When he’s not busy playing politics, the (in)famous Newin Chidchob has also been attracting a lot of attention in the football world as the mastermind behind not one but two Buriram-based football clubs.
Newin moved TPL club PEA FC from Ayutthaya to Buriram after the end of the 2009 season. He also took over Regional League club Buriram F.C at the same time. He threw up a brand new stadium in double-quick time and managed to produce 20,000 fans almost out of thin air. The reality was that many of these fans had been attracted by free tickets, free merchandise, food vouchers and big enough cash incentives to encourage them to travel to away games. This artificial way of creating fan loyalty, and the atmosphere of manufactured enthusiasm whipped up at the i-Mobile Stadium where they play, isn’t to everyone’s taste, but it was certainly effective. PEA finished second in their first season in their new incarnation. Inevitably, there have been dark whispers about Newin’s involvement in the beautiful game and how he may use his power, wealth and influence to his teams’ advantage. There will undoubtedly be a conflict of interest, though, should Buriram F.C make it into the TPL, and all the signs are that this will happen sooner rather than later. What’s also sure is he will continue to make as many headlines as his teams in 2011.

My personal life is actually not funny at all. I had to leave school in the fourth grade to join a likay troupe. My family has been performing since my grandparents’ generation, so it’s deeply rooted in me.

I left my home in Sukhothai at 13 because I wanted more life experience. There were times I was so hungry, but I had no money. I drank water from toilets. I met some sam-lor (pedicab) drivers who let me join their group.

Then I found out about a dishwasher job at a noodle stall in Udon Thani that paid B50 per day, with 21 nights work a month. That was the first time I saw a thousand baht.

I spent three years without any contact with my home. My parents probably thought I was dead. Then I finally went back on an impulse. There were tears of joy.

There wasn’t anything for me to do once I got back, except join the likay again.

One day I saw a likay actor, who had played the part of a king at the previous night’s performance. He was fishing with a net. I realized I didn’t want to be a poor actor like him. I wanted a good future, so I went to Bangkok.

I’ve been a comedian for nine years. It was the golden age for comedians when I started. Stand up comedy at cafes was still thriving.

I had to go through countless tough times. When my wife was pregnant we had to live on the second floor of a noodle shop. When the owners left at night, I would creep downstairs and steal kai pa lo (cinnamon eggs) for her.

In 1995, I entered the monkhood and dedicated my good deeds to the Princess Mother, who had died that year. I prayed and asked why my life was such a struggle, even though I always tried to do good deeds.

The turning point in my career came when I joined Mum’s troupe. When you are with him, getting on TV is easy. Then again, there are a lot of people out there who are on TV and haven’t become famous.
I feel sorry for comedians nowadays because there aren’t many cafes open anymore like in those golden days. Anyway, I guess we always have to keep on adapting.

I want to tell other comedians that I am not famous because of television. Many things contributed to my fame. Maybe it was my good karma from my last life. But I would also suggest that they find a different profession.

If I knew I wasn’t ever going to be famous, then I would probably have sought another profession. But there are comedians who really love this job and would never do anything else.

Education is the best foundation for everything. I had a tough life because I don’t have any education. I am lucky that I got many opportunities despite that.

I tell my kids, you don’t necessarily have to graduate, but you must be a good person and show respect to others. If you do something wrong, then apologize.

I don’t let my children watch any movies with swear words. That’s why I don’t want my movies to have swearing. I don’t want them to see me say one thing but do another. If you bring your children to my movie you can be sure it will be appropriate.

I wanted to do a monk movie, Teng Nong Jee Won Bin [in theatres now], because I’d never heard of a monk flying on an airplane, so I talked with a screenwriter to write a script with that concept.

Having lived 45 years, I now understand why old people love to go to temples to find peace. All I seek now is a quiet place.

I don’t work weekends. That time is only for my family.

I want to be a catwalk model. I have never seen a comedian become a catwalk model. It would be pretty cool.

I believe in destiny, but not in fortune tellers. I believe that we will get what we want if we try our best. You have to believe that you can make your own destiny too.

I love to be on stage. I want to do it as long as I can, even though I have a plan to retire at 60 and go live a quiet life. I

 How did you go about selecting places for this book?
We took every recommendation that people gave us and tried it–we must have gone through at least 150 places. Some of them were disappointing, but most were really excellent, and it was hard to whittle it down to 50. Some of them were no-brainers, but some others required going two or three more times to figure out if we really liked them or not. All the members of my family have tried every one of these stalls at least once.

What were some of the challenges of researching and writing this book?
There were some days we had to eat at five or six stalls in succession, especially toward the end when we were on deadline. That was really hard. I think I still bear the stretchmarks as testament to that experience.

Any interesting encounters or street vendor stories?
They all had interesting stories. One vendor was actually really, really wealthy, and had sent all his children to study abroad in England on the money he made from roasting chestnuts. Another said he invented pad pak boong fai dang (stir-fried morning glory with chilies). Still another was a police officer supplementing his salary by running a fatty pork leg on rice stall.

You grew up abroad. Was it an adjustment to approach street food?
Absolutely! I grew up in a small Italian-American town next to Pittsburgh. We were big on wedding soup, calzone and cavatelli. So when I first came here, I used to never eat street food, ever, unless forced to by a friend or family member. It was too hot to sit out there, and it was intimidating–the ordering, the knowing what was good, the worries about hygiene. It was very late into my time here (I’ve been here on and off since 1995) when I started trying it, and I was blown away by how good it was. It’s still very hot at times though.

You also have a blog. Tell us about it.
Bangkok Glutton started out as a collaboration with my best friend, Karen Blumberg, who lives in New York and is really into photography and eating. It was also a good way to keep track of places we had tried out for the book. Most of the time it’s really fun – I can write anything I please, and sound like an idiot, and get things through that a proper editor would never, ever allow. But sometimes it’s work. I try to post at least once a week, but sometimes I’ve got all sorts of crap to do, and I have no idea what to write on Friday. This will be one of those weeks.

You used to be a financial journalist. Why the switch over to food?
Have you ever read that stuff? I used to report on the bond market. That should explain it all, right there. Telling yourself that it’s really a story about bettering people’s lives by expanding their capital-raising options only gets you so far.

How did you go about becoming a food expert?
Because I’ve always been into food. After I got married, we took a year off for our “honeymoon,” moved to Paris and enrolled in a French cooking school, L’Ecole Gregoire-Ferrandi, which is affiliated with the French government. In order to pass, there was a written part and then there was a cooking part that remains, to this day, the hardest thing I’ve ever done, including giving birth. I barely passed, but one of the chefs, who was kind of a jerk, kept shaking his head and saying “La honte, la honte,” [“the shame, the shame”] over and over again. That is when I figured out that I maybe wasn’t meant to cook, but instead should devote my life to eating. Which is what I’ve done. I practice every day.

Are you also an avid home cook?
I cook a lot. I get grumpy if I go a long stretch without cooking. It’s just a way for me to work things out in my head, like running on the treadmill. Cooking and reading/writing about food are almost exactly the same thing, which is why I like to read cookbooks before I go to bed. I don’t cook Thai food though. I cook what I was taught, French stuff or, if I’m feeling adventurous, Italian or Moroccan. I really should expand my repertoire.

Read the full interview at tiny.cc/vfqtz

Bangkok’s Top 50 Street Food Stalls will be available later this month at Asia Books and B2S for B390.

Technique & medium: Acrylic collage on canvas.

We love the title of your exhibition, what does it refer to?
It refers to my everyday feelings towards things that happen in today’s society. When I get up in the morning and watch the news on TV, the general state of affairs is just downright depressing. It sometimes discourages me and makes me want to get away from it all. On a whole, I’ve tried to capture that melancholic feeling and translate it into the artworks featured in this exhibition.

But your works, on the other hand, are fun and light-hearted?
I like drawing cartoons and characters. I think most of us grew up drawing and doodling stuff in our school notebooks. My work may seem like they come from the page of a comic book, but they’re not to be taken lightly.

Can you tell us about Cruising Ahead?
This painting was inspired by a piece I did for BACC’s exhibition Imagine Peace where each artist was assigned to create an artwork which reflected their visions of peace. Cruising Ahead is all about the will to go forward even though there’s an obstacle in front of you, which, in this case, is the waterfall.

What does the curtain symbolize?
The fabric collage symbolizes concealment—things that you don’t want other people to see or know about. Curtains are also associated with the past and nostalgic feelings that come with it.

This painting reminds us of the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, is that intentional?
I didn’t start out with that notion, but now that you’ve mentioned it, I guess it is a little bit!

Catching up about Yuree Kensaku more in her exhibition Shortcut to Melancholy Hill

Can you tell us about 1+1=1?
It primarily deals with losses, what’s left from them and how to come to terms with them. The show will focus on individuals as well as the country itself.

How did you get involved with this show?
Dao [Dujdao] and I are friends from university and we have worked together before. She was an actress in one of my short films called My Dear Enemy. After receiving a degree in dance movement therapy from the UK, Dao asked me to collaborate with her on a multi-disciplinary project. And since I love to experiment and try new things, I said ok right away.

Is this your first time working on a stage production?
It’s a first time after a long hiatus. I’d always been involved in theater up until the time I graduated from Thammasat University. I was in two of my high school’s plays, and I helped put together annual productions at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication.

What will be your contribution to the show?
My work makes use of several sources. It’s a habit I got from making movies. As much as I like to shoot new stuff, I also use old footage and clips from other people’s home videos, mobile phones or sometimes the internet. It’s kind of like a modern-day Super 8, which fits perfectly with Dujdao’s theatrical flair.

How will it complement the performance?
Physical theater can be challenging for those who are not familiar with it. I use motion and graphics to help guide the audience. It’s basically the same idea when you make a movie—that is to try to make it comprehensible without making it too obvious and predictable. The audiences wouldn’t want you to point out every single thing for them.

Keepinh up with Manussa Vorasingha at 1+1=1

As a child: Used to set a dance club in a pigsty.
First job: A comedian on a daytime TV show.
Rule for life: Never take it seriously and you’ll never get hurt.
Last thing that made me stop and think: My cheesy pink bedroom.
Stupidest trend: Cliched quotes about life and love on Twitter.
Favorite crowd: The crazy people at Trasher parties.
Most inspirational person: Neil Patrick Harris.
Listening to: Simon and Garfunkel.
People always assume I’m: sad
But I’m really: totally drunk.
Last lie: I’m from Kenya.
Most annoying thing I have to encounter everyday: Whitening cream adverts on the BTS.
Hum this tune in the shower: “Runaway” by Kanye West.
Fail-safe crowd pleaser: “Hey Ya” by Outkast
On a night out, I: always wear my most favorite underwear.
In 20 years: I’ll have a film about my life with Willow Smith playing me as a gay boy.

Dance to DJ JoJo's cheesy, fabulous guilty pleasures at Trasher: There’s a Hero this Sat (Jan 29).

BK: Tell us about your background.
Keng: I was born in Songkhla. My mom graduated in classical guitar and taught me to play, but I don’t like it. I guess because I’d known it my whole life. The teachers of traditional Thai music paid me more attention, so I ended up studying that. My main instrument is the Thai flute.

BK: And you continued during your university years?
Keng: Yes, I was on the waiting list of Chulalongkorn University, but had been accepted at Mahidol in Thai classical music. My mom suggested I try Mahidol.

BK: But other students were focusing on modern music?
Keng: Yes, but I’ve liked classical music since I was a kid. I figured that if I had these skills, it would make my overall profile more interesting.

BK: Have you ever participated in any competitions before?
Keng: I am addicted to them and took part in any I could enter, including the really high-stakes ones, like The Star and Academy Fantasia, even teen-craze ones like Zeeza. But I never managed to make any big breakthrough.

BK: Tell us about the Coke Music Awards?
Keng: I almost wasn’t allowed to compete because my band, Oom-Pu, had already won a music competition before, and the Coke Music Awards are for total newcomers. I begged the organizers and explained I had won as a band, not as a singer. Oom-Pu had also cleared the first round, but were then banned because of the previous award.

BK: What do you think made the difference this time?
Keng: After participating in many competitions, I realized that I was always trying too hard to be something else that’s not really me. So this time I just expressed myself and I made it.

BK: How do you feel after finally being a winner?
Keng: Before I won, I thought I would stop competing because this one gave me so many new experiences, both in terms of the audience and the useful workshops. When I won, there was a slow-mo picture flashback in my head of all the times I lost, and it made me realize how precious this triumph was. Even though defeat creates tears, it also makes us stronger.

BK: What do you plan to do next?
Keng: All the winners will go to Japan and the US to do more music workshops and the big surprise was that we all get to be in the Coca Cola project, 24 Hours with Maroon 5 in London, where we might get to do a music project with them. After that I will do an album with Smallroom, but I don’t want my debut album to be as a solo act. I might talk to the label and say that I want to do it with my friends in Oom-Pu.

You’ve been away from Singapore for some time, how does it feel to be back?
I’m really excited, and this is a big project. Opening a restaurant is very exciting, but there are also a lot of challenges. I’ve been working day and night up to 16 hours a day. I lost 3kg because I’ve been so busy setting things up. I want to give people a real dining experience, whether they’re from China or Europe. This isn’t a new concept but I don’t think that there is anyone else who does it at this level. After all, you can buy the product at a hawker but you certainly can’t buy the atmosphere and the view.

What inspires you to craft the dishes that you do?
In my world, there’s only good food or bad food. When I eat, I get inspired. My repertoire of dishes is derived from when I travel around Asia to places like Hong Kong, Taipei and Shanghai. I try my best to promote Southeast Asian flavors, as well as highlight products that are sourced from around the region in places like Malaysia and Indonesia. I really like this Taiwanese soy sauce that I use a lot of, as well as Indonesian gula java, which I use to make my signature macarons. I also prefer subtle spices like anise, cardamom, and citrus for acidity. Because of my training in a classic French kitchen, my palate’s been tuned to look for balance and delicate seasoning.

How do you feel about our local chefs?
Some are very good, but they need recognition. They also need to travel more and try new food and not just hawker food. Copying food is not the same as being able to create a dish. As a chef, it’s only when you understand food, that you can create it. I’ve been in this line for so long, I can tell what’s missing immediately. It’s all about experience. The ability to put together different components such as shark’s head with caviar and combine flavors that work, is unique.

I was born to a strict Chinese family. My grandfather was very traditional. He controlled everything, from the numbers of stairs we built in a house to the amount of money we gave to others for special occasions.

It was god’s will that I should be an architect. I was very good at arts, crafts and drawing. My teachers kept telling me, even in primary school, that I should study design and architecture.

Music is another part of my life. I have been a classic guitarist since high school. I wanted to be a musician—travel to places and experience what life has to offer and then translate them into songs.

I was too self-confident when I enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture at Chula. It was my first and only choice. But then I failed.

The next year, I locked my guitar up and swore I wouldn’t play it again if I failed for the second time. But I worked hard and passed.

My first design project was when I designed a house for my aunt. When my grandpa saw it, he was so upset. He thought everything had bad feng shui and demanded I rebuild it. My aunt chose to believe him.

It was probably true but I was really upset and stopped talking to him for a while. But that was also the beginning of my interest in feng shui.

Feng Shui is just a fragment of Chinese culture. It is the way to live with nature.

I started my company and, out of several designs, my first client picked one that was based on feng shui. I realized that feng shui was an added value to my work.

Houses with bad feng shui can be adjusted without knocking everything down.

Thais also have feng shui-like beliefs. We just don’t know it. Even King Rama V once published his recommended plans for homes, based on our tropical weather.

Beware of some feng shui masters who claim to to know it all. Even in China, different provinces have different feng shui beliefs based on local geography and weather.

Don’t do what a feng shui master tells you if you don’t really want to. People must live in their own happy space. No master can guarantee long-time happiness or quick wealth.

I never get negative responses because my designs are based on my clients’ preferences.

Don’t buy a condo facing west, or worse, north-west, as you are facing the hottest sun throughout the year.

I don’t understand why we have so many buildings these days covered in glass. It’s not suitable for our weather at all.

I am no longer a hard-working architect. I am now a landscape designer who directs the overall picture and lets the architects take care of the details. I also love to share my knowledge about feng shui with others.

Architectural landscaping makes me money, but feng shui gives me happiness.

Knowledge is like a candle. I’m lighting the candle and passing it on to others, who will pass it forward. The light will still be there even when I’m gone.

There is only one truth in life, no matter how many religions exist. There is no bad religion really, because their teachings are meant to lead to peace and serenity.

Find out what it is that you love and then do it. I know what I like and I’ve never stopped learning. I don’t want to be better than others, I just want to know more.

I’ve never set an age for my retirement. This career has no expiry date.

I love songs with good meanings, ones that make people happy. I don’t like those with sorrowful feelings.

My idea of happiness has changed. I might have dreamed of a music career, but I am now very happy to be with my children. When they go to sleep, I pick up my guitar. That, to me, is contentment.

My kids are not like me. I allow them to do everything and teach them to be as happy as they can. I don’t mind that they can’t organize things for Chinese New Year. I’d just like them to be good people.

You must inhale and exhale happiness. We never know when our time is over.

What’s with the title?
The film is inspired by the book, A Man Who Can Recall His Past Lives, about an old man, Boonmee, who saw his past lives as a cow, spirit and buffalo. That title sounded to me like an old novel, where you have someone’s fantastic journey; so even though the film is my own take on the different lives of cinema, I wanted to pay respect to Uncle Boonmee.

There are at least five different film styles in the film. Tell us more about your filming technique.
Yes, for me films are like life, and each style of film is a different life. In Uncle Boonmee, the first part is my own style, with animals and everyday life, an introduction to my world. The second style is the dinner scene, it’s like a stage play, and really classical. The third is more documentary-like, outdoors in the farm, while the fourth is the royal costume drama with the princess. And then we go to the jungle, and the camera starts to move, like an adventure film from the past! And finally the last part is in the hotel, a reunion of my actors, and we come back to my own style. So it’s full circle.

Your films often feature people moving away from civilization. What’s nature’s attraction to you?
For me, the forest is the home that we have run away from for so long. I believe that we used to understand the language of the forest, nature, and animals, but now we don’t have that ability anymore. So I always take my characters back home. Especially for Uncle Boonmee—he’s dying, so he’s going home.

Winning the Palme d’Or must have been a validation for you.
I think the reason Uncle Boonmee resonates with critics abroad is its universal themes of death and being alive. We all also share a common cinema history. I’m always fascinated by the ability of the mind and how one can remember so much.

Your films can be quite perplexing for the uninitiated. What do you say to someone who says “I didn’t get your movie.”
I say, “It’s normal,” “See it again,” “So?,” “Try to see it in a theater,” or “OK, I will try harder next time.”

Now read the movie review