What’s Countdown about?
The movie’s kind of a thriller. It’s about three Thai teenagers who study in New York. They arrange a party on New Year’s Eve but some unexpected guests suddenly show up.

What kind of character do you play?
My character, Jack, is one of those Thai teenagers who studies abroad, kind of a badass. We share some characteristics because I used to study abroad, in England. Even though he studies in America, it’s a similar lifestyle. And I used to be a badass, skipping classes and doing other jackass stuff with my friends.

When you first started acting some people dismissed you as a rich kid; has this changed?
I don’t know what they’re thinking about me. I can’t control their minds. All I can do is my best and prove that most of them are wrong. But it’s up to them whether they acknowledge it or not.

What’s your favorite part about your job?
It’s fun. You get to meet a lot of people.  Most directors have interesting philosophies and opinions about society and the world, and working with them is a good chance to talk to them. It’s one of the big advantages of being an actor.

Do you have any acting role models?
I have many. One is James Franco. He’s devoted himself to being an actor, not just a good looking guy. And Sean Penn, he’s a great actor. He does very good preparation before filming. Like for Milk he did a really good job studying the character.

How did you prepare for your last film?
For Countdown I did a lot. I changed the way I talk, the way I walk, even the way I dress and how I live. I changed completely. You need to be ready to enter the set in character, so I worked really hard before we started shooting. We shot some parts in New York and some parts in Thailand, and we had very limited time shooting in each location.

What’s next for you?
After this film I’m going to focus on playing music with my band. We’re going to start recording our first album in December and we hope to launch it around May next year. I’m going to do both [music and acting] if possible.

How did the band form?
Jink: Nutt and I used to play at night around RCA, Thonglor and Phra Athit Road. We happened to meet some people from SpicyDisc who loved our “oldies” style. I later asked Sum and Deo to join us and we became Helmetheads at the end of last year.

Where does the band name come from?
Jink: In university, I was always changing hairstyles, and there was a time where I didn’t cut my hair so some people started calling me “helmethead,” because I kind of had a 60s hairstyle look.

Why do you like 60s music?
Jink: We were originally into bands from the 90s which took a lot of influences from 60s music, so we decided to go back to the roots. We like bands like The Monkees, The Beatles, The Kinks and Herman’s Hermits.
Deo: While we do listen to a wide range of music—even stuff like “Gangnam Style”—we prefer to play older music because we think it has more charm. After the success of “What I Like About You,” are you worried that people might prefer your covers over your original material?
Sum: We’re clear on what we want to do. We already have plenty of our own material, but it’s going to be the next project, after this album.
Jink: Our own Thai songs are pretty indie, but we still want them to be accessible.

Do you always dress retro or only for performances?
Jink: We do kind of plan what to wear on stage, but we generally dress similarly in our everyday lives, too. I like to look at American and Japanese fashion magazines. I used to be a freelance stylist, so I had to stay up-to-date with whatever was happening in fashion. I used to always go to Chatuchak, to walk around with friends and look for secondhand clothes. Now we don’t really have time to shop so we get clothes from brands that sponsor us, like Topshop and Urban Studio.

Where do you normally perform?
Jink: We play at Circle (Soi Ruamrudee) on Thursday nights, but that’s our only regular gig right now. Apart from that, companies hire us to do one-off shows.

What are your most memorable performance experiences?
Jink: When I used to perform in restaurants I’d get too into it sometimes. I’d throw things around, like the microphone or tambourine, and customers were probably wondering what I was doing.
Deo: I like to get up and stand on top of my double bass and I’ve fallen off a few times—nothing too appalling though. If the audience is into the show, I’ll climb up and play, just to be a bit crazy.

Tell us about what you do.
I work in Pattaya as a nightclub promoter. I talk to the Russian tourists and show them around the clubs. But if someone in Bangkok needs a stripper, they call me and I come up. I used to be a full-time stripper for almost five years, but now it’s an extra job, like a hobby. Pay me and I’ll dance anywhere.

How long have you been in Thailand?
I’ve been in Thailand for seven months. I came here on holiday and I decided to stay and find work. I used to get short contracts for stripping overseas so I’ve worked in Moscow, Turkey, China and Taiwan before. Now I have a regular job and stability—I like it.

How did you start stripping?
I started when I was 27. My friend asked me to go with him to a nightclub where they had a casting [for strippers]. I worked in an office before but it wasn’t for me. I had studied engineering, but I only did it because of my mother. All my life I was a serious swimmer and I wanted to study sports at university but my mother said I couldn’t. My parents pushed me when I was young, and I was scared of them. They were shocked when they found out I was stripping. My father didn’t talk to me for three months.

Are you in a relationship?
No, no. My last relationship was a long time ago, five years ago. It was very, very hard, because she was very jealous but I needed to work. For me, stripping is a job, nothing more. I don’t like talking about it. When I tell people I’m a stripper they ask me uncomfortable questions like, “Are you gay?” or “Do you sleep with girls for money?” I’m not gay but it doesn’t matter to me if I’m dancing for women or men. But when women are watching me, I want to see a reaction. If I see that the ladies like me, I like them back. It’s an exchange.

Would you date a stripper?
No. Female strippers are difficult. I’ve worked with girls many times and I don’t understand what goes on in their heads. They’re always changing their minds.

What’s your daily routine like nowadays?
I wake up at 3pm and go to the gym or English school. I try to go to the gym every day—if I’m not too hungover. I’ve started learning muay thai, so I go there first, then to the gym for one hour. Work at the club is from 11pm to 3am and I get home around 5am. I like working at night. Every night I get to see friends and meet new people.

Do you remember your first time on stage?
There were six of us and when we got on stage I forgot everything. I panicked and just took everything off. But I like that feeling, that excitement. During my first year, there was so much emotion when I went on stage, because it was all new. Now, it feels routine. But it’s very hard to stop because I enjoy it. I’ll stop when everyone stops calling me. Or if my body changes.

 Special thanks to: Levels, Sukhumvit 11

Velayenn

808/15 Soi Thararom 2, Sukhumvit Soi 55, Bangkok, 080-900-2610. Open Tue-Sun 12-10pm
Owned by a group of friends who love their bikes, Velayenn is a hip cycle café that puts a precedence on vintage bikes. Stop in to peruse a few books about fixies, and enjoy a drinks list (developed at the now-closed Sugar Lust Cafe & Bistro) that includes Italian soda (B50) and some coffee (from B50). As for pastries, the owners say they want the super-friendly vibe to extend to food being shared among friends; as such, the main snacks are toast (B20) and homemade donuts (B50).

Aran Bicicletta

18 Soi Aree 4 (North), Paholyothin Soi 7, Bangkok, 081-821-9603. Open Tue-Sun 1-10pm
With Aran Bicicletta, the owner found the perfect way to marry his love for fixies (both vintage and modern) with his family’s coffee business. Coffees start at B50, best enjoyed with cakes like dark beer Horlicks (B90) and their brownies (B95). There’s free Wi-Fi so bring along your notebook. This retro house is the ideal space to get some work done—you’ll feel like you’re sitting in a library nook and there’s also a cute beagle to keep you company.

Sealee Urban

33/306 Chokchai 4, Ladprao 53, Bangkok, 083-808-9061. sealeeurban.com. Open Tue-Sun 11am-8pm
Sure, you can stop by Sealee Urban to buy a fixed gear bicycle (or to pick up some spare parts), but we’d rather drop in for their recommended homemade yogurt (with toppings like strawberry, blueberry and cereal, B30-80). In fact, the owners started out selling yoghurt before falling in love with the fixie culture and expanding to become one of the most popular spots in town for cyclists. Reward yourself after a hard ride with a choc lava cake (B100), while coffees start at B35.

Sweet Pista

235/21 Sukhumvit Soi 31, Bangkok, 02-662-2866. Open Tue-Sun 11am-10pm
The baby of two owners, one who likes desserts and one obsessed with fixed-gear bicycles, this little café is decorated, rather aptly, with fixies (some are for sale too) and serves sweets such as young coconut cake (B110) and chocolate dark beer cake (B95). Those famished after a punishing ride can order from the brief selection of savory dishes, which includes the popular khao mah kai dao (shredded pork with garlic and rice served with fried egg, B85), spare ribs (B150) and avocado cheeseburger served with salad (B250). Wash it all down with Japanese tea brand, Lupicia, in flavors like strawberry and vanilla, and grapefruit (B125 a pot) or bring your own bottle—there’s no corkage charge so you can sit and sip to your heart’s content in this homey Japanese café-like spot.

Café Velodome

Thammasat University (Thaprachan Campus), 2 Prachan Rd., Bangkok, 02-623-6349. www.facebook.com/CafeVelodome. Open daily 8am-8pm
Conceived of as a way to spread bike culture (and green living) in a city where the car is king, the stripped-down, glass-walled Café Velodome has already become a hub for Bangkok’s cycling community. Apart from providing bike racks and pumps, the staff are happy to share their knowledge on the best bike routes, local cycling groups and everything else bicycle-related. Located on the eastern edge of Thammasat University, the café sits facing Sanam Luang, on the corner of Prachan and Na Phra That roads. Drop in for a Choco Velodome (frappe, B90) or espresso affogato (coffee shot over a scoop of ice cream, B65) and a slice of cake (Thai tea and chocolate mousse are popular, B65-90).

What will this year’s dinner be like?
I don’t want to repeat what we did last year, but I would like to recapture what I think made it successful—the fun factor I heard a lot about. We’ll have a course served on lollipops and fresh truffles sliced tableside.
Does planning start with the wines first?
Definitely. We tasted the wines, put them in a nice order and then thought of two different courses that would showcase each and make sense in a larger menu format. We’ve got some really fantastic French wines, starting with Champagne, moving onto a Sancerre, then a Chablis, three back-to-back really nice Bordeauxs (two Saint-Emillions and a Pauillac) and lastly a Sauternes.
There are some unusual ingredients on the menu; are there any ingredients or courses you’re especially excited about?
We’re bringing in some skate [fish in the ray family] from France and we’re doing it in a traditional flavor pairing of brown butter, capers, lemon and parsley. But we’ve really tweaked it and several of the flavors are presented as gels. And then we make a brown butter powder, and bridge it all with cauliflower in the form of custard.
What’s the hardest thing about doing a 14-course dinner?
The hardest thing is always changing gears. It’s a lot of choreography, planning ahead and knowing exactly who’s going to be doing what and when, and being able to express your vision to a bigger team.
What’s your personal cooking philosophy?
In general, I enjoy eliciting emotions from guests. I enjoy having them have to do things themselves, like picking up herbs and getting tactile.
What do you think about the Bangkok food scene right now?
Obviously, any openings that are outside the norm help to drive Bangkok forward. Seeing the nose-to-tail movement start to come to Bangkok is a good sign. Thais eat many parts of the animal in their common cuisine, but in Western food here you don’t see head cheese or fried pig’s ears. And you have Gaggan, doing some more out-of-the-box, avant garde food. All of those things help strengthen the Bangkok food scene.
B3,999, Nov 9-10, 6pm-10:30pm. Panorama, 23/F, Crowne Plaza Bangkok, 952 Rama 4 Rd., 02-632-9000. BTS Saladaeng