Thais Hired To Play Corpses In Bbc Tsunami Tv Show

[george]

Thais hired to play corpses in BBC tsunami TV show

The filming of a BBC-HBO mini-series about the tsunami along Thailand's Andaman coast has stunned and horrified residents still dealing with the aftermath of the 2004 disaster. It is too soon to turn the tragedy into a drama, they say.

The miniseries' star-studded cast includes Oscar-winning actor Tim Roth and Australian actress Toni Collette and is being made by the award-winning British production house Kudos Film and Television.

"It's not right. It's not right," says Trongchai Pachkrau, shak-ing his head in disbelief. Trongchai was guiding a boat-load of tourists around Phi Phi Island when the tsunami hit on Boxing Day 2004. He has not been in the water since and now works as a taxi-driver on the mainland.

Tour guide Sawitree Kulmat says it is "unbelievable" that the tragedy is being turned into a movie.

"Why are they doing this? We can't believe it. Nobody wants this," she said. "It's too early. Everybody is trying to forget."

Sawitree, who has worked as a tour guide in Krabi province for eight years, said a documentary would be okay but she could not comprehend how the tsunami could be turned into entertainment.

The wounds are still too fresh, she said. "What about the people who lost their families?"

The mini-series will air on HBO and BBC2 later this year, according to a press release from HBO. Extras working on the film say producers are aiming to wrap up production in time to broadcast the first instalment on December 26, the second anniversary of the tragedy.

Originally titled "Tsunami", the mini-series has been renamed "Aftermath".

It focuses on the tsunami's effect on Western tourists. The main characters are "a young couple searching for their child, an Englishwoman whose husband and son are missing, an ambitious reporter, a relief worker and an overwhelmed British official", HBO said.

Almost all the speaking parts are being played by Westerners, but Thais are being hired to fill the background and portray corpses, the extras say.

Flyers advertising open auditions for minor characters and extras were plastered throughout Krabi province in April.

The flyers disgusted and outraged many people. Robert Reynolds, a director of a charity that assists tsunami orphans, recalls being "stunned".

"Jesus Christ! You can't put that up here," he said. What upset him most, he adds, "is that thing on the bottom [of the flyer]", referring to the casting call for corpses.

It reads: "Victim, man, woman, girl; any age, any nationality. A lot of people!"

A casting agent, Maew, said Western extras were being paid Bt1,500 per day and Thai extras were getting Bt400 a day.

She said filming had wrapped up in Phuket and had shifted to Khao Lak, the Thai resort where more than 2,000 lives were lost. Production will shift to Bangkok this month, she said.

"It doesn't make me very happy that they [the film-makers] are making money out of this," said Reynolds, a 10-year resident of Krabi whose five businesses were "all but wiped out" in the tsunami.

He said the mini-series' focus on Western tourists distorted the reality of what happened. "It's tragic that so many tourists died and that so many lost family members, but Thais lost everything. They had no homes to go back to," he said.

"But maybe that's a movie that won't grab viewers."

Reynolds says he has written seven letters to the executives at Kudos asking them to show sensitivity.

He has also asked them to donate money to a legally registered charity assisting children orphaned by the tsunami (www.krabirelief.com).

So far he has not received a reply, he says.

A press release from the BBC said: "Kudos has been collaborating with local communities." But Reynolds said no one involved in the film had asked Krabi residents for input or even informed them that the mini-series was going to be made.

Sawitree found out about it through the casting-call flyers offering tsunami survivors the chance to make Bt400 a day playing victims.

-- The Nation 2006-06-03

[toptuan]

Philosophy of the entertainment business:

"If there's a buck (pound) to be made, to H*ll with people's feelings and sensitivies." Another reason why the love of money is the root of all evil. This industry models it the most.

If you feel strongly enough, get your friends to boycott the movie and its sponsors, and write the sponsors. They do listen to the public if the outcry is loud enough.

[britmaveric]

Should pay the same rate for thai(s) and farang - thats the disappointing part!

Edited June 4, 2006 by britmaveric

[NBT TV Phuket]

To see an interview with San Pestonji, the President of Santa International Film Production Company, involved in many big movies made here, including the Tsunami Aftermath and his comments on local sensitivities, go to http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=173138

[Maejo Man]

It could be likened to asking several thousand Americans to play dead for a film about the World Trade Centre on 9/11.

I find the whole idea rather distasteful, and will not be going to watch it!

[KhunMarco]

It could be likened to asking several thousand Americans to play dead for a film about the World Trade Centre on 9/11.

I find the whole idea rather distasteful, and will not be going to watch it!

sorry double post

Edited June 4, 2006 by KhunMarco

[KhunMarco]

It could be likened to asking several thousand Americans to play dead for a film about the World Trade Centre on 9/11.

I find the whole idea rather distasteful, and will not be going to watch it!

That's what they did with the new movie "United 93", ok they don't play dead but 5 years since the biggest American tragedy is a bit too early for my taste and I'm not from US.

Plus in the 911 case...watching a remake of a movie is usually disappointing

[Mobi]

It could be likened to asking several thousand Americans to play dead for a film about the World Trade Centre on 9/11.

I find the whole idea rather distasteful, and will not be going to watch it!

..or Hollywood going into Auschwittz in 1947, and co-opting some of the survivors who were still in the refugee camps to go and recreate the holocaust.

... or to Yokohama in 1945 and co-opt a few radiation victims to pretend the A- bomb was coming again.

I've never been a supporter of the "green brigade" who try to stop major movies being made in Thailand - after all it brings in a lot of cash to the locals - but this plan is extremely distasteful and should be banned outright.

It is far to early to think about making such a movie in the very place where so many suffered and died.

Whatever are the BBC and HBO thinking of? Are they that desperate for story lines?

Sickening!

[womble]

Should pay the same rate for thai(s) and farang - thats the disappointing part!

Oh well, those westerners working as extras are more than likely residents or long stayers, the extra bit of baht they earn will help cover the extra they are forced to pay for double pricing standards during their stay.

When they do away with two tier pricing i'll join you in the call for equal pay.

[Ricardo]

Should pay the same rate for thai(s) and farang - thats the disappointing part!

Oh well, those westerners working as extras are more than likely residents or long stayers, the extra bit of baht they earn will help cover the extra they are forced to pay for double pricing standards during their stay.

When they do away with two tier pricing i'll join you in the call for equal pay.

Perhaps the farangs might be paid double the locals-rate, just to make the point, and to be fair ?