But last week he had to beg the photographers to be a little more careful about the pictures of him they use. It seems Channel 9 ran footage of Chotisak with a cigarette in his hand - his wife saw it and hit the roof.

She must have spotted the offending butt right through the cloud of pixels.

"You've got to help me on this!" he told the press gang.

The problem was bigger than it might have been because the Missus was already peeved about him getting a phone call at 3am from a TV channel wanting to set up an early-morning interview.

"She was still irritated about that, and then she saw me on TV with a cigarette!" he groaned.

So if you're wondering why it's taking so long to get Suvarnabhumi sorted out, spare a thought for Chotisak - he's got bigger worries at home than some airline passenger needing to pee.

Yutthana's crash diet lands him at GMM offshoot label

Yutthana "Pa Ted" Boonom is done with being Fat.

The linchpin of Thai indie music just got his clothes back from the cleaners after staging this month's Fat Festival and he's moving on.

Fat Radio is going to have to find somebody else to inflate its audience, because Yutthana is now managing director at the indie record label Sanam Luang.

Wait a sec - isn't Sanam Luang part of GMM Grammy Plc?

Yes, but it's quite "independent", honest. It was the brainchild of Mookake "Gag" Jongmankong, who despite being the son of GMM chief executive Busaba Daoruang is listed as Sanam's "creative" bloke.

Creatively, the baby label decided it needed an "icon" with which music fans could identify. Yutthana was working magic at Fat, so maybe he could do the same for Sanam.

Besides, he knew where the office was. Yutthana worked for GMM Grammy rights after he graduated, doing a DJ gig at the radio station run by what was then called Grammy Entertainment.

He quit (he claims) but has stuck with the music business ever since, more than a decade now.

So what happens at Fat Radio? Maybe they're enjoying that slimmed-down feeling? Nah, those guys are into being bloated.

Soopsip is on high alert for news of the next hefty helmsman.

Thitinart resets her compass and finds dandy dharma

Fears that belief in dharma is becoming passé are muted by the success of the book "Khemthit Cheewit" ("Life Compass"), which has been reprinted more than 40 times and remains a best-seller.

Author Thitinart Na Pattalung, who retired from the hi-so circuit to get serious about dharma, had seen the book merely as her small contribution to society, a payback for dharma's benefit in her own life.

Upon becoming a devotee, she was able to clear Bt100 million in business debts and turn her jewellery company into a money maker again. She's since sold the firm and now lives the simple life.

She says 150,000 copies of "Khemthit Cheewit" have sold so far - most Thai-language books are lucky to sell 3,000 - and it's earned Bt30 million.

In dharma terms, Thitinart says, the best-seller proves that once you know exactly what you want to do and put in some effort, success will come your way - even if you don't expect it.

"Once you are working on something, you have to put your mind into it, without expecting anything in return. With love and passion, your work will turn out good because you've put your heart into it. The outcome is just an end to your action. Good action brings good results."

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