lothda

Agree, absolutely. There's already a backlash from the diehard fans, but, let's face it, the old franchise was ailing badly and fizzled out with 'Nemesis'. Time for new blood and J .J. Abrams' vision definitely does the job. And for any old-time trekkies, come on, you even get to know what happens to the original Spock. If you're crying for the original Kirk, well, he died in 'Generations', a fully accepted storyline. And don't worry, your cherished complete DVD collection won't disappear because the time line was changed. Mine's still here...

Fun fact #12824: "Tot" is German for "dead".

OK, I got through to True and they told me that my line would not support the 8 Mbps service but that 4 would be possible. I'm going to change to 4 Mbps then and save about 200 Baht/month compared with my current 3.

To anybody who has a current subscription and wants to take advantage of the lower price: they will not do it automatically. You have to ask for it. The simple reason is that with the change in price you get a new contract for a year - which you have to approve. You can do that from April 2 - probably they didn't choose April 1 for a reason...

Hope it works out for everybody!

I've just received my copy from JSDVD. It cost $540NT for the DVDs and $760NT for shipping

Yes, their postage rates are a bit high, especially if you're not in Asia. However YesAsia sells the set for about $1940NT with "free" shipping, so...

This week True started promoting their new high speed service: True 8Mbps (Thai only so far). It seems the competition from Maxnet shows some effect , all their prices are going down. Existing customers can switch to the new rates or 8Mbps speed from April. I have 3 Mbps now and will certainly switch to 8 for what is is just about the same price. If it is supported on my line, that is. I understand that the higher ADSL speeds are, the more critical the specifics of your particular copper line are. I would expect True to test the line first and not just switch to the higher speed - which might well not work.

More when and as it happens.

Hey everybody, it's been a long time, but finally "Love of Siam" has been officially released with English subtitles - not in Thailand, of course, but in Taiwan. It seems "Love" was quite successful there. The DVD set is a real treat: a 3 Disc Collector's Edition of the Director's Cut at a very reasonable price. I don't think it's allowed to post commercial links here. I recommend a shop called JSDVD and Google is your friend . Do not buy it from YesAsia - they are ridiculously overpriced, as always. Also do not be deceived by the recent Thai budget re-releases of "Love of Siam". At least some copies stated English subtitles which is NOT true.

Hope more people will enjoy this great film now .

Censorship is always a problem, especially if it allows outright banning of supposedly inappropriate matter. It should be allowed to have unrated material so people can decide by themselves if the subject matter suits them. This can be controlled - you have to be over 18 or 21, ID as proof if necessary to watch or buy it. That said, younger people will always be able to get access to such material but if anything, censorship makes them more curious to see it.

The current system applies censorship in an inconsistent manner. The "Sweeney Todd" musical was optically censored for gore content in cinemas - supposedly because it had family appeal. The local DVD release was not censored - just as easy for young people to get the DVD as watch it in the cinema. (This seems to depend on the media company, though: Catalyst - United Entertainment and J-Bics don't seem to censor their DVD releases. Others blur or cut smoking, drinking alcohol, nudity or gore).

Let's see what will happen and hope that freedom of speech will prevail.

Well, now I have been here awhile and it feels silly to give immigration copies of my bank book going back for years. Will copies going back about 1 year be accepted? Is there is a specific written rule about how far back the records need to be?

At Bangkok Immigration Office Suan Plu beginning of August I supplied copies of bank book pages back to the date of the transfer that took it over 800,000 (plus the name page). They kept only the pages for the last 3 months (the date that the bank letter stated, which was May 1). I was not asked to supply proof that the transfer was from abroad (it could be seen from the code in the bank book, though). I WAS asked to sign a paper stating that I understand that ALL subsequent extensions will also require 800,000 Baht to be in the bank for 3 months.

• Arrival 08:15 - no. 21 in the queue.
  
• Processing started at about 08:30.
  
• My number came up at 09:30.
  

I supplied:

1. filled and signed application form TM 7
   
2. passport
   
3. copies of all stamped passport pages
   
4. copy of arrival card (front and back)
   
5. copy of latest 90 day report receipt
   
6. bank letter certifying yesterday's bank balance (over 800,000 Baht) and being over 800,000 Baht since May 1, 2008
   
7. bank book
   
8. copies of all bank book pages since the balance was over 800,000
   

All of these were accepted without question. I had to sign all copied pages, though. No additional papers or copies were asked for. In particular I was not asked to show proof of a foreign transfer to my account to achieve the required balance. I was asked to sign an additional paper after putting my address - again this said that I was applying for an extension of stay but the difference to the TM 7 was not clear to me. I also had to sign a paper that stated that I had to have 800,000 Baht in my account 3 months before applying for an extension every time. I intend to extend on this basis, so that was fine. After paying the 1,900 Baht fee I had to step to the next desk where the superior officer signed my application and extension stamp in the passport. Finished at 09:50.

Getting a multiple re-entry permit took about another 40 minutes - out at 10:30.

Hope it goes as smooth as this for everyone.

Rat-piss disease, malaria, dengue, bargirl clap ... all you need is ...

http://www.mmsmiracle.com/

Kills all known germs. Oral Domestos, but perfectly safe. I take it myself. Active ingredient is chlorine dioxide gas. Buy now before they ban it!

There's a reason to ban it - it's rubbish, like all "miracle cure" scams. The website doesn't even manage to spell the chemical formula correctly. Do not, under any circumstances, use this.

why not giving the links to those news?

Good BBC article.

Hey guys

The wait is over!!!! Finally. If you have the "Director's Cut Limited Edition Set", grab your receipt and head for the shop where you bought it to collect the dolls, they are now available

I've got mine

Kind regards......

Thanh

Hi Thanh,

congratulations, you beat me this time. And you got the film cell, too. My shop didn't notify me yet. I'll just go there and take a look as soon as possible...

Cheers,

L.

...

But if a movie is only released here???

...

Another question - do you by any chance have information on the "release of the doll"? My Boomerang guy has no idea when it will come, or "if it will come at all". Specially that last sentence is quite a bummer.

With best regards.....

Thanh

Hello again!

Well, you can never tell if a film will only be released in Thailand. Especially in the case of genre movies, like horror and martial arts which have a worldwide fanbase, it's quite possible that DVD release rights will eventually be sold to foreign territories. The producers want to maximize their profit and prevent foreign sales of Thai DVDs. Having no English subtitles is of course a better "protection" than the region code, but not completely sucessful as we found in our case here .

It also works backwards . Wait until the Thai film is released in the US or UK. Somebody will make the English subtitles available... buy the Thai DVD, which is probably very cheap by then and ... .

Ah, the doll... I can remember reading somewhere that it would be available in June. It was quite some time ago and I don't remember where I got that from. I'm pretty sure it will appear. We paid a premium price for our collector's item, so a big studio like Sahamongkol Film cannot afford to back out of this. I'll be sure to let everybody know when it's available. I'll post a photo as soon as I have it!

Cheers,

L.

Hi

...

I also wonder WHY does the DVD not contain the subtitles in first place? After all, almost every cinema that showed the movie did so WITH English subs. So these subtitles certainly do exist, right from the recording studio/company.

I guess they (recording studio/company) are, for some reason, scraed that someone abroad might watch the film, hence they don't supply the subs. And hence they release a DVD with a region code (which by the way CAN be circumvented, in fact that's the easiest thing to do - these region codes should be made illegal anyway. I pay for a DVD with my money, they don't care where from i bring that money so why are they attempting to control where i watch the video that i bought??)

I saw this happen with a number of Thai movies, some of which include rather weird subtitle selections (Hebrew!) but no English. Are they really afraid regular Farangs watching them??

Hi! Please let me comment on these issues:

The subtitle issue is easy to explain - English subtitles for Thai films in the cinema so foreigners can watch them and contribute their money. No English subtitles for Thai films on DVDs released in Thailand because foreigners are not entitled to enjoy Thai DVDs at Thai prices IF there is even the slightest chance that the film rights might be sold to foreign markets. (I really wonder how high the losses would be.)

We probably have the success of Ong Bak to blame for that. There was no Asian DVD release of Ong Bak with English subtitles, not even in Hong Kong where English is usually included in the subtitle choices. It was released in the UK and the US, rather successfully. Nowadays if you see a Thai DVD of a Thai movie with English subtitles it is most probably not a good film! Just browse the cheap horror section at your local DVD outlet and you'll see. From time to time a good film with limited appeal may have English subtitles. I can only think of two 'recent' examples, Me Myself I and Tropical Malady.

Region coding is a similar issue. It was introduced to protect production companies profits because DVD release rights may belong to different companies in different territories. That said, it is obviously overdone and easily circumvented. I don't think you can even buy a Region 3 DVD player in Thailand .

Hi and thanks for the doll info. I've read that it should be out sometime in June and that the reason for the delay was that the whole first production run was made of rotting wood...

Let's wait and hope they can do better than that.

Meanwhile the Boomerang shop at Central World has one of the dolls sitting on a shelf behind the counter - looks cute... but it's not available to take away.

Cheers!

However it's a 2 disc set, not just one, so no real complaints here...<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Alright, I got it (well not yet, actually, GOT it yet - but I will if I see the ... ). I thought the special edition of Rak Haeng was already their director's cut and the discussion had drifted to BLS.

2 DVDs vs 3 DVDs something still might not make sense. Web vs store?

Love of Siam [ DVD ] (Director's Cut) [ No Box ]

Love of Siam [ DVD ] (Director's Cut). Starring Mario Muarer, Witwisit Hirunwongkul, Aticha Pongsilpipat [ Thai soundtrack ] [ Thai subtitle ] [ DVD - Zone 3 - PAL DVD system ] (3 DVDs + OST CD - No Box)

Hi Ponbkk, I understand your confusion about the different editions at ethaicd. Please let me try to clarify:

There are now 3 DVD releases of this movie:

1. Special Edition (Theatrical version of the movie on 1 DVD in "notebook" packaging, barcode 8858717200440);

2. Limited Edition Director's Cut (Director's Cut of the movie on 2 DVDs, 1 Extras DVD, 1 Audio-CD, songsheet, postcards, wooden doll -when available, memorabilia in box packaging, barcode 8858717200464);

3. Director's Cut (Director's Cut of the movie on 2 DVDs in a digipack, barcode 8858717200853).

Anything else ("no box") is not an official release. Note also that ethaicd has "Currently not available." as the status for their expensive offers. I can confirm that the Limited Edition is completely sold out and cannot be bought in any DVD shop in Thailand. Unless ethaicd secured a supply beforehand, they will not be able to sell that edition.

You can take a look at all the versions on the Boomerang Shop website. Just google for boomerangshop, go to the first match and search for "love of siam".

Cheers,

L.

Hi

I dare say i'll have the subs in less than two weeks But thanks for the tip - how much is the set? I'll sure get it, for collecting purpose indeed.

Best regards....

Thanh

Hello, the "member" price is 469 Baht, rather high considering that the recommended price of 599 is only 100 higher than the theatrical version - and I've seen that as low as 259. However it's a 2 disc set, not just one, so no real complaints here...

Hi again everybody, the latest: today, April 9, to my surprise, the rumoured "plain" (not limited) DVD version of the Director's Cut became available at Boomerang. It consists of just the first two discs of the Limited Edition Director's Cut set, so it doesn't have the extras DVD and the soundtrack CD.

Anybody who missed the limited one or who wants to complete their collection (that means you, Thanh ), go for it! But don't ask about English subtitles...

Hello again, well, the long wait is over - I received the Limited Edition Director's Cut today - without the wooden toy. They will notify customers when it's available. The package is sealed, though, so in order to put the toy in its proper place you will have to break it open! Not good for the collectors among us.

I did open the package and it has a wealth of extras inside. There are postcards, a songsheet for "Gun lae gun" (Together) and souvenirs from the movie. A CD titled "Music from Motion Picture Soundtrack" is also included - a very pleasant surprise as it includes all the music cues from the movie and not a single track from the separately available "Original Soundtrack" album . The movie itself is spread over 2 DVDs and includes Thai subtitles . All the extras from the theatrical version DVD are included. A third DVD is absolutely packed with new extras, including a "Making Of", deleted scenes, a recording of the first performance of the August band (with very bad sound), a featurette about the music, a rather easy to find easter egg (featuring the director at a question and answer session at House Cinema where the Director's Cut was first shown) and, amazingly, the Theatrical Cut of the movie with a Video Commentary by the director. Another reason to go to Thai language school again .

Cheers,

L.

Hi everybody, the latest news: BTS and Boomerang have a notice posted in their shops. Essentially it says that the Limited Edition Director's Cut will lack the wooden toy on release, which can be collected at a later, unspecified time. The Boomerang website now says that the release date will be April 3.

My boyfriend found an interview with the director on a Thai website. People were asking him about the limited edition which is sold out already. He answered that the director's cut would be available in a normal edition later, which would essentially be the limited edition without the wooden toy . So there's hope for all who didn't pre-order.

Cheers,

L.

Another delay, as expected. The release date for the Limited Edition Director's Cut DVD set is now April 9 .

Hello again

Well i know why it's being delayed - it's aparently STILL SHOWING AT HOUSE!

Hi again - thanks for the information. I have another thing to add. I pre-ordered the Limited Edition at Sahamongkol Movie Cafe. My boyfriend found a story on a Thai message board: a concerned customer called the Cafe about the release date and was told that he could get the package end of this week but it would be missing the wooden toy - he would have to come back for that later. So it seems that there is a problem with the production of that. I wouldn't bet on a March 28 release either. I'm going to wait...

Cheers,

L.

Hi everybody, to nobody's surprise (at least not mine) the release date for the Limited Edition Director's Cut DVD set has been postponed again, this time to March 28 (this year ). Expect further delays...

Hi

May i ask where you always get this "insider information" from?? As i still haven't heard from Boomerang yet was hoping for a release, as planned, on the 7th.... i can't wait to get that final piece for my collection

About the subs i think there is a valid chance of us seeing "fan subs" soon as the film has already started to hit the torrent sites...... the regular version, that is. If i see a version WITH subs torrented somewhere i'll go and grab it - owning the DVD and the VCD already (and also having seen it in the theater and having the ticket to prove it) plus having the second DVD on order, i wonder who would want to try to stop me from downloading it? Copyright or not.

Didn't it also get the "Oscar equivalent" for "Best Director" as well? I know it got two or three of them.

With best regards.....

Thanh

Hello again, nothing special about my info source, just the Boomerang website. The DVD is already on one torrent site, but without subtitles and people asking for them. Of course it's a reduced quality version, compressed to fit on a single layer DVD-R . My boyfriend and I are thinking of doing the subtitles for the Director's Cut. That would be really hard work - and extremely hard work if that version doesn't even have Thai subtitles! We'll see.

As an aside, you wouldn't have to go to the extreme to download the whole DVD just to get the subtitles. There is at least one site that specializes in subtitle tracks. You could just get the subtitles and combine them with a copy of your existing DVD - if you have the appropriate software.

And you're right, it won the Best Director award as well.

I'll keep you all up-to-date about further developments

Dear all, sorry to report that the release date for the Limited Edition Director's Cut DVD set has been changed again, this time to March 15. Sorry to Krub, there are no subtitled versions available at all. However I think that the fact that the movie won the Thai equivalent of the Oscars (Best Thai Film of 2007), the chance for an English subtitled release (in the US or the UK) has increased.

Meanwhile here are two screen caps from the DVD that I hope you will enjoy.