Crash

In Thailand, there are many scooters. There is also much booze. A fatal combination most of the time. We did this ad for the Thai Department of Health and Safety with Palm d'Or winning Bangkok production House "Phenomenon" and Thai director Thanonchai "Tor" Sornsriwichai. In Thai, the word "Chon" literally means "Crash". It's used to describe a car crash, and a way of saying "Cheers" (as in "Crash Glasses").  

Ad for slimmers coffee

A fun spot we conceptualised and shot with director and Thai advertising superhero Thanonchai Sornsriwichai.

Sorry Thailand Public Service Announcement

Unrest had been brewing in Thailand for a long time. From street-marches to public blood-shedding in front of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's house (image belongs to The Telegraph), it all finally came to a head in May 2010 in Bangkok when the government sent in the soldiers to break up a protest by the red-shirted Thaksin supporters, something the government said they wouldn't do. Thaksin himself, high-rolling billionaire politician and prime minister from 2001-2006, one-time Manchester City FC owner and "champion of the poor" was leading his civilian troops remotely from outside Thai borders, where he was hiding out from his sentence by Thai courts for fraud involving billions.

That move set off more than a month of riots in the capital known in the media as the "Battle for Bangkok". Total body count: 85 dead, 2000 injured. (The Thai Army vs the Red shirts was a bit like the Israeli army vs Palestinians, tanks vs bricks and burning tyres, fire crackers and home-made rocket launchers - see the video clip at the bottom)

After it was all over, the Thais were stunned. I remember sitting on public transport while a "Heal the World" type Thai pop song played on the screens inside the train with scenes of the devastation behind the singing pop stars. Every single Thai in the train looked at the screens and all of them looked close to tears. Kinda stupid of me, but only then did I realize what an impact it had on their society. They were absolutely stunned by this thing that almost tore them in two. The fact that it was Thai against Thai made it even worse. What made it even worse is that the Thais are quick to laugh and slow to anger, and violence is directly opposed to their religion of Buddhism.

As all political conflict, this was a lot more complicated than the "bad reds" against the "good yellows".

Our agency got a brief from a government agency to tell the Thai nation that even though things were looking bad, it would get better. The job had to be turned over fast. The process was quite remarkable, it turned into an inter-agency and interdisciplinary brainstorm: There were agency people, the director, a guy with a popular fashion label and many more thinkers.

Some notes on the context of the cultural context of this Public Service Announcement:
"35: The Thai police are notoriously corrupt
"42: as is Thai government
"47: in Bangkok, they are always digging up and repaving pavements. It's people in government awarding lucrative "construction" contracts to their friends etc or for kickbacks.
"48: unfinished public project entitled "Good Hope"
"53: Price-fixing and buying monopolies make the poor farmers poorer and the rich retailers richer.
61": Average Thai mentality is very much "let's have fun and leave running the country to the clever people". Thai media for the people isn't really educating, it's about movie stars and ghosts.
67": Buddhist monks involved in criminal cases
80": the oven coops are for fighting cocks, a favorite working-class pastime.

Even though this PSA was bound up in red tape by the Thai Censorship Board ("inflammatory content" etc), it aired on news programs and became an actuality discussion point in local and international press. On Youtube, the Thai version had over a million hits. People circulated it, and so most people who wanted to see it, could.

The "spirit of reconciliation" in which the ad was made was applauded by the Prime Minister's office, but of course they "could not interfere" with the decision of the Thai Censorship Committee. So in the meantime, this PSA lives on the web.

At Adfest 2011 the effort was rewarded with a Gold Film Lotus and a Lotus "Roots" Award for work in the social category.

In August 2011, Yingluk Shinawatra, leader of political party supported by the red shirts, was elected as Thailand's first female Prime Minister.