Monday, April 18, 2005

Ko Phi-Phi: 'The Beach': April 8

I went to a restaurant here on Ko Phi-Phi to watch a movie staring Leonardo Di Caprio; called 'The Beach' I didn't know until I sat down, that this movie was filmed here in the Ko Phi-Phi Islands on 'Maya Bay'. So here's my movie review.

I found it to be a stupid movie filmed on a beautiful place. It takes place in all the places I have been in the last couple of months. What bothered me is that the Thai people were represented as mean and aggressive; especially in Khao San Road. I found the people all through Thailand to be very sweet. And why was he sitting, all alone, bored in his hotel room when he was in such a wondrous place as Bangkok? There is so much going on, and at very least he could have gone outside and had a massage or sampled the local cuisine.


This scene was actually filmed in Krabi but one of my guides told me there is no such statue there. He said they created the backdrop for the scene.
But what really got to me was that the movie depicts a group of Americans who go to a secret island looking for Paradise. And they described the island as if it was different from the other islands of Thailand. The fact is, this is what you find on all the islands; especially Ko Tao; beautiful palm trees, quiet beaches, wonderful people. The thing that stuck me the most though, was that in their Paradise, they left out the one element that might have given them a chance to really live this dream; the Thai people themselves. The Thais have already figured out what paradise is. It is the sense of community and the openness to love one another and live in the spirit of loving peace. I'm sorry if I'm trashing a movie you really loved. It's just that I find it so hard to believe that that movie makers didn't observe this when they were filming.

The one thing that we in Thailand do agree is true to life; that cleaning lady mopping over a live electrical circuit in that hotel on Khao San road. That is true...

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