Page 244 -

โครงการรวบรวมและจัดทําวารสารอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์

วารสารมนุษยศาสตร์ ปีที่ 22 ฉบับที่ 2 (กรกฎาคม-ธันวาคม 2558) 233

language and culture between the two nations helps Thai-Lao casts and crews
understand each other to a great degree.

In terms of pre-production process, Anousone said that the Lao
Ministry of Information and Culture had to inspect the film script before the
shooting. The sensitive issues were then removed. The Lao female protagonist

has to be demurred to resemble a proper Lao lady (Mae Ying Lao). The Lao
producer added that when the film respectfully represented Lao culture and
landscape, it could be used as a great tool to strengthen good relationships
between Thailand and Laos. Ananda asserted that the film is Lao first film in 33
years so he would like to respect the opinions from the Lao authority (Gershon,
2010).

In much the same way with the cultural representation, the sceneries
of Laos are not there by coincidence. One of the comments made by Ananda is
that the authorities wanted the film to be more commercial so they wanted to
add more scenery. Lao Tourism Authority prefers that the term “Sabaidee” is

used in the title to suggest the theme of their promotional strategy (Gershon,
2010). Every time the protagonists move from one town to another, the caption
will be shown to make sure the audiences know exactly where the places are.

In some scenes the maps of the places are shown to explain how to get there.
Since Noi, the female protagonist, is a tour guide, her role is to explain about
the significance of natural and historical places where the two protagonists
travel to. Moreover the male protagonist, Sorn, is a professional photographer
on his job, therefore a number of still pictures of beautiful scenery are also

illustrated on the screen.

According to the Thai director Sakchai Deenan’s interview with The
Independent, the reason why the plot has to be as simple as ‘a boy meets a girl

and they fall in love’ is that “We wanted a soft storyline so it would not be too