Haew Suwat.

The facts are these, part II.

4. Thais have an incredibly sweet tooth.

5. Traffic in Bangkok is heavy, and it's dominated by motor vehicles to a point where bicycles and pedestrians are excluded from having a good chance to survive. Motorbikes will utilize the little sidewalks that exist. But then again, it's understandable as even the physical exertion from walking will result in a sweat within minutes.

6. There be dragons in Lumpini Park.

7. The King is great, or you're sent to prison.

8. A lot of Thai people don't like whites, but would like to be white. Make sense of that, will you. (Typically, the first time you visit a street or a resort frequented by whites you'll understand the aversion against them. As for all the ads, pop music and films that feature Thais bleached to a degree that makes you think about investing big-time into the chemical industry, it can probably be explained by Western cultural imperialism, indirectly leaking into the country by way of Korea and Japan.)

In the jungle, the mighty jungle..., part II.

A month of movies: September.

Let's make this quick: Please, by all means, do yourself a favour and ignore Ted (trailer) even if you like Seth MacFarlane's other productions, watch On The Road (trailer) if you liked the novel (but don't expect a revelation), trust your senses about End Of Watch's trailer and of course, see Take Shelter (trailer).

The short -
Go and see: /
Well worth watching: Take Shelter (DVD).
Average: On The Road.
Forget about: End Of Watch, Ted.

The long -

In the jungle, the mighty jungle..., part I.

A month of movies: August.

August might have been the averagest average that ever averaged. I'd advise everyone to steer clear of the last installment of Nolan's Batman, "The Dark Knight Rises" (trailer), but then everyone has either already watched it or will still go to see the mess anyway. And a mess it is, compared with its predecessors and even compared with everything else on offer this month. If you want to see a good action movie, walk past "The Bourne Legacy" (trailer) - an essentially superfluous sequel - and pay heed to the Indonesian "Serbuan Maut" (trailer), which may not be a brain of a film, but technically excellent and unlike the other two, exciting. Other than that, "Tao Jie" (trailer) doubtless is the best movie of this month from an entirely objective point of view (and its festival may count as proof of that), but personally, I took offense at the manipulative quality of its reoccurring emotional appeal. Finally, Woody Allen is insulting his critics in the average "To Rome With Love" (trailer) and Keira Knightley everyone with "Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World" (trailer).

The short -
Go and see: /
Well worth watching: /
Deserving a chance: Serbuan Maut (The Raid).
Average: Tao Jie (A Simple Life), The Bourne Legacy, To Rome With Love.
If you need closure: The Dark Knight Rises.
If you need real closure: Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World.

The long -

Posing in Cha-am.