I went to a boarding school during my junior-high years. When I moved to a normal school for high school, it was like being released from a cage.

I didn’t want to study abroad. But there was no hotel school in Thailand so I went to the US.

I always plan ahead. I was making 10 dollars an hour at Burger King but there was no future there. So I quit and went to work at a hotel canteen for three dollars an hour.

There’s no point in getting a master’s degree if you don’t have work experience. I worked in a bunch of departments, from housekeeping to front desk. I never said no.

It’s experience that got me a good job when I got back to Thailand. I wasn’t even thirty when I started working in a management position at The Oriental.

You might earn a lot of money abroad, but there’s no place like home.

I used to work hard to be a step ahead of other hotels. But you’re not really competing with others. You’re competing with yourself.

I’m not embarassed about saying I used to mop floors or serve food in a canteen. It serves as an example of what people can achieve in their careers.

Kurt Wachtveitl [the previous GM of The Oriental] is my idol. Every morning, he would read the entire list of guests who were going to check in that day, even when there were 200 of them—their names, their complaints from their last visit—he read it all so that we knew what we had to handle each day.

You may have money to build a beautiful hotel. But hotels are made up of people, too. It is more complicated than it seems.

I suffered from sleep apnea. It can get dangerous if you stop breathing 15 times per hour but I was stopping 70 times. I needed operations to my tongue, throat and teeth.

But without this illness, I may have never realized I was working too hard.

I was depressed about being sick, about having to quit my job. I had worked at the Oriental for over a decade. But problems are part of life. We just need to face them.

You can’t predict what will happen. I never planned to write books or go on TV. I simply started to write about funny things in the hotel. It was released as a weekly column in Praew Magazine and later as a pocketbook, Rae Khao Ma Ja Pa Kaho Rong Raem, which became a best-seller. 7th Heaven approached me, they liked my ideas, and now I’m on TV.

People usually don’t know they are reading my columns about social gossip as I seldom use my real name. But I write only firsthand news, or news from reliable sources. A lot of gossip isn’t true.

I’m happy with my life—happier than before.

BK: What did you do before you were a street performer?
Naradate: I was born in Nakhon Ratchasima to poor farmers. When I finished grade six, I came to Bangkok looking for a job and started working at a car garage as an apprentice. I also continued my education part time and finished high school in 2 years. I later got into multi-level marketing business (MLM) and studied political science at Ramkhamhaeng University. 

BK: Why did you choose to study political science?
Naradate: At first I wanted to be a public servant but it’s too hard to get work in government agencies. It’s all about having connections. But I wanted to give it a shot, and I finished the course in four years. I continued doing MLM and became a lecturer for trainees.

BK: How did you become a street musician?
Naradate: Well, MLM is OK but it wasn’t making me rich. One day I read a book that said if you want to be rich and successful, you have to be creative and invent something new. Don’t depend on others. Two months ago, I met my music partner who was playing on the street, so I asked him to teach me how to play pin [an Isaan guitar]. Instead, he asked me to play the drum instead and join him as a band to tour around the city. I also created my own drum from a bucket.  

BK: Do you feel like it’s a waste of your degree?
Naradate: No, I don’t. I am doing what makes me happy. I don’t have to compete with others in the world of employees. I have loved music since I was a kid. Mo lam is in my blood but I’ve never before had the opportunity to do it. Now I preserve Thai traditional music like this and make money from it.

BK: How much can you make?
Naradate: It’s pretty good, but it can vary. I now make B20,000 a month. I start from 2pm and finish about 8-9pm. We’ve also got so many jobs by playing on the street. Many people hire us to play for their events like monkood ordinations and birthday parties. Many people, both Thais and tourists, also ask to study the instrument. Some ask about our CD. 

BK: What does your family think of this?
Naradate: They are OK. My wife understands what I am doing. I have two kids to support.

BK: How do you see your future?
Naradate: I would like to say that I am really proud that I have come this far. I thank my parents and thank the poverty that drives me to this day. I also thank those books that gave me the idea that everyone has the potential to be rich. I also want to have a big Isaan band to promote our traditional musical. Monruedee Jansuttipan
 

Your sound has been described as “bangin’ electro.” Do you think that’s a fitting description?
We consider it Grindhouse. It’s from the streets.

Who are some of your favorite artists to remix?
Klaxons, Thieves Like Us, Mariah Carey, Annie, Little Boots, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Chiddy Bang.

What are you guys up to at the moment?
We are recording our second album. Just bought a Gibson 1961 SG Guitar and it’s getting very heavy, psychedelic and industrial.

How’s your album coming along? When will we get to hear it?
Our first album is totally done. It’s coming out on Ultra Records, Feb 22. We have four music videos and a few remix packs coming out as well.

What can we expect at your gig here in Bangkok?
Lots of heavy music, moshing, stage diving, hot girls and raging.

As a child: Jesus
First job: Masked DJs.
Rule for life: Fuck the system.
Last thing that made me stop and think: Tron soundtrack by Daft Punk.
Stupidest trend: Tattoos everywhere.
Favorite crowd: Australians.
Most inspirational person: Ourselves.
Listening to: Every kind of sound dirty & heavy
People always assume I’m: Professional
But I’m really: Crazy
Last lie: Nice set, dude.
Most annoying thing I have to encounter everyday: Traffic.
Hum this tune in the shower: Our stuff.
On a night out, I: drink loads of things.
In 20 years: We will rule the world.

As a child: I was a LEGO fanatic.
First job: Construction worker, a summer job at my father’s company.
Rule for life: Authenticity, gratitude, respect—the same rules for music.
Last thing that made me stop and think: One person I cared about passed away. Life is short.
Stupidest trend: Korean boy bands.
Favorite crowd: The bass junkies of PhatFunk’s drum ‘n’ bass nights, of course.
Most inspirational person: My father.
People always assume I’m: A farang who teaches for a living.
But I’m really: A marketing Manager by day.
On a night out, I: drink Jack Daniel’s. A lot.
Last lie: I will never drink Jack Daniel’s again.
Most annoying thing I have to encounter everyday: My condo’s lazy tuktuk driver.
Hum this tune in the shower: This week it’s “Pick A Star” by FS Green.
Fail-safe crowd pleaser: “Back Like That” (Marky and Bungle drum ‘n’ bass remix) by Ghostface Killah. It works every time.
In 20 years: If I’m not deaf by then, I’ll still be listening to drum ‘n’ bass and classic hip hop tunes.

On the beat with DJ Azek at Phatfunk Bangkok Drum & Bass Party Vol. 6 

How did the project get started?
It’s been four years since I started the gallery. We wanted to encourage locals, give them exposure. But I found there weren’t as many interesting local photographers as we hoped. Maybe because of our expectations; they’re probably too high. So we’ve had a lot of foreign artists. But then I looked into the problem. I looked at our education. We don’t have much about our own history of Thai photography. We teach photography in university. But what do they teach? Do they just keeping imposing knowledge from the outside? I’m not against knowledge but it means we don’t acknowledge our local talent, we don’t respect our own talent, we look down on it. So young local photographers copy the West. That’s the trend right now.

So there was more Thainess in S.H. Lim’s photography?
Not really. When you’re talking about Thainess or Thai-style we tend to look at Thai form, Thai patterns, things reminiscent of a temple. So I’m not sure there’s a Thainess in his photography. But his work can reflect a time, or a period. When you look at his work, you can see how he presents women. You can sense that Thai women were liberated after World War 2. And Thais embraced industrialization and freedom. You can sense a kind of innocence: fresh, pure and also naïve.

It brings perspective.
Yes. I look beyond the picture. I look at the thinking behind. Why? What makes people photograph that image? SH Lim didn’t have a formal education. He had inspiration, probably from movie posters, maybe James Bond films. He reflects that kind of time and aesthetic.

Who’s next in the Forgotten Thai Photographers series?
The next one is a famous national artist, who passed away in 2009. Rong Wongsawan actually started as a photographer but had no future in that field. So he turned to writing. As a photographer he worked for a political weekly, called Siam Rath Weekly. He photographed mostly the life of that period [1954-56]. People waiting for a bus, or going to the market—everyday life. One I really like is the Rama 5 bridge renovation. He was sent to cover it. It was the first bridge to connect the old city to the new city. In between these historic exhibitions, we will have local talent. And if it all works well, after Rong, we will have prints from original glass negatives from Phuket. And I’m trying to dig up more but it’s a lot of work. I’m not a historian. I have my own work as an artist. I hope a teacher or an academic who studies this will take over the project. I’ll give the project to anybody who really wants to do it. But since nobody started yet, I have to.

Is it also a conservation effort?
For S.H. Lim, we had to scan the negatives but they were badly damaged. I also found a family in Chiang Mai who owns glass plates of Rama V-period photography taken by a merchant. For Rongsawan, we’re working from prints. Before, nobody cared about the negatives and they were put in cupboards and left to rot. So we hope that reintroducing the old masters will encourage families to maintain the negatives and help people value the history and the aesthetic of the old photographs. The question is: do we really have a photographic history of this country?

Catching up Manit Sriwanichpoom at S.H. Lim

Tell us about All Soul Production.
All Soul Production is a cultural and exhibition center in Bangkok. We aim to promote culture and art through activities of production. We’re a team of multicultural experts from different fields of art. We also provide performing art classes and we’ve just opened a cozy restaurant serving Italian and Thai fusion, too.

Why did you choose to do Albert Camus’ Caligula?
My interest has always been the actuality and sincerity of classic plays written by the greatest of the European writers. Camus’ Caligula is a beautiful script full of intelligence and poetry. It is also funny in some parts. The play is really modern and adaptable to the present international situation. If you look at Italy now, how different is it from what happened under the reign of Caligula? How close is the fight for power and the craziness of the leader(s) that Camus described in his piece of work to our reality—in Italy and elsewhere in the world?

We heard this show will also be a social experiment. How is it so?
Everybody in the audience will be asked to participate in the show one way or another. That’s all I can tell you. Of course, we will still have our main actors, Patchanee Poonthong, Robin Schroeter and myself.

Can you tell us about the next two episodes?
The second episode, titled Som Nam Na! You Deserve it, Te lo Meriti!, will be staged in March and May. We will be using the same format that we developed for Khamoey!, but we are also introducing new elements as well as inspiring more audience participation. It will get just a bit crazier before the final episode, Caligula Baa Pai Laew!, in June. Basically these three episodes are a creative work-in-progress for two upcoming productions: the classic part of Caligula which will be presented towards the end of 2011 and In Thailand We Can!, a mute comedy about Thailand.

Keeping the Khamoey! (Thieves! Ladri!) on stage at ALL Soul.

Millionaire, entrepreneur and philanthropist Frank Cintamani is always decked out in the finest threads and seen at the coolest events (not surprising, he’s also the organizer of the upcoming Men’s Fashion Week). And the workaholic 36-year-old can’t seem to do enough as he makes it a point to give back to society. He heads Global Philanthropy for the Celton Group, hosting and organizing fund-raisers for the organization’s chosen charities like The Bone Marrow Donor Programme and the Singapore Disability Sports Council.

What is your focus?
One of the strongest causes I believe in fighting for is the welfare of children. This includes children from impoverished or underprivileged backgrounds (or countries) as well as those afflicted with chronic or terminal illnesses. It’s important to me because children are the life-blood of our society. The future of the world always begins with them and it is therefore our duty implied by nature to safeguard every child on earth. 
Their well-being speaks immeasurable volumes about how the human race is currently doing. We are only too aware of the fact that there are still millions of children around the world that struggle to survive daily without having access to the most basic of necessities such as food, clean water, education or rudimentary healthcare on a regular basis, never mind the love and nurturing that is often absent from these children’s lives. Yet amazingly we are able to compartmentalize this awareness into the tiniest recesses of our minds to allow our self-imposed and personal priorities to take precedence over these startling realities. Clearly there is something seriously wrong with this picture.

Do you think there is enough emphasis on community service in Singapore?
Absolutely! As a nation Singapore is undoubtedly well ahead of the curve globally. Awareness of the world and community around you is best started at a young age, and I think Singapore families, schools and the government are indeed doing a great job of encouraging young kids and teens to become interested in community service early. At that age, you really do believe you can change the world, and it’s heartening to see young people becoming enthusiastic and actively involved in volunteering and charity work. The hard part is when you reach adulthood and things such as work and relationships take emphasis and become excuses for not having enough time to participate in community service. I do find that it is tougher for adults to remain actively involved because we all lead such hectic lives, but being of service to your community can and should be part of every one’s life, regardless of how busy you are. 

Do Your Bit for Underprivileged Kids

How did you begin caring about the world around you?
Since I was young my Godmother, who worked tirelessly for over 50 years in numerous charities, instilled a need within me to be compassionate. Then as a young adult, work and my curiosity of life in general began to determine my travel to all corners of the world. I became very aware of the world around me and the disparities between how people lived and were treated. Despite being a prosperous nation, Singapore is also not spared its share of some of these afflictions, and to see it here in our own communities really brings the point home.

Why do you do it?
Philanthropy has become a passion, and as with all passions, you can’t imagine your life without it. It fulfills you, it excites you, it makes you want to share it with as many people as possible. It is also hard work and takes planning and dedication, but just to see the smile on a child’s face when you’ve made his dream come true makes it all worth it. Charity is not just about being altruistic, it’s also a very self-serving exercise—if the situation and an opportunity to help a person presents itself directly to you, and yet you are still able to step over that someone in desperate need, how will you be able to look at yourself in the mirror knowing that your personal action could have made all the difference? 
Therefore, the act of charity in many instances also serves to satisfy your conscience and brings you great comfort in the knowledge that you mattered most to that one person whose life you so positively or even profoundly affected. Surely even the most disillusioned “Scrooge” among us would feel good.

Do Your Bit for Underprivileged Kids
• Have fun at the Run & Raisin’ Carnival
Not-for-profit charity organization TOUCH Young Arrows (TYA) will be holding their inaugural charity run and concurrent carnival event to raise $100,000 for disadvantaged children and their families. Register for the run and purchase ticket booklets before the event on Mar 12 at www.tyarunandraisin.com.
• Volunteer at MINDS
MINDS help provide intellectually disabled children with equal education opportunities, and they need your help. Call 6479-5655 or email their volunteer and donor management manager at [email protected].
• Grant a wish
The Make-A-Wish Foundation (Singapore) grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. You can help give these children wonderful memories to cherish. To be a wish granter, call 6334 9474 or email [email protected]

Kim, 5

“I’d put on beautiful clothes and have my mom do the hair for me. I’d give him flowers and ask him out to the movie. And also take him to the beach and share him some yummy candies.”

Pooh, 6

“I’d send my friend out to her and ask if she wants to come play with us. I’d go sit near her at lunch, and when it’s party time, I’d send my friend to give her a present.”

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Bell Sarunya, 24, Secretary

“A guy from the same school got off at the same bus stop and stalked me until I was in front of my house. He approached to me and said ‘Hey, let me send you home today.’ I was like, ‘Duh, this is home.’ Too bad he wasn’t very attractive, so that kinda freaked me out.”

Fern Chattrabhorn, 23, Client Service

“A guy added me on Facebook and talked to me like he knew me for a long time. He would’ve impressed me though if he let my toot friends get their hands on him.”

Ice Rattanavija, 24, Sales Engineer

“Guys turn me off when they try to act cool. It’s so unnatural.”

Neena Uaesoon, 27, HR Payroll Analyst

“My boyfriend went out shopping alone and bought me a waxing kit. He was the one waxing my legs.”

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