Love and loathing for scalpers |after Genie Fest sell-out

A LOT OF PEOPLE were left disappointed last Thursday after all 35,000 tickets for Genie Fest 16 (G16) on May 10 were sold in less than 90 minutes. That the tickets got sucked up in the blink of an eye wasn’t a big surprise, though, given the line-up of talent for the show. Marking Genie Records’ 16th anniversary, G16 piles on the stars from parent firm GMM Grammy, including Bodyslam, Big Ass, Paradox, Retrospect, Kala, Sweet Mullet, Cocktail, No More Tear, Instinct and Klear.
“We knew these artists have a lot of fans out there, but we never expected the tickets would go so fast!” says Yutthaya “Ted” Boon-orm, managing director of Gay Ray, the organising firm. People started queuing at Siam Paragon even before the mall opened and thousands more were at home or at work with eyes glued to computer screens ready to book via ThaiTicketMajor.com and Grammy’s website.
Many of those who got left behind in the rush for tickets took their frustrations to Ted via the social networks. He had to explain that there simply could not be any further passes sold because the shores of the lake at the Impact complex in Muang Thong Thani would be jammed enough as it was.
The “solution” for these disappointed fans, of course, was to buy tickets from scalpers, and quite a few shady dealers bought huge batches of passes to put on sale at jacked-up prices. As always, Ted warned the fans to shun these guys and put them out of business. “You won’t die if you miss this concert. Don’t feed these unscrupulous people! If they can’t sell, they’ll have to lower the prices.” Genie repeated the advice on Facebook, but there were still a lot of pleas for tickets among the comments, with offers of big baht.

Nichkhun taken!
“Lucky in love” and, what the hell, lucky in everything: That’s Nichkhun Horvejkun, the Thai member of South Korean boy band 2PM, who recently stretched out into acting with a starring role in the Japanese TV series “Indaichi Shounen no Jikenbo” (“Prison Cram School Case”). He’s also flogging badminton racquets for Yonex and, with Phetthai “Mum Jokmok” Wongkumlao, singing the praises of Coca-Cola Thailand.
The lucky-at-love part has just been confirmed, with Nichkhun’s agency acknowledging that he’s been in a relationship with Tiffany of Girls’ Generation for the past four months. The revelation comes as a surprise because, unlike Thais who love their celebrity couples, South Koreas prefer their idols to stay single and thus “available”.
A rumour about Nichkhun and Tiffany had been circulating for quite a while before their agencies fessed up, noting that they have stuff in common, such as being born in the US. Tiffany grew up there too, as did Tachyeon, another member of 2PM. Nichkhun was keeping mum about Tiffany until fans took advantage of his Q&A on Twitter last Wednesday. “Please take care of Tiffany!” said one. Nichkhun’s response: “Do I ever not? Never =]”. There were some fans annoyed about the relationship, but most by far were happy to send congratulations.