Star Time at Tha Phae Gate

Manda writes:

There always seems to be something going on at the Tha Phae Gate. Whether it be a market of some kind, another karaoke competition or live bands, this area is definitely the ideal venue if you want to captivate a large audience.

Something was definitely going on inside the Gate today as we could hear someone shouting into a megaphone from our hotel. We couldn't hear much, only a male voice spurting out Thai words ten to the dozen, sounding like some crazed game show host.

We ventured out to see what the commotion was all about. It took us a while to work out what was going on as everything is naturally in Thai. We could see canopies set up shading hundreds of people dressed in traditional Thai costumes, mobile food stalls feeding the thousands, a bull wearing a garland standing by the wall, lots of plastic water-guns gathered neatly in a pile on the floor, a handful of cops and about ten SAS-looking men holding machine guns. It all looked very colourful and felt surreal at the same time. Then it dawned on us that we had in fact stumbled across a movie set.

Piles of colourful water guns were drying out in the midday sun.

Wishing to escape the midday sun and since everyone was taking a break for lunch anyway, we decided to come back later to see some actual filming. As we approached the Triple N restaurant, we noticed a camera crew interviewing a smartly dressed lady. All the waiters had come out so we figured she must have been fairly important. We went over to take a closer look and found out that she is a famous Thai movie star. Her name is Pornchita Na Songkhla, also known just as 'Benz'. Everyone around her seemed star-struck, looking somewhat dazed and smiling constantly. We took some photos but obviously, she didn't mean much to us - maybe it will mean more to a few of our Thai friends back home?

Pornchita Na Songkhla, aka 'Benz'. Apparantly she's famous, so we took a picture and then went back to calmly eating our lunch.

After lunch, we went back through the Gate and stood in the audience to watch this movie being shot. The procession, made up of hundreds of extras, was arranged in a thick line down the middle of the Gate entrance. Another group of people were lined single file on the side. I could spot what looked like another movie star. She stood out as she was taller than the rest, with a lighter complexion and dressed in modern attire. A big fuss was made of her and she had her own 'umbrella-carrier' standing right next to her. Make-up artists constantly swooped by between takes, dabbing sweat off her rosy cheeks and applying more powder. As the sun beat down, she wore a frown which funnily enough, only subsided as soon as the cameras were rolling.

What I understood of this take was that a procession would walk down this strip, celebrating Songkran, the lunar New Year. Songkran normally takes place in April and involves the young sprinkling water on the hands of their elders as a sign of respect. Being the fun-loving nation that they are though, the Thais take this opportunity to throw copious amounts of water at everyone else, some with the aid of powerful water guns (which explained the armory of super-soakers we saw earlier).

The procession scene that we watched being filmed.

In this scene, water guns were used to try to re-create this festival and the extras at the back got a drenching. The stars at the front of the procession got off very lightly indeed! Anyway, back to the plot ... one of the main characters gets accosted by the police who, with the help of the SAS-type men, drag the man away, presumably into the back of a get-away vehicle. We didn't get to see the result though as after seven takes, the director was still not happy. His temper was rising under the heat of the sun and all we could hear was an impatient, 'CUT, CUT, CUT'. He was not a happy bunny. I felt sorry for the extras, who were cooking under the sun as the director tried to achieve that perfect shot. It was interesting to watch nevertheless and made us appreciate how much work goes into making a movie.

In the evening, we went to a Thai Night. We'd been to a Greek Night and a Turkish night before and it seemed fitting that we should do the same in Thailand. The venue was a place called Khum Khantoke, situated to the east of the old city. As we approached by coach, we could see the wat styled exterior looking majestic, shining in the floodlights. By the time we were seated, the rain was coming down like cats and dogs outside. Still, it didn't matter as we were sat under a high sheltering roof.

A traditional Thai drama/dance. Who knows what the story was all about?

We watched as the dancers performed the Finger Nail, Faun Tee, Sword, Hilltribe, Drum, Seung Kapo, 'Ramwong and Khon' (Thai drama) dances, while we feasted on Northern Thai cuisine. It was a very entertaining night and the costumes looked fantastic. We even managed not to get pulled up to dance along with them on this occasion, which is always a bonus especially if you possess two left feet!