Who are you?
I'm a 28 year old French video director/editor, presently living in Paris.
Do you realize how popular Never go to Thailand has become?
I've seen a lot of shares on Facebook. It surprised me because I was thinking about 200 views on Vimeo was ok, but now it’s about 100, 000 … I can't explain the popularity. I'm happy people like it. I so much enjoyed Thailand. I think that shows in the shots.
Is making films your full-time job?
Yes, I've been working on "video making" since 2005 . It's my job.
I'm working for different production companies. It might be for commercials for web, events, video clips...here is my show-reel: https://vimeo.com/31313950.
Why did you make Never go to Thailand?
There was no real purpose. I usually do ‘souvenirs videos’ when we go on holidays with friends.
Here are some others :
https://vimeo.com/56765854 (south of France)
https://vimeo.com/36825345 (Snowboarding)
How did the video come together?
It was just my friend and me at the beginning of the trip. Then we joined friends of mine living in Ko Samui. "Kim oh no" and Jo Mobbs helped me a lot. They gave me good advice for discovering the country. Jo Mobbs (working for discovery divers) took wonderful shots during; the diving part of the magic of this video. This underwater world is just unbelievable…
Then when I came back to Paris and it was -2 ° C. I was happy to have my 40°C shots of Thailand to warm my heart :) I edited it all in about one week.
Some people have said the video is better than Thai promotional videos. Are you for hire?
Haha, I love to travel and I love to make videos so it would be a pleasure to make a more complete video of such a great country. I can do way better :)
Where did you go in Thailand?
We first arrived in Bangkok. Then we went to see the temples of Ayutthaya and Sukhothaï.
We stayed one week in Chang Maï. That was awesome, we did a lot of activities, Sunday market, mountain biking in the mountains. We went to Ko Samui to see the south part of Thailand.
It was just paradise all the time. My first time in Asia too, and it was one of the best experiences in all my life. Going to a Buddhist country was really interesting and relaxing for me. I really want to come back because 3 weeks was too short to really see all the diversity of this country. It wasn't a job, it was for pleasure :)
So you didn’t consider going over to the dark side of Thailand and filming?
No, I think 3 weeks is too short to really get an impression of gangs, traffic, prostitution and the pollution, etc. It was a holiday video made by a tourist, not a documentary:).
What are you doing today?
I'm back in France, in Paris, and I'm working on video stuff. Holidays always have a end :) But I'm thinking seriously about coming back to Thailand soon.
Is there anything you feel you missed, anything you think you should have filmed?
I didn't film the full moon party. I didn’t want to have the responsibility of my keeping safe my camera while I was partying.
I love to make time lapse video also https://vimeo.com/50646480. I should have done more. Thailand has some epic spots to do some.
Read the original story here.