The international success of his movie “Tom Yum Goong”, and along with its aggressive marketing strategy, are creating new opportunities for two Thai comic books – “Tom Yum Goong” and “The Flying Man” (Kon Bin Hern Fah) - that are based on Tony Ja’s

character.

“Hopefully, by using Tony Ja as the magnet, we can break into the Japanese market,”

says publisher Worawut Worawittayanon, the publishing director of the Thai comic-book licensee Vibulkij.

Vibulkij used its strong connections with the Sakamongkol film company to acquire the licence to create and publish the “Tom Yum Goong” and “The Flying Man”. The latter is a biographical comic book based on Phanom Yeerum, aka, Tony Ja.

The Thai version was launched a few days ago, following the preview screening of “Tom Yum Goong”. The English-language version will be on the market by the end of the year.

Worawut says his company is considering a French version of the comic books. “Tony Ja’s popularity in France should allow us to storm the market,” Worawut says. “And there are possibilities that other countries will buy the rights for the comics’ translation into their languages.”

Fans might be surprised by Tony Ja’s appearance in the comic books. He’s not as handsome as in real life.

“Remember, this is a comedy – not reality,” says Mongkorn Sorapol, the cartoonist for “The Flying Man”. “While we can’t deny that young people are more attracted to good-looking characters, we needed to create a cartoon character.”

The cartoonist for “Tom Yum Goong” says he wanted to develop the tale that’s told in the movie, not replicate it. “Instead of repeating what the movie says, the comic book is more of a side story,” Jirapong Sornakorn explains. “I’m sure that will help people who have seen the film to enjoy the comic book even more and vice versa.”

The cartoonists said it was easy to draw the martial-arts star, but difficult to sketch an elephant and a mini-taxi.

“Details of the elephant, its activities and traditional Thai boxing postures were a big challenge,” says Jirapong. “I took almost four months to study the movie’s storyline and Tony Ja’s the character before starting to sketch.”

Mongkorn was born and raised in the city. He said he knew nothing about rural environments. “I needed to research the picturesque background of Tony Ja’s hometown,” he said, describing the research process for “The Flying Man”. “I had to know little things, like what a mini-taxi in Isaan looks like, and so on.”

In Japan, a comic is usually produced by a team of 10 to 20 cartoonists. Jirapong toiled alone on “Tom Yum Goong” and Mongkorn worked on “The Flying Man” with just two assistants.

They’re proud of the final products.

“Even if these books aren’t as successful as the movie, they spell progress for Thai comics,” says Jirapong.

It took Thai films 30 years to get global recognition, Mongkorn notes. “With a magnet like Tony Ja, it might possibly take 10 years or less for Thai comic books to reach that same level,” he says.

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Mobile World: AIS LAUNCHES its bid FOR WIRELESS DATA SERVICE

Advanced Info Service (AIS), the dominant mobile-phone operator, has introduced an Internet SIM card for its prepaid customers.

The card, which costs Bt245, allows the firm’s prepaid customers to access data services from their General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) phones via the AIS high-speed network for 40 hours a month at no extra cost. If a customer exceeds 40 hours, then AIS will charge Bt0.50 for each extra minute spent accessing data.

The card also allows users to place outgoing calls. The process doesn’t come cheap with an airtime charge of Bt5 per minute.

Subscribers are required to buy the minimum refill card of Bt300 with validity for 30 days.

If subscribers use up the 40 hours within this period, then they have to wait until the next month to recycle the SIM card.

In other words, if subscribers want to continue using the GPRS service after finishing the allotted 40 hours, they must pay Bt0.50 a minute for the service until the next month.

However, subscribers shouldn’t feel cheated because 40 hours of free Internet access means they can spend a little over an hour each day during a month browsing the Net at no extra cost.

The card is meant to encourage prepaid users to try the wireless data access, something that few have done. The card can also help AIS subscribers reduce their phone bills.

The timing of the launch is significant because it suggests that AIS is beginning a price war for wireless-data service, a shift from the “bleeding war” in the voice-service sector.

Sirivish Toomgum

Connected@nationgroup.com