3 Funny Thai Health Commercials

Here are three funny Thai commercials found on Youtube. How I love Thai commercials!

Songkran in Singapore

Just not long ago I was unhappy at not being able to make it to Thailand for Songkran festival due to time schedule, although I had booked the air tickets not long after I returned from Nakhon Nayok last year. Today, however, I had a short taste of being in the festive mood again locally.

This afternoon, after buying some art material at Bras Basah Complex, I decided to take a detour to Golden Mile Complex for a while before going back. Being the "Little Thailand" of Singapore, I thought there would be some sort of celebration going on. And indeed there is. The moment I reached the area, even before I stepped into the complex itself, I already saw many Thai people with their face powdered; a sign that there was water splashing activities going on.


The main water splashing "zone" was inside Golden Mile Complex itself. I was surprised when I see that the floors of the first and second stories totally wet due to all the water splashing going on. I don't even remember seeing people splashing water in shopping malls or commercial buildings in Bangkok! Anyway the floor of the first storey is so wet that almost half of my feet were submerged in water.


This is the first time I saw so many Thais in Golden Mile Complex and its surrounding areas, so much so that I almost thought I was in Hat Yai or Phuket. The festive spirit was strong, but relatively milder than in Thailand. For one thing, the celebration of Songkran is only restricted to the Thais and those who like Thai culture, hence the "water splashing troops" do not simply splash at anyone, but only at those who showed interest in their activity. When I initially arrive at the mall, nobody "disturbed" me even though I walked among them, but the moment I started taking pictures of these people in action, I got splashed and powdered.


Now, having had a mini Songkran celebration locally already, I felt much better. But even then, I am still not quite happy that my air ticket was wasted. Hopefully next year I'd have the chance to go again!

สวัสดีปีใหม่แด่เพื่อนทุกคน!

Likay Likay

I'm not so much of a fan of Likay (folk music drama from Thailand), mainly because I need to have subtitles when watching or else I won't understand a single thing. Nevertheless, I still find it somewhat interesting. Here are some MVs, probably from a drama serial on Likays, sung by Got Jakrapun (one of my favourite singers) and Tong Pukkaramai.

Singtel's Blunder

I love collecting things with Thai words and captions, for I'm trying to learn the Thai language in whatever means I can find. Of course, I will only keep those which are small or compact enough to keep, like flyers and paper wrappers of tin cans.

My workplace is some sort of a "HQ" for Singtel, for every sunday they'll have a roadshow inside the complex itself, and there'll also be promoters giving out flyers promoting their services. I love to go up to these promoters to get a copy of the flyers, for every now and then, Singtel would have new designs for their flyers, even though the contents are more or less the same. However, for the latest edition, I realised a very big mistake in the wording:


Under the t-shirt, it bored the word "กระเป๋า" (Gra-pao), and under the backpack, it was captioned "เสื้อยืด"( Seua-Yeud). This is very very wrong, because "Gra-pao" means "bag" while "Seua-Yeud" means "t-shirt"! I wonder how come the relevant department in charged of the Thai translation can miss out on such a big blunder; if it was a spelling mistake, it may still be forgiven as being overlooked, but mixing up the translated words simply seemed a bit too much, I feel!

A.C. Speaks Thai

This is a short clip of me speaking Thai.

It's okay if you don't understand, just you let you guys have a listen as to how I sound like when speaking the language! (But I'm not good in Thai language, by the way)

Rice Dumpling Festival

The Rice Dumpling Festival (Duan Wu Festival) is just around the corner, on 19th June 2007. As such, I'd like to take this opportunity to put up a Rice Dumpling Festival-related music video, with a bit of difference!

This song was sung by Thai-Chinese singer Kim, and even though it has been made into Thai, the lyrics of the song is still revolving around rice dumpling. I first heard this song when it was played in one of the karaoke restaurants at my workplace. Being curious, I started looking for this song in the CD shops there, and I managed to find it yesterday.

Happy Rice Dumpling Festival!

Thai Pop Duo: Lift & Oil

Well, I don't quite know how to introduce this Thai duo named Lift-Oil. To say that they're a boyband, they're passed the "legitimate age" already, but to say they're a pop-band, they don't even play any music instruments.

Lift-Oil's album "Der-Taa-2"

Anyway, Lift-Oil is one of the first few Thai artistes I listened to (the first being China Dolls, then Bird Thongchai followed by them). I originally knew of this duo (Lift and Oil, hence their group name is "Lift-Oil") from movies, and not from their songs. Back then, one of the leading VCD chains in Singapore was carrying some Thai movie VCDs, and hence I bought a few. Coincidentally, three of the shows featured them; "Jenny" featured Lift as the male lead and Oil as cameo, "18-80" featured Oil only and "A Miracle of Oam+Somwung" featured both guys as leads. After watching their shows, the usual curiousity in me made me did some search on their backgrounds, and realised that they are actually model-turned-actor-singers. And it's my curiousity again that made me buy their albums, and I think they are not too bad as a pop duo. Unfortunately, that album I bought was like their last album release with their previous company RS Promotion. They did not renew their contract with them, and since then they have been concentrating on their television drama career. (I don't buy Thai television drama serials because they don't come with subtitles and I won't be able to understand)

3 movies featuring Lift, Oil, or both

However, months ago, I happened to find some new MV clips from this duo again, and that made me very happy. This time round, instead of singing the usual bubblegum pop or dance pop, they're now singing north-eastern Thai/ Laos folk song! I then realised that these new sets of MV clips were actually soundtracks of their latest "lakorn" (drama serial) named ""Kan Lum Kong"", based on north-eastern Thai settings. That made me very curious and wanted to get hold of the show, but then again, if there's no subtitles, I'd have to seriously reconsider my option!

"Thai Lum Dum Pun" from lakorn "Kan Lum Kong" by Lift and Oil


"Kan Lum Kong" from lakorn "Kan Lum Kong" by Oil


"Ror Ruk" (Waiting for Love) from lakorn "Kan Lum Kong" by Lift


"Ror Ruk" (Waiting for Love) from lakorn "Kan Lum Kong" by Oil


"Yang Ni Tong Ruk Loei" from "Der-Taa-2" album by Lift and Oil


"Niew Goi" from one of their very early albums by Lift


"Suan Tahng" from one of their very early albums by Oil

Hectic Sunday: Potato Live In Concert

After our performance at Chong Pang Community Club, I quickly removed my makeup and made a dash to Golden Mile Complex to catch my favourite Thai rock band, Potato in concert. Luckily, I arrived there at 10 minutes past 11, which means I only missed out 10 minutes or so of the show.

As the concert was held in a discoteque, there was a cover charge of $25 per person. It was sort of expensive for me, since I can't consume the beer that comes with the cover charge as I was riding a motorbike, and secondly I won't be staying throughout the entire concert as I wasn't feeling really well, and that I still had to work the following day. Nevertheless, I still paid for the admission, since it won't be easy to catch Potato in Singapore!

The discoteque was already packed with lots of people, just like what a friend of mine had fore-warned me. I managed to find a good spot quite near to the stage, but then the distance was still too far for me to actually video-record clearly the band performing on stage. Potato is a really good band, and they managed to make the people on the dance floor high. The group of people behind me enjoyed the music so much that they were jumping up and down while singing loudly to the songs. I guess Pup, the lead singer, noticed them too, as he kept pointing towards my direction from time to time during the songs. I wanted to be as crazy as them, but I can't, as I had completely lost my voice due to my flu, and that I don't really know the lyrics to all their songs and hence am not able to sing along.


Potato singing รักแท้ ดูแลไม่ได้ (Ruk Tae Doo Lae Mai Dai)


Potato singing ไม่ให้เธอไป (Mai Hai Ter Pai)+ กล้าพอไหม (Glaa Por Mai) medley

I was enjoying myself, but alas, it was soon midnight and I had to leave unwillingly. The news of this concert came to me out of a sudden, and hence I wasn't able to plan in advance. If I had known of this concert long ago, I could have requested off day for the following day as well to "recuperate" my health. Hopefully I can catch Potato again live, and it was indeed a unforgetable experience attending their concert!


Original MV for ไม่ให้เธอไป (Mai Hai Ter Pai)


Original MV for กล้าพอไหม (Glaa Por Mai)


Original MV for รักแท้ ดูแลไม่ได้ (Ruk Tae Doo Lae Mai Dai)

Potato Is Coming To Singapore!

Lately, I have been seeing posters of Thai pop group Potato being pasted in parts of Golden Mile Complex, the place where I work. However, a few days, I noticed that the posters had been amended to include some text. Upon reading, I realised that they are coming to Singapore soon to perform!

I got to know of this fantastic group in 2003 when I was browsing through some CDs in a music shop in Bangkok. I came across their album "Go... On", and it was available for preview listening. I found the tracks in the album very nice, and instantly bought it, although I had no idea what they were singing. Anyway, this five-man band album was one that had many ups and downs in their music career as they have experienced two changes of members over 5 years. The first change took place somewhere before their release of their second album (which was in fact "Go... On"), when their lead singer Pee passed away in a freak accident, and another member Nuch (guitarist) left the band to concentrate on her studies. Pup, the other lead singer at that time, became the main lead singer while two new members, Win and Ome, were recruited into the band subsequently to replace the two empty slots in the band. However, by their third album "Life", which was released in 2005, another pioneer member, Note, left the band as well. Now, Potato was reduced from a quintet to a quartet. Hopefully the one another pioneer member Bom won't be the next to go, neither do I want to see any change of blood again!

Back to Potato's performance in Singapore, they are scheduled to perform on 26th November at Thai Disco in Golden Mile Complex at 11pm. I was very excited, as I finally had the chance to meet them in person. But the only problem was that I had a performance on that night, and even if I rush down to Golden Mile Complex straight after my show, the place would be too packed by the time I arrive. I'm still considering if I should go attend this concert, as if I don't go, I don't know when will they be coming to Singapore again, and it's not quite possible for me to fly all the way to Thailand just to catch them in concert!

Loy Krathong in Singapore

(A continuation of my previous post...)

To be honest, I was oblivious to the fact that Loy Krathong Festival was approaching until last Friday.

On that afternoon, on my way to work, I decided to drop by a music stall just a stone’s throw away from my office. I noticed that they had got these lotus lanterns on display at their counter, and it was only then I was reminded that Loy Krathong Festival was just around the corner. I asked the sales assistant when Loy Krathong Festival was, and she gave me a surprised look before telling me that it was on Sunday. I then asked her where do the local Thais float their lotus lanterns, and she told me that most of them do it at Kallang River, which is just a traffic light junction away. That was exciting! I didn’t know Kallang River was the venue for floating the lanterns, and if I had known it earlier, I could have celebrated it for the past 2 years. Anyway, I did not buy any lotus lantern from her yesterday, as I didn’t want to buy too early only to have a dented or damaged lantern on the actual day of Loy Krathong. Hence, I promised the sales assistant that I’d return to buy the following day.

On the following afternoon, before I go for my Chinese opera rehearsals, I purposely make a trip down to the stall again to buy lotus lantern. There were a number of colourful lanterns for sale, with price range from $5 to $10. That seemed a bit expensive, but then again, the “labour cost” as well as the cost of the raw materials is not cheap either, so I still decided to get one anyway. The cheaper ones did not appeal to me, as they were only decorated with some ribbons and I felt it looked too plain and not worth the money. I decided to get the $10 one, which was decorated with real fresh flowers and banana leaves. It looked nicer, and what’s more, it’s more environmentally friendly! After buying the lotus lantern, I suddenly remembered something; I had to work the following evening, and I wasn’t sure if I would have time to float the lantern. The sales assistant rest assured me that the floating of lanterns will start as early as 6pm, and would carry on until late in the night.

On the evening of Loy Krathong, I was greeted with bad weather, and I was worried that I might not be able to celebrate the occasion if the weather did not improve. Luckily, the rain stopped as fast it came. I then proceed to Kallang River happily with my lotus lantern. I guess it was still early, as I did not see anyone launching lotus lanterns into the water. I was about to head back to office and come back again later in the night when I saw a group of 4 elderly people carrying lotus lanterns in their hands. They were speaking in Hokkien, and I thought they might be able to help me find a place to launch the lanterns. It turned out that this group of elderly people were fans of my Chinese opera troupe, and one of their nieces was actually a dancer in our dance group too. It seemed that fate had drawn us together, and hence I decided to just follow behind them.

We walked for a short while before coming to a spot where we saw people crowding around. Some people had already launched their lotus lanterns while some were taking pictures with their lotus lanterns. We then decided that this would be the place for us to launch our lanterns into the water. I then realised that I had forgotten to bring out a small paper packet, inside which consist of a few strands of my hair and fingernails. You see, the sales assistant told me that before launching the lotus lantern, what some Thais do is that they would snip off a bit of their hair and clipped their fingernails, and place them on top of their lotus lanterns. As the lotus lantern floats away in the water, whatever bad luck and illness which you had for the previous year would go away with the lantern too. I then quickly searched my bag for my scissors and starts snipping a bit of my hair and fingernails. I guessed it must have a funny sight, as I noticed some Thai people looking at me in a strange manner. Anyway, I managed to get some of my hair and fingernails just in time to launch the lotus lanterns together with the 4 elderly people.

I felt happy and relieved once I saw my lantern floating away in the river, as I had finally realised my wish of celebrating Loy Krathong Festival again. Hopefully, the next time I celebrate this occasion would be in Big Thailand itself and not in “Small Thailand”!

Thai Floating Latern Festival - "Loy Krathong"

It is the fifteenth of the 9th lunar month for us Chinese, but for the Thais, it's the fifteenth of the 12th lunar month for the Thais, a very important day as it coincides with Loy Krathong festival.

Loy Krathong, also known as festival of light or floating latern festival, is the day where the Thais would launch small floating lotus lanterns into the canals and rivers. There were many sayings with regards to the significance of the festival. As this period is the time of the year where the farming cycle for the year comes to an end, the Thai farmers would "loy" (float) their "krathong" (lotus lantern) to thank the River Goddess for the good year they've had, as well as to seek forgiveness for polluting her waterways. Another saying was that this act of floating the lotus lanterns is to pay homage to Lord Buddha's footprint which He had left at the bank of River Narmada in India. There is another Hindus interpretation that this lotus lanterns were offerings to Lord Vishnu, who meditates in the center of the ocean. Whatever the real significance it is, this festival is nevertheless a beautiful one comparable to the Chinese mid-autumn and Yuan Xiao festivals, as the candle-litted lotus lanterns filled up the canals and rivers on this full-moon night, complimented by fireworks in the air. In northern Thailand, Loy Krathong festival is also celebrated with beauty pageants as well as the rising of "Kome Loy" lanterns (similar to the Chinese Kongming lantern) into the night sky.

In 2003, I had the chance to experience this festival on my own in Bangkok. On the night of the celebration, I headed out to Lumpini Park after the sunset, and along the way, I saw stalls selling Krathongs. Some were very simple lanters, with just a styrofoam base and some shredded ribbons and lace on top of the base as a decoration. There were others which uses real banana leaves and decorated with real flowers, and these were of course more expensive. I bought one from a stall at the park's entrance and proceeded inside. There were already people launching their lantern vessels into the pond. I walked up to the pond and choose an ideal place to float my own lantern. However, as the banks of the pond were wet and slippery, and that I was wearing slippers at that time, I almost lost my balance and fell into the pond. If I fell, I'd have become a gigantic krathong myself! Anyway, it was a beautiful sight to see so many lanters floating in the pond. I tried taking photographs of the scenery, but alas my digital camera just could not take photographs in such low lighting, and most of my photographs turned out blurred or grainy.

As I was about the leave the park after floating my krathong, the sky was suddenly lit with fireworks. It was indeed magnificant; lights in the sky as well as on the water surface! I quickly bring out my camera again to try snap some pictures, and though the quality was not very good, it was much better than the earlier pictures I tried to take of the krathongs in the pond.

Loy Krathong festival is truly a very beautiful festival, and one have to experience it yourself to see it's beauty. I hope I would be able to experience it again in Thailand next year or so. In the meanwhile, I've bought a krathong at my workplace, and I shall be floating it in Kallang River tonight!