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If you're happy and you know it Clap your hands
Oh, this is how it feels.
This is a great way to start the show.
We must give credit to Note who created this.
It's a sneaky way to make people clap for you two times.
Today is a very special day.
We will get to have a chat
with the most famous stand-up comedian of Thailand.
So I'll try to break his record
by saying something to you and make you clap more than two times.
I did it.
As we all know,
Note rarely makes an appearance in public.
Especially a talk show like this.
The last time he was in a talk show
was 14 years ago.
So today is very special.
So now,
please give a big round of applause for
Note, Udom Taephanich!
Hello, everyone.
Let me start with the most popular greeting.
How are you?
To be honest, not good at all.
As I'm getting older, it's normal, I get sick easily.
-Yeah. -Like, in the morning…
It's like one symptom a day.
It happens every day.
It could be knee pain, or GERD,
or a backache.
That usually happens to old people like us, right?
I would like to ask you about your latest show, Deaw 13.
How was it?
It was difficult.
Why?
Because I had never performed in front of an audience
that wore masks.
Each show had around 5,000 people.
Ten shows would be 50,000 people with masks.
DEAW 13, 2022 ROYAL PARAGON HALL, SIAM PARAGON
So while I was performing,
-I had no idea if they laughed. -Right.
There was no reaction, whatsoever.
I had no experience with this.
There's no class on how to handle this situation.
It's a new thing I had to face.
Usually when you perform a stand-up show,
you'll get their reaction.
-I'll see it. -It encourages you.
Stand-up comedy is like playing table tennis.
One serves and the other hits back.
So when they have a good time, I'll deliver more jokes.
There's an interaction.
But the Deaw 13 show was like an online meeting.
You guys know Zoom? It was exactly like that.
There were 5,000 people.
I didn't know what to do.
How did you solve this matter?
At first, I didn't know what to do.
Then, we figured out something.
We put some microphones near the audience
and connected a sound wire to a monitor next to me.
-So you could hear them. -So I'd know…
that they enjoyed the show, but didn't want to show it.
-The sound would be like… -Yeah.
Since they were laughing through the masks,
I only saw their eyes.
DEAW 13, 2022 ROYAL PARAGON HALL, SIAM PARAGON
Right.
I'm not sure if you've been wondering about this.
When we go to one of his shows,
he always tells stories of people he knows.
Are they real stories?
Those stories are real. But I would say this.
My show is like a chef table.
How I present my stories is the same as how a chef decorates the dishes.
If they aren't real, I won't be able to memorize them.
-I see. -I won't remember.
When telling a story, I have to be able to picture it.
-If not, the story won't be good. -Yeah.
You know that one about the ghost at my house?
I can't make that up.
It really happened. He's still there.
-Really? -Yeah, he's still there.
He knew you talked about him?
Oh, right.
Don't appear in my dream.
Oh!
This is how it usually is when you get home?
Yeah. It's always dark like this.
There's only darkness.
Normally, I will turn the light on.
-The light will be on like this. -Okay.
From here, I'll walk to my room.
-This is my room. -It's also dark.
-Yes. -Okay.
-More darkness. Come in. -Okay.
-So this is my night routine. -Right.
This is your bed.
-I sleep on this side. -Uh-huh.
-Okay. -I sleep here.
Okay.
-I lie down. -Watching TV.
Yes. I normally watch TV and lie here.
You said, he looked down at you.
-Right here. This is where Aum-im… -Yes.
She can see ghosts. She said this is his spot.
He looked at you when you slept.
I was lying here.
Sometimes he stands there.
He's always somewhere around my bed.
That's the information I got from her.
If you were me, would you still sleep in this room?
-This thing helps me stay sane. -What is it?
This is a talisman,
from a shaman in Chiang Mai.
-It's for protection? -Yes.
It's for protection. He carved it for me.
For keeping him away.
-I'm not sure… -Yes.
…if it keeps him away from this spot,
or if it keeps him in this spot.
-Just stays here. -Yeah.
So, whenever I go to bed…
-I'm scared. -Yeah.
It's not easy to get through the night comfortably.
But I'm getting used to it more and more.
Was there any strange incident that made you realize there's a ghost?
-Was there a sound? -Yes.
A sound.
It'll come when I'm half asleep.
This is a personal belief.
When I'm half asleep,
or at dawn when I'm about to wake up, that's when it happens.
Like this.
And it goes this way.
There's nothing behind this wall. Just air.
-Nothing. -These are real bricks.
And sometimes, the sound comes all the way here.
Like this.
The air conditioner has no space for animals to get in.
There was like a sound of cat fighting with a mouse.
But there's no space above the ceiling.
It's all concrete, no space.
No hole, nothing.
You should spend a night here.
-Just one night. -Have a try.
-Yeah. Come on. -Sure, I'll try.
I…
-You're an adult. -That's right.
Yeah, yeah. That's the spot where I sleep.
-Lie down. -You sleep like this?
-Yes. -You sleep here.
Yeah.
Should we turn the light off?
Yeah. We should turn the light off.
It's time for bed.
This is how I normally do.
I feel…
I have never felt lonely
when being tucked in before.
Okay.
Okay. Bring me a lotus.
Wait, wait.
-He's not dead. -Turn the lamp off.
We have to turn it off too.
I sleep in the dark like this.
Try to picture it, okay?
Okay.
Aum-im said he stood here.
I don't see him, but I got a picture in my mind.
My imagination is going wild.
It's not easy to go to sleep at night.
-Who would have thought-- -I like lying on my right side.
Yeah. I thought if I lie on the right side,
I would see something.
-Like his legs. -Oh, no.
I figured I will lie on the left side instead.
-That's gonna give you the creeps. -Yeah.
Because you can't see what's behind you.
When there's space, It's so terrifying.
I felt like someone pushed the bed.
A lot of thoughts came into my mind.
So…
Okay.
See you, Pated. Good night.
I have this thought
that every story you told was funny.
But at the time it happened, it wasn't fun at all.
Mostly it wasn't fun at all. No.
There was someone…
who asked me to go see the sharks.
Which show did I tell this story on?
Do you remember which show?
Someone said the Deaw 11 show.
I was so angry at that mother and daughter.
I'm not someone who gets angry easily.
But these two, though,
if I met them again, I would use a fork to stab their eyes.
My life was fine.
Why did they have to talk to me?
They came to me, and she said her daughter was a big fan.
They begged me to go see the sharks with them.
I found out later that they needed one person to complete the group.
Her boyfriend was supposed to come, but they broke up.
That's why they needed me.
So I went with them.
They said it wouldn't be cold. I hate cold weather.
They said, "One jacket is enough."
Enough my ass.
I also got sea sick. I was so mad.
On the way back to land, I didn't talk to them at all.
But you turned it into a fun story.
I think the way to get past bad moments is to turn them into funny stories.
I just had to break through it.
Now, next time I see them again, I can laugh about it.
If you don't do that…
I would be suffering a lot.
-It's a way to heal. -Yes.
There's another thing I'm curious about.
From what I heard on your shows,
the people that surround you
are all weird.
Why is that?
Why do you attract so many weird people?
To be honest, I did ask a monk about that.
I asked him
why these people are in my life.
In case I did something bad in my past life, so I can fix it.
You know what he said?
He said, "Udom,
birds of a feather flock together."
So I realized that it was me.
There was one time.
It was…
It was last week.
There was a woman.
She's 29 years old.
She's good-looking.
She took a bus from…
maybe Trat or something.
She came to my house when my mom was home.
She said she was a big fan
and wanted me to sign a book.
But the real reason was that she wanted to borrow 250,000 baht.
She's a big fan.
Right.
-So-- -After you signed, she just…
No, I wasn't home.
She came to see me, but I wasn't home.
She met my mom.
She also wrote a letter
and put it in the book.
She wanted to borrow 250,000 baht.
It was for starting a new life.
She wrote about her hardship.
About paying back.
She said she would definitely pay me back
if she won the first-prize lottery.
She would give me 2.5 million baht.
But if she didn't win the lottery, she wouldn't be able to pay back.
So she promised…
she'd pay back with merits.
That was what she wrote. It was so touching.
"When you die, you can rest assured
that I will always give you the merit you deserve."
Your next life seems promising.
She would give me merit.
Can you believe it?
People just borrow money from me.
It happened a lot lately.
I guess I attracted a lot of them.
So…
There was…
someone who texted me.
He said he wanted to buy a house because a condo wasn't comfortable.
He saw the house he wanted.
He wanted to live there with his mother and siblings.
The house was the smallest in the area, nine million baht.
I texted him and asked how much money he was short of.
Yeah.
He said, nine million.
That's the full price.
I was being straight-forward with him.
I asked him how he would pay me back.
He said he was a teacher.
His salary was 20k - 30k so he'd give me 10,000 monthly.
-Total was 9 million? -10,000 baht a month.
I asked my accountant to calculate.
It would take him…
75 years to pay me back.
Now I'm in my 50s.
I will get all my money back when I'm 125 years old.
I'd be bedridden.
You'd get 10k monthly.
That's true. My grandchildren would be like,
"Grandpa, he already transferred you the money."
"If you hear me, please blink."
I'm not joking. People like this exist.
There was someone that paid back with…
I mean, paying a debt.
Okay.
-He borrowed 400,000 from me. -Another person?
Yeah. There were so many I can't even count.
He borrowed 400,000 baht.
Many years later, he just walked into my house.
Right.
I was thrilled to see him.
I asked him how he was
and he said, "I'm here to pay my debt."
He unwrapped a package that he brought.
It was a painting that he drew.
-It wasn't money. -Right.
"Udom, normally I sell this for 500,000."
I mean, this wasn't a work of famous artists
like Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt, or Yayoi Kusama.
It couldn't compare to that at all.
The painting looked like a regular person drew it.
"It's 500,000." Who would buy it?
Okay, I don't care how much he sells it for.
He gave it to me.
At that time, I was so stunned. I was shocked.
Then, he just left. I wanted to ask,
"Want the change too?"
I broke it off with him.
That was…
Imagine you went to a restaurant,
you just drew something and said, "One bowl of rice, please."
That's crazy.
Who do you think you are?
He just thought that he already paid the debt.
Do you think I would hang that painting?
If I did, it'd be like a slap in the face.
It would show how dumb I was.
Now I feel like borrowing some money from you.
I'm soft-hearted.
If they said they're big fans,
I would easily give them whatever they asked.
Especially if they cried,
and have big boobs.
"Take my money."
There'll be no second thought.
Seriously.
The story that you just told was funny,
it can be a story that you tell in your show.
But you didn't.
Do you have a criteria?
Like this one is for your friends,
-and this one for the show. -Yes, I do.
For the show, I won't tell a story that would get me in trouble.
Yeah.
Or a story that doesn't fit with my audience for that show.
I am… I am…
I am a comedian in a country that all ages are admitted to the show.
It's not like that in other countries.
Some stories might not be for kids.
Have you ever gotten into trouble?
I mocked Uncle Tu, our previous prime minister.
"NOTE UDOM" CALLED TO APOLOGIZE TO "TU" FOR THE VIRAL CLIP
I did that when he first became our prime minister.
After that, a soldier called me.
A real soldier.
I know he was real because he told me his rank.
And I remember his voice.
If I say his name, you will know.
But I don't want to get in trouble by saying his name.
Let's just say he did call me.
He didn't threaten me.
He just admonished me.
Also, he was really polite.
He called my assistant first,
and told her to tell me that he called.
After I saw the note, I was like, "Shit."
So I called him back instantly.
He said, "Note, this is…"
"I am the…"
"I just want to tell you
that we saw the clip."
"We saw what you did."
"The PM is okay with it."
"Yes, he saw it."
"I just want to tell you something,
in case you forgot…
that you are a role model for some young people."
"You might not realize it."
"You should be cautious about what you say in public."
"It is for prevention."
"So our young people won't misunderstand…
that our prime minister is obstinate."
Misunderstand what?
We all knew it.
"I want you to be more careful
when speaking in public."
"You should get your facts checked. We're not mad at all."
"We won't restrict your rights. You can do whatever you want."
"But just be cautious."
"Don't worry. I'm your big fan."
"I'll definitely go to your next show."
I thought, "Did I invite you?"
"Do I want you to be there?"
Something like that.
Also, the recent one with Mr. Srisuwan.
-Srisuwan Chanya. -Yeah.
"What Note said in Deaw 13 was absurd."
I don't really use social media.
POPULAR IN THAILAND #DEAW13 - 256K TWEETS
I only heard the news when I went out.
SRISUWAN ASSAULTED BY A GUY WHO WATCHED DEAW 13
Someone said, "I support you!"
People I met on the street said that to me.
A taxi driver was like,
"Sue him back!" I thought, "Sue whom?"
"I sent you some money to help out!"
Sent what?
I had no idea what happened.
People encouraged me.
If people start encouraging you, it means something bad happened to you.
After I checked the news, I realized that it was Srisuwan.
I was a bit shocked.
Actually, he didn't sue me. He just complained.
Because the plaintiffs should be Lung Tu and Lung Pom.
They're the ones who can sue.
He just posted to complain about it.
I…
Actually I should thank him.
He sort of helped promoting my show on Netflix.
I should thank him.
That's true. Some people might not know about your show on Netflix.
This show will also be on Netflix.
To make sure our viewer rating will be good, you should do something.
-You mean, punch him? -No!
People thought I paid someone to punch him.
-Did you? -No!
From what happened at the time, it surely looked like I did.
I affirm that I will never do something like that.
But did I send some money? Yes.
Hold on, I was joking. That could upset him.
Srisuwan, I…
I admire you.
Because you…
How should I say this? He has four bases of success.
Passion, diligence, consciousness, and investigation.
He has a passion for one thing, and does it repeatedly.
Does it over and over again without hesitation.
He has all those bases.
-Right. -But…
Let's just say,
I don't think he's strange...
You know, there's always one or two people like this in school.
People who are tattletales.
They are usually the teacher's pets.
"Miss, Udom is eating a snack."
Something like that.
"Miss, he won't tuck his shirt in."
"Miss, he went to the toilet three times today."
They are like this. The teachers love them.
They got good grades.
But their friends don't love them.
I think that
Srisuwan should stop craving the spotlight.
All the spotlight he has...
It's a lot. It is so bright.
It's brighter than Lung Tu's artificial sun.
He's like the light source.
He doesn't need to seek it or do anything.
Your name already says it all.
"Sri" means "bright."
It also means "bright aura."
"Suwan" means "gold" or "golden." So he has a golden aura.
His last name is Chanya.
It means "ethics," which I think he's lacking.
Is that a compliment?
Just know that I support you.
Note, I notice some people behind you.
They don't look happy.
I think we should switch seats.
Oh, okay.
-Let's switch seats. -Okay.
So they can see your face too.
Is this better? Are you good now?
-You all will get to see my face. -Yes.
You're the first one who started a stand-up comedy show in Thailand.
Your first show was in 1995.
Back then, Thai people weren't familiar with this kind of show.
Maybe from movies.
Western movies.
How did it all start?
Just like you, I hadn't heard about it before.
One day, Aeo, she is an acting coach.
She said that I should do stand-up comedy.
COACH AEO ONCHUMA YUTTHAWONG
I didn't understand what it was.
There was also Chonprakan Chanrueng.
COACH CHANG CHONPRAKAN CHANRUENG
He's also an acting coach.
They both said the same thing.
We were sitting together and they said that.
They said that I'm a good storyteller.
I asked other people about it, but they couldn't give me an answer.
All I knew was that it's a solo comedian telling jokes.
I didn't know how to do it.
So I asked my friend to buy stand-up comedy videotapes in England.
And I watched them.
I didn't understand because it was in English.
I remember I hired an English teacher.
Her name is Kelly.
She taught English in Lampang.
We met and watched a tape together.
She was laughing a lot.
I asked her about what the comedian said.
She can speak a little Thai.
She said, "He talked about his family.
He talked about family."
Now I was even more confused.
I just wanted to know how to do it.
How to start the show and end the show.
How he just put the mic down and left.
That was new to me.
Now I was more curious.
I gave it a try.
I started with writing a script and performed on a small stage.
At that time I was in a comedian group.
It was called Yutthakarn Kayab Nguek. It had many comedians.
I had to do my own research.
I just kept doing that.
It took about two years.
I kinda did it secretly.
Because deep down, I believed I could do it.
For any of you who want to be a model,
if you have many enemies,
you'll get more jobs.
If you are restless and hotheaded,
you can be a model. Here's why.
Who's that?
Who the hell are you?
Never see a man before?
Before going backstage, "Is he still looking?"
What about the name "Deaw Microphone"?
When I decided to do the first show
at Muang Thai Insurance Auditorium,
I had to have a name for the show.
I can't use the words "stand-up comedy" because people won't understand.
Back then, people didn't know it.
I thought the name should be simple and in Thai.
I tried to find the name to put on the posters.
I was thinking while watching TV.
A tennis tournament was on.
Yeah, it was tennis.
The announcer would say something like,
"Women's singles" or "Men's singles match."
I like the word "Single," or "Deaw" in Thai.
So I decided to use it
and put "Deaw Microphone" on the poster.
That's how I got the name.
Turned out, it's catchy.
I didn't know I would come this far.
I'd never have thought it.
DEAW 1, 1995 MUANG THAI LIFE INSURANCE AUDITORIUM
I was just a young man,
who just trusted his instinct…
DEAW 1, 1995 KAD THEATRE, CHIANGMAI
…that he could do it.
In Thailand,
you are the first one who started it.
Even now,
there aren't many people who do stand-up comedy.
-There are few-- -Fewer than there should be.
Yeah. Unlike the comedy troupe era,
where there were many groups.
Stand-up comedy isn't like that at all.
What's your take on it?
I think it's because of the limitations of speech…
in our country.
It's one of the factors…
that keeps it from growing.
Just like in a place without sunlight,
the trees wouldn't grow.
Nowadays, it's more intense.
We have racist issues,
bullying, and devaluation.
The topics of nation, religion and royalty are taboo too.
Also, the topic of sexuality.
Like LGTV…
-LGBT. -LGBT and lots more.
That's a lot.
They are all taboo topics.
People these days are super sensitive.
I think those things limit the comedians.
It's harder for new comedians.
I really wish the new comedians will be successful.
It's not easy to do a stand-up comedy show in this country.
There are also people who would be ready to sue you.
You know?
It's stressful.
Another thing I noticed from your shows is
you're the only one on stage.
With one microphone.
I thought to myself,
"Gosh, this career is lonely."
-That's true. -Alone on a stage.
No one can help you at all
if something happened. Is that how it is?
It's terrifying.
I've been doing it for 28 years, I guess.
BACKSTAGE - DEAW 9.5, 2006 KAD THEATRE, CHIANGMAI
I'm scared every time.
I've never felt relaxed before going on stage.
BACKSTAGE DEAW 11, 2015
Never.
I've always been so nervous.
BACKSTAGE DEAW 13, 2022
-About what? -Forgetting the script.
ROYAL PARAGON HALL, SIAM PARAGON
I mean, that would be a disaster.
Who am I gonna ask?
I used to write the script on my arms.
But while I was performing and telling jokes,
I couldn't find a time to…
The audience would notice it. They'd be like, "What the hell?"
It's impossible to do that.
I didn't know what to do.
I put it on the edge of the stage.
It was a paper with small letters.
While performing, I looked at it.
I couldn't read it. The letters were too small.
I can't just walk up there and read.
You mean there's no script or notes on stage at all?
It's the same as this one.
It's clear like this?
For this career,
you need to know how to save yourself.
That's why it's fascinating.
It's like climbing a mountain with bare hands.
You know what I mean?
It's more interesting.
But when you have rope and tools all over, it looks…
It's not good.
Have you ever forgotten the script?
Often.
What did you do?
There was one show,
I…
I was rapping.
I like writing rap rhymes.
Something like that.
One thing about writing rap lyrics
is that all the lines have to rhyme.
There was one line that didn't rhyme.
It was unaccented.
So while I was rapping on stage,
I accidentally looked at someone.
And that made me lose focus.
I saw an actress, she came to my show with her boyfriend.
I was rapping on stage.
Just for a split second, in my mind, I was like,
"Who is she with?"
"Who's that?"
"He's not the same one on the news."
The guy was sitting and turning his face…
Let's say you were me.
I guess they argued, so he sat like this.
It was obvious they were sulking.
I was like, "What are they sulking about?"
When I was thinking about that, I forgot the lyric.
I was like…
"Shit."
"I'm screwed."
It was silent like this.
I…
You know what I did?
I can go home myself Did I tell you I can't
You wanted to give me a ride So I let you
DEAW 8, 2010 ROYAL PARAGON HALL, SIAM PARAGON
I didn't initiate it You asked for my number
You called and texted me Don't say you don't remember
I was fine by myself Staying at home on weekends
You were the one who asked me out
Every birthday and anniversary You give me gifts
Whatever I want You'll do everything to get it for me
I forgot.
So I confessed.
I told the audience the truth.
"I forgot."
They laughed.
They thought that I was joking.
That I'd say something funny after.
"Guys, I'm sorry,
I forgot."
Hey.
It's gone.
Whatever I want…
One second. Just talk to each other.
I sat at the edge of the stage and tried to think.
I tried to remember the words.
They laughed like this.
They still thought I was joking.
I wasn't. My mind was blank.
Guys,
I will get through this.
This is the life of a stand-up comedian.
It's…
I forgot.
Just give me a sec.
Do whatever you want.
Have you ever forgotten something?
Like a person's name?
It's on the tip of your tongue.
It was like that. I couldn't recall.
I didn't know what to do.
I prayed and everything.
I was so anxious.
I tried to do this and that.
Nope, nothing came up.
So I gave up.
I thought I would change the subject.
I decided to do that.
I was going to confess to them that I failed.
When you let it go,
and have no pressure anymore, that's when you remember.
Don't go home yet. One second.
You'll do everything to get it for me
I was fine by myself Staying home on weekends
You were the one who asked me out
You always pamper me
I was fine by myself Staying home on weekends
You were the one who always asked me out
You always pamper me
Being all clingy
When I'm on my period You rush to buy Ponstan for me
I wanna ask you this.
Is there anything else you want to do,
but don't have a chance to do it?
I only do things I don't want to do.
Seriously.
I just want to stay home and paint.
I love it.
-Painting? -Yeah. That's all I want to do.
I think
painting is a full-time job for me.
That's right.
Doing stand-up comedy is my hobby.
I do that from time to time.
But I paint every day.
HAPPYLAND STUDIO, BANGKOK
This is your workroom that you told me about.
You can call it a hospital.
Why is that?
It's like my personal therapy room.
Whenever I have these feelings,
either positive or negative feelings, I will let it all out here.
That's why it's like a therapy room for me.
When did you start doing artworks?
When did it become your passion?
To be honest,
actually it is…
It's a way to survive for a young kid from Surin.
When I was a kid, I moved from Chonburi to Surin.
All my friends were of Khmer origin.
I couldn't keep up with them,
since I started at midterm.
I had no friends because I couldn't speak Cambodian.
So painting and drawing were my way to not feel lonely.
-Were you good at it? -No, not good.
-Was it all chaotic lines like this? -Yes.
-It didn't get better when I grew up. -Still the same.
Eventually, you took it seriously and enrolled in the Academy of Arts.
-Yeah. -So you really love it.
After I graduated from high school,
I studied at Archivasilp Art Vocational College.
I chose this path because I didn't like other subjects.
I was not good at English or Math.
My painting skill was kind of above average.
It's like my personal shelter.
After studying arts at that college, I enrolled in the Academy of Arts.
ACADEMY OF ARTS
I wasn't the best student there.
My grades were not good.
Their works were amazing, but yours weren't good.
Yeah. That's right.
Art has become my passion.
BANGKAPI, BANGKOK 1995
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 1996
I'm obsessed. It's a part of my life.
It's a thing that I can't stop doing.
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 2002
CHELSEA, NEW YORK 2009
I went to your latest show, the Deaw 13 show.
CHIANGMAI - 2008
These were on the stage.
It's this collection, right?
These were at the Deaw 13 show.
How did you come up with the idea?
Why do they look eccentric?
-It's all things mixed together. -Your fantasy.
Monsters, demons, and so on.
After doing it for a while, it developed into feelings.
Like, insecurity.
And…
Lust.
There are also desire, greed,
resentfulness and vengeance.
It's all mixed together.
BEDROOM 3:10 A.M. JANUARY 15th, 2019
Right now, it's…
it's 3:10 a.m.
I don't know why I woke up.
I can't sleep.
I did some sketching.
What the hell is this?
It looks like a hired applauder.
I don't know what to call it. There are many ideas in my head.
This one will become this character.
FUNNEL
I'll make a robot called "Makeover".
Look! Just a bit.
This one too. See it?
Why did I wake up at this hour?
BEDROOM 4:02 A.M. JANUARY 22nd, 2019
A monster, 80 percent snail.
Here. I let you see a little bit.
A lame monster.
When I made the small ones,
it was the same time I prepared my show.
So instead of building a backdrop,
I used these.
So I made a bigger version of them.
So this one became that one.
That's right. Yeah, this one.
This one.
-To make them perfect for a background. -That's right.
But I had to make small ones before making the big size.
I wanted to see what the lighting would be like.
And also the layout.
I had to check everything first,
so I could explain to the production team how I wanted it to be.
DOLL
They asked how I wanted the background to be.
I said, "I'm not sure," but I had this idea.
And they got it.
This size?
-Yeah. -The layout would be like this.
We had to think of the material as well.
We can't use bronze because it'll be heavy.
-It's hard to lift up. -Yes. Expensive too.
Fiber is better. And we had to think about the color.
It's about technique.
This is the one
-that was on stage? -Yes.
This was one of how many?
Over 200 figures, I think.
-Over 200? -Yeah.
I also see some toys here.
I got the idea from fridge magnets.
The idea was
you can change their decoration.
I got the idea when my doctor told me to stop eating sweets.
That's why they look like sweets and candies.
This one looks familiar.
I like your vision.
Maybe you should do art.
-You can have fun with these. -Yeah.
When you're not working,
-do you walk around admiring your works? -Yes.
-Like a kid admires his Gundam collection? -Yeah.
At night, after my staff leaves, I'll be in my painting room.
I will walk around in my underwear.
I will turn the light on, walk around, and just look at them.
I love it.
It just makes me happy, I can't explain it.
I think people who love amulets, can relate to me.
They can just look at their amulets all day,
same as me.
It's the same feeling.
It's something I'm passionate about and love.
I'll look at it.
I'll turn it upside down, left-right.
Then I'll think about making a new version of it.
I always come up with new ideas.
I never get bored of it.
-Go ahead. -This is one of my favorites.
It's a…
-Mummy? -Yes.
A mummy with a wheel.
Yes, that's right.
See?
When I finished this version,
I thought, "It has a wheel, but maybe I can put something more."
I don't know about other people.
But for me, Note Udom
is an artist.
The first time I saw Dom Dog, I saw the connection between you and art.
I saw it on the Deaw 7 show.
-Oh, right. The Deaw 7 show. Yeah. -Right?
And another one, in Chiang Mai.
-At the ice cream shop. -Yeah, yeah.
How did you come up with Dom Dog?
The idea came from when I had a crush on someone.
And she is…
-She is out of your league? -That's right.
You're not on her level.
I felt like an underdog.
It was that mixed with me feeling slighted by my flaws.
I always feel like I'm an underdog.
So I wanted to do a self-portrait.
It started from there.
I put it on stage of the Deaw 7 show.
After the show, I destroyed it.
-Because it was just a background. -Okay.
Then, I made a new one and put it at the ice cream shop.
Since I had to make cups and bowls for the ice cream shop…
CHIANG MAI, 2009
…so I made this too.
I also learned another skill.
-How to fire ceramic. -This is ceramic?
Yes, it's ceramic.
I got to learn and do it at the same time.
I first made like 30 or something.
Half of them broke.
I was satisfied with those 15 good ones.
-During the transporting process-- -They broke.
Yes. Some had cracks on them. So these are a few I have left.
-These are all I have. -Really?
-These are the flawless ones. -Oh, okay.
Now, I think you did these collections in the same period.
They seem to have some connection.
Right?
This was after I learned how to fire ceramics.
Not sure how long after.
Let's say, during a show that I teased some soldiers.
Yeah.
Remember there was a soldier who called me?
I…
There was a big knot in my heart.
It was frustrating.
I didn't know how to let it out.
I'm not someone who posts my feelings online.
I just express my feelings in my artwork.
So I mold these figures. I even bought a kiln.
It's in the back. No need to go to Lampang or Chiang Mai.
I practiced firing it.
To make it more understandable.
It's like I tried to call for something.
Like a sign.
It looks like it's protesting something.
There are ropes and wires wrapped around it.
It's a feeling of being oppressed.
I don't want to explain. It was how I felt.
It's like a diary or a memo about that time.
2 FEET
The thing you said before,
that many people these days like to post their feelings on social media.
When they post it and get feedback,
they'd feel at ease.
But this,
you created these figures alone in your house.
Does it really help? No one sees or knows about them.
I got it all off my chest. It's all that matters.
I think it's good that there won't be any feedback.
Some could be negative and I don't wanna deal with it.
I just let my feelings out and then move on.
-These are wood paintings. -Yeah, wood.
You are obsessed with it.
There are so many.
When did I paint this one?
The year was 2014.
-I painted this in 2014. -Wow! Almost ten years ago.
Oh, that one too.
This one in 2015.
Another one in 2017.
I painted them around those times.
I saw some mortise on it too.
Why did you do that?
I didn't paint it on a canvas.
It was a wood panel.
So instead of drawing the lines with a paintbrush,
I used a carpenter tool.
It looks like a drill.
It's called a router.
I used this carpenter tool to draw a line.
I also used a wood-carving tool.
It's like carving wood.
It reminds me of what we did in an art class.
It's like when we do paste print.
I wanted a rough surface. I didn't want it to be smooth.
It looks more like craft work.
Did it convey the story you wanted to tell?
The rough surface meant something?
What came first, the technique or the story?
My feeling first, the technique later.
When I feel rough or ill about something,
I want the surface to be like this.
Painting or drawing on a canvas is not satisfying enough.
I have to carve and scrape it.
Dust is everywhere. The sound of the tool goes…
I think of the fun when doing it first.
Later,
the stories I want to tell will come.
My paintings are a mix.
The easy way to put it is,
these paintings are semi-abstract.
-Okay, half abstract. -That's right.
Some are understandable, some aren't.
But abstract works are unfathomable.
So these are semi-abstract.
Now, I want to interpret my semi-abstract style,
as a dream.
When you dream, there's never only one thing happening.
It's never like, "Last night I dreamt of one crocodile."
It's more like, "A crocodile chased me
so I jumped and fell into a river."
"Then, I saw a ghost and my old teacher."
"My boyfriend told me the food was ready."
That is semi-abstract.
My works are like that.
It's how I felt about someone and something at that time.
It's fun combining them together.
It records that moment.
It shows the difficulty I had.
Actually I don't want to explain.
Because it's fun to let people interpret them themselves.
It might affect their imagination.
Or they can relate to my story.
Some people like it, some people don't.
I saw another collection
that seems related to this one.
It's the table tennis collection.
Those developed from a square shape.
-Right. -I turned them into this shape.
I wanted to see if I could do it.
Or if I could make it work.
Why table tennis rackets?
I have no idea.
Seriously, I don't know.
An art critic came to see my works.
"More than one way to use a ping pong racket"
This is how he interpreted it.
"It's because you work alone."
"You might want to interact with someone."
"Or yourself."
I've never thought of that before.
-You didn't know? -Yeah.
That is how he interpreted it, that I wanted to interact with someone.
To be honest,
I don't have any friends.
-It's very lonely. -You just paint.
That's right. Yeah.
It's the same way when you write a book.
You have to be alone to concentrate.
-Otherwise, I won't be able to focus. -Yeah.
You want the interaction.
That's what he said and I kind of agree.
-Can I look at the back? -Yes.
-It's for a hanger. -Oh, okay.
I thought you would paint the back too.
I did actually.
It's over there.
-I painted this one on both sides. -Oh, right.
You have many sizes too.
-I did this one a long time ago. -There's a hanger.
-Yeah. -You're crazy.
I painted this side first.
And I wanted to paint more.
I had more designs in my mind, but had no wood panels left.
This shape can't be done in one day. It takes time.
At least ten days.
So I decided to paint this side.
Here it is.
I painted this side.
I have to decide which side I like.
I'll just show the side I like at that moment.
When I'm bored of it, I'll reverse to the other side.
Yeah.
Whatever I think only crazy people will do it.
He did it.
I knew it.
What I notice about these works,
especially these three,
they all have a table in it.
Yeah.
What was on your mind? Why a table?
There's also someone sleeping under it.
There was one word in my mind.
It comes from the term "chef table."
It's quite popular these days.
I…
Unexpectedly I just thought of a word,
"Joke Table."
I didn't know how I came up with it. I just did.
I guess, it's because I'm a joker or a comedian.
So this is like my "Joke Table."
You know, when I talked to people about you,
we all said the same thing.
We want to know what's in your mind.
Why your works are like this.
Your mind is like an amusement park.
-Something like that. -I'm not sure about that.
Maybe it's…
That is a good question.
The answer is, those are in my mind.
They're all cramped up in there.
Sometimes I can't sleep, so I wake up early.
OCTOBER 1st, 2019
GLASS COVER SIX PACKED TURTLE
The first thing in my mind when I wake up
is these crazy images, seriously.
"I'll paint this."
-"I'll put this color and that color." -Right.
Sometimes I feel like…
I have a mental disorder.
That's why I think this room is like a hospital.
My mind is full of these images.
I want to know if other artists are like this.
For painting, it comes naturally.
But for making the show, I have to put more effort into it.
I have to choose the stories and the jokes meticulously.
But this,
it just keeps pouring out.
I'm not exaggerating. I have so many ideas I can't keep up.
I'm unable to do it all.
I wish I had like ten arms, so I could do it.
That could be why you're a multitasker.
-Yeah. -You just wanna do it all.
I never do just one thing. I will do this and that at the same time.
Many things at once.
It feels like…
-there're so many ideas inside me. -You wanna get them out.
-Yeah. -Do you forget sometimes?
Many people can't remember their dreams, and it's so frustrating.
Yeah. That happens to me too.
This is how I remember.
I have to wake up and sketch my dream.
I try to recall what was in my dream.
I might not remember it, or I might find other interesting things in my mind.
OWL
AUNTIE HIGH HEELS
AN ODD WORK FROM A NORMAL PERSON?
Can I see your sketch papers?
I saw you like to sketch all the time.
I sketch every day.
What about this pile?
How do you do it?
Like, this one, what was on your mind?
-What's the story? -To be fair,
this all comes from my feelings, not my thoughts.
To think of an idea,
you need to put energy into thinking, unlike feeling.
When I feel something, I just grab a paper and spray some paint on it.
Just like what kids do.
It's ridiculous. It's foolish.
I sprayed colors and wrote something on it.
Look! It's a quote.
"Short pain is better than long hurting."
-What is it? -There's a label too.
I went to see a doctor or something.
UDOM TAEPHANICH 1 Tablet 3 TIMES A DAY
-I think it was for GERD. -All right.
It's like a diary.
You know?
To remind you of the stomachache you had.
That's right. I glued it there.
Sometimes it'll be a receipt from a shop.
And I'll glue that on it.
What about this one?
"Your happiness depends on your attitude, not…"
-I can't read. -"Not the things you have."
Can you tell me about that? It just came up?
It's for teaching myself.
Some quotes I just stumbled upon somewhere.
-Have you ever revisited them? -Yes.
Does it develop into an art piece?
-Yeah. -Oh, really?
Like this one,
I just sketched it for fun.
It's a snake-duck creature.
I sketched this in 2017, a while ago.
Then, I thought this one was really good.
So I did a bigger scale.
I molded a small one to see how it would look.
It got developed from there.
They start from silly sketches. Like this one.
-A shoe. -That's right.
I thought what'd it be like wearing a shoe like this.
When I feel that it could be interesting, I will start molding it.
It's to see if it reflects my feeling.
This one doesn't yet.
That's why it looks awkward.
Human feet didn't fit, so I changed them to elephant feet.
This one's named "Mara".
-Wait! The head can come off? -I like to switch this and that.
Oh! To see if they would fit together.
I got the idea for this one when I ate a bitter melon.
I like its texture.
It didn't have a head yet, and I ran out of ideas.
So I switched to make this one.
-This one. -I saw its sketch.
After I did the body,
I decided to make a head like this.
Because I saw a Pug.
You get the idea, right?
Then, I have to check if they go well together.
When I feel that this is the one,
I'll wrap it up and send it to a foundry,
so they can duplicate it.
SCULPTURE FOUNDRY, NONTHABURI
This place is for making bigger figures.
It's where my chaotic and hectic series begins.
This is a molding process.
Look at this.
These are bananas. It's really hard to do it.
People don't know.
They think we use one mold to create a full figure.
It's not the case.
We have to put all the pieces together.
I'm not sure why I made so many.
But in case no one bought them, I will ask my mom for help.
-Help what? -Selling these on the streets.
"Artworks! Come have a look!"
These are not piggy banks.
You know what I mean?
She goes around saying, "Anyone want my son's artworks?"
"Artworks, anyone?"
I've been asking myself if I understand how hard this is.
I actually started to understand why you spend your whole day with it.
HAPPYLAND STUDIO, BANGKOK
-With this art zone. -Yeah.
I can be here all day.
Can you tell us what you are making currently?
Rugs.
I really want my daughter to see this. She loves knitting.
Can we come and learn from you?
Of course. We have few rug experts here.
Why are you interested in making rugs?
I feel like I wanted to change.
I used to work with wood, something that is rough and hard.
I wanted to know what it felt like,
when my sketches were on something soft.
That is the reason.
I sketched a design and turned it into a rug.
At first, I searched how to do it on YouTube.
It's not easy at all.
You need to know how to use a tufting gun.
You need frame stretching skills.
You need to learn all of those.
I really wanted to do it, so I contacted a rug tufting instructor.
I asked them to teach us here.
-You asked them? -Yeah.
We organized a rug tufting workshop for my staff.
I started with making small rugs.
-This one. Yeah. -For practicing.
I practiced with easy designs first.
When I got better,
I tried to do a bigger one with a simple design.
It came out quite nice.
I had to learn a shaving skill with specific clippers.
-It's like cutting hair. -Oh, I see.
-Styling its hair. -Yeah.
Then, I started to make complex designs.
I made so many until I was certain of my skills.
This rug is the latest one I made,
when I got the hang of it.
Like, how the fluffiness should be.
It's not too fluffy.
The consistency and the density.
I feel so lucky that today I have a chance to see your works.
It's a shame not many people see them.
Seriously. Just sit and look at this rug, it's…
It's crazy.
I can squeeze it all day.
It's so pleasing.
It's like what you said. Everyone has a madness inside them.
All of us are damaged…
one way or another.
All humans are a bit sick in their head.
We just act like we are normal. That's how I feel, anyway.
From what we talked about so far,
now I know that you love doing artworks.
Have you thought about what your last artwork will be?
I already have. I…
I sketched it.
When I die, I want to be cremated.
I don't want to be buried.
After cremation, they will take my bones.
And they will have to grind them into powder.
Then, put all of it into an hourglass.
An hourglass like this.
That's it for Udom Taephanich.
In my room, there's a huge mirror.
It's the same size as this wall.
It's making up for a cracked mirror I had when I was a kid.
It had lots of cracks.
After a shower,
I will stand naked in front of it.
I just look and examine myself.
I have a big nose, big belly,
flat buttocks, and skinny legs with dark spots on them.
Every time, I look at myself in the mirror,
I think, "Jesus, what did I do to myself?"
"How did this happen?"
-That shouldn't happen. -Yeah.
What did I do to myself?
This morning, when we were having noodle soup,
a lottery man said,
"Are you Note Udom? You're so handsome."
Gosh.
I just wanted to give him all my money.
Is this your house?
No, it's not.
My house used to be next to this house.
It got rebuilt into a building.
It had the same structure as this one.
It was all wooden.
Back then, it had no ceiling.
When you looked up, you would see the roof?
Yes.
How long did you live here?
Let me think. My dad died…
when I was 5-6 years old.
After that, my mom brought me here.
I…
I studied at the primary school here.
Right. What was the sleeping situation?
As I remember, it was this area.
From here to there.
We slept under the mosquito net.
-The same net? -Yes. And there was one fan.
It couldn't swing.
Because the net blocked it from swinging.
So it was…
I don't know how my mom could sleep. The sound was…
All night.
That kind of fan was the same one that's on my album cover.
-Oh, really? -Yeah.
I made it an album cover because it's relevant to me.
That fan was always…
How was your morning routine? What did you do?
Before my mom went to the market, she would tell me to make a fire.
-Like, in a charcoal stove? - That's right.
You have to light a torch first.
Back then, my mom was selling rice noodles in fish curry sauce.
Then, you took a shower and went to school?
Yeah. I had to walk because we didn't have a car.
-Was it far from here to school? -Very far.
-Yeah. -Many kilometers.
Right. I had to walk all the way there.
-You didn't have a bike? -No.
I wanted one because all my friends had one.
After school, I walked back home.
And then…
You know, I never did homework.
-Never. -You just didn't do it?
Yeah. You know why?
I had to wash dishes and pots from my mom's shop.
My mom did wash some of them, but I still had to help out.
There was no one helping me with my homework.
No one.
My mom was busy.
She didn't even have time to sleep.
It was a very tough time for us.
She had to sell food from morning to evening.
After that,
my mom would put a stove outside.
She switched from selling rice noodles, Som Tam, and fried bananas, to Pad Thai.
-She worked double shifts. Yeah. -Oh, she sold food at night too.
At that time we really struggled.
I woke up at 5 a.m. and went to the market.
I bought ingredients for the foods I'd sell.
Then, I opened the shop.
I arranged and tidied up everything.
I set the tables and chairs.
I had to peel papayas and make a mixture for fried bananas.
I was in my 20s with no money. That was the only thing I knew how to do.
I didn't have any money at all.
The money from selling the food was for the rent and electricity bills.
Also the water bills.
I just wanted to make money.
But I didn't think I wanted to be rich.
I don't know how I raised him.
What did your mom do that became the last straw?
That was engraved in my heart.
We went to a market and there was a poster shop.
There was a picture of dogs playing poker.
There were lots of dogs around the table.
They smoked and played poker.
I thought it was funny and I loved it.
I asked my mom to buy it for me.
And she bought that dog playing poker picture.
We came home.
I rushed into the house to put the poster up.
I wanted to put it under the stairs.
I was looking for glue or a hanger to put it up.
While I was putting it up, my mom just took it and ripped it.
What?
I was shocked.
I didn't know what to do. I was stunned.
And she just walked away angrily.
It felt like my mom just slapped me in the face.
-I didn't know why she did it. -No?
Back then, I didn't.
I understood why she did that when I grew up.
She was exhausted.
She thought I would help her carry things into the house.
Papayas, coconut flakes, all those heavy things.
Instead, I just went inside to put a poster up.
She had to carry everything.
I didn't help at all.
That's why she got so angry.
I didn't understand.
So It was traumatic for me.
Trying to think, why she was so mean.
Plus, the things she did.
She'd never hug me. She'd never teach me homework.
She'd never take me to school like other families.
A bedtime story? That's nonsense. That's only in movies.
I was miserable.
I thought being with her was painful.
I decided to run away.
I tried to find a way to escape.
I thought staying with my relatives would be better.
I visited them before.
They gave me money on Chinese New Year.
I went there once.
I got a few hundred baht.
I remembered it as my food source.
-They seemed to have money. -Yes. So I went there.
Where did they live?
Banbung district in Chonburi.
At that time, the road here wasn't paved, it was a red soil road.
When a car drove past, the red soil would come into the house.
It looks like this.
So I stole my mom's money.
You stole the money?
Yeah. In her shop, there was this money basket.
There were coins and bills in it.
Also some amulets. I just grabbed the money.
I had been stealing it for many days.
That day, I was waiting for a chance to escape.
I remember, I put my stuff into a Kodak bag.
It was a giveaway gift, but I don't know how I got it.
And I hid it.
My mom came back.
As usual, she went to the stove.
She started preparing the ingredients and she said,
"Ood, go buy me a bottle of soy sauce."
That was when I knew.
My chance had come. I glanced at her.
She was busy so I took my bag.
Back then, there was this number 99 bus.
It was a red bus with no air conditioning.
It would stop near my house.
I just ran.
I didn't see him, but someone saw him getting on a bus.
Were you able to sleep that night?
No. How could I sleep?
I was figuring out what to do.
You didn't go get him back?
I didn't have money to buy a bus ticket. You know?
Then, I got off at the Mochit station.
I didn't know how to get to Chonburi from there.
I had no idea.
There was a monk in that bus.
So I asked him how to get to Banbung, Chonburi.
He took me to…
There was the station staff there.
He asked them to take me to the bus that would go to Banbung, Chomburi.
When I arrived at my relatives' house,
I lied to them.
I made up stories. I told them my mom hit me.
She abused me. She forced me to work all day and night.
She was a gambler.
I tried to make her look evil, so they would pity me.
I was such an asshole.
Now that you lived there,
when did you start to think or be concerned about your mom?
I didn't think of her at all.
At that time, I was so angry with her.
I resented her. I was hurt.
I didn't think of her.
So I ran away when I was 15 years old,
and I went back there when I was 20.
I thought,
"Maybe I should check on her."
He ran away. I had to survive, though.
I had to make money.
I couldn't just drop everything.
I still had rent and bills to pay.
He was just a student.
I just thought that I had to survive because I was poor.
I had no one.
I went into the house.
It felt like time stood still there.
The same mosquito net and fan.
Nothing had changed. I was…
I've been gone so many years.
Even the toilet was the same.
I was shocked.
Most importantly, around the time I went back,
my mom had to go to some religious ceremony.
She got dressed.
Then, she put on…
She put on earrings, like women usually do.
Her earrings were fake gold.
They were old and damaged, but she just wanted to wear them.
The necklace was fake gold too.
I looked at her and saw that she lost her middle tooth.
I thought, "My mom lost a tooth. She had it before I ran away."
She didn't have money to go see a dentist.
I was like,
"Oh, my God."
"My mom…"
"My mom…" I don't know how to explain it.
How come her life was so difficult?
I had mixed feelings.
I mean, at that time.
Not sure how long I stayed there.
I was like, "Fuck."
"Hold up."
"I…
I left her alone."
"I left her for a comfortable life."
"I…
left her…
to suffer alone."
I thought,
"What kind of a man are you?"
I started questioning myself.
"Hey…"
"Shame on you."
"You are shameless."
"You thought that your relatives would give you a better future."
"See how it turned out?"
"It was out of the frying pan into a fire. It wasn't better."
"Who can give you a better future?"
Then I thought,
"You are the only one who can make that happen."
"No one else."
"Your younger brother is still young."
"Your brother is nowhere to be found."
"Only you who can…
make your own future."
I kept thinking about that.
Is it because you grew up without a father?
Oh.
I felt upset because of what I heard.
-Yeah. -They said you're a broken-home kid.
That's what I often heard.
People used to say that broken-home kids, or kids without parents,
would become troublesome.
You were everything they said.
So I thought I had to be troublesome.
I did it because of what I heard.
I realized that when I grew up.
I was like,
"Wait. It's the past. Your dad died a long time ago."
I mean, my dad died, so what? Leave him alone.
Let him rest in peace. He died already.
It had nothing to do with me. It…
It didn't relate to how my life got better or worse.
I couldn't use that as an excuse for being troublesome.
He had nothing to do with it.
Many people do that a lot.
They use broken-home matters as an excuse to be bad.
Wait. That has nothing to do with you at all.
It's your life.
You have to take responsibility.
You have to take care of your own life.
Don't use this excuse to hide how terrible you are.
Anyone who feels like,
"I can't do it. I'm broken."
"My parents died. I had a broken home."
This and that.
You need to wake up.
So you started to feel that you wanted to take care of your mom.
What did you do? You told her?
I didn't tell her.
Now, I…
I had a new life purpose.
Before, I just lived day by day.
I studied and hung out with friends.
I had no purpose, but now It changed.
I had a goal I wanted to reach.
So I had to stop misbehaving.
Otherwise, I wouldn't make it.
After I found my life purpose,
I tried to not stray from the right path.
I would do anything to make money.
I made more of an effort.
I would find jobs.
I got into the entertainment industry.
I was an extra and casting staff.
I tried to put myself…
in a better position.
At that time lots of jobs kept coming in.
I thought,
"Maybe my mom can stop working now."
So I bought a 96 square meters house in the Sinthon House Project.
With my own savings.
I paid by installments.
I remember it was 1,700,000 baht.
I said to my mom,
"You don't have to work anymore. Come live with me."
"I will take care of you."
-I told her that. -What did she say?
I cried.
I was making Som Tam for a customer.
He came by and said,
"Mom, come live with me in Bangkok. I'll take care of you.
I will take care of everything for you."
I was still strong, and my business was good.
He said that while a customer was there.
I cried with a pestle in my hand and I walked off.
We talked after the customer left.
He wanted me to live in Bangkok with him and he would take care of me.
I was happy. I was beyond happy, actually.
Then, we lived in that house together.
Her behavior was starting to be better.
I mean, she communicated with me more.
It had a sense of being mother and son again.
I am staring at the fan on a ceiling
-What else? -The wild ideas.
The wild ideas give me a headache
The fan swings left and right.
The fan swings left and right
It kinda looks adorable.
It kinda looks adorable
What is your mom's position in your shows?
"A mother."
-Udom's mother. -She's the boss.
Yeah, she's the boss.
She will go to every department.
She's everywhere.
She was like the center.
DEAW 2, 1996 MUANG THAI PATRA COMPLEX
DEAW 11, 2015 ROYAL PARAGON HALL, SIAM PARAGON
She's a spiritual anchor. She's also a cook.
She would set up a kitchen where the show took place.
Even if they said you can't cook inside the building.
DEAW 7, 2008 SCALA CINEMA
-What did she do? -My mom just put a stove in a parking lot.
-That's allowed. -She cooked there.
Then she brought the food in.
She was…
sneaky.
She tried to find a way to distort the rules.
-She tried to find a loophole. -Yeah, yeah.
I think her intention was…
she wanted to prepare hot meals.
DEAW 4, 1999 MCC HALL, THE MALL BANGKAPI
Like homemade meals.
Not cold meals.
Yeah. She wanted me to have a good appetite.
She also knows what food and flavor I like.
She's the main force of cooking.
Apart from cooking,
she set up her own gambling den.
Seriously. When I was on stage,
she would spread a cloth on a table.
My staff would sit around her and they played cards.
DEAW 11, 2015 ROYAL PARAGON HALL, SIAM PARAGON
Has she ever watched your show?
Did she watch you perform?
Not the entire show.
She just…
She just peeked.
DEAW 5, 2002 SCALA CINEMA
One time,
It was the Deaw…
-It was on Mother's Day. Deaw 9? -Yes.
I found out that she came to my show, so I wanted to…
praise my mom.
I thought she was watching the screen. I talked about my past.
Talked about what I did that hurt her.
-Touching speech. -Very touching.
I cried while I was talking about it.
I was very emotional.
MOTHER'S DAY DEAW 9, 2011
We carried our bags in the house.
I don't remember how late it was.
The house wasn't decorated yet.
ROYAL PARAGON HALL
We just decided to sleep in one room.
It had a bright neon light.
We put our old futons on the floor.
And we shared the room.
We were cramped up on the futon without a mosquito net.
The old fan was there.
It's… I was looking at it.
My view of it has changed from when I was a kid.
Now it could swing freely. You know what I mean?
That night I was so happy.
We shared a room. I rest my leg on my mom's leg.
We talked and ate together that night too.
It was the most delicious meal I've ever had.
I think…
eating together as a family means a lot.
If you have a family,
take good care of them.
I think no one will ever love you as much as your mother.
I found out later that when I was crying on stage,
one of the staff ran to tell her.
"Ma'am, come watch. He is talking about you."
My mom was playing cards and she said, "So?"
"He is crying too."
"He's crying? Okay."
"Let him cry. Let him cry."
"Just let him cry. Let him be."
Let him cry.
I kept playing cards.
"Let him cry."
-When you said that, were you dealing? -Yeah?
"I just want to play cards."
After that, you live together. You two are joined at the hip.
What will you give me on Mother's Day?
Tell me.
A good merit for your next life.
No. You should give me something.
-Say it in front of the camera. -I'll give you unlimited love.
What does this hug mean?
It's a mother's warmth.
Tell me, come on.
I'll give 10,000 baht.
Why did you let go?
-I already have 10,000 baht. -Oh! You have.
My view of her changed.
She is like my life partner.
A life partner for me means
that we will always be together side by side.
Until death do us part.
What if someone made a movie about your life?
What part of your life must be in that movie?
It'd be the most important scene.
This part has to be in there. It was…
around the Deaw…
the Deaw 6 show.
Okay.
Around that time I got to know Pla. She owns Chin Bo Dang.
-She owns Iberry group. -Yes.
I got to know her.
Due to her skill in business and management,
she asked about my company.
"Note, do you have a bookkeeper?"
"How are they?"
She was worried that I would forget to pay taxes.
I told her that I already have one.
"I'll go talk to her, in case you forget."
She helped audit my account.
A bookkeeper came crying to me.
"Note!" It was the next morning.
"I want to resign." She's from the south.
"I want to resign."
"Why?"
"Pla came asking for your account. She said she wants to check it."
I said, "So?"
"I'm telling you this is not how Southern people do."
She just used that excuse.
Southerners don't like that?
"This is humiliating for Southerners."
"I'm quitting." What?
I felt for her because she worked for me for many years.
I apologized and explained to her that Pla wanted to help.
"Note, I'm done. I can't work with someone who doesn't trust me."
"You think I stole your money?"
"If I wanted to, I would have done it."
"I wouldn't keep working with you."
"I love you, but I can't stand her."
I hugged her. She cried on my shoulder.
I said, "I'm sorry. She just wanted to help."
"I'm quitting."
"I quit today."
And she left.
Just like that.
I didn't know how to tell Pla.
She would feel guilty.
So I kept it to myself.
Shortly after that,
I went to buy an old cabinet at Jatuchak Market.
I love old wooden cabinets.
I remember I went to Roj's shop before he moved to Train Market.
It was a 65,000-baht medicine cabinet.
They delivered it to my house.
I didn't have any cash with me.
So I told the delivery guy to wait.
I asked Tod to withdraw my money from the ATM.
I gave him my ATM card.
I wrote my password on a post-it and gave it to him.
"Tod, withdraw 65,000 baht." "Okay."
My house is 10 minutes away from the ATM machine.
He rode a bike.
After a while, he came back.
"Note."
"It said you only have 1,000 baht."
I was like, "This isn't funny."
"I've been in movies. I have lots of money. It can't be right."
"Did you do it correctly?"
"You can't just withdraw 65,000 baht at once."
"That's not how it works."
"You have to take out 10,000 or 15,000 at a time."
"You idiot!"
He went back.
He came back and said, "It said the same thing."
"You know what, Tod? Aueng!"
Aueng was a graphic designer trainee.
"Aueng, go with him."
"Teach him how to do it correctly."
So she went with him.
Ten minutes later, they came back.
She said, "Note."
"Tod was wrong."
"It's not 1,000 baht."
"You only have one baht left."
1.00 baht.
Right.
I had one baht.
I said, "That's impossible. There's no way I have one baht left. You're joking."
Oat, from Chulalongkorn university,
he worked with me. He said,
"Note."
"To make sure, you should come with me."
"Bring your account book. We'll go to a bank."
"You'll know the truth."
So we went there.
There were three people on a bike.
Fifteen minutes later, we came back.
Oat said,
"Note."
"You really have one baht left."
I was like, "Fuck! One baht left."
I didn't have any money to pay for that cabinet.
So I borrowed money from my mom.
You only have one account?
Yes. I was so confused. How could I have one baht left?
I called Pla and asked,
"Pla, how come I have one baht left?"
She hurriedly came to check my account.
She said someone took out my money.
So we investigated.
We reported to the police and called the bank.
Eventually,
a bank officer asked me
how many ATM cards I had.
I said I only had one.
Someone applied for…
a supplementary card.
Oh, okay.
This person withdrew your money every day.
Every single day.
This person used it to pay this and that.
And then…
They showed me the withdrawal report and the CCTV footage.
Turned out, it was that bookkeeper.
She was the one who had another card, and stole my money.
That's why she just wanted to quit.
She was long gone. Nowhere to be found.
At the end of the month it was a disaster.
There were lots of things that she didn't pay for me.
I had to pay my car payment and my house payment.
So many things I had to deal with.
I was desperate.
I was…
I was famous,
-but I had no income. -Right.
I was famous, but no money.
That moment,
It made me understand a bit more about life.
I felt so hollow when I had to see my friends.
You know?
"Oh, look!"
"Our rich friend is here."
Rich what? I had no money.
"Can I have your autograph, wealthy man?"
I felt like there was a needle in my heart.
I realized that all the fame I have is meaningless.
They didn't know what happened, which made me feel phony.
I was fake.
I was like that at that time.
I sold everything to get money.
I sold my mom's car, and so on.
I tried to sell one of my houses, but it was mortgaged.
I didn't even remember when I did that.
I had no memory of it.
That bookkeeper knew my flaw.
When I was painting, my hands would be dirty.
I signed a paper without reading it.
I just wanted to get it done.
She took all my money.
You know, I was a famous actor and comedian.
Everyone wanted to hear my jokes.
But I was deeply hurt.
Normally,
when I go to a bookstore, I will buy every book I wanted.
At that time, I stood and read the whole book.
I just spent a whole day reading it because I had no money.
I liked those decoration magazines.
I turned page by page. Then, I found an article I really liked.
Cellphones didn't have cameras yet.
So I had to remember it.
I just wanted to tear that page.
Sometimes I went out with friends in the industry.
We would have a meal together.
I admit that I pretended that I had to go to the toilet,
when the bill came.
I didn't have any money.
The bill was like 1,000 or 2,000 baht each.
Going to a toilet was the only way out.
You know what I mean?
I felt so ashamed.
I was dating Pla too. She is from a wealthy family.
And she dated a one-baht man.
And… Gosh!
I felt so bitter.
Anyway, Pla was the one who helped manage everything.
I got a loan from her friend.
It was her old classmate named Lin.
Pla introduced me to her friend. She wasn't my guarantor.
I took a loan from Lin,
by using my house in Chiang Mai as a guarantee.
That money I got from her was for the Deaw 7 show.
Yeah.
That show was really for your life.
Gosh! The time gap between Deaw 6 and Deaw 7 was torture.
I had one baht.
Those times have taught me so many things.
One of the things I learned is saving money.
Investment.
I had to study about it.
Yeah, yeah.
I think some of the audience here might feel like,
there's still some questions I didn't ask you.
If you want to ask Udom,
please raise… Oh!
I'll start with her first.
My question is, as a comedian,
what shows or movies do you usually watch
that are entertaining to you?
I recommend this show.
You don't need to be a comedian to watch it.
It's The Ghost Secret.
Its Thai name is Kai Winyarn…
Lok Winyarn… something.
Anyway, it's The Ghost Secret. I really recommend it.
When you get home today,
you should watch episode 66.
There are about 150 episodes now.
But I recommend episode 66 called…
It's called "Iniquity".
Write it down, Ep.66 "Iniquity".
The owner of this show is Master Ole.
I think he is the best Medium of Thailand.
He's number one for me.
He can see what has happened to you.
He sees a ghost that is around you.
He can negotiate with a ghost for you.
He is that good.
What he does is decent.
He doesn't ask you to do all that magic nonsense.
He doesn't do the black magic.
In episode 66, it was about Salakjit Duangjan, a singer.
She's Pumpuang Duanjan's sister.
Her nickname is Ong.
What happened to her is,
she felt like she was dying of something.
When she was walking,
her heart just felt broken and she wanted to die.
That's how she felt.
She also got sick a lot.
The hospital was like her second home, and she just wanted to die.
So she came to see Master Ole.
In the show, there are two other hosts,
Toffy and Somcheng.
They will go to the temples to help restore them.
If you wanna see them, just go to temples.
So Ong went to see Master Ole.
She told him what had happened to her.
Whenever Master Ole sees something, he'll be like,
"I…"
"I saw your past."
"You did something to him."
"You promised him something."
When he said that,
she felt something weird.
Normally, Ong is a simple nice lady like you.
She felt strange.
He said, "Do you feel something behind you?"
"Yes, I do. I feel heavy around my shoulders."
"Especially my neck."
Suddenly, she got possessed.
Her voice changed to a man. He possessed her.
She did a sword dance.
"Why did you kill me?"
"I wasn't guilty. Why did you kill me?"
I was so intrigued. I couldn't stop watching it.
"Why did you kill me? I wasn't guilty."
Her voice changed to a man.
"Why did you kill me…"
Master Ole said he saw what happened.
Her incident occurred at a nearby temple that used to be an execution site.
They googled that particular temple in Sukhothai.
They found the Phlai Chumpon Temple.
So they decided to go there.
To fix this matter, they must be at the scene.
They all went there.
When they arrived there, she got worse.
"Why did you kill me? It wasn't my fault. Why did you kill me?"
Master Ole negotiated with that spirit.
"Calm down, calm down."
"No!"
"Can you forgive her?"
"No way!"
"I want her life. I want her blood."
"If you can give me her blood, I will forgive her. Do it! Do it now!"
I was hooked.
I stopped doing whatever I was doing.
And I kept watching.
"You have no idea how painful it was."
"I've been waiting for over 100 years."
"You forced me to cut my own throat."
"You know how painful it was?"
It was so dramatic.
"You know,
people won't die with just one cut on their throat."
"I had to do it over and over."
Well…
The thing is…
in a past life, Ong ordered someone to kill a man.
The one that possessed her.
He wasn't guilty, but she killed him.
Master Ole said, "I saw it."
"There were other people too."
"They were a mother and her kid."
She took them as hostages in order to make him cut his throat.
"You know that really hurt."
"You forced me to do it. The ground was covered with my blood."
"I want your life…"
Master Ole tried to persuade him. He's a ghost lawyer.
"I want her blood! Give it to me!"
Ole said, "Can she donate her blood instead?"
"No!"
I mean, he cut his throat, but you donate blood?
"No way! No! No!"
"How about donating her blood to 100 hospitals?"
"She will do that within three months."
"No! No way!"
"I want to kill her. I want her life."
"How about an ordination?"
"For 100 people."
"They'll be ordained for you on Thai New year."
After he heard that, he calmed down.
"You want that?"
The ghost didn't seem to believe him.
So Master Ole asked his show's fans to be ordained for him.
One hundred people on Thai New Year.
"If you agree."
"If you are okay with it, please say you forgive her."
This part was so emotional.
The camera turned to Ole.
Then, it turned to Toffy and Somcheng.
Everyone was nervous about his answer.
"I forgive you!"
The music came up. People in that temple applauded.
He forgave her.
He finally did. I was crying.
A monk came.
He told Ong to pour water of dedication.
I mean, it wasn't really Ong. It was that spirit.
A monk started chanting.
Ong was…
He kept chanting.
The minute he finished, she passed out.
That's when I knew.
I must sponsor this show.
I called Bella immediately.
"Bella."
"Do you have Toffy's number? Can you call him?"
"I want to sponsor the show."
She asked, "Sponsor with what?" "I don't know."
"Put your name on the show?"
"No, I just want to support the show."
I saw them using old style microphones.
"Ask him if they need wireless ones."
"If so, you buy them four. Go ahead."
"I want to be a part of it."
Seriously.
I'm so into it.
You guys should watch episode 109 too.
-That's precise. -It's episode 109.
It's called "Incantation".
All right.
The case was about Karn.
He's a young married man.
He's a normal guy.
But he felt something inside him.
It was like there were other people inside him.
Every time he went to a temple, he would throw up and feel ill.
Whenever he met famous grand monks, he would get really sick.
It's like something didn't want him to do good deeds.
He went to a hospital. They just gave him medicine.
They said he was bipolar.
He had been suffering for 22 years.
Until he met Master Ole.
Master Ole saw what happened to him.
He said that in Karn's past life,
he was a black magician.
He was a monk, but he was into black magic.
He detained spirits, and was disrespectful to his teachers.
That's why the spirit followed him to this life.
It was not only one, but eight spirits.
They would take turns to possess his body.
Bipolar is like you have two personalities.
"Tri" means three.
Five… eight. This is "eightpolar".
You must watch it.
His personalities kept switching.
It was freaking good! Freaking good!
Really.
Master Ole told him what he did and he needed to ask for forgiveness.
So they went to a temple…
Not sure which one in Nonthaburi.
That's where he lived in his past life.
They arrived there.
Master Ole held his hands so he could talk to those spirits.
Master Ole grabbed his hands, he got possessed.
He was like…
"Leave him alone."
"Why don't you just let go?", Ole asked.
"Because I don't want to."
"Can you leave his body?"
"No!"
"Then I have to punish you."
It said, "Bring it on!"
Karn became rude and aggressive.
"Come on!"
"Bring it on!"
He threw up and was back to normal.
Ole asked him if he was aware of what he did and he said yes.
Ole told him what he had to do.
He had to apologize for all the mistakes he did.
He also had to give the offering to the monks.
So those spirits would receive the merits.
All those eight spirits that he had harmed in his past life.
But one of them didn't want the merits.
They were fighting inside him.
Okay, next scene.
He was about to give the offering to a monk.
The offering was here.
A monk said, "Let's pray."
They had to pray the Five Precepts first.
A monk chanted.
Karn had to repeat that.
He was fighting with the spirit inside him.
It didn't want him to pray.
Master Ole kept telling him to endure and fight back.
One line had passed.
It took about five minutes.
He kept on praying and tried to fight back.
Those spirits were so…
If this was a Hollywood movie, he would get an Oscar for sure.
It was so real.
It looked really real.
He was fighting with those eight spirits.
Eventually, he completed the whole prayer.
A monk poured holy water on him. He was…
"Leave him alone. Go back to where you belong."
I'm tired.
You have to watch it yourself.
They wouldn't let him go.
I was so excited.
I had to pee, but I didn't wanna miss it.
It is entertaining for me.
I love watching this show.
Since then, I became Toffy's fan.
There are other episodes that are good too.
Recently Toffy likes to go to the UFO sighting site.
I went with him.
I told him I'd go with him,
but he can't take my photo.
It's a long story, but I'll keep it short.
I went to Uthaithani with him.
I'm a busy person.
But I never refuse a trip to see supernatural things.
I thought you liked to use your free time productively.
-That was not productive? -I don't know.
I wanted to know if they exist.
It's something I'm always curious if it's fake or not.
Pete Thongchua said he can communicate with them.
I asked Toffy which site he usually goes to.
He told me the date and said it's in Uthaithani.
So I went.
I went with two non-believers.
There was Bella and Yaya, my accountant.
We arrived at the hotel.
We thought they would come late at night.
So we decided to take a nap.
We arrived at the hotel around 6 p.m.
We planned to nap and wake up at midnight.
I asked Toffy what time they'd come.
He said 7 p.m.
I was so unprepared.
I got dressed quickly. I didn't wanna miss it.
Because UFOs go really fast.
You can't be slow, otherwise you would miss it.
What if there was just one UFO? I'd be upset.
I came this far.
I got there and it was a big yard in a resort.
There were no customers at that time.
We can do whatever we want.
They turned all the lights off so we could see them clearly.
Toffy put up a tent there.
He also had a chair and a poker set to play with his friends.
He said that we must call them.
I thought he would have a signal panel or something.
You know, like on the airplane.
It'll send out the signal.
Next thing I knew,
Toffy sat down and meditated.
Wait a minute.
Meditating?
I didn't know what to do.
I was like…
I was confused.
He didn't teach me how to call them.
I just…
Bella was laying down on the ground.
Some people were on their phones.
I decided to talk to the UFOs.
"UFO, extraterrestrial beings."
"I'm really curious
if you guys really exist."
"If you do, please show yourselves. I came all the way here to see you."
I talked to them in my mind.
Something like that.
After a while, Toffy opened his eyes.
I asked what he said to them.
He said he just talked to them plainly.
"Today my good friend is here."
Hmm?
You can just tell him that I came?
That works?
"He is here. Don't disappoint him."
What?
-Pressuring them. -I love it.
"You can do that?"
"So he can witness your existence."
"Please show yourselves to him."
Is this how you talk to UFOs?
Wait, that wasn't even the best part.
Do not laugh yet.
After he told me, I looked up.
They have one scout who will shine the green light.
It's a laser pen.
He'll point to where it is because the sky is so big.
There are so many stars.
So many in the sky. There's no way I would know which one is a UFO.
This guy is like Toffy's wing man.
-He points where it is. -Yes.
"On the left."
I was like "Whose left?"
"I'm going to point at it. This left!"
He pointed.
Damn, it is real.
It's true. I know how crazy It must sound.
That was how I felt with Pete Thongchua.
I was like, damn, I'm one of them now.
They do exist, guys!
Okay, hear me out.
Venus is the brightest one. Others are like dots.
But that one he pointed at on the left was moving.
It was moving really fast.
When we said that,
Bella and Yaya, who don't believe it, said,
"Maybe it's a plane."
They checked an aviation app to see if there was a plane around.
-None. Yes. -To see if there's a plane?
So it wasn't a plane.
Now, the other person,
she was checking a satellite tracker app.
None.
That wasn't a plane or a satellite, so it could've been a UFO.
The planes usually move like this.
That object moved up and down.
It moved…
Wait! A star can move like that?
Really?
Then, I started to see more and more. They moved in so many directions.
Some were twinkling.
That night...
I'm not exaggerating. I know it'll sound like that.
There were 51 UFOs.
But I think they looked more like dots.
What does UFO stand for again?
UFO is "unidentified flying object," something like that.
They were like moving dots.
Moreover, Toffy made a request to them,
"Please twinkle. Please."
-I couldn't believe. It went… -They twinkled?
Seriously, I… I was so shocked.
We watched it until…
We watched from 7p.m. to almost midnight.
Toffy told me to get some rest.
"The show is over."
He said that?
The first round was about 30 UFOs.
I asked when the next round was.
He said they would come around 4 a.m.
How did he know that?
I asked him how he knew their schedule.
How did he know?
He said he's been studying about this for over 20 years.
Since he heard about the Khao Kala incident.
That's why he knows their timing.
I went to bed and woke up at 4 a.m.
When I walked out,
I heard, "There it is, the 37th UFO tonight."
I saw it clearly.
I thought, "What? This can't be real."
"How do I tell this to my friends?"
"I was sure I wouldn't see anything."
I didn't expect that.
I thought I would come home and joke about this UFO trip.
But turns out, they're real. Shit.
On the way back home, I was still bewildered.
I couldn't make sense of what happened.
I thought of the next step.
I mean, there is a UFO club in Khao Kala so I thought of going there.
But they are like hardcore UFO fans.
What that means is they will give each other names.
Yeah.
Like, Neptune 16.
Pluto 15.
That's how they are.
They each have a signal receiver too.
I tried to think of a name for myself.
Neptune… Pluto…
Viagra 11.
That's not a planet.
I was afraid I'd get in too deep.
Toffy said, "Don't go there. They might take your photo."
"It's more private here."
I'm into it that much.
Please don't do it.
You'll be obsessed with it like me.
We got to see who Note, Udom Taephanich is.
We saw your other aspects, apart from being a stand-up comedian.
In other words,
he is a comedian, that's the peak of the iceberg.
After we talked to you today,
we got to see the rest of the iceberg.
He's not only funny on stage,
but also in real life.
This is Note, Udom Taephanich!
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Thank you so much, everyone.
Thank you so much.