Chef Maiyuu’s pork fried rice. He claims it’s just ordinary, but I think it looks rather special.

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An unlikely lad

More of the Nathan Oman saga. He’s the nobody Thai singer who claims he is being paid B100m to star in a Hollywood fantasy epic being made in the Arabian desert.

At local webboards, Thais say they don’t believe him, and have launched their own investigation.

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Producers of the fantasy epic, The Prince of Red Shoe, might have a battle ahead of them if they expect supporting actor Nathan Oman, who is Thai, to speak good English.

According to an interview he gave on Thai television, Nathan is the third most important character in the movie, which he claims to be making with superstars Bruce Willis and Christina Ricci. He also claims to speak 5-6 languages.

Nathan, who has never acted before, claims the film is based on the spectacular story of his own life. He sent the producers an English translation of a pocketbook he wrote in Thai, where he claims he grew up in Nepal. They liked it so much, they asked him to appear in the film.

Yet at his own hi-5 site, Nathan’s English looks little better than the average Thai. Three comments he leaves in English have sceptical Thais wondering if he will need language tuition, not just coaching in acting (he claims that on set, Bruce Willis gives him acting advice).

These were captions he left under pictures in his hi-5 gallery:

-My Home, Come to my room it dirty
-Am not open cafe please understand and soon
-Hey my friend you want join travel with me?

The gallery includes production shots from some of his favourite movies, which funnily enough are also set in the desert, such as Jake Gyllenhaal’s Prince of Persia.

He has also put up pictures from the Burning Man art event held each year in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

At local webboards, skeptical Thais have launched an investigation into Nathan. Someone found a YouTube video of the interview he gave on the TV show, Teenee Mor Chit, where he talks about the film.

Shooting was to start in February this year, following a press conference in New York. He had visited some locations, including the Red Sea, where he would have to strip naked for a swimming scene.

One Pantip webboard poster quotes someone who has known Nathan’s parents for years. They deny he was a look kreung (half-breed) as Nathan claims, or that he grew up in Nepal. He is just some poor kid from the southern provinces, they say.

A side-story has sprung up concerning Nathan’s supposed links to a Bangkok cafe/bar called Jamaree Yak. News stories claim Nathan is the owner, but someone who claims to speak for the shop left a message at Pantip saying Nathan has no connection with the place. The message also mentions the small matter of money going missing.

Biznews, a Bangkok business newspaper also known as Krungthep Sethakit, ran a story about the harem-themed cafe, citing Nathan’s supposed ownership.

It says the cafe offers customers an export, rose-scented tea made in Sri Lanka, by a business owned by none other than the same Nathan Oman. It’s called ‘A Tosh by Nathan Oman’.

By the looks of it, Nathan has been feeding ‘tosh’ to the Thai media for years, but no one has dared question the kid.

Nathan’s hi-5 is here. His slideshow is here. The YouTube TV interview is here. A peek inside the cafe, via that Biznews article, is here.