Nantida back in the saddle, just a little teary

This is the first time Tu has worked with composer Piyada Hachaiphum. “She said it was a bit strange for her since she hadn’t had that kind of experience before,” Tu says. (Evidently Piyada just recently got married – hopefully she’ll avoid such a fate.) “I told her that, in every broken romance, there are still happy moments that we’ll always remember.”

Asked if her past is really so sad that hankies are required any time she reminisces, Tu would only say that love has taught her a great deal. 

So she and Piyada worked on the tune for two months, most likely soon after the scandalous news broke about her former common-law husband Chonsawat Asavahame marrying actress Janie Thienphosuvarn. 

It appears that Tu has turned that ordeal into an opportunity. She’ll be singing the song during her aptly titled concert “Nantida: The Show Must Go On” at Paragon Hall on February 1. Her teenage daughter, Pleng Asavahame, will be singing at her side. “I’d say we’re about 60 per cent ready. We’re looking forward to meeting the fans,” Tu says. 

Well, if the Pathumwan anti-government rally is still going on right next door, there’ll certainly be a lot of whistling. 

 

At the OK Corral

Seri Wongmontha, the “celebrity protest leader”, has earned a huge number of new fans since he began appearing on the rally stages, but he didn’t stand out for the foreign news media until a video went wild of him angrily taking on journalist John Sparks on Monday. See it at http://Blogs.Channel4.com/

world-news-blog/flambuoyant-duelling-heart-thailands-protests/26695.

Seri was addressing the troops when he spotted the correspondent for Britain’s Channel 4 News off to the side and asked if he wanted an interview right there and then. Sparks was handed a microphone and began quizzing the protesters’ intent and wisdom, and Seri fired back – in bellowing English – with both guns blazing.

The brief “interview” quickly turned into a debate, then a showdown. Sparks later called it a duel, but Seri and the whistling crowd were determined that he’d lose this one.

Sparks asked how long the protesters would stick it out. Until they win, Seri said, hopefully in just a few days.

Yingluck leads a democratically elected government and isn’t going to stand down, Sparks said.

The protesters accept her legitimacy, Seri said, before roaring that an election “is just a process of democracy but it is not democracy itself. Being elected doesn’t mean that your corruption will be legalised or legitimised!”

“I can tell you it was a hostile place to do an interview!” Sparks blogged afterward in a post that drew well over 200 comments.

The video was virally shared – for two completely different reasons. Seri’s admirers decided he ruled the debate. Critics of the anti-government movement found Seri overly hostile and empathised with Sparks. Tune in and judge for yourself.