The film "Kru Bannok", or "The Village Teacher", was a blockbuster back in the late Seventies. In it, teacher Piya, imbued with idealstic notions of change and equality, uncovers high level corruption and is assasinated when he tries to counter it.

The film’s director, Surasee Patham (himself a son of Isan) had been swept up in the tsunami of political activism countering the military dictatorship at the time, and fled at nineteen into the jungles of Isan, emerging only seven months later to craft a film depicting the struggle of Northeastern Thai villagers against unruly capitalists and a failed justice system.

Now he has remade the film, and its imminent release is causing some consternation, coming as it does at a time of political turmoil, and unleashed as it will be upon a generation deemed by some to be  less interested by the ideals it espouses.

Surasee is nothing if not bold, and with the spirit of the jungle fighter of the Seventies declares: ''The audience may not want to see socially conscious movies, but to me, the problems faced by the rural people haven't changed in the past 31 years. It's actually getting worse. Now the exploitation of the poor has been systematized and integrated. Before, we fought capitalists, middle-men, politicians and corrupt civil servants. Now, they all work together, or worse, they're from the same family. Business and politics become the same, and their goal is to totally deprive villagers of power. Capitalism forces people to leave their homes to come and serve it in the city, while the government - any government - doesn't seem to be interested in empowering rural people, besides giving hand-outs. I think it's scarier than when I made my first film 31 years ago. Things haven't changed for the better at all.''

Interestingly, the Thai Ministry of Culture supports the new film and has stated that it's message is a good one. 

The moral high ground has lost none of its appeal, although we may be led to question who occupies it.

The BBC film crew stayed at Gecko Villa during the filming of the "Rice" episode of the Channel 4 series "Blood, Sweat and Takeaways."

Gecko Villa became part catering facility, part translation house and fixer, and accommodation provider to a rotating crew, who were either working or relaxing at the villa or out in the field filming.

The house rented by the British particpants in this reality TV documentary was located in a nearby village, and the rice paddies in which they were set to work were also in close proximity to  the villa.

Whilst viewers were entertained by the sight of a somewhat fractious group of young UK visitors trying to eke out a living in the rice paddies of Isaan, the local villagers found it a hoot to watch the tears and tantrums of large foreigners unable to work in the paddies, terrified of unseen spiders, complaining about the hot sun under which "farang" would normally sunbathe (whilst the Thais will cover up to avoid darkening the skin), or to keep up with their Thai counterparts. Only one of the participants earned their respect, throwing himself wholeheartedly into ensuring that the work required of them was completed whilst facing any hardship with a "stiff upper lip" attitude that the programme would seem to suggest has disappeared from English culture.

Yet the local villagers were also impressed that a reputed overseas news channel should deem their small rice farming village of interest to their international viewers, and thoroughly enjoyed watching themsleves in the programme on a DVD kindly sent to Gecko Villa by the production house, Ricochet.