Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn criticizes director Tom Waller for ‘wrong information’ in The Cave

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Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn criticizes director Tom Waller for ‘wrong information’ in The Cave

By The Nation

 

 

The governor or Lampang, Narongsak Osottanakorn, who along with some members of the team involved in the rescue of the young footballers and their coach from Tham Luang cave last year attended the premiere of Tom Waller’s movie “The Cave” on Monday night, has expressed disappointment that the film does not reflect all the details of the real-life drama and is wrong in some places. Narongsak, who was the commander of the Joint Administration Centre for Rescue Operations at Tham Luang, praised Waller.

 

“I really appreciate the film. It shows how difficult was it to bring children and their coach out of the cave. Like everyone else, I really didn’t think it would be that hard at the beginning but it was only when I was there, in front of the cave, that I fully appreciated the difficulties involved.

 

And the thousands of people who amassed in the area certainly didn’t make it any easier. But the movie does not mention our four-part action plan, namely to pump out as much water as a diver needs to help the children out; to explore the top of the hill to find an alternative entrance; to find the path of the water that flows into the cave; and identify the thinnest part of the cave wall to find where the children were and then drill,” he said. He also felt uneasy about the assault on the Thai government officers shown in the movie.

 

Waller said the film shows the rescue of the children from the cave by the team who participated in the real event. “I wasn’t there so my information comes from those who had interesting stories including one about a person who wanted to help but didn’t know who to contact and someone else who had to submit the ID card to receive a visitor’s pass.

 

I wanted a balanced movie, not one that is biased. There were many elements in this movie”.

 

Waller later posted on his Facebook page: “Last night, I went to the premiere of The Cave and fortunately met the governor. In the first 20 minutes, he told me off for using false information in the trailer.

 

He said it shouldn’t be claimed as being based on a true story. He was so busy that he didn’t introduce himself to Jim Warny. I don’t want him to criticise the movie for the wrong information since he didn’t even watch the whole film. I admit there were changes but it’s a film.”

 

Sourceller: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30378762

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-11-26

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[JoePai]

Did not know it was supposed to be a factual documentary

[colinneil]

Poor Narongsak is probably peed off because he wasnt depicted as the hero of the rescue.

[NCC1701A]

they could have hired Pierce Brosnan to portray me sitting in my house in Hua Hin during the rescue operation posting comments on TV.

 

Not sure why they overlooked that. 

 

 

[Scot123]

Poor little lamb. 

Another of those "I wasn't there but someone told me idiots". 

Yep a great movie that would have been Charlie Chan playing the leading roll in "Where's my ID card, I need a pass" or Dumb & Dummer, help, help how do I help.... 

 

[Emdog]

Doesn't have all the details and gets some facts wrong? He should be thankful it is mostly accurate. Has he ever been to a government press conference?

"Bridge on the River Kwai" comes to mind: it is easier & shorter to list where they got facts right 1. something about a bridge in Thailand 2. during WW2

[Searat7]

I saw movie last weekend...it seemed mostly factual to me but he had allot to cover so I am sure every detail was not perfect. There were some barbs against the Thai bureaucracy which might not have pleased the former governor but I thought is was a great movie and would recommend to others. Having some of the actual players act in the movie was a big plus.

[newnative]

    I imagine Queen Elizabeth with 'The Crown' and many, many others over the years have a much bigger beef than you.  Get in line.  

[hotchilli]

Its a movie not a documentary... expect a little artistic licence from the producers.

[DPKANKAN]

18 hours ago, colinneil said:

Poor Narongsak is probably peed off because he wasnt depicted as the hero of the rescue.

And got no brown envelopes either!! 5555????????????

[cnx101]

18 hours ago, colinneil said:

Poor Narongsak is probably peed off because he wasnt depicted as the hero of the rescue.

Exactly 

[Aforek]

5 minutes ago, cnx101 said:

Exactly 

Last year, everybody here praised him, saying he was a hero, and now you despise him ? 

????

I am not interested by the movie, I prefer the documentary I saw last year 

[yellowboat]

Welcomed to Hollywood!  The rights were sold.  There was no investment.  They who pay have a say.  Thailand did not invest in the film to my knowledge.  Not sure if the viewers would have been interested in the plan or if it would have fit in a 90 minute script. 

[Chazar]

17 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

they could have hired Pierce Brosnan to portray me sitting in my house in Hua Hin during the rescue operation posting comments on TV.

 

Not sure why they overlooked that. 

 

 

did you have a  mask and  flippers on though? Im not sure  muff  diving is  quite the same?

Edited November 27, 2019 by Chazar

[Charlie1]

Horrible journalism, leaving out the real story: First: Narongsak walked out of the room after viewing the film only for a few minutes, which means: Secon: he hasn't seen the film he's criticizing and Third: Narongsak has been identified as the guy who rudely shouted at volunteers who drove hundreds of miles with their own pumps now, due to his confrontation with Waller. Read it all in Coconuts dot co. https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/no-the-cave-gets-its-facts-right-i-would-know-opinion/

[Creasy]

As long as Danny DeVito played Prawit and Joe Pesci played Prayut as the real heroes in the movie will get a thumbs up from me.

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, yellowboat said:

Welcomed to Hollywood!  The rights were sold.  There was no investment.  They who pay have a say.  Thailand did not invest in the film to my knowledge.  Not sure if the viewers would have been interested in the plan or if it would have fit in a 90 minute script. 

The Thai government prevented Waller from doing a documentary or miniseries of the rescue and further monitored his filming of the rescue as a movie.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/oct/10/thai-cave-rescue-film-the-cave:

• But the main protagonists, the children, were taken out of the frame when the government signed a deal with Netflix and a US production company to film a miniseries. “All we were told was that we weren’t allowed access to any of the children, or their relatives.”
• In the first months of shooting, the government was still protecting its assets. “It was very difficult, almost impossible to get official permission to do anything. It made it difficult to legitimise the project,” he says. Eventually the ministry would approve the film with no cuts and a general audience rating, but until then “we sort of made it under the radar, really”.

If the Governor had any concerns or objections about Waller's film making, he had clear opportunity to convey them to the government before Waller finished the film. While the Governor may be dissatisfied with the final product, apparently the Thai government didn't. 

[samsensam]

 

it's a film based on actual events, not a factual documentary - there is a difference.

[Levi Patterson]

All you have to do is go to the immigration office and see what bureaucracy you have to contend with at times. I actually love this place and have made a lot of friends since being here for the past sixteen years. Every now and then, after a few  frustrating hours at the immigration office, I really feel like pulling up stakes and trying my luck elsewhere. My wife and I saw the movie and enjoyed it. I’ve recommended the film to friends in the U.S. Unless a film is a documentary, the director generally has creative license. The director has a couple hours to make a film regarding events that lasted more than a week. Perhaps the governor should come up with his own film that would meet his satisfaction.

[manchega]

yes forgot corruption of officials, shown as nice normal people not the corrupt tea leaves they truly are

[HHTel]

Well at least the boys got around 94,000 dollars each from Netflix on an alternative project.

[Scouse123]

Looking from the outside, the governor is annoyed because he has not been portrayed as highly as he thought he should have been and nor has he been the main focus at the centre of the movie.

 

We all know how sensitive these government people are; when it becomes an issue of how they want to be perceived, how they think they should be perceived, and how they actually are perceived.

 

I haven't seen the movie but I did watch the documentary. The skill, determination and bravery of all those involved was awesome.

 

I do feel though that the whole saga now has been ' milked enough ' especially by the Thai government and bureaucrats. It's now all about face and egos.

 

No doubt this will be a major ' tourist attraction ' for the next ten years or so and be charging foreigners ten times the admission fee over and above the Thais.

[Scouse123]

Just now, HHTel said:

Well at least the boys got around 94,000 dollars each from Netflix on an alternative project.

 

How so?

[Scouse123]

43 minutes ago, Levi Patterson said:

My wife and I saw the movie and enjoyed it. I’ve recommended the film to friends in the U.S. Unless a film is a documentary, the director generally has creative license. The director has a couple hours to make a film regarding events that lasted more than a week. Perhaps the governor should come up with his own film that would meet his satisfaction.

 

If the Governor did that, there would only be the Governor in it.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by Scouse123

[Redline]

It was pretty obvious this was coming.  and, there will be more complaints coming soon by those that want their fame

[Dap]

7 hours ago, Charlie1 said:

Horrible journalism, leaving out the real story: First: Narongsak walked out of the room after viewing the film only for a few minutes, which means: Secon: he hasn't seen the film he's criticizing and Third: Narongsak has been identified as the guy who rudely shouted at volunteers who drove hundreds of miles with their own pumps now, due to his confrontation with Waller. Read it all in Coconuts dot co. https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/no-the-cave-gets-its-facts-right-i-would-know-opinion/

Thanks for the great article.  

 

[HHTel]

5 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

 

How so?

Quote

The American video streaming service Netflix is joining with SK Global Entertainment to create the film. They made the announcement Tuesday in Bangkok.

SK Global is the production company that produced the movie “Crazy Rich Asians.” It and Netflix received the rights to the cave rescue story from 13 Tham Luang Company Limited. The Thai government helped establish 13 Tham Luang to represent the interests of the boys and their coach.

Thailand's Culture Ministry first announced the film deal as a television miniseries in March. A government official said at the time that the families of the cave survivors would each be paid about $94,000.

It will be a mini-series rather than a film.

 

It's been widely reported on Thai media.

[Scouse123]

3 hours ago, HHTel said:

It will be a mini-series rather than a film.

 

It's been widely reported on Thai media.

It is indeed a weird world.

 

One minute they were threatening to prosecute the team coach for extreme negligence, then when worldwide attention brings Thailand into focus, and that powers that be, see cash cow and unlikely prestige, they can ' as if by magic ' give boys that were not even Thai nationals, citizenship overnight. Thus, enabling them to fly all over the world and be treated like mini superstars, because it suits the narrative of the Thai government.

 

Meanwhile you have boys and girls studying hard for years, who were unfortunate and unlucky enough to be born in refugee camps, or half Thai ( the same as some of these boys) on the borders of Thailand, waiting between 8 and 10 years for recognition and citizenship.