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Predicting the Thai political Oscars

WE ALL KNOW about the jinx associated with making a sequel, but I couldn't help it. After all, my list of "Thai political Oscars" last year received a presumably good rating. (No boasting here, but the previous story got the honour of being posted on another website and someone found it there and e-mailed it back to me without knowing that I had written it.)



So, as we keep anticipating what will be the first big blow to knock Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva off his stride - the rotten milk scandal, or controversial political "donations", the red-shirt rally, or sex allegations - here are my political Oscars for the year 2008, as inspired by real events in our country:

Best Supporting Actress: Sansanee Wisutthitada in "My Girl". Some people believed she was merely "acting", but we must hand it to her. If an arrogant, high-flying fortune-teller suggested in public that he thought your teenage, celebrity daughter would give birth to a fatherless child, what would you do? Surely anything but storm onto a stage and force him to kneel at your feet before a big audience.

Best Supporting Actor: Saranyoo Wongkrajang for "The Revolutionary Road", which tells the story of a celluloid has-been who joins anti-government protests as an entertainer but ends up leading the world-famous seizure of an international airport. Chalerm Yoobamrung and Snoh Thienthong, nominees from "Friday the 13th: The Remake", were narrowly beaten.

Best Actress: Pojaman Damapong for her outstanding role in "No More Pojaman Shinawatra", a film that defies all cliches about divorce. She was critically acclaimed for portraying a woman who underwent the biggest transition of her life without the slightest fuss. No tears in public. Not a single word in public. She used absolute silence to subdue all kinds of speculation and the only difference between "then" and "now" was an almost unnoticeable change in her hairdo.

Best Actor: Newin Chidchob picked up this one for "Embrace of Darkness", defeating co-star Abhisit Vejjajiva, who was nominated for his role in "The Hijacker". Somchai Wongsawat had been expected to win this prestigious award for his role in "The Reader", the story of a besieged prime minister who has to keep reading from prepared statements to defend his rule and does virtually nothing else. Critics' favourite, though, was Giles Ungpakorn in the heavy-hearted political drama "One-way Ticket".

Best Short Documentary: The award goes to "Yaowapa Wongsawat the First Lady". "Apirak's Return" had been a sure bet but the film was disqualified at the last minute because the panel of judges ruled it was "too short" even for the Short Documentary category.

Best Comedy: "Missions Impossible" - also known as "How to own a soccer club in exile and sell it at double profit and all the while get a legitimate divorce despite being a fugitive and have policemen from the country that criminalised you as your bodyguards".

The favourite in this category had been "The Generals' Order", featuring soul-searching men in uniform who were through staging coups and instead chose to go on TV to politely tell an elected government to resign.

Best Horror Film: "The Cooking Show" wins this with ease. This movie did for TV cooking programmes more than "Jaws" did for beaches. The impact on the political landscape was enormous, and no Thai political leader in his or her right mind will ever set foot in an outdoor kitchen again.

Best Costumes: The dress Sondhi Limthongkul wore during a scene in "Government House Is Mine", in which he performed a ritual to repel bad omens, was enough to give this movie the award. Such was the effect of the simple white dress that one critic described it as "plain but totally insane".

Best Movie: The epic film about the Suvarnabhumi Airport seizure has been criticised for its "costs", which are still spiralling out of control, post-production. However, "The Terminal" won over the judges and beat other nominees that were also politically related. Edged out were "The Terminals" (Note the "s"), a drama involving a politician's life in exile, and "Deja Vu", which is renowned for its opening and closing scenes that show Government House engulfed by yellow- and red-shirted protesters respectively.

Most memorable movie quotes: "I'm innocent" from most of the above movies. "He's paying for his karma because he was a warrior in his past life and killed so many people" from "The Terminals". "I'll be back when there's justice" from "The Terminals". "If you want justice, don't run", also from "The Terminals".

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