GROUP WORK Jaa Panom Yeerum

GROUP WORK
Read and show your
opinion about Jaa
Panom Yeerum and Bird
Thongchai McIntyre
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Tony Jaa, who's real name is
Panom Yeerum, was born on
February 5, 1976 next to
Si-Saket town near Surin
(Isan Province in Thailand's
northeastern, about 457 km
away from Bangkok near the
Jaa Panom Yeerum
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Laotian and Cambodian border).
He is the third of four children
(one brother and two sisters)
and Panom's parents are rice
farmers and mahouts
(elephant trainers).
But childhood life wasn't all
peaceful and serene. "As a kid
playing with the elephants,
we'd always be reminded we
lived in a Red area near the
Cambodian border", Jaa says,
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During those tumultuous times,
besides tending his father's rice
paddies and somersaulting off
elephants into the river, Panom
found solace and direction by
watching Bruce Lee and early
Jackie Chan films shown
"so there was a constant
wartime reminder where we'd
hear the planes coming and
have to literally run away
from the bombs."
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outdoors on white sheets when
a projectionist visited the village
and would possibly travel 10
kilometers just to watch a film.
"Because of Bruce and Jackie,
I realized I wanted to be a martial
arts film star", Jaa said.
"But they were doing Chinese
kung-fu. I wanted to do something
to show the world Thai culture,
Thai martial arts, so I decided to
practice Muay Thai Boran."
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My teens... I do not need to take
even a minute for refreshment.
When I was 16-22 years old, I
lived in Slum Bangkae where
there were so many things
happened in my life both came
to me and that I ran into it.
Bird Thongchai McIntyre
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Our family's economy was an
insufficient economic. Our
treasure, the profuse one, was
the warmth in the family, the
rest was nothing. My status in
the society was 100% under
"Zero".
However, I enjoyed my life on
"How to survive" more than
"Having wander" which,
in fact, I did not hve time to
think about it. It seemed that
I was wandering everyday.
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My daily activities were selling
lotto result, making farmer's
hat, making and selling paper
bag and so on. I enjoyed with
"Nothing". After all was happy
with "Nothing".
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What I had got was "friends"
because we were likely the
same (poor). Even our status
was "Zero", but I had something
different from the others which
was "warm family". This caused
me think apart form the others.
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I would like to tell everyone that
the “teens” teach and test us
everyday. Learning and having
a good mind does not need to
have everything completed.
It’s ourselves who choose to
be good or bad.
They enjoyed the temple fair or
took narcotic. But I earned 10 per day by teaching the kids
at 3-5 years that I was enjoyable
and proud. Overall was to stay
alive on day-by-day basis.
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