It's easy winning admirers if you're successful. Ann Thongprasong can get people to admire her even when she goofs up.
That's what happened at the inaugural Nataraj Awards on Sunday night. She was announced as Best Actress for her role in the TV series "Sood Saneh Ha" ("Love Recipe"), although she'd also been nominated for "Borisat Jamkad Kan".
Onstage and wonderfully excited, Ann started rattling off the names of people on the series she wanted to thank, but the audience fell silent.
"Wait," she said, "which series did I get this award for?" She was thanking the wrong cast and crew! Once that was cleared up, Ann ran down List No 2.
Well done. Loud applause all around.
Order in the house
Ann might have been a bit nervous anyway because she had a tough act to follow. Pongpat Wachirabanchong had just made a very touching speech after accepting the Best Actor award for "Phrachan See Rung". He earned a standing ovation and had everyone in tears, including Chatchai Plengpanich.
Since he plays a father on the show, he said, he wanted to say something about fathers.
"Thailand to me is like a big home with lots of children. Sometimes when the children become angry about something they come home and want to chase Daddy away.
"But this is Daddy's home, and if you don't love your Daddy, just leave.
"I love the King," Pongpat said.
The room erupted in cheers.
Red light for Joei
Apichatpong "Joei" Weerasethakul may be a knight in France, but he won't be riding triumphantly into the Cannes Film Festival, where his new movie "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" is having its world premiere today.
The British have his passport.
Joei had hoped to visit England after red-carpet time in Cannes and left his passport with the British Embassy in Bangkok so he could get a visa. Then it closed because of the warfare downtown.