Rot fai faa... Maha na ter

I must admit I was curious about this film because of its box office champ status in Thailand, and not just being a film with a romance set in and around Bangkok's BTS Skytrain system, which agreed to lend its name to the movie as it celebrates its 10th year anniversary, providing a rare glimpse into its depot locale and the acknowledgement to the unsung heroes of the transportation network - the nocturnal track maintenance engineers. Singapore has our own feature film shot from within our MRT depot, so look no further than Lucky 7 since one of the segments (by Ho Tzu Nyen) was shot entirely there.

Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story is just that, a romantic comedy about girl meeting boy and their falling in love. It doesn't try to disguise itself as something cerebral, and goes about its cliché narrative about modern day romance in a typical big, bustling city. Directed by Adisorn Trisirikasem and written by the team of Trisirikasem, Benjamaporn Srabua and Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, they craft a tale centered on Mei Ly (Sirin Horwang), a single 30 year old female who's soon finding her social circle shrinking no thanks to friends being married, and embarks on her own quest to find Mr Right from somewhere out there in Bangkok.

Like a friend too who also feedback on how difficult it is to get his friends out as the usual excuse is "got kid got family" to take care of, the story deals with how lonely one can get when friends start to break routines and the difficulty in meeting up when they're free (if at all), and it requires a serendipitous hand to bring someone whom we fancy, and vice versa, to step into our lives. So enter Lung (Theeradej Wongpuapan), but not everything comes on a silver platter, with his career being quite the challenge in maintaining any semblance of a relationship, since his work is during the graveyard hours, when the rest of the world is sleeping.

The narrative takes its time to tell the story of this romantic liaison, and focuses pretty much on Mei Ly, not that I'm complaining since Sirin Horwang is quite the cute looker from certain angles. She brings about a likable demeanour with plenty to laugh along with in her desperate attempts to try and hook up with Lung, taking advice from a prettier friend Plem (Unsumalin Sirasakpatharamaetha) who turns out to be quite the third party in wanting to use her tricks to work toward Lung's heart herself. But being a romantic comedy, this is kept up until the middle act, to allow the three a crowd to become a two's a company.

Many have claimed the story sprawls, and truth be told that's one of the positive things that went for the film. I felt that, for instance, the extended dwelling on Mei Ly's introduction, and the pains she experiences with the public transportation system is something that almost every commuter will be able to identify with, even here as our system becomes packed like sardines for the lack of infrastructure supporting the growth in population. Played out purely for laughs with some exaggeration in meeting some of the most obnoxious characters all in one nightmarish trip.

While Theeradej Wongpapan makes for that dreamy leading man who sends the heart of our heroine aflutter, it is Sirin Horwang in her role as the desperate modern woman complete with Japanese anime influences in peeking into her inner motivation and drive that makes her all the more alluring (if I may use that term!) to follow. Her klutzy portrayal of Mei Ly and at times that narrow-naturedness also brought about a certain vulnerability in being someone confused in the game of love, in not knowing what to do, yet exasperated in wanting to do something. Don't we all at times, experience the same thing?

There are already a number of romantic comedies in the cinemas now, with Au Revoir Taipei, Taiwan Exchanges, and now this Thailand edition that stands worthy of the other two side by side. Yes it's fluff, and it's saccharine sweet, though it did make its lead characters work doubly hard to reach their intended finale, but yes, this one worked wonders despite the cliché and formula it conforms to. A perfect date movie, this one I will unabashedly give the recommendation to as well.

The title is appropriate because it reminds me of Bangkok's infamous traffic jams. Watching the movie is like being caught in slow-moving traffic for more than two hours, with an insufferable long-winded babbler for a companion.

The film is basically the story of Muei-Ly (Sirin Horwang), a Thai-Chinese girl who, at 30, is feeling desperate at finding her Mr Right. Societal pressures are hard to ignore, especially when most of her girlfriends, including a so-called 'ugly duckling', are getting hitched and moving out of her social circle.

Late one night, however, a drunken Muei-Ly gets into an accident and meets her Mr Hot (Theeradej Wongpuapan as Lung), an engineer working the night shift at the BTS (Bangkok Transit System or Skytrain) station. Lung would have been just a passing 'dream' for Muei-Ly if he had not showed up at her house a few days later - as 'Uncle' to the boyfriend of Muei-Ly's family maid.

She meets him a few more times at the Skytrain stations - but dares not make the first move, at least not until her pretty neighbour Plern (Ungsumalynn Sirapatsakmetha) starts hitting on him. And just when she manages to spend the Songkran (Thai new year) holidays with him, she discovers some heartbreaking news.

Wongpaupan is really a charmer and would definitely go well with females in the audience. Sirin Horwang has rather limited facial expressions but we tend to root for her as the shy, pampered girl who lives with her parents and Teochew-speaking grandma. Co-star Unsumalin Sirasakpatharamaetha (as Plern) provides comic relief and a little tension to the plot. And if you see a lot of scenes on the Skytrain, it is because the movie is sponsored by the BTS, celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Its flaws are plenty, most notably in its implausible and sometimes moronic script (by director and co-writer Trisirikasem, Benjamaporn Srabua and Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit) that drags, sputters and stalls for more than two hours to tell a story that could easily have been done in half that time. Indeed, the film-makers feel compelled to emphasise the nightmares of the infamous Bangkok transport systems - stressing on 'smelly' armpits and others - and doing infantile gags involving Muei-Ly's boss and his solar-energy bras, etc.

What I cannot tolerate about the film is the writers' misrepresentation of Muei-Ly as the urban female. They portray her as the dreamer and schemer going after the love of her life - and yet when she gets him, she acts coy throughout. Yes, this is a love story when the lovers do not even hold hands, let alone kiss each other! "Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story" is director Trisirikasem's third feature, after "Lucky Loser" (2006) and "My Girl" (2003). I have not seen the previous films but would definitely recommend that he takes a look at what young people do on dates these days, before he makes another romantic comedy. That way, his movies may cross more borders (besides Singapore and Malaysia) and gross as much as those from Hollywood. (limchangmoh.blogspot.com)

This is film's screenplay is good, it was filled with a lot of comedy. But, execution was poor. Direction, Editing, Acting etc had timing problems. Should have been much better if more attention was paid. The climax felt like stretching far and further. But, as a whole, watchable movie.

Coming from Thailand's neighboring country, I can relate to the premise of the movie quite well; an urban metropolitan and hectic lifestyle where public transportation and rapid transit seem to be the only dot connecting everyone. As simple as this is, the traffic provides the right setting to develop the majority of the movie's fundamental themes.

Let's settle the flaws first. Yes, the movie can get draggy at times and it may seem like a rather tedious task to watch, but I don't necessarily think these parts are fillers per say. These little nuances, as irrelevant as they seem, are important in building up the character of the main leads. The tiny pieces of informations coming from different parts of the movie patch up any doubts the viewers have towards the leads; they are romantically-flawed individuals yes, but each of them have their own reasons for every action of theirs, and this actual sense of insecurity connects us with them.

Retrospectively watching this after watching Cris Horwang's stellar acting in Seven Something (2012), I finally realize what is it about her that enables the audience to love her. She portrays fragility and femininity very well. Her acting embraces her flaws; she doesn't pretend to be devoid of weaknesses, and this 'flaw' of hers makes her acting relatable to an average city dweller like you and I. Elsewhere, I've read comments about Theeradej being somewhat stoic in this movie. I would say that I find it perfectly fine. Being an engineer that has been working the night-shift for a long time, he symbolizes loneliness and being unable to somehow express himself. I mean, how often do you see a girl that is human after midnight? He fits the role perfectly, and he's perhaps the sole reason behind the popularity of the movie among the girls.

As a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of watching this flick. I find myself really loving the Thai's way of making romances; stripping them of any overly-dramatic elements and just making them as close to reality as possible. Who cares if its draggy at times? As long as viewers finish the movie with a smile across their face and feel more appreciative of their partner, I'd say this movie worked pretty damn fine.

Granted, I wasn't familiar with "Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story" (aka "Rot fai faa... Maha na ter") from 2009 with director Adisorn Trisirikasem at the wheel, when I happened to stumble upon it here in 2020. And being an avid fan of Asian cinema, of course I took the time to sit down and watch it.

I wasn't familiar with the cast list, but I will say that both Sirin Horwang (playing Mei Li) and Theeradej Wongpuapan (playing Lung) were well-cast for the movie, as they were good in their performances and they definitely had some great on-screen chemistry.

The storyline was enjoyable, while it was generic and straight forward for a romantic comedy such as this. But there was just something very enjoyable about the movie, which made it quite worthwhile to sit through.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story" and found it to be a nice surprise. If you enjoy Asian romantic comedies and have the chance to watch this movie, you definitely should.

My rating of the movie is a six out of ten stars.