CELEBS SOUND THE BELLS, MINDA’S CASH GRAB, O THE PIRATE LOVER
Really, we’re not like that
Celebrities who live in the condo which came under social media fire after a tenant complained about noise from a nearby temple are horrified that the complainant enjoyed such “influence” that she could get the authorities involved.
An actor and presenter, both residents of the Star View Rama 3 condo close to Wat Sai on Rama III Road, were among the first personalities to insist that most residents at the condo had no problems with the sound of the temple’s bells in the early hours, and it was “just one resident” who had complained.
A complaint from an unnamed resident triggered a warning to the temple from Bang Kholaem district office on Tuesday, asking the monks to tone down the sound of their bells, which they hit twice a day for short periods to summon monks to their routines.
The complaint sparked a backlash on social media, with many netizens assuming the condo had lodged the complaint. In fact, the condo was at pains to stress, as were some of the better-known residents, that they were not involved and that the complaint came from one tenant acting alone.
By the end of a frenetic 12-hour news period, the district office had rescinded the warning notice and apologised to the temple.
Netizens were upset the temple had been going about its business for 300 years but the moment a hi-so condo went up in the neighbourhood, the complaints from outraged tenants started coming in. Among those to push back against the flak were actor Karoonpon “Petch” Tieansuwan and presenter Mallika “TubTim” Jongwattana.
Petch, who urged netizens not to tar them all with the same ungrateful brush, said no one else at the condo minded the sound of the temple bells, and stressed his close ties with the temple community.
“No one at the condo is upset by the noise except for one mad person in one room, who calls to the temple to complain every night. Don’t lump us all in with that mad person... it’s just one rotten fish [in the tank].
“When we make merit, we invite the monks from this temple; when we offer the monks robes after Lent, we do it there. We have spoken to them just recently about restoring a toilet with money which we donate when we make merit.
“But even stranger is that the district would send off the letter without visiting the temple or bothering to investigate. The caller complained every morning at 5am for a month... which good people would do such a thing?”
TubTim struck a similar note, urging the condo to contact the district office to find out the name of the complainant, as she had caused everyone else so much trouble.
“I haven’t heard the bells at all. The Line group for the condo’s juristic entity is in tumult; no one is sitting idly by. Everyone is confused about who could possibly have complained. Whoever it is has gone deathly silent and is happy to let the rest of us come under fire,” she complained.
Responding to sympathetic netizen reaction, she asked who the complainant was to get such attention. “This person made the complaint in a personal capacity but the district responded without even checking with the temple,” she said.
She was also at pains to stress they were not a hi-so crowd but in fact just ordinary folk enjoying living in a relationship of amicable reciprocity with the temple. “It’s just an ordinary condo... not over the top high-end, but some of the tenants are very ‘privileged’,” she said, referring to the hapless complainant.
“The condo should contact the district and ask who it was, because most of us are suffering.”
By the end of the day the complainant had still not broken cover, but one news report said she had leased out her room to a farang tenant, and it was her who had complained about the noise. “She said she was unable to sleep. The owner contacted the district to complain as she was afraid her tenant would leave if she did nothing,” the report said.
Actress seizes the moment
Freelance actress Minda Meesubsin denies she asked her former boyfriend to stump up 2.2 million baht for lost career opportunity after they broke up, or that she tried to force him back by claiming she was pregnant.
Minda, her mother, manager and a close friend went before the media last week after she challenged her former boyfriend, popular Isan singer Zak Chumpae, to “man up” and discuss their dispute.
The jibe about his lacking manhood earlier prompted Zak and his manager to call in the media to deny he had acted dishonourably, while also threatening to release a clip of her confronting him at a city department store and allegedly claiming before the crowd that he had made her pregnant.
One version of the clip shows her attempting to grab Zak by the arm, but security guards intervened and escorted her away. He had just performed and posed for pictures with fans at the store in the Chaeng Wattana area on Sept 8 when Minda made her approach. The actress admitted she tried to reach out to him again in the store’s carpark, but once again security carried her away.
Minda, 24, said she decided to take action after Zak, best known for the huge Isan hit Kam Paeng, abruptly called off their relationship four or five months before. She had not been able to get in touch with him since. The pair were together as partners a year, living in each other’s homes and at one point making plans for marriage.
Zak’s manager, Samart “Tum” Thongkaow, said Minda finally made contact with Zak’s mother, and in a social media chat asked her to stump up 2.2 million baht which she said claimed was the value of work she gave up at Zak’s request. Minda said he asked her to turn down roles in two soap operas, a role as a host and spot in an MV to be with him. His mother said she would have trouble raising that amount.
“In the space of a bit more than a month, Minda had cut the demand to just 50,000 baht, which we still had trouble accounting for,” Tum sniffed. In the end Zak agreed to pay back 10,000 baht he agreed he had borrowed from her.
In response, Minda pointed to a subsequent remark in her exchange with Zak’s mother, in which she said money was less important than her feelings. The two fell out, according to Zak, after he failed to buy her gifts as an expression of his love.
Underscoring the point, Minda’s mother, Punchalee Wattanachaisart, said the actress comes from a good family and was in no need of money. As for claims by Zak’s camp that she sullied his name by claiming he made her pregnant, Minda denied it.
Tum insisted, however, that his camp held a clip, which they have not released, in which Minda threw herself down before the stage at the department store and accused him of making her pregnant. “Netizens filmed it but she told a reporter later that the pregnancy claim wasn’t true,” he said. Minda agrees she is not pregnant. The lawyer for Zak’s music label said he was gathering evidence with a view to taking action, as her claims had hurt Zak’s reputation.
Tum said Zak decided to pull back from the relationship after Minda wrote an unpleasant message about him. “He hasn’t been the right man for ages now. But I put up with it. I have never met anyone this dirty. The way he speaks, his sense of the right time and place... we are a long way apart,” it said.
Minda, meanwhile, said she turned down work to be with Zak, whom she still loved, and when she asked about the lost earnings he suggested she include it in her marriage dowry demand. “After that he disappeared,” she said in tears. Zak said he apologised for causing Minda ill-feeling and hopes they can still be friends.
A little theft between friends
Actor Anuchyd “O” Sapanphong wasted no time in scooping up a bargain pirated VCD of his own work, as he thought it was as good a chance as any to watch himself in action.
O was walking in a market when he came across a vendor selling pirated versions of the 2018 remake of the soap opera Ankor, in which he plays a leading role. He appears on the cover. He said the vendor recognised him, and spying the opportunity for a quick sale, offered it to him for a discount.
Without mentioning the sensitive issue of intellectual property theft, O recounted the vendor’s offer: “Normally I sell it for 200 baht but as you star in this soap, I will give it you for a price of 160 baht.”
Just as quick to make the most of the opportunity, O wrote: “With a price as cheap as this, why wait? I bought it to take home and watch myself,” he said. He later posted a picture of him holding the pirated VCD on social media.