30secondTHOUGHTS: Moving Wi-Fi

It's a barking wi-fi spot, literally.

AD TITLE:           "MOVING WI-FI"
AD AGENCY:      Creative Juice Thailand
CLIENT:              DTAC

FIRST MAGIC OF MAY

Talk about a dream come true. Going to Thailand tonight. Thank You for the blessing. Muang Thai, Laew Phop Gan. Phom Sanuk Cing Cing Krap (Thailand, see you later. I am very excited.)

30secondTHOUGHTS: Tailor

Anything Thai is of personal interest. Anything Filipino is subject of homegrown pride. When these nationalities are merged to make one commercial of humour, rainbows and connection abound. You'll know why. A not so recent Skittles ad, but worth the dig.

Ad Title:                  TAILOR

Ad Agency:             TBWA\Chiat\Day

Client:                     Skittles

P.S.

Thank you for that ten-week Thai lessons. I was able to validate that the tailor's nationality is indeed Thai. In one of his fast-speaking sentences, the tailor pronounced "tham-ngan", which means "to work" or "occupation" in Thai. Khob Khun Krap, Kruu. 

30secondTHOUGHTS: Heineken My Passport

The task is to reach Bangkok from Mongolia without money nor a navigation map. What you have to depend on then are the kindness of the locals and your chosen currency - Heineken. In exchange for answering your queries, giving you transportation rides, and helping you in your tasks, you give the locals a free bottle of Heineken. Follow Justin as he traverses a journey to Bangkok with only Heineken carried inside his travel bag.

Ad Title:              HEINEKEN: MY PASSPORT

Ad Agency:         Iris Singapore

Client:                  Heineken

30secondTHOUGHTS: Daddy

 DAY THREE AND FOUR OF TEN

The Republic of Thailand has much reverence towards their monarchy, particularly with their reigning King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The people treat their King with utmost respect, unconditional love, and national fervor - knowing that the King has provided them with sufficient aid to augment their individual lives with the needed  progress.

Such admiration was apparent during my Thai lessons yesterday, as my Khruu Poi  (teacher in Thai speak) narrated stories of how the Thai nation venerate the contributions of the King in their daily lives. In return of the King's generous deeds, select Thai people volunteer for Racha Pranukroh Foundation, a non-profit organization that provide community services particularly in times of disaster and national relief efforts.

The King is their symbol of unity and hope, a go-to person in times of need and an obvious emblem in periods of national pride.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej recently celebrated his 85th birthday last December 5. In the video, the King called for his people to maintain peace and unity as the crowd cheered "Song Phra Choreon or Long Live the King." Khruu Poi added that the throng of people gathered dressed in yellow because the color is the King's natal color - December 5, 1927 fell on a Monday and per astrological rule, people born on the specific day is protected by the god Chandra and yellow is the day's assigned color accordingly.

As an added treat, Khruu Poi showed the class several commendable Thai commercials, such as "Daddy", by Ogilvy and Mather for Thai Insurance.

Ad Title:               DADDY
Ad Agency:          Ogilvy and Mather
Client:                  Thai Insurance

Ad Suay Mak. Kob Khun Khruu Poi Khrap ((The ad is very beautiful/ Thank you, teacher).

30secondTHOUGHTS: How Girls Use Google Translator

DAY TWO OF TEN

It gets better.

I'm slowly getting the Thai language. Our Khruu Poi Thai (Thai instructor) taught us the basic pattern in the Thai language - it's basically, Subject + Verb + Object.

For example, the Thai translation for "What is your name?" is "Khun Chuu Arai Krap?" and if we translate the latter in the English text it will sound like "You - To name - What Krap" which follows the Subject + Verb + Object pattern. Krap, on the other hand, is a polite participle injected at the end of every sentence by a male speaker (the female equivalent is Kha). Obviously, Krap and Kha are the Thai versions of our local po and opo.

And when you answer "Khun Chuu Arai Krap?", your response will be "Phom (or Chan for female) Chuu [your name] Krap (or Kha) - the answer will be similar to the question's pattern, albeit different in subject and object. "Just follow the pattern and you're good", words of advice from our Khruu Poi.

And one more thing, learning verbs in Thai is actually considerably "bearable." The verb structure in Thai is far easier than our language. When a foreigner actually has to exhaust his patience in teaching himself the difference between kumain, kumakain, and kakain (the Filipino equivalent of the past, present, and future tense of the proverbial tourists' word "to eat", in that order), the same foreigner only has to concern himself with learning one word - Khin. If he wants to express that he has already eaten, he will just proceed Khin with laew, or Khin laew. And if he relates that he will eat, he will preceed Khin with Ca (pronounced as Ja), or Ca Khin. Cool, right? 

The game plan is on. I will have to learn a lot more Thai words in the coming weeks and apply the new vocabulary into constructed sentences. Eight more classes to go and I can consider myself a determined traveler in the Thai language. Nii Ca Sabai Cing Cing! This will be really really good!

But for now, let's order some pizza. I'm hungry or in Thai speak,  Phom Hiw Krap!

Ad Title:           HOW GIRLS USE GOOGLE TRANSLATOR
Ad Agency:      Bogle, Bartle, and Hegarty
Client:              Google

30secondTHOUGHTS: The Hinglish Project

DAY ONE OF TEN.

Sawadee-krap. Khun yuu thin-nai? Phom yuu Taft Awenue. Khun a-yu tao rai? Phom a-yu yi-sep hah krap. Khun kin klao thin-nai? Phom kin klao thii dowm. Laew khun la? Mai pen rai. Khop Khun cing cing krap. 

Hello. Where do you live? I live at Taft Avenue. How old are you? I am 25 years old. Where will you eat? I will eat at my dorm. How about you? Same as you. Thank you very very much.

Yesterday, I was overwhelmed with the many phrases our Thai instructor taught us as we started our Thai Introductory Certificate Course. I already knew the basics - greetings, numbers - but it is definitely a different case when you're speaking with an actual Thai, with her mastery in the language at hand. 

Evidently, I have to self-study so that my learning curve in the Thai language will improve. I will likewise search for a Thai stranger whom I can practice speaking the language with. Hopefully, by the end of ten Saturday sessions, I can achieve my two main goals: (1) to have sufficient Thai to converse with the locals in Thailand once I get there - this will provide me with a deeper insight into the Thai culture, and (2) to finally watch Thai movies and commercials without aid of the subtitles. 

Next week, our Thai instructor will orient us with the Thai script - a combination of unfamiliar curves and symbols. I expect to be overwhelmed again. 

I wish I can develop an efficient technique to familiarize myself with the Thai alphabet, similar to what DDB Mudra Group created for Incredible India, the Asian country's tourism arm. I will dub it as my "Thailish Project", an obvious derivation of the featured work below.

Ad Title:           THE HINGLISH PROJECT

Ad Agency:       DDB Mudra Group

Client:               Incredible India

Oh, well. Phom chok dee. Good luck to me.

30secondTHOUGHTS: Silence of Love

Ad Title: SILENCE OF LOVE
Ad Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Thailand
Client: Thai Insurance

This is just one of the reasons why I love Thai commercials. Ogilvy & Mather Thailand's "Silence of Love" for Thai Insurance portrays a father's unconditional love for his daughter in a movie-like execution placed with haunting honesty. The scenes are riveting, with both audio and visual elements driving the audience into a roller coaster of both human and universal emotions. It is, thus, brilliant in its honesty.