by Scott Coates

The good folks at Bangkok Podcast had us on their show on Sunday, July 11. We talked about the origins of Smiling Albino, our guiding principals, how we’ve expanded over the years and our community work.
Have a listen: http://www.bangkokpodcast.com/bangkok-interviews/smiling-albino/.

Over the past year or so I’ve been invited by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to emcee media events such as this year’s Ultimate Thailand Explorer’s Challenge. In addition, I’ve also had the good fortune to be named a tourism ambassador for such events as the revitalization of tourism following the 2005 tsunami, or more recently following Bangkok’s political demonstrations as an internet-television host for interviews about tourism in Thailand.

Another occasion arose to get in the game of revitalizing Thailand’s tourism image this past weekend during the “Smile@Ratchaprasong” Festival coordinated by the TAT and the Ratchaprasong Business Community. The Ratchaprasong area of course is where the Red Shirt demonstrations took place this past spring (perhaps you heard about it?), which left a temporary sour note in one of Bangkok’s ordinarily more vibrant neighbourhoods. The “Smile@Ratchaprasong” Festival sought to bring people back by way of a town fair– type atmosphere: live music concerts, games, competitions, crafts workshops, photo contests, retail space, moms & tots, etc. In addition, the TAT invited a wide range of media to the event, from traditional TV, newspaper and magazines, to the active social media influencers around town who were vital in reporting on-the-scene truths during and after the demonstrations this past spring. So, in an inspiring step forward, the TAT sought to recognize the importance of this new media vehicle and build bridges into this community. I was to host them on the first morning of the festival, followed by an informal lunch with the Governor of the TAT, Suraphon Svetsaranee, as well as Deputy Governor Prakit Piriyakiet, Executive Director Sugree Sithivanich, and Director of Communications, Thapanee Kiatpaiboon.

Some of our guests on the outing included local social media notables Michael, Richard, John, Greg, Jack, Anthony, Trevor, and more.

Social media celebrities unite!

So, how do you impress a group of seasoned locals and keep them interested for a half-day of visiting the very neighbourhood where many of them live, work and play regularly anyway? Enter Smiling Albino!

As an enhancement to the festival, Smiling Albino was asked to provide some entertainment and information to this group of bloggers, tweeters, online travel gurus and iWizards. So, rather than bludgeoning them with miles and miles of retail and music, we did what we have always thought travel should be about anyway: get involved with the locals.

Using the Ratchaprasong neighbourhood as our canvass, we drafted up a simple walking adventure, mixed with a private boat trip and a few sneak-a-peaks into local villages, shops, homes, boat piers and focused on the life and times of the local people who live, work, and pray in Ratchaprasong. In a two-hour jaunt we tasted the local food, heard the stories of the local shopkeepers, cooks, villagers, and spoke to boat drivers and pier custodians about life before and after the demonstrations. Some of us even tried our hand at making the curious kanom tokyo snacks. Nothing fancy – just an opportunity to get in touch with the community, and make the locals the stars for a day. The concept was “live, eat, work and pray in Ratchaprasong”

Here’s a quick breakdown of the trip:

Pray 1 – start at Erawan Shrine – the venerable spirit keystone of the entire neighbourhood. Flanked in untold mystery and curious history, the open-air goodness emanating from this corner of Ratchaprasong is a must for any walking experience in the neighbourhood.

Eat 2 – from here it was time to walk along Ratchaprasong Ave across from the recovering Central World Complex, currently getting a new make-over to grace Bangkok’s retail block once again. Here we spoke with Khun Tan, the lady who has run a small clothing shop (read: clothes hanging on a pole beside a tree along the roadside) for many years. Over the past few months her revenues have been cut in thirds, and she is improvising with a new Thai sweets stand selling kanom tokyo.

Greg steps into to street-hawker shoes and makes kanom tokyo

Greg kindly showed us how it was done and may have even sold some of his innovations to the passers by. This is a great strip of Bangkok to sample all kinds of street food, from kanom krock (the ping pong ball-looking coconut snack), to moo satay (pork skewers that taste better than they look) beyond the canal bridge, to Isaan-cum-urban dweller favourites, som tam and gai yang (papaya salad and grilled chicken).

Live 3 – Tao Phu Village

From here cut across the street into what looks like a construction site across from the canal bridge over the Saen Seab Canal. Beyond this cement factory is a narrow series of streets that pass through the Tao Phu Village (cement mixer village in Thai, named after the giant factory that dwarfs its sensibilities to the north). This oddly peaceful pocket of Ratchaprasong was a hotbed of activity during protests last spring, and the locals were happy to share their stories and demonstrate that they were ready to step into a fresh new chapter. A few hundred families make up this community, sequestered between the factory, Central World, and the edge of the Centara Complex to the west. Just another one of those places you’d never knew existed in this amazing city…

Tao Phu Village - stuck between a cement mixer and mega-mall

Work 4 – from Tao Phu Village cross back to the boat bridge and meet Mr Lert, the long-time manager of the boat station which serves as a main hub for what is Thailand’s longest canal, Khlong Saen Saeb. Mr Lert runs 60 boats up and down the canals from Bangkapi all the way to the Phan Fah Bridge in Banglampu, near Democracy Monument and Khao San Road. On our SA mini-adventure we hired a private boat to take our guests down the canal to famous Hua Chang Bridge station at Siam Square and the Bangkok Art & Culture Center. It was nice to see the boat business back at full throttle again, and Mr Lert kindly gave a couple of quick interviews before returning to his liquid thoroughfare office.

SA's Bank aboard a canal water taxi towards Siam Square

Live 5 – at the Hua Chang Boat Stop, one exits the boat stand into a small but lovingly cared for garden area run by Khun Rampui. She is the jovial lady who runs the red fridge with cool drinks and snacks for boat passengers. She graciously invited us into her wooden two-story house which precariously lurches out over the water. She has been there for many years and in exchange for rights to live and work in the space, she is also the custodian of the boat pier, hence the greenery and generally nice atmosphere.

Work (and shop) 6 – from here we walked along Rama I Road and checked out work on the rebuilding of retail space around the old Siam Theater. Many of the tenants who lost their space after the spring fires have set up a mini strip mall of canvassed cubicles on Siam Square Soi 4, while work is done to rebuild more formal retail space beside the theater. Life is marching on – and the resiliency of Thais and the smiles on their faces was a positive reminder that indeed The Land of Smiles is back in business! Travel here now!

Pray 7 – We ended the walking trip in an affirming manner, giving alms to monks at the Pathum Wararam Temple. This deep garden sanctuary is cocooned between Siam Paragon and Centara Grand/Central World complexes.

Wat Pathum Wararam's garden walking paths

It was also a safe haven for the fleeing protesters during the sweeping up operations which ended the demonstrations last spring. We thought it was a fitting ending to end this mini adventure on a high spiritual note, and a chance for a nice stroll through the temple gardens, and to use one of the nicer bathrooms in the neighbourhood.

From here along the skywalk all the way to the Grand Hyatt Erawan for a lunch with the TAT Governor and friends to discuss tourism initiatives and how to bridge ties into the social media world. All up – a good morning.

Long table discussion with TAT Governor Suraphon Svetsaranee

There was some positive discussion during our luncheon about how the social media community can get involved in the revitalizing of Thailand’s tourism industry, and more importantly how the TAT can catch the slip string of this momentum and make positive inroads into this exciting medium. Great work from Kae, Bank and Scott in the SA Office to get this mini-adventure off the ground last week, and special thanks to Bank for being a great host and trip leader for our media guests.

Great to have you all on board guys and thanks for the extra photo support, John!

Fah Thai, the inflight magazine for Bangkok Airways ran a photo essay about

Bangkok 1910 Photo Essay

Smiling Albino’s Bangkok 1910 adventure in their April 2010 issue.

Click here and have a look at the entire piece.

Smiling Albino co-founder Scott Coates recently attended the Mekong Tourism Forum in Siem Reap, Cambodia from May 7-8, 2010.

We hosted a fun Tuk-Tuk Adventure after the final Gala Dinner. Here are a few pictures.

Tim tries his hand at the Throw a Flip Flop game

Some participants from Vietnam making spring rolls

A Khmer team in their tuk tuk on route to the next event

Adventurers at the end of the night on Pub Street

Chris, Joe, Mason, Nick, Erika, Scott & Ann

Chef Sang demonstarting how to make Khmer spring rolls

Smiling Albino was quoted in the Phnom Penh Post about the Forum.

Be sure to check out our Cambodia adventures too!

Enjoy reading Trains, Boats and Planes…, from the December 2009 edition of Expat Living Singapore, a neat story about Smiling Albino’s Bangkok 1910 trip.

Vendor at Tha Kha Floating Market

Scott Coates for the Calgary Herald

When Daniel Fraser moved to Thailand he never thought he’d become a movie star. But that’s exactly what happened when he landed a role in The Garuda, a Thai movie that recently opened in Thailand.
“I came to Thailand in 1999 to start an adventure travel company, Smiling Albino, that leads unique, service-oriented trips and community projects around the country.”

The movie poster

“Doing TV commercials and modeling was a hobby while my business partner and I built up our travel business. In the end I ended up becoming a fairly well known television presenter for various products in Southeast Asia. That spring-boarded into me getting to know people in the local film business.”
As for how Fraser landed his big role, he simply answered a casting call, auditioned, and three months later was offered the part.

“Everyone dreams of being in a movie when they’re young, but realistically I didn’t think it would happen until the day they called and told me I actually got the role.” In The Garuda, Fraser plays Tim Lamarche, a French archeologist in his mid-20′s who follows a female archeologist (Leena) he’s in love with to Thailand. The two are brought to the country to investigate unusual fossils that were unearthed while an extension of the Bangkok subway system was taking place. It turns out a garuda (a mythological half-bird, half-man creature) was found hibernating below the city and is not at all happy about being woken. What ensues is a cat and mouse chase between a special military regiment that’s trying to keep the beast at bay and the two westerners who are trying to learn more about the mysterious, winged-creature.

Tim is also a vehicle that exposes the cultural clashes between Thais and

Dan signing an autograph

foreigners, so a lot of his lines are comical because they explore what foreigners don’t understand about Thais and vice versa. “Overall Tim’s a funny guy,” explains Fraser. “He’s a bit cute and silly, but also burdened with love he has for the main female character.” Fraser had some serious challenges preparing for his part as all of his lines are in Thai and he still had a day job to hold-down. “During the three months of filming they were really understanding about my business needs and arranged shooting around my schedule leading adventures around Thailand. They even flew me to the set a few times!”

Prior to filming, the movie’s production company also put the cast through a two-week crash course in ‘imagination modeling’ (entirely in Thai language), which taught him how to get inside his character’s head. “That was great preparation for the role. I learned how to act using Thai as my thinking voice. “That said I play an archeologist so a lot of my dialogue is scientific language – about dinosaurs and archeology. As a result my lines were more complicated than they would have been with a regular role. My real challenge was doing all my lines while still making it look very natural, like I wasn’t thinking about it.” Fraser’s main co-star, Sarah Legge, who plays Leena, says what impressed her most while working with Fraser was his language ability. “Considering all of his dialogue was in Thai and this is his first film, he did a truly excellent job from start to finish,” says Legge. “He was very focused and always ready for his scenes. He should be very proud.” Nung Chalad na Songkhla, who plays a computer technician for the team of soldiers in the movie, was also duly impressed with Fraser’s language and acting skills. “At first I wasn’t too sure about working with a foreigner who couldn’t speak Thai as a first language,” explains Chalad na Songkhla”. “But Daniel always spoke Thai with me on the set even though he knew I can speak English. That really made me respect him and in the end I was very happy to work with him.”

Critics are also impressed with his performance. A recent review on Thailand’s premier movie website, www.movieseer.com, reads, “The color of the film, though, is added by Fraser, who brings some welcome humor to the otherwise solemn script. You’re never quite sure if his character is supposed to be more goofy than intelligent or the other way around, but either way, his performance is good for a few laughs.”

Overall, Fraser is very happy with the end result. “The few times I’ve seen it [The Garuda] at the theatre there were lots of laughs at the right moments – that was a huge relief,” smiles Fraser. “Audiences seem to think the character’s creative, interesting and enjoyable. “Anytime you see yourself on screen you think you should have done a lot better, but knowing how challenging the role was with its dialogue and being in Thai I’m really happy with the way it came out.” The Garuda is also quite an important step for Thai cinema. It’s the first Thai movie to be shot entirely digitally and also had quite a large budget, coming in at just over $1.3 million. Combined with the country’s growing reputation as a quality and economical center for filming (Oliver Stone just finished shooting his next epic Alexander), Garuda is boldly leading Thai cinema into new territory.

Dan listening to the film's director

A year-and-a-half has passed since shooting wrapped on the film and it opened in Thai theatres on April 1, 2004. This kicked-off the promotional process, something Fraser’s had a lot of fun with. “It’s been one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. We’ve been appearing on a lot of big TV talk shows, doing interviews, promotions at movie theatres, and autograph signings. It’s the quest for his signature that’s left Fraser grinning. “The autographs have been one of the strangest parts. One week no one knew who I was and then people are asking me to sign my name on their grocery bags or whatever they have on-hand. I never imagined that anyone would be asking for my autograph. Now that they are, it’s very exciting and it makes me feel like I did a great job in the film, and there’s a place for westerners in Thai pop culture.

“This is hopefully not a once in a lifetime experience, but I’m looking at it more as a hobby and lucky break as it may not happen again. I’m just enjoying it.” As for the future, Fraser remains passionately focused on why he originally settled in Thailand. “I’m sure acting will always be a fun hobby but the adventure travel business is number one because it’s so unique, benefits local communities and our clients really enjoy the adventures we’re offering. Eventually I also hope to be leading trips in other parts of Southeast Asia for the corporate market.

“I definitely feel we’ve got something special here in Thailand with Smiling Albino and having acting and modeling as a hobby too has been a real joy and made things even that much more fun.”