Anyone know what ong bak means and if it is Thai? A Thai friend tells me it sounds more like a martial arts term of Khmer origin.

In the eponymous movie the term referred to the village's Buddha, the head of which was stolen and the character then strove to recover.

Regards

องค์บาก

"Ong" is a classifier used in Thai for Buddha images, statues etc (it's also the name for "body parts", there may be two meanings in the title).

"Bak" means to "etch" or to "score", for example, your name on a rock. I don't know if this fits in with the story or not, it's been a long time since I've seen the movie.

'Ong' refers to the Buddha Image of this village

'Bak' (verb) or 'Roi Bak' (noun) means scar or mark from being cut by sharp weapons: knife or sword.

The person with clear mark from this kind of weapon on the face could be called 'Khon Nhar Bak', this case the Buddha Image is called 'Ong Bak'.

There is a big scar or Roi Bak on the face of Buddha Image http://www.winonlyriders.net/thelostforum/cinema/OngBak.jpg

From the legend of this village, this Buddha Image was plundered from the village by Burmese soldiers during the ancient war between Thailand and Burma. Kru Dum (Teacher Dum), the brave Thai man, master of martial art, a great teacher of Muay Thai in this village, risked his life into Burmese troop to bring back the Buddha Image to the village.

'Roi Bak' on the face of Buddha Image was believed to be the miracle of his power to protect Kru Dum, it's the wound from the fight when Burmese soldiers tried to kill Kru Dum with sword but this mark was shown on the face of Buddha Image instead and Kru Dum was safe.

'Ong' refers to the Buddha Image of this village

'Bak' (verb) or 'Roi Bak' (noun) means scar or mark from being cut by sharp weapons: knife or sword.

The person with clear mark from this kind of weapon on the face could be called 'Khon Nhar Bak', this case the Buddha Image is called 'Ong Bak'.

There is a big scar or Roi Bak on the face of Buddha Image http://www.winonlyriders.net/thelostforum/cinema/OngBak.jpg

From the legend of this village, this Buddha Image was plundered from the village by Burmese soldiers during the ancient war between Thailand and Burma. Kru Dum (Teacher Dum), the brave Thai man, master of martial art, a great teacher of Muay Thai in this village, risked his life into Burmese troop to bring back the Buddha Image to the village.

'Roi Bak' on the face of Buddha Image was believed to be the miracle of his power to protect Kru Dum, it's the wound from the fight when Burmese soldiers tried to kill Kru Dum with sword but this mark was shown on the face of Buddha Image instead and Kru Dum was safe.

Thanks for the explanation and storyline.