Live performers at the Conrad hotel’s swanky Diplomat Bar have just gotta find it a challenge. A massive circular bar divides the two-story-high space in half and blocks a clear view of the stage for many of the patrons. Audiences are an incongruous “bar-at-the-end-of the-universe” hodgepodge of music-lovers keen to listen, oh-so hi-so locals chatting at the top of their lungs and out-of-town businessmen more focused on the omnipresent array of beautiful women perched at the far end of the bar than they are on the music. (Did someone just request Love for Sale by Cole Porter AGAIN?) Enter singer, songwriter Arlee Leonard, a unique talent with a four-octave range, and a soulful presence that somehow brings a harmonious balance to the room—easily filling every corner without overpowering the center. Listening to her voice, it becomes clear that she could blow the roof off the place if she wanted to—but only at the right moments.

What can people expect when they come to see Arlee?
A nice mélange of jazz styles. I always like to mix it up. I sing straight ahead standards, more modern jazz, Brazilian classics, blues and ballads. I’ll put in some pop classics and jazz them up a little bit. I’ll do some original stuff—just all stuff that I love.

Where would you like to see your career ten years from now?
Ideally in 10 years I would be a recognized recording artist performing around the world with my own group. I would be a published author. I would be a Grammy winning singer, why not? (laughs). Maybe I would even be in love and settle down with a great partner in the middle of all of that! With home, thank you very much—a real home!

Your parents are performers and well-known on the New Orleans blues scene. Have you been able to get involved with the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts?
My parents started their own hurricane relief tour raising money for three organizations that help New Orleans musicians: the Tipitina’s Foundation, The Preservation Hall Foundation and the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic. A percentage of the sales from my CD, Wild Honey, went for hurricane relief.

What do you see for the future of New Orleans? How do you see things panning out there?
Keeping the soul of New Orleans is important to me. I have a project that I am working on called The Soul of New Orleans. It is so intense for me, I don’t know if it will be a CD or a stage show. But I know I want to do my part to shine a light on, or bring the focus back to New Orleans.

What was the outcome of your first album?
It’s as I expected. It’s not like the album sales enable me to go inter, but they’re not so bad that I have to pack up and leave the business. I’m just doing well enough that I could afford to put out a second album. And now my name is recognized by some people.

What can we expect from your second album?
For this one the style of music is changed. The songs on Pop Trade are all in the style of ‘80s pop music. But this album doesn’t have a fixed musical style. What’s consistent is the theme: elusiveness. The album asks if you’ve ever tried to conquer love or rationalize love. If you even think about love in those ways, you’re already wrong. Love is elusive. All you can do is laugh and cry for it and let it fool you, and someday you might be lucky enough to find it for real. The songs in the album are about people who try to control love and try to capture and analyze it.

How did you come up with the title Luang Ta?
I purposely chose a Thai name. Jig Prapas Cholsaranon wrote in his book Yodmanud Lamlong that he looked at the list of nominees for the Fat Award and felt both glad and kind of hurt. He was pleased because kids today are good at making music but was disappointed because there was only one band that named its album in Thai. He wanted to tell the new generation that English might be more compact and eloquent, but finding a Thai word that is as concise and expressive is worth the challenge. When I read that, I decided to find a Thai word with no English translation.

Are you still with No More Belts Records?
Yes, I am. No More Belts stays the same—it doesn’t get bigger or smaller or work under other companies. I’m just asking Sanam Luang Records to help promote and distribute. I still do everything myself—writing, playing, recording, and producing every song. I just want my work to reach a larger audience so I decided to put the marketing in the hands of professionals.

Is it better working with big companies?
It is better. Many people are afraid of Grammy because it’s big and so corporate. They’re concerned that Grammy executives might treat them as if they were born yesterday, but I’ve never met such people there. What I do see are Grammy’s strong points. It’s a big organization with many media resources in its hands.

Mass market is not so bad then?
It’s just the young generation thinking, “I only like neaw songs.” If an artist goes to a big record company, sells more than 50,000 copies, stages a big concert, and becomes well known, these kids stop liking him. ‘Neaw or not’ isn’t all that defines music though. Those who have really learned to appreciate music can understand what makes it worth listening to.

What is your current state of mind?
Warm!

What did you want to be when you grew up?
A pianist. I didn’t because of stage fright.

What is your greatest achievement?
Being able to graduate. No, actually, it hasn’t really happened yet.

What personal trait do you appreciate the most in others?
Well, since I’m kind of lazy, I appreciate punctuality and also I like people who smile a lot.

Do you have a cause or do you support one?
I feel trying to take care of yourself and staying healthy is very, very important.

What are you reading?
I’m currently reading a book of short stories by Thomas Mann. A friend gave it to me a long while ago. Though that’s not what I usually read. I’m more into sci-fi books.

What was your early childhood like?
Blissful. It was everything a child could ask for.

What is your idea of hell?
Where someone would make me do all the things that I don’t want to do.

What is your guilty pleasure?
Smoking.

How do you recharge?
I get out and walk the whole day on my own, preferably in the city.

What’s playing on your iPod/MP3/CD player?
Lots of rap, hip hop and French electro from the ’70s.

Where would you like to live?
I don’t know yet. The more places I see, the more I don’t know. I love the clothes in this country but the guys in another, the food in another … I’ve just stopped thinking about it now.

What accessory sets you apart?
There’s this necklace, it’s my mum’s and it has her maiden name written on it in Arabic.

What about you scares others?
People say I’m very direct, you know, I tell them to their face whatever I want to say.

If you had to play a character in a movie, which movie and which character?
It’d be Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind as Kate Winslet’s character, because she is so outspoken yet vulnerable in it. I like that.

What did you believe at 18 that you wish you still believed now?
Keeping in touch with friends. Then, I used to be very keen on getting people together and now that’s really vanished.

Art to you is…
Beauty.

If you weren’t an artist, you would be…
A designer. Maybe a shoe designer, basically somewhere I’d be making things, using my hands.

How do you make sense out of art?
The thing is, it’s not about definitions or meaning, it’s more so that people start to ask questions like this one. It’s really about “nothing” which is trying to be “something,” which it becomes when the lines and strokes come together as a whole. It’s just a form of your own expression.

Those hardworking guys digging trenches in the fields have caught our eye. After smearing dirty green makeup on our faces, we trotted over, eyed their M16s nervously—and try to chat them up.

What is National Service (NS) to you?

Teo Ah Beng: It is a time when you grow up to learn if you are a man, a gu niang (girl) or an ah gua (transvestite).

Malcolm Png: It is my duty to serve my country.

Krishnamoorthy: National Service means I won’t be able to see my Lathi for a long long long time!

Johari Salleh: A time when all men come together and fight, fight, fight.

Kenny Pereira: A waste of time.

Why do you think NS is mandatory for guys, and not girls?

TAB: Girls dirty, dirty, macho, macho, where got nice!?

MP: Because the government decided that girls should continue with university, while the boys become men.

K: Aiyoh! My Lathi wouldn’t be able to take all the running around in the hot sun and holding a gun! She’s not that kind of girl my sweet Lathi.

JS: Because all of us guys are very strong. If we all come together we even stronger.

KP: It’s not mandatory for girls, meh? Then what am I doing here?

When the going gets tough, what do you do?

TAB: Lim Tiger beer. (Drink Tiger beer)

MP: I call my mother or find a nice quiet place to drink my Milo.

K: When the going gets tough I run lah.

JS: I relak.

KP: I get someone else to go.

Do you think green camouflage uniforms are hot? How do you think they can be improved?

TAB: I think certain parts of the uniform should have Velcro, so that when no exercise, can strip and the uniform can become a short sleeved top and Bermudas. Ka liang! (It’s cooler.)

MP: Gee, you have to ask Kenny! I don’t know anything about fashion.

K: Actually I like the uniform. Lathi says it turns her on.  I can pretend to be a tree while Lathi dances around me.

JS: I think the green is very nice, but maybe if they can also make them red, then we have choice.

KP: Yes, they are hot. How can they be improved? Get Donna Karan to design them.

Do you pick up all that supposedly macho behavior such as cursing and feel manlier afterwards?

TAB: Actually I’m the one who teach them.

MP: I think cursing and swearing is a sign of insecurity. I don’t have to behave like that to be manly.

K: I don’t swear, Lathi doesn’t let me.

JS: Before I go army, I can swear already. In the army, it makes swearing better.

KP: Why would I want to feel manlier?

Do you really believe that running, digging trenches, doing pushups and marching make you a better person?

TAB: Don’t know about being a better person. Maybe more muscles.

MP: It certainly has made me fitter and stronger. It also cultivates teamwork
and cooperation.

K: Of course! Long distance running is going to help me run away. Digging trenches will help me hide!

JS: Yes, it does, because we become stronger and our minds are fresher.

KP: Yes, no, yes and no. Running keeps my lovely limbs lithe, digging trenches is so dirty, doing pushups increases my bust and marching ... oh, come on!

One of the favorite hangouts of desperate NS guys is Geylang. Anything to say about that?

TAB: Ya, the food is also good!

MP: I only go to Geylang for the beef hor fun. Other types of fun I’m not familiar with. The guys that go there must really be hungry.

K: None of them have girlfriends that look as good as my Lathi.

JS: If it makes them happy, then that is okay.

KP: Geylang? Why ah?

Complete the sentence. “My ring tone for my handphone is…”

TAB: Techno - logy man!

MP: Ring ring ... ring ring…

K: Oh Lathi you’re so fine, You’re so fine you blow my mind, Oh Lathi! Oh Lathi!

JS: Rock terus rock.

KP: Bette Midler’s “I’m Beautiful, Dammit”

How long have you been a noodle making chef?
I have been a chef for 16 years, having picked up culinary skills as an apprentice in a government hotel in China. As for noodle making, I have been doing it for about seven years.

Why have you chosen this profession?
When I graduated from college, I was unable to enter university and had to find some other means of survival. It was a hot trend then for men to be chefs or noodle makers, as it was practical and could ensure a job.

What’s the secret to making great noodles by hand?
Mostly experience, because the secret of Szechuan food is attaining particular taste for a dish despite differences or changes in ingredients.

What are the different kinds of noodles you can make by hand?
There are more than 10 kinds.

Explain how good noodles taste better than low quality ones.
They run smoothly down your throat, and make you want to eat some more. Handmade noodles have been kneaded by hand repeatedly and the dough is even. The noodles are shinier, and the taste and the texture less dull.

What is your record speed for making noodles?
For dao xiao mian, I can slice enough noodles for three bowls in one minute.

What do you really do—stand at the table and make noodles the whole day?
I have my delegated tasks and duties besides making noodles. I also make bean curd, mooncakes, dian xin or even experiment with something new for the menu. In general, I bake and cook non-stop.

Fingers, wrists, palms or forearms, which tire most?
I find it most tiring for my waist, upper back and shoulders.

Ever thought of inventing your own noodle creation?
I will, if I have the chance to!

Rice and noodles—which do you prefer?
I think about noodles first, because it is part of my job.

Do you have a need to occupy your hands all the time?
I rest my hands if I am tired, especially as my fingers and wrists are injury prone areas given my profession. I have to take care of them.

What else are you good at?
I guess I have good eyesight, given that I have to make elaborately shaped sweets sometimes. Maybe wei qi too.

What can one do with noodles besides eating them?
The noodles I make are for my customers to eat, and not for anything else!

Bernie (who thinks he’s the boss)

He has set up four restaurants (Bernie’s in Upper Changi, Bernie’s BFD on East Coast Parkway, Bernie’s Goes to Town on Boat Quay and Bernie’s on Jalan Tua Kong (now Blooie’s), has been involved in two more (Home Beach Bar and Handlebar), and is now on to his second Botak Jones hawker stall. The first is in Tuas, and the second in Ang Mo Kio.

Sum up your experience running restaurants.
I made more money than I ever had—and I lost it all.

Why keep on running your own food and beverage business?
Bill Gates didn’t start Microsoft to be rich, he did it to be powerful. Steve Jobs started Apple to be an innovator. The focus of strong entrepreneurs is not money but what they do. So even if they lose money they can still keep doing what they do.

How has the transition from restaurants to hawker stalls been?
Boat Quay [his last restaurant] was a financial disaster. We lost a lot of money. By the time we realized what was happening, it was too late to turn it around. BFD was our heyday. We were getting offers everyday from investors. Botak Jones is now starting to brand itself—most of our business is repeat business. We are selling more food at our two stalls than we did at BFD.

How is Botak Jones different from your previous restaurants?
Botak Jones’s business model is smarter than Bernie’s business plan. I went out smarter this time, was quicker at identifying problems and adjusting my business to overcome them.

What are you first: An entrepreneur or a food guy?
I’m an entrepreneur first, a food guy second and a businessman third.

What’s the difference between an entrepreneur and a businessman?
For an entrepreneur, what he does, whether it is food or something else, is his mission. He wants to innovate and bring new stuff to the table. A businessman is someone who is concerned with the nuts and bolts of running a company. Successful entrepreneurs combine these things and bring in people to help in the areas they can’t do themselves.

What qualities do you need to stick it out in the restaurant business?
Drive—lots of drive. You will hit many roadblocks, that’s when you need to take a breather to figure out a way to overcome the hurdles. You also need to learn to sell your ideas to the government authorities. You have to be patient, because different authorities work at different paces. And, you need good relationships—with your customers and staff first, and then with your suppliers. After I lost everything at Boat Quay and resumed business, most of my suppliers agreed to do business with me. They trusted me.

If you had to do it all over again, is there anything you would do differently?
Knowing what I know now about the restaurant business, I would have tried to be smarter from the start. I would not have done the club thing [at Boat Quay], I would have paid more attention to stalls and catering, and let restaurants and clubs be the second generation of my business. But there is a Catch-22 to all this—my stalls would not be successful now if people didn’t already know me from my restaurants.

Any advice for would-be restaurateurs?
Don’t do it for the money. Let the money be a measuring stick of your success, a bonus. Judge your restaurant by the degree of satisfaction you get out of it. For me, wanting to build something and having people find value in what I’ve done keeps me motivated. And you gotta have fun! F&B is about entertainment, making sure that your customers are having a good time.

Samia Ahad (the seasoned boss)

About six years ago she opened her first restaurant, Coriander Leaf, which is still going strong. Not only does it dish out delicious food, it offers cookery classes and corporate training. How does Samia do it? She’s tough, she’s worldly and she’s just damn good at what she does.

You started as a cook before opening your own restaurant. What was that like?
I started cooking in my early 30s (late for chefs). I worked as a line cook in New York City till I was seven months pregnant and then got literally thrown out as nobody could get around me in the narrow kitchen aisles. I then took a break before moving to Singapore. Here, I held a cookery class at home for a group of friends. It was supposed to be a one-off affair, but it evolved into a thrice weekly thing. Encouraged by the response, I decided to take it to the next stage. My initial plan was to open a cookery school, but it didn’t make business sense at that time, so I decided to go the whole hog and open a restaurant from where I could also run cookery classes.

What did you learn during your years in the kitchen that helped you start and run your own restaurant?
Actually, not a lot. Working in a kitchen is very different from running a business. That stint taught me how to run a kitchen and control food costs, but not all the other parts of running a full-fledged restaurant. Also, I was never an executive chef in the years that I worked in kitchens in New York. I was merely a line cook, so it was a momentous jump from that to running my own restaurant!
 
Are you a chef first and a businesswoman second?
I wish! Being a chef is what I miss most. Unfortunately I have to spend more time being a businesswoman than being a chef. However, I do fulfil my desire to cook through my cookery school, albeit not as much I’d like to.

What are the biggest challenges you face in running your own restaurant?
Day to day hassles—just when you think you have everything under control a new problem arises. Staffing is also a huge issue and probably the biggest one. The others are maintaining consistency and quality, managing people and trying to keep harmony between the front and back of house.

If you could do it all over again, is there anything you would do differently?
Yes. I would not do it alone. It is a lot of stress for one person to shoulder and a huge time commitment!
 
What does a restaurateur need most to succeed? Money, culinary skills …
First and foremost—PASSION!! If you don’t have the passion, you cannot survive in this business. You need capital, of course, and no restaurant makes money from day one. Controlling costs is key. And, as for culinary skills, well, they are preferable!

Many small restaurants don’t last five years. What are some of the common mistakes they make?
Spending too much and not leaving enough of a cushion. It takes time to make money back and get regular cash flow. Failure to maintain quality is another.
 
Your restaurant has been open for more than five years now. Does it get any easier?
Not really. There are always new challenges. Also, one has to constantly keep innovating while at the same maintaining consistency.
 
What advice do you have for would be restaurateurs?
Do not glamorize the business. If you’re not willing to get your hands dirty, don’t enter this industry!! If you’re going solo, you have to be prepared to put in the time. My typical day starts at 6:45am and ends at one in the morning—and I work on Sundays too.

Willin Low (the new boss)

After practising law for eight years, this 30-something decided to chuck it all in and open a restaurant, Wild Rocket at Mount Emily. About five months old, Wild Rocket is having a wild time.

What made you leave law?
I enjoyed law but felt that life was too short to do just one thing. So in the last two years that I practised law I became a rent-a-chef. I started catering for friends, who then encouraged me to start my own restaurant.

How did you make the transition from law into the restaurant business?
After I quit my job, I became an apprentice at a restaurant, actually secretly hoping I would hate it so I could lay my desire to start a restaurant to rest. After six months I quit that to volunteer overseas. Three days before I was due to leave Singapore, my stint got cancelled and I suddenly found myself looking for a location for my restaurant.

Was starting and running a restaurant what you expected it to be?
No! It was much, much harder than I thought it would be. I thought loving cooking was enough to run a restaurant, and soon discovered I was wrong! Tough things were getting government licenses approved, hiring staff, finding good suppliers and fixing the menu. Everything that could go wrong did.

Is running a restaurant a lifestyle decision or a business decision for you?
For me it is a lifestyle decision first and a business decision second. But you need sound business principles to stay afloat, such as only spending money after you have made the money, and not the other way round.

What does a restaurant need more to succeed: A good chef or a good CEO?
You need both. I am a chef first though, and I think true businessmen will not venture into the F&B business. You definitely need interest and passion to stay in this business.

Did you write a business plan for Wild Rocket?
I did, but I’m not a business person and my plan was laughable. I rely on my business sense and good old common sense. I’m not a hard core entrepreneur, but I take calculated risks.

If you had to do it all over again, would you?
If I had known then what I know now, I might not have done it. But I enjoy being my own boss, and I’d rather stay this way. Even if Wild Rocket fails, I will have no regrets because I tried.

Any advice for would-be restaurateurs?
Go for it.

It’s all purple but all good at Manna. Located in Siam Paragon, this little monster of a restaurant offers casual Thai cuisine in a very casual dining environment. They’ve got beautifully decorated tables where ceiling-high glass windows give way to a scenic view of the lagoon.

Quickly skimming over the menu, we really didn’t notice anything spectacular about the Thai and fusion food offerings, so we asked the waiters to give us a hand and recommend something out of the ordinary. Answering to the call, the waiters pulled out their three secret weapons that they swore would not let us down. We started with the kanom bueng (crispy turmeric flour with coconut and shrimp filling, B160), but unfortunately, it took a whopping 15 minutes. The panang gai sordsai (stuffed golden chicken wings in sweet peanut sauce, B170) and the khao na gai Sukhothai (chicken in gravy and Chinese sausage on steamed rice with crispy egg, B110) actually made up for the long wait ‘cause both were full of flavor. Although the dishes look like something from a tiny Siam Square restaurant, the aroma and taste are exquisite. Prices are reasonable, too.

After we stuffed ourselves, we headed over to the couch where it would be more conducive to the digestion process. There, we indulged in some light and refreshing fruity cocktails like the Lychee Angel (B180), a perfect mix of rum and lychee juice. If you want something even fruitier try the Yellow Bird (B180), with dark rum, mango and tropical fruit juices.

Before we left, we had a chat with the owner, Khun Him, or Pornsak Rattanamethanon, and got his thoughts about this purple attraction.

What does Manna mean?
Manna means food from the heavens or heavenly food. When you eat here, you’re going to experience one or the other—or perhaps even both!

What makes you different from other Thai restaurants?
We focused on Sukhothai cooking styles. To be honest, most Thai restaurants have either shit food or a shitty atmosphere, so Manna is filling in the gaps and eliminating the shit altogether. Our restaurant serves good food, and we offer great atmosphere by bringing the ambience of good restaurants all along Ratchadamnoen Road.

You’re really confident about your food—why is that?
Our cooking process is exactly the same as in the past: Our ingredients, cooking styles and methods are all true to tradition. We don’t like to rush, that’s why our kanom bueng takes 15 minutes to prepare. That’s because we use grandma’s old pans and her list of ingredients. So these are the original tastes that a lot of people don’t really get anymore. We’re not into fusion, but we’ll use updated ingredients and mesh the old and new traditions together.

What’s with the purple 50’s décor?
Doesn’t it look good? We wanted it to be really different and eye-catching, so that when people ask about a good Thai restaurant, everyone can say, “The purple place.”

Restaurant Details

Get yourself some heavenly Thai food at Manna. Open daily 11am-10:30pm, at G/F, Siam Paragon Shopping Center, 991 Rama I Rd., 02-129-4553/-5. V MC

How did you get started?
About two years ago, I sold food in a small food stall in a village outside Bangkok. Unfortunately, the owner wanted to change the stall into some other kind of business so I had to move out. Then someone introduced me to work here in Bangkok as a part-time dek jaek. After I started working as dek jaek, about a year or so, I was promoted to a full-time inspector.

What is the duty of dek jaek?
Dek jaeks are supposed to distribute flyers to houses in an assigned neighborhood. Flyers range from McDonalds, Lotus, Carrefour, Robinson, Burger King and many others, and you’ve got to hand out all those flyers on the very same day. I ended up making about B210 per day.

What is an inspector and what is your duty?
An inspector’s main job is like a dek jaek, except inspectors must wear company uniforms, distribute flyers to pedestrians and work near our customer’s location like Robinson, Emporium, Lotus and more. Working hours are 11am to 2pm five days a week. Staff have to distribute about 11,000 flyers a day, so I just make sure that there’s one per house or person.

What else?
I also have to inspect our dek jaek staff to check whether or not they have completed their distribution routes or if they’ve just cheated and thrown most of the flyers away. So I have to go sifting through garbage bins, water pipes and inspect all the nooks and crannies of a building just to make sure that my staff is doing what they’re supposed to be doing.

Do you like this job?
I like what I am doing now. It’s an easy job and I feel very comfortable. I have to travel to many spots in Bangkok depending on the company, but I am lucky to have my own motorcycle, so it makes the travel easier and quicker. I only have to work a few hours a day leaving more free time in the afternoon to take on other kinds of part-time jobs, so I can make more money. The freedom and good opportunities to meet new people makes me really happy.

Klaus Fruchtnis is a young photographer from Columbia whose work features wide-angle scenes of people and situations that are not always what they seem. A closer look can reveal architecture merged into impossible angles and perspectives and repeating figures in a single scene. He has exhibited his work in group and solo exhibitions around the world. His latest collection, “360 Degrees,” can be viewed at Hu’u Gallery and will run until the end of April.

How did you get into photography in the first place?
I can’t give you one reason… I think I feel more comfortable with images than words. I can go beyond real feelings through my images because they are real to me.
I started taking pictures when I was 14 years old. Since then, I still feel it is a very interesting way to keep the magic of a moment and the purity of a second of life.

Where does your inspiration come from?
I have thousands of sources of inspiration. But one thing that helps my inspiration to come out is my curiosity. I like to spend my time looking around and waiting for an idea or a situation to come to me. I am very interested by the paintings of the Renaissance, especially by all the paintings that represent a traditional composition of the space or a particular and unusual way to see an image. I’m also very interested by all the Antonioni and Greenaway movies; also by architecture and urbanism.

What themes are explored in this exhibition?
The main theme of this exhibition is the space and its structure. The characters do not have much to tell. The viewer is in the image but somehow excluded from the scene. Each photograph has a different composition of floating conversations, light silences, triangulation of glances, and the same characters twice…in a few words it’s a scene to be contemplated.

You say that your photographs are not panoramic. Explain how they are not.
Well, I mean that my photographs are not conventional panoramic images. You can have a first feeling that it is a reproduction of the space, but it is not. Everything, even the composition, is false. I like to play with the perspective and the space, setting up my own strategy of vision of the reality. My pictures demand time to be seen. You can feel and find different things every time you look at them. They are like a puzzle.

What are you working on now? What are your future plans?
Last year, I started a monumental project called ‘360° to the sky’ (360 photographs taken to the sky with a ‘fish-eye’ lens). I’ve been doing this project in different cities around the world (Shanghai, London, Paris, Bangkok, Bogotá, …) where I think there are new territories as a thematic space of art development. I am still in the middle of this project and the results until now are amazing, I am very happy about that. I would like to show this project in future exhibitions in Bangkok, Bogotá and Miami where the gallery that represents me is located.

How’d you get started in animation?
I had created an animated music video about Vincent Van Gogh that was broadcast on Manosh Puttaan’s music program. Then, with absolutely no computer experience, I was offered a job at a graphic studio. They taught me everything I needed to know.

Where did you pick up your unique international animation style?
I studied at the California Institute of Art, which is an animation school supported by Disney, under animation legends like the people who worked on Snow White and The Lion King. Since then I’ve been honing my craft and sharing my style with others as a teacher at Kattana Animation School.

What’s the key to great animation?
It’s all about “exaggeration.” We’ve got to exaggerate everything from our drawings to our imagination. We’re selling an experience—something creative and larger than life with vivid pictures that people have never seen before.

How did you get on the Khan Kluay project?
I was in the US at the time, and Kantana Animation School sent me the script. At first, it was supposed to be a series, but after a little while, a friend from CAL Art and I decided to turn it into a full feature animation. When we got great feedback from the people who saw the sample trailer, the big wigs suggested we make into a full length feature.

What was it like working on Khan Kluay?
It was like working on a Disney cartoon. It was fun but difficult, especially when the lead character is an elephant. When I worked on Ice Age, the wooly mammoth was the hardest figure to animate 'cause it was difficult to make it look expressive. And then you have Khan Klauy with its herds of elephants, gosh!

What’s the story behind the little elephant?
Khan Kluay is based on King Naresuan’s royal elephant whose back curved perfectly like a khan kluay [midrib of a banana leaf]. Khan Kluay’s the first elephant in history that was appointed to be Chao Phraya. It’s a courageous tale about how a wild elephant chooses his own destiny and goes on to play an extremely important role in our historical triumphs.

Do you hope the movie goes inter?
Originally we wanted to make a more universal film but later felt that making it more Thai would be better. It would be good if the film does go inter. It would be like a cultural ambassador for Thailand.

Was the money well spent?
Absolutely. It only cost about B150 million compared to bigger American productions that range around US$60 million. Khan Kluay took less time and less people to finish, but it’s pretty quality stuff. It’s not Disney but it sure comes close. We’re really making progress to one day be recognized as a major force in the wonderful world of animation.