Sunday, May 22, 2005 :: Chris
Star Wars And The King Of Thailand
Off to the swanky Emporium department store complete with in-house cinema to see the Bangkok premiere of Star Wars. I'd excitedly prebooked the tickets a couple of days before and had therefore earned considerable brownie points with the girlfriend for doing so. Had a mild heart attack at the lights dimmed and the screen came to life with the Star Wars logo appearing in a fetching Thai script version and the iconic opening scroll appearing on the screen in, you guessed it, Thai. Shit, fuck, bollocks and other expletives went through my mind. If the title and opening scroll was in Thai, maybe I've booked us into a Thai-dubbed version of the film. My anthropological side wanted to take interest in the prospect of hearing Darth Vader speaking in Thai (would the heavy breathing sound different?) , but in reality, my heart sank that I might have cocked it up on such a huge scale. As the film opened on a huge space battle, painful seconds went by without any dialogue - there was only the zapping of lasers and sound of explosions. Finally, Anakin or Ohi-Wan Kenobi, or someone, spoke. And it was in English. With Thai subtitles. Thank god thank god thank god. I felt Lindy distinctly relax next to me. We settled back and...well, my thoughts about Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith are on splinters.

Attending a cinema in Thailand is always a novel experience, language problems not withstanding, because every screening features a rendition of the National Anthem before the main feature. The audience are required to stand during the Anthem, which shows a short film of the King. The Thais hold their Royal Family in absolute reverence, and it's one of the few unpardonable sins that a foreigner can commit by criticising them. Certainly the King and Queen have devoted themselves to initiating numerous projects to making life better for Thai people and to curtailing the endemic corruption in the country, and so they should be applauded. Standing up to watch the film of the King, with various pictures of him depicted in rain droplets descending across the silver screen in front of us, I feel quite moved. The cinematic effects would seem terribly kitsch back in England, but here they're used to signify something else - for one, the simple thanks for the arrival of the rainy season, which, whilst annoying for tourists, is the lifeblood of Thailand's largely rural population - and for another, the absolute faith of the people in their King to serve their best interests. This sense of belief and faith - and with it, hope - seems a world away from the pompous banalities of the UK's Royal Family. I remember Steve and I sitting down through the playing of the National Anthem at our graduation ceremony at Sussex. But here in Thailand, I feel perfectly content to stand and pay respect to the King. I cannot say I know anything about them beyond what I read in the Thai English language press. And precisely because of that, I quite enjoy having a hero beyond reproach.

More on Star Wars Episode III:
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Jawfish: Star Wars Come To Life

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A journal about living and travelling in Thailand by Chris Mitchell, a British travel writer based in Bangkok, Thailand.

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