Historic Thai films added to registry
King Rama VIII's return to Thailand in 1938, a one-minute fragment of a 1927 silent and footage of the 1944 bombing of Bangkok are among this year's additions to the Culture Ministry's National Heritage Films Registry, Culture Minister Sukumol Khunploe
The second year the list has been compiled, the 25 films are registered as national heritage to mark Thai Film Conservation Day.
Thai Film Archive director Dome Sukwong said the news footage of King Rama VIII’s first return to Thailand in 1938, was “rare and highly precious”. Made by the Thai Film Co Ltd, the newsreel shows the 13-year-old King Ananda Mahidol visiting Bangkok for the first time.
The earliest film on this year’s list is 1927’s “Chok Song Chan” (“Double Luck”). It was the first narrative feature produced by and starring Thais. Recovered in 1995, all that remains is a 25-metre strip of negative – about one minute – of a car-chase scene.
Another historic film is the World War II bombing of Bangkok in 1944. The daylight raid was filmed by a B-29 aircraft that was part of the squadron assigned to bomb Bangkok after Thai government declared war on Britain and the United States on January 25, 1942.
The Thai Film Archive’s Sri Salaya Theatre in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, will show these movies at free weekend screenings throughout November and December. For more information, call (02) 482 2013-4 ext 111 or visit the ThaiFilmArchive page on Facebook.
Films as National Heritage 2012
“Chok Song Chan” (“Double Luck”), 1927
“Life Before 1932”, 1930
“National Constitution Parade”, 1933
“King Rama VIII’s First Return to Thailand”, 1938
“Bangkok Bombing During World War II”, 1944
“Seri Thai March”, 1945
“Hed Mahassajan” (“The Miraculous Incident”), 1955
“Sawan Meud” (“Dark Heaven”), 1958
“Mae Nak Phra Khanong”, 1959
World Boxing Championship match between Hua Hin native Pon Kingphetch and Argentinean boxer Pascal Peres in Bangkok, 1960
“Meu Jon” (“Hands of a Thief”), 1961
“Reun Phae” (“The House Boat”), 1961
“Bunteuk Rak Khong Pimchawee” (“Pimchawee’s Love Diary”), 1962
“Ngern Ngern Ngern” (“Money, Money, Money”), 1965
“Saneh Bangkok” (“Charming Bangkok”), 1966
“Gnathostoma Spinigerum and Gnathostomiasis in Thailand”, 1967
“A Drug Inmate’s Execution by Firing Squad”, year unknown
“Insee Thong” (“Golden Eagle”), 1970
“The Dalai Lama Visits Suan Mokkh”, 1972
“Hanuman vs Seven Superheroes”, 1974
“Thongpoon Khokpho Rassadon Temkhan” (“Citizen Thongpoon Khokpho”), 1977
“Kru Bannok” (“Rural Teachers”), 1978
“Muang Nai Mhok” (“City in the Mist”), 1978
“Nor Jor Ror Pai Yan Yai”, 1999
“Sawan Ban Na” (“Agrarian Utopia”), 2009
