join Pheu Thai’s coalition in 2023, after Pheu Thai abandoned the election winners, Move Forward. He became interior minister in the coalition government, though earlier this year there were rumours that he would lose that powerful position in a cabinet reshuffle. When Paetongtarn’s obsequious phone call with former Cambodian PM Hun Sen was leaked, Anutin used the scandal as a pretext to withdraw Bhumjaithai from the coalition.

To win today’s parliamentary vote, Anutin relied on the support of the opposition People’s Party, which was founded after Move Forward was dissolved by the Constitutional Court. The People’s Party and Bhumjaithai signed a joint agreement on 3rd September, with the People’s Party endorsing Anutin as PM (though not joining a Bhumjaithai coalition) on the condition that he pledged to call an election within four months.

This confidence-and-supply arrangement is extremely unconventional, as the progressive People’s Party and the conservative Bhumjaithai are ideological opposites. But it’s in the People’s Party’s interests to hold an election as soon as possible, as Pheu Thai, their main rival, have lost public confidence. Perhaps, as the proverb says, my enemy’s enemy is my friend — the People’s Party and Bhumjaithai are united only in their mutual distrust of Pheu Thai — though the deal with Anutin could also cost the People’s Party some support at the next election.

In a last-minute and rather desperate overture yesterday, Pheu Thai offered to dissolve parliament immediately — not within the four months agreed by Anutin — provided that the People’s Party endorsed Pheu Thai’s candidate Chaikasem Nitisiri as PM. The People’s Party rejected this proposal and instead voted for Anutin, but only after an intense internal debate.

With only two nominated candidates, Anutin and Chaikasem, the People’s Party were caught between a rock and a hard place: vote for the party that scuppered their chances of forming a government in 2023 (Pheu Thai), or a party that opposes their entire manifesto (Bhumjaithai). In the end, given the betrayal that took place after the last election, it seems that the People’s Party leadership couldn’t bring themselves to endorse a Pheu Thai candidate. (If they had abstained, and neither candidate had gained a majority, this would have led to a second round of voting, with different candidates, potentially including Prayut Chan-o-cha.)

Will Anutin stick to the terms of his agreement with the People’s Party and call an early election? He has harboured prime ministerial ambitions for many years, and now that he has finally achieved them, he is unlikely to do anything to jeopardise his position. As a medium-sized party, Bhumjaithai has little hope of winning the next election, and another coalition with Pheu Thai is surely out of the question (even taking into account the transactional nature of Thai politics), giving Anutin an incentive to delay the election for as long as possible.

Phumtham Wechayachai, who had served as acting prime minister since Paetongtarn’s suspension in July, submitted a draft royal decree seeking the dissolution of parliament on 2nd September, to be signed by the King. But the submission was swiftly rejected by the Privy Council, citing legal advice that an acting PM is not authorised to dissolve parliament.

A Useful Ghost

[This review contains spoilers.]

A young woman dies, and returns as a ghost to reunite with her husband. This Thai legend, the story of Mae Nak, has been retold dozens of times, including in the blockbuster Pee Mak (พี่มาก .. พระโขนง) starring Davika Hoorne. (I wrote about the various Mae Nak adaptations for Encounter Thailand magazine.)

Davika also stars in A Useful Ghost (ผีใช้ได้ค่ะ), though there’s a bizarre twist to the tale: she plays Nat, a ghost that returns to her husband March not as a traditional spectre, but as a haunted vacuum cleaner. (The names Nat and March evoke those of Mae Nak and her husband Mak.)

In A Useful Ghost, the spirits of the dead possess electrical appliances, either to be near their loved ones or, in most cases, to torment the people responsible for their deaths. Inhaling toxic dust particles seems to be a common cause of death, hence the possessed vacuums, and this is a reflection of real life: Bangkok and Chiang Mai are notorious for their air pollution.

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s film begins as an absurd comedy, as the haunted Hoover trundles around. (A Useful Ghost shares its sense of deadpan humour with the short films of Sorayos Prapapan.) In a hilarious early sequence, a monk insults Nat’s ghost, prompting a debate among his fellow monks: “Sir, we’re holy men. We shouldn’t use words like ‘cunt’ too liberally.”

In its second half, A Useful Ghost becomes much darker. We discover that some appliances are haunted by victims of political violence: Dr Paul, a government minister, complains that he can’t sleep due to the sounds of gunshots replayed by the ghosts of those who died at Ratchaprasong in 2010. It’s this noise, not his conscience, keeping him awake at night.

Dr Paul leads a decadent lifestyle, and seems to have authority everywhere he goes, yet his ministerial portfolio is unspecified. This ambiguity, and his generic name, are presumably intended to avoid any association with real-life politicians. His wife complains about protesters who revive memories of the 1976 Thammasat massacre and the 1932 revolution, and a subplot about the dismantling of a frieze also refers to the removal of monuments commemorating 1932.

The film shifts in tone from comedy to political satire, as Nat taps into people’s dreams and the state uses electroconvulsive therapy to erase the memories of the ghosts’ living relatives. (If people can’t remember the deceased in their dreams, then the ghosts will disappear.) The ECT not only eliminates the ghosts, it also ensures that any memories of state atrocities are erased, and March resists this brainwashing by reading a (fictional) book about Ratchaprasong. As he tells Nat, she is helping to delete history, so he is trying to preserve it.

The forgetting of political violence is also a key theme in the sci-fi film Taklee Genesis (ตาคลี เจเนซิส), the short film Transmissions of Unwanted Pasts (วงโคจรของความทรงจำ), and the video installation Delete Our History, Now! (อำนาจ/การลบทิ้ง). There are three short films featuring the ghosts of Ratchaprasong massacre victims: We Will Forget It Again (แล้วเราจะลืมมันอีกครั้ง) — which also deals with the theme of forgetting the past — This House Have Ghost [sic], and Hush, Tonight the Dead Are Dreaming Loudly (as discussed in Thai Cinema Uncensored).

As in Ten Years Thailand and Supernatural (เหนือธรรมชาติ), A Useful Ghost uses dystopian science-fiction to comment on present-day Thailand. Like the film’s scientists wiping memories, successive military governments have sought to suppress discussion of controversial events. The result of this whitewashing is a cycle of nascent democratic reforms repeatedly reset by military coups, as forgotten history is destined to repeat itself.

A Useful Ghost’s initial focus on dust particles and vacuum cleaners is given an additional resonance in its second half. In Thailand, the idiom ‘dust under the feet’ refers to people swept under the carpet like specks of dust to be vacuumed up. The film’s cathartic ending hints at this metaphorical meaning of ‘dust’, as the ghosts wreak their revenge on Dr Paul while dust particles are shown glittering in the air.

Constitutional Court:“Her actions have led to a loss of trust…”

The Constitutional Court has ruled that Paetongtarn Shinawatra must be dismissed as Prime Minister, after finding her guilty of unethical conduct. The 6–3 majority verdict came after an investigation into a telephone call between Paetongtarn and former Cambodian PM Hun Sen, in which she appeared to side with Cambodia against her own military.

The phone call took place on 15th June, and the Cambodian government released a recording of it online a few days later, to embarrass Paetongtarn at a time of rising tensions between the two countries. During the conversation, Paetongtarn criticised Boonsin Padklang, a regional military commander: “As for the opposition to the Thai government, such as the 2nd Army Region commander, he could say anything that doesn’t benefit the country — anything just to make himself look cool”.

There is an active border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, and Boonsin commands troops in Thailand’s northeastern region, which includes the Thai–Cambodia border. In the phone call, Paetongtarn also seemed to accept Cambodia’s conditions to resolve the conflict, putting her under pressure from nationalists who protested that the Shinawatra family was putting its personal relationship with Hun Sen before the country’s national security.

This was echoed by yesterday’s verdict. In its judgement, the court said: “Her actions have led to a loss of trust, prioritising personal interest over national interest, which fuelled public suspicion that she was siding with Cambodia and diminished confidence in her as PM among Thai citizens... The defendant has not upheld the ethical code of conduct.”

Anutin Charnvirakul — now a leading candidate to replace Paetongtarn as PM — used the controversy as a pretext to withdraw his Bhumjaithai party from the coalition government, and thirty-six senators petitioned the Constitutional Court, accusing her of breaching ethical standards. She had been suspended as PM for the past two months, during the court’s investigation.

Paetongtarn is the daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra, who has maintained an outsized influence over Thai politics for the past twenty years despite being deposed by the 2006 coup. She is also the fifth PM to have been hand-picked by Thaksin, after Srettha Thavisin, Yingluck Shinawatra, Samak Sundaravej, and Somchai Wongsawat. Coincidentally — or not — all five have been dismissed by the Constitutional Court.

SWU Through PosterThailand Postlitical Fiction

After its launch in Bangkok last year, and subsequent events in Khon Kaen and Phayao earlier this year, the Thailand Postlitical Fiction exhibition will take place at Srinakharinwiwot University from today until 2nd September. (The exhibition’s dates were originally advertised as 1st–5th September.) SWU Through Poster features poster designs for imaginary movies commenting on Thai politics, including some new submissions.

Marisa Nagaoka’s poster 2553 shows a red chess piece defeated by a yellow one, symbolising the massacre of red-shirt protesters in 2010. (2553 in the Buddhist Era calendar is equivalent to 2010.) Natcha Threekul’s poster Who Put That Bullet In Their Hand? superimposes a large bullet over a photograph of the 6th October 1976 massacre at Thammasat University. Both posters address the issue of who is culpable for the violence committed.

Isan Odyssey

Thunska Pansittivorakul’s new documentary Isan Odyssey (อีสานอำพราง) had its premiere yesterday, as the opening film of the What the Doc! (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์ สารคดีนานาชาติ แห่งประเทศไทย) film festival. Thunska took part in a Q&A after the film, at House Samyan in Bangkok, and there will be another screening and Q&A at Century Sukhumvit in Bangkok on 3rd September.

Phassarawin Kulsomboon, Isan Odyssey’s cinematographer, previously directed Khon Boys (เด็กโขน), a documentary about a troupe of young khon dancers, and Isan Odyssey begins in a similar vein, following a troupe of young mor lam performers. Just as Khon Boys covers the historical restrictions imposed on khon performances, Isan Odyssey links the past suppression of mor lam to the political history of Thailand.

Isan Odyssey highlights the origins of mor lam as a form of political expression in the Isan region. Modern mor lam, in contrast, is primarily a commercial entertainment: “Gone are the days of ideology and fighting against state injustice.”

The veteran leader of the mor lam troupe recalls his youth in the 1960s, when he heard shots fired from helicopters, the sound of “Thai soldiers shooting communists”. This provides a segue to the film’s central theme: the state’s anti-Communist campaign in various Isan provinces during the Cold War.

A voiceover describes how suspected Communists were “brutally murdered” during Sarit Thanarat’s regime, and how this “ruthless suppression” continued during the Thanom Kittikachorn era. An elderly resident of the village of Nabua describes the situation at that time as “suffocatingly brutal.”

Similarly, Apichatpong Weerasethakul has made several films in and around Nabua, whose inhabitants were among the first victims of the anti-Communist purge. In Apichatpong’s short film A Letter to Uncle Boonmee (จดหมายถงลงบญม), a narrator recalls the area’s past: “Soldiers once occupied this place. They killed and tortured the villagers and forced them to flee to the jungle.”

Isan Odyssey touches on three specific historical incidents, though only briefly. It includes 16mm newsreel footage from 14th October 1973, and a few photographs from 6th October 1976. A young photographer describes the military crackdown in May 2010, and a caption informs us that this resulted in 108 casualties. This grim statistic was a bone of contention in Nontawat Numbenchapol’s documentary Boundary (ฟ้าต่ำแผ่นดินสูง), which was banned in part because it claimed that around 100 people had died.

One of Thunska’s films, This Area Is Under Quarantine (บริเวณนี้อยู่ภายใต้การกักกัน), was also banned. As a result, he told me in an interview for Thai Cinema Uncensored: “I decided not to show any of my films in Thailand.” Working with German producer Jürgen Brüning, he made nine films — The Terrorists (ผู้ก่อการร้าย), Supernatural (เหนือธรรมชาติ), sPACEtIME (กาล-อวกาศ), Reincarnate (จุติ), Homogeneous, Empty Time (สุญกาล), Santikhiri Sonata (สันติคีรี โซนาตา), Avalon (แดนศักดิ์สิทธิ์), Danse Macabre (มรณสติ), and Damnatio Memoriae (ไม่พึงปรารถนา) — all of which featured sexually explicit and politically sensitive content, and none of which had theatrical releases in Thailand.

Isan Odyssey is an exception: it was produced by Documentary Club in Thailand, rather than by Brüning in Germany, and it will go on theatrical release here on 25th September. As in Thunska’s other work, Isan Odyssey directly criticises the Thai state, though it avoids the graphic imagery of his earlier films, hence its ‘15’ rating from the Thai film censorship board.

Thaksin Shinawatra:“The case was dismissed...”

Charges of lèse-majesté and violation of the Computer Crime Act against former PM Thaksin Shinawatra — the single most influential figure in Thai politics over the past two decades — were dismissed by the Criminal Court in Bangkok this morning. The charges related to a video interview that Thaksin gave in South Korea ten years ago: speaking to The Chosun Daily (조선일보), he implied that a “palace circle” was behind the 2014 coup.

Today, the court ruled that Thaksin’s interview did not constitute lèse-majesté, as he had not singled out any specific individual for criticism. The verdict followed the letter of the lèse-majesté law, and the court did not detect any possible innuendo in Thaksin’s vague references to palace insiders. This is how the law should be applied, of course, though it’s in contrast to lèse-majesté cases involving less high-profile defendants, in which the law has been interpreted more broadly.

Thaksin’s passports were revoked by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2015, in a preemptive decision pending a police investigation into the Chosun Daily video. Two days later, lèse-majesté charges were filed against him on behalf of Udomdej Sitabutr, army chief at the time (raising questions about the politicisation of the military). The case lay dormant for almost a decade, though it was reopened last year, following Thaksin’s return from self-imposed exile. He appeared at the Office of the Attorney General to answer the charges, and was then formally indicted. The long-running case has now been dropped.

5 ปี #ธรรมศาสตร์จะไม่ทน: ย้อนรอยข้อเรียกร้องจาก ปฏิรูปสถาบันฯสู่ยกเลิก112(‘5 years of #ThammasatWillNotTolerate’)

The exhibition 5 ปี #ธรรมศาสตร์จะไม่ทน: ย้อนรอยข้อเรียกร้องจาก ปฏิรูปสถาบันฯสู่ยกเลิก 112 (‘5 years of #ThammasatWillNotTolerate: tracing the demands for institutional reform and the abolition of section 112’) opened yesterday at the Social Complex Building on Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus. Organised by the Museum of Popular History, it features photographs, newspaper front pages, and other materials covering the recent student protest movement.

The exhibition (which closes on 19th August) features a copy of a speech read by Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul at a 12th December 2021 protest calling for the abolition of article 112 of the criminal code (the lèse-majesté law). The paper is stained with Panusaya’s blood, as she carved “112” into her arm at the demonstration. It has previously been on display at the Bangkok Art Book Fair in 2021, and at Thammasat in 2023.

Keir Starmer: The Biography

Tom Baldwin’s biography of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, first published before last year’s election, was based on many hours spent with Starmer, his family, and senior Labour Party colleagues. This remarkable level of access led to a surprisingly intimate portrait of an intensely private politician, and the book has now been updated to include coverage of Starmer’s first year in office. Baldwin profiled Starmer for The Observer in June, and that interview is expanded in the revised paperback of Keir Starmer: The Biography.

Baldwin is a former Times and Telegraph journalist, though he was also head of communications for Labour throughout the coalition government, so his biography is broadly sympathetic to its subject. He acknowledges that he isn’t an impartial observer, and describes Starmer as “a man whom I both like and trust but sometimes find hard to fathom.” And the PM’s colleagues seemingly feel the same way about him: “Those who have worked closely with Starmer mix deep affection with tearing-their-hair-out frustration because they... yearn for a clearly defined project that identifies their purpose. They want a ‘Starmerism’. And he just won’t give them one.”

In his introduction, Baldwin makes clear that “it’s only fair to warn those hoping to find these pages apattered with blood that they will be disappointed.” The other key Starmer book published this year, Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund’s Get In: The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer, seems brutally direct in comparison, and Baldwin accurately describes it as “a blood-stained account of Labour’s transformation over the past five years, in which Starmer himself was largely absent.”

Maguire and Pogrund quote a Starmer advisor saying: “He thinks he’s driving the train, but we’ve sat him at the front of the DLR.” (The Docklands Light Railway uses driverless trains.) Get In leaves the reader in no doubt that Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney is in the driving seat — and that its authors have the same access to high-level Labour sources as Andrew Rawnsley had in the New Labour era.

Phimailongweek 2Midnight Monsoon

The second annual Phimailongweek (พิมายฬองวีค) experimental arts festival will take place at Phimai, in Korat province, from 1st to 15th August. The theme of this year’s event is Midnight Monsoon (ภาคมรสุมฝัน), and it includes a programme of overnight film screenings at various locations around the ancient town, titled Phimailongdoo: Midnight Screening (พิมายฬองดูววว: ภาพยนตร์เที่ยงคืน).

Undoubtedly the highlight of the festival will be on 2nd August at Victory Gate: screenings of previously censored films, a provocative recent documentary, and a discussion about film censorship. This session will begin with three short films by Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, including I’m Fine (สบายดีค่ะ), for which she sat in a cage next to Democracy Monument in a commentary on political freedom.

Midnight Talk

Tanwarin will then take part in มรดกของการเซนเซอร์ ผลกระทบ จากความขัดแย้ง และเสรีภาพในการสร้างภาพยนตร์ (‘the legacy of censorship and the impact of conflict on freedom for filmmaking’), a Midnight Talk discussion with fellow director Ing K. Nontawat Numbenchapol was originally scheduled to appear, though he is unable to attend; Tanwarin, Ing, and Nontawat have all made films that were previously banned in Thailand, and I interviewed all three directors for Thai Cinema Uncensored.

Ing’s Shakespeare Must Die (เชคสเปียร์ต้องตาย) will be shown after the discussion. After midnight, in the early hours of 3rd August, it will be followed by two political documentaries: Nontawat’s Boundary (ฟ้าต่ำแผ่นดินสูง) and Uruphong Raksasad’s Paradox Democracy.

Shakespeare Must Die

Shakespeare Must Die was banned by the Ministry of Culture in 2012, and the ban was upheld by the Administrative Court in 2017. Ing’s battle with the censors, documented in her film Censor Must Die (เซ็นเซอร์ต้องตาย), went all the way to the Supreme Court, which finally lifted the ban last year. After its belated theatrical release, it has since been screened at Burapha University and Chiang Mai University.

Shakespeare Must Die is a Thai adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, with Pisarn Pattanapeeradej in the lead role. The play is presented in two parallel versions: a production in period costume, and a contemporary political interpretation. The period version is faithful to Shakespeare’s original, though it also breaks the fourth wall, with cutaways to the audience and an interval outside the theatre (featuring a cameo by the director).

In the contemporary sequences, Macbeth is reimagined as Mekhdeth, a prime minister facing a crisis. Street protesters shout “ok pbai!” (‘get out!’), and the protests are infiltrated by assassins listed in the credits as ‘men in black’. Ing has downplayed any direct link to Thai politics, though “Thaksin ok pbai!” was the People’s Alliance for Democracy’s rallying cry against Thaksin Shinawatra, and ‘men in black’ were blamed for instigating violence in 2010. Another satirical line in the script — “Dear Leader brings happy-ocracy!” — predicts Prayut Chan-o-cha’s propaganda song Returning Happiness to the Thai Kingdom (คืนความสุขให้ประเทศไทย).

The parallels between Mekhdeth and Thaksin highlight the politically-motivated nature of the ban imposed on the film. Ironically, the project was initially funded by the Ministry of Culture, during Abhisit Vejjajiva’s premiership: it received a grant from the ไทยเข้มแข็ง (‘strong Thailand’) stimulus package. The Abhisit government was only too happy to greenlight a script criticising Thaksin, though by the time the film was finished, Thaksin’s sister Yingluck was in power, and her administration was somewhat less disposed to this anti-Thaksin satire, hence the ban.

Although the film was made more than a decade ago, its message is arguably more timely than ever, as Thaksin’s influence over Thai politics continues. He returned to Thailand in 2023, and his Pheu Thai Party is now leading a coalition with the political wing of the military junta.

The film’s climax, a recreation of the 6th October 1976 massacre, is its most controversial sequence. A photograph by Neal Ulevich, taken during the massacre, shows a vigilante preparing to hit a corpse with a chair, and Shakespeare Must Die restages the incident. A hanging body (symbolising Shakespeare himself) is repeatedly hit with a chair, though rather than dwelling on the violence, Ing cuts to reaction shots of the crowd, which (as in 1976) resembles a baying mob.

Ing didn’t mince her words in her Thai Cinema Uncensored interview, describing the censors as “a bunch of trembling morons with the power of life and death over our films.” Thai Cinema Uncensored also includes an insider’s account from a member of the appeals committee, who said he was obliged by his department head to vote against releasing the film: “I had to vote no, because it was an instruction from my director. But if I could have voted freely, I would have voted yes.”

Boundary

Boundary documents the 2008 conflict between Thailand and Cambodia when the disputed Preah Vihear Temple was exploited for nationalist political gain. The issue was so sensitive that the director couldn’t even reveal his identity while filming at the temple. As he told me in his Thai Cinema Uncensored interview: “I could not tell anyone in Cambodia that I’m Thai, because it would be hard to shoot. I had to tell everybody I’m Chinese-American... My name was Thomas in Cambodia.”

The festival screening is especially timely, as another border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia is currently taking place. At a time when the Cambodian government is inflaming tensions, and nationalist groups in Thailand are exploiting the political crisis, Boundary represents a plea for de-escalation on both sides, and a reminder of the dangers of history repeating itself.

Boundary is composed largely of silent, still sequences depicting the serenity of rural life, as a counterpoint to the fierce border dispute surrounding the temple. Nontawat begins by interviewing Aod, a young soldier, in his home village. Idyllic sequences of novice monks bathing and Aod’s father fishing are contrasted with Aod describing his military conscription and the army’s crackdown against red-shirt protesters in 2010.

After footage of the Thai military firing at their Cambodian counterparts near Preah Vihear, we see damage to houses and a school close to the temple, caused by bombs and gunfire from Cambodian troops. Finally, at the end of the film, Nontawat’s camera explores the temple itself, the ruined Khmer compound that has been the subject of such bloodshed and ultra-nationalism.

Boundary was previously shown at Lido Connect and Warehouse 30 in Bangkok in 2019. Its most recent screenings were at Chiang Mai University, the Thai Film Archive in Salaya, and Thammasat University in Bangkok. It has been subject to censorship twice: it was cut before its theatrical release in 2013, and a screening in Chonburi was prohibited by the military in 2015.

Paradox Democracy

Paradox Democracy documents the recent student protest movement, and features clips from rally speeches by Arnon Nampa and other protest leaders, intercut with extracts from The Revolutionist (คือผู้อภิวัฒน์), a play about Pridi Banomyong staged by the Crescent Moon theatre group in 2020. The film’s working title was Paradox October, and it includes footage shot at the 6th October 1976 commemorative exhibition at Thammasat University in 2020. It was previously shown at The 28th Thai Short Film and Video Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์สั้น ครั้งที่ 28), and at Chiang Mai University.

When My Father Was a Communist

Vichart Somkaew’s new documentary When My Father Was a Communist is another highlight of the festival, screening on 8th August at Phimai Wittaya School. Vichart interviewed his father, Sawang, and other former members of the Communist Party of Thailand, and the film is a valuable social history. The veterans explain their decisions to join the CPT, and describe their experiences in the forests of Phatthalung.

When My Father Was a Communist is also a record of the state’s violent suppression of Communist insurgents, hundreds (potentially thousands) of whom were burned in oil drums in 1972. These so-called ‘red barrel’ deaths were most prevalent in Phatthalung, and have never been officially investigated. (The names of the victims are listed before the film’s end credits.)

There have been other documentaries about the red barrels, but When My Father Was a Communist stands out for Vichart’s close connections to the subject. This is a deeply personal project, as he was born in Phatthalung, and he is documenting the memories of his elderly father.

The film notes that the repressive atmosphere of the 1970s has not disappeared. One speaker says that the political system has barely changed since the military dictatorship after the 1976 coup. Another makes a direct comparison between the suppression of political opponents then and now: “dissolving political parties, slapping people with Article 112 charges... It’s like arresting them and throwing them in red barrels, but they do it in a different way now.”

When My Father Was a Communist was first shown at the Us coffee shop in Phatthalung on 10th July. It was also screened at Vongchavalitkul University in Korat on 23rd July, A.E.Y. Space in Songkla on 26th July, and Lorem Ipsum in Hat Yai on 27th July.

Coup d’état

On 1st August, a selection of short films by local filmmakers will be shown at Victory Gate. These will include Natthapol Kitwarasai’s Coup d’état, a dialogue-free, black-and-white film in which a soldier rummages through an old man’s meagre possessions. The man watches impassively, apparently oblivious to the trespassing soldier, and spends his time sleeping and swimming, which symbolise freedom for the director. Although the drama is allegorical, the film opens with photographs of the military leaders who instigated Thailand’s many coups. Coup d’état was previously shown in the online Short Film Marathon 26 (หนังสั้นมาราธอน 26).

The Body Craves Impact as Love Bursts

Wattanapume Laisuwanchai’s The Body Craves Impact as Love Bursts (ร่างกายอยากปะทะ เพราะรักมันปะทุ) will also be screened at Victory Gate, on 14th August. The video features images of a man and woman tantalisingly close and facing each other, yet separated. As the director explained in his artist’s statement, the installation was made in solidarity with the rapper Elevenfinger, who is serving a prison sentence for possession of ping-pong bombs used in anti-government protests: “I have visited him and witnessed the despair not only affecting him and his partner but also their families and relatives. This situation mirrors the plight of other political prisoners”.

The video ends dramatically with flashing images and footage of fireworks, filmed at Thalugaz protests in 2021. It was first shown as an installation at the Procession of Dystopia exhibition last year. It has also been screened at The 7th Bangkok Experimental Film Festival (เทศกาลหนังทดลองกรุงเทพฯ ครั้งที่ 7), Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, and Cinemine/d.

No Exorcism Film

Another recent short film, Komtouch Napattaloong’s No Exorcism Film, will be shown on 8th August at the Local.Gen cafe. In this experimenal film, a robotic voiceover narrates a dream that includes a short silent video clip of Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul in 2020 reading a manifesto calling for reform of the monarchy. No Exorcism Film was previously shown at BEFF7, The 28th Thai Short Film and Video Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์สั้น ครั้งที่ 28), Wildtype 2024, and in the online Short Film Marathon 28 (หนังสั้นมาราธอน 28). It will also be screened next month in Udon Thani.

Bangkok Joyride 5: Dancing with Death

The fifth episode of Ing K.’s epic documentary Bangkok Joyride (บางกอกจอยไรด์), subtitled Dancing with Death (รำวงพญายม), had its premiere at Cinema Oasis in Bangkok yesterday. The series, shot on Ing’s iPhone, is an exhaustive record of the street protests organised by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee against Yingluck Shinawatra’s government, and part five documents the period from 9th to 26th February 2014.

Dancing with Death begins in the same festive spirit as the earlier episodes, as Ing films a 9th February 2014 protest march in real time and picks out colourful characters among the demonstrators. The rally was a fundraiser for farmers affected by Yingluck’s disastrous rice subsidy scheme, which resulted in vast stockpiles of unsold rice and delays in compensating the farmers who supplied it.

The atmosphere of the protests became much darker on 18th February 2014, when riot police armed with tear gas and rubber bullets attempted to reclaim land occupied by the PDRC. At Phan Fah near Democracy Monument, protesters attacked the police with grenades and gunfire, and the police responded with live ammunition. Four protesters and a police officer were killed, and Ing covers the aftermath of this political violence, filming the funeral of a victim. The film also includes a horrific Facebook video clip showing a protester being fatally shot.

Parts one and two of the documentary, How We Became Superheroes (เมื่อเราเป็นยอดมนุษย์) and Shutdown Bangkok (ชัตดาวน์ประเทศไทย), covered the buildup to the PDRC’s campaign in 2013 and the initial demonstrations in Bangkok. Part three, Singing at Funerals (เพลงแห่ศพ), covered the intensification of the protests in January 2014, when the PDRC caused gridlock in downtown Bangkok. Part four, Becoming One (เป็นหนึ่งเดียว), covered the 2nd February 2014 election, which the PDRC sabotaged.

The PDRC campaign took place more than a decade ago, but — given the cyclical nature of Thai politics — there are parallels with current events. Another Shinawatra family member, Yingluck’s niece Paetongtarn, is now in office, and there was a demonstration against her at Victory Monument in Bangkok on 28th June. The PDRC’s protests paved the way for a coup in 2014, and a headline in a recent issue of The Economist magazine (12th July) asked: “Is Thailand heading for another coup?”

Thai Cinema Uncensored discusses other Thai films that comment on the PDRC (all of which, unlike Bangkok Joyride, are critical of the protesters). These include Neti Wichiansaen’s Democracy after Death (ประชาธิปไตยหลังความตาย), Sorayos Prapapan’s Auntie Maam Has Never Had a Passport (ดาวอินดี้), Watcharapol Saisongkroh’s This Film Has Been Invalid [sic], Joaquim Niamtubtim’s Shut Sound: Lao Duang Duen, and three films by Chulayarnnon Siriphol: 100 Times Reproduction of Democracy (การผลิตซ้ำประชาธิปไตยให้กลายเป็นของแท้), Myth of Modernity, and Here Comes the Democrat Party (ประชาธิปัตย์มาแล้ว).

Toxic Remains: Parasites of a Betrayed Dream

Thasnai Sethaseree’s new exhibition Toxic Remains: Parasites of a Betrayed Dream (เศษพิษ: ปรสิตแห่งฝันทรยศ) opened at Gallery VER in Bangkok on 20th July and runs until 20th September. (His previous exhibitions include Cold War, in 2022.)

The centrepiece of Toxic Remains is Parasites, a vast collage depicting the pixelated faces of fourteen former prime ministers — many of whom have military backgrounds — surrounded by parasitic worms. According to an introductory text on the gallery wall, these creatures symbolise “the enduring toxicity of militarism embedded in the national body.”

Donald Trump:“I’m gonna sue The Wall Street Journal just like I sued everyone else…”

Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, after the newspaper reported that he had sent child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a salacious letter on Epstein’s fiftieth birthday. Trump denies writing the letter, and is seeking an extraordinary $20 billion in damages. In a front-page story published (in late editions) on 18th July, The Wall Street Journal revealed the existence of an album compiled in 2003 by Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell — who is also a child sex offender — containing letters and cards from Epstein’s friends, including Trump.

In his letter to Epstein, Trump wrote: “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” The text is enclosed within a drawing of the outline of a nude woman, and Trump signed the letter in the position where the woman’s pubic hair would be. A thick marker pen, Trump’s preferred type, was used for the drawing and signature.

Trump, like Prince Andrew, was a close associate of Epstein’s who attempted to distance himself once Epstein’s crimes were revealed. He is currently trying to deflect attention away from Epstein, though this lawsuit will have the opposite effect. The WSJ article — written by Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, and headlined “Trump’s Bawdy Letter to Epstein Was in 50th Birthday Album” — includes denials by Trump, and quotes him as saying: “I’m gonna sue The Wall Street Journal just like I sued everyone else”.

Safdar and Palazzolo are named in Trump’s lawsuit, as is media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the proprietor of the WSJ. Trump posted on Truth Social on 18th July: “I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But now he has, and I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.” Trump is seeking $10 billion in damages for defamation per se, and a further $10 billion for defamation per quod (that is, implicit defamation).

Murdoch has a chequered history with Trump, as does the Journal. In an editorial at the beginning of the year, the newspaper called Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada “The Dumbest Trade War in History”. Rather than backing down since the lawsuit was issued, the Journal today printed a potentially even more damaging revelation: that Trump was told by his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, in May “that his name was in the Epstein files”.

In US defamation cases involving public figures, proof of ‘actual malice’ (deliberate dishonesty) is required. By quoting Trump’s denial, and by describing the letter as “bearing Trump’s name” rather than directly stating that Trump wrote it, the Journal’s report demonstrates due diligence rather than malice. The obvious authenticity of the album containing the letter is also a strong indication that the Journal was not guilty of deception.

But there is also another potentially fatal flaw in Trump’s case: the lawsuit was filed at the United States District Court in the Southern District of Florida, and Florida law states that a defamation suit can only be filed five or more days after giving notice to the defendant (i.e., the Journal). Trump claims that he spoke to the newspaper on 15th July, which was only three days before he filed his lawsuit. This alone would be sufficient grounds for a judge to dismiss the case.

Trump’s lawyers are presumably aware of this five-day requirement, and of the fact that a defamation trial would expose embarrassing details of Trump’s past friendship with Epstein. Therefore, it’s entirely possible that this is merely a performative or vexatious lawsuit, and that Trump has no intention of proceeding to trial.

Trump has sued numerous other media figures and news organisations, including Bill Maher, Timothy L. O’Brien, Bob Woodward, and CNN. But these lawsuits were all filed either while Trump was out of office, or before he entered politics. Therefore, his lawsuit against the WSJ is the first time that a sitting American president has ever sued a media organisation.

Gavin Newsom: “See you in court, buddy...”

Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, is suing Fox News host Jesse Watters for defamation, after Watters accused him of lying about a phone call with President Donald Trump. Newsom is seeking $787 million in damages, the same amount that Fox paid to settle the Dominion Voting System defamation case in 2023.

Newsom’s lawsuit, filed on 27th June, accuses Fox News of “disregarding basic journalistic ethics in favor of malicious propaganda”. In a statement, Fox rejected what it described as Newsom’s “transparent publicity stunt”.

On 10th June, Trump claimed to have spoken to Newsom by phone “a day ago”, though Newsom denied this. On his Primetime show that evening, Watters said: “Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?” A chyron on screen read: “GAVIN LIED ABOUT TRUMP’S CALL”.

On 17th July, Watters made an on-air apology to Newsom: “He didn’t deceive anybody on purpose, so I’m sorry. He wasn’t lying.” In reply, Newsom issued a statement saying simply: “See you in court, buddy.”

Kneecap

A criminal investigation into Kneecap’s performance at this year’s Glastonbury Festival has been dropped. Avon and Somerset Police announced yesterday that there was “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.

During their Glastonbury set, Móglaí Bap called for fans to “start a riot” outside court when his fellow band member Mo Chara’s trial on terrorism charges begins. But a few minutes later, after realising that his comments could be construed as an incitement to violence, he explained that he wasn’t literally asking people to riot.

The investigation into another Glastonbury performance, by Bob Vylan, is continuing. Bobby Vylan, the group’s front man, led the crowd in a chant of “death, death to the IDF”, a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.

Donald Trump v. Bob Woodward

Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Bob Woodward and the publisher Simon and Schuster was dismissed today. Trump had claimed that Woodward’s audiobook The Trump Tapes — featuring Woodward’s recordings of his interviews with Trump — was released without prior authorisation.

Trump’s lawsuit, seeking $50 million in damages, argued that the publication of the tapes violated his copyright. Judge Paul Gardephe of the Southern District of New York ruled that Trump could not be considered a co-author of the audiobook, and that the publication of the interviews constituted fair use under copyright law.

Happy New Year, Stranger

Chatchawan Thongchan directed one of the best Thai short films of the past few years, From Forest to City (อรัญนคร). His latest film is Happy New Year, Stranger (สวัสดีปีใหม่ คนไม่รู้จัก), a timely and powerful documentary about the plight of lèse-majesté prisoners and the campaign to quash their convictions.

The film opens with footage from 8th November 2020, when riot police fired tear gas to prevent demonstrators entering the Grand Palace to deliver an open letter addressed to the King. In a voiceover, Chatchawan explains that it was this protest movement that led to his political awakening: “This is where my political journey began... there were protests happening in 2020. That’s when I started to pay attention”.

This realisation of political consciousness is known in Thai as ta sawang, and several directors — Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Yuthlert Sippapak, Chulayarnnon Siriphol, Thunska Pansittivorakul, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Nontawat Numbenchapol — discussed their ta sawang moments in interviews for Thai Cinema Uncensored. But in the self-reflexive Happy New Year, Stranger Chatchawan does something unique: he uses the film to articulate his own personal questions about politics and the monarchy.

Most of the material in Happy New Year, Stranger was shot last year, at a vigil outside parliament calling for an amnesty for lèse-majesté charges, and at a New Year’s Eve street party outside Bangkok Remand Prison held in solidarity with lèse-majesté convicts detained there. At both events, live music was played, and in his director’s statement, Chatchawan describes these scenes as “a gift for political prisoners behind bars, allowing them to feel a sense of freedom.”

This coming together of activists and artists to support prisoners charged with lèse-majesté was also a key feature of Chatchawan’s similar short film To a Friend I Have Never Met (แด่เพื่อนที่ไม่รู้จัก), which was released on New Year’s Eve and was dedicated to political prisoners. There are also parallels with Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s short film Ashes, which — like Happy New Year, Stranger — ends with a firework display.

Finally, Happy New Year, Stranger is an especially topical film, though for an unfortunate reason: a bill proposing amnesty for lèse-majesté cases was rejected by parliament yesterday, as expected. A People’s Party bill calling for a case-by-case amnesty review was also rejected. Three amnesty bills were passed, though each of them explicitly states that those charged with lèse-majesté are not eligible for consideration.

Previous documentaries dealing directly with lèse-majesté cases include 112 News from Heaven, The Letter from Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ), Hungry for Freedom, We Need to Talk About อานนท์ (‘we need to talk about Arnon’), and The Cost of Freedom. (Thai Cinema Uncensored discusses the impact of the lèse-majesté law on Thai filmmakers, and their responses to it.)

Remnants of Fading Shadows

Remnants of Fading Shadows, a retrospective exhibition of installations and video works by Wantanee Siripattananuntakul, opened at Silpakorn University Art Centre in Bangkok on 19th June, and runs until 31st August. It includes The Web of Time, which was previously shown at the Bangkok Art Biennale (บางกอก อาร์ต เบียนนาเล่) in 2022.

The exhibition also includes Freeze-TV, a 2015 video in which a speech by Prayut Chan-o-cha is played on a television placed next to the artist’s parrot, Beuys. The TV screen is covered with felt, though the sound of Prayut’s voice can be heard, and the piece was inspired by Felt TV (Felz-TV), a Fluxus performance by Joseph Beuys. (The parrot is named after the Fluxus artist.)

As the video progresses, the felt begins to peel away from the screen, partially revealing the news footage, and the parrot eventually breaks out of its cage and flies away, seemingly unable to bear the TV broadcast. Of course, the caged bird is a metaphor for the restrictions imposed by martial law. Tanwarin Sukkhapisit made the same point in her short film I’m Fine (สบายดีค่ะ), as she sat in a cage next to Democracy Monument.

Wantanee discussed the concept behind Freeze-TV in a 2023 interview with the Ground Control website. She explained that the video’s title came from the fact that TV was effectively frozen by the coup-makers: regular programming was suspended when the coup took place, and coup leaders always seize control of the airwaves, just as they take over the government. Although the video features Prayut’s voice, she noted that his name is not mentioned, so it represents the idea of a coup itself, rather than specifically referring to 2014, and therefore it could also represent a future Thai coup.