Prachya Pinkaew explains the concept behind TOM-YUM-GOONG.

"TOM-YUM-GOONG is a reminder, it's there to help Thai people think of their homeland. When we produced Ong Bak, it was all about Muay Thai and the things which Thai people respect or hold in high regard. This time round it's all about culture. Of course, Muay Thai is a part of our culture but this is about the elephants and how, long ago, both elephants and Muay Thai were intermingled with each other and in turn were a part of our kingdom's heritage. For his part, Tony Jaa will show a side of Muay Thai that was not seen in Ong Bak. The story is still relevant today and the audience will have a chance to see combat between Muay Thai and 'K1' style fighting, but this time the preparation has been much longer, harder and more intense than for 'OngBak', creating new moves as well reviving some moves that had been previously lost."

Prachya goes on to explain the technicalities of making Tom-Yum-Goong in Australia.

"In total, about 80% of the movie was shot in Sydney. We wanted to create something with more of an international feel to it and we wanted to capture the essence of the relationships between Thais and other nationalities. The first country that came to my mind was Australia. The ambience, setting and status of Sydney, a truly global city were perfect for what I had in mind. I flew out twice, searching for the right locations and contacting different production companies. I had numerous meetings on what and how I thought the movie should be made, including the locations and of course what supplies we needed to accomplish the concept that was in my mind. Most of the story was set in Sydney so we had to do most of the shooting there.

"Once the decision was made to shoot in Sydney we knew we had to work under their rules and regulations. They are so different from our own, especially the union restrictions. At least 50% of the crew must be Australian, which meant we had to adapt our normal style of shooting quite a bit.

There were many rules, regulations and restrictions that we were frankly not used to, but we had to become familiar with them and because of that I believe we have made a world class production.

Once we understood how everything worked, there weren't really any problems. We did manage to shoot everything within the schedule but I must admit a lot of time was used up in endless meetings!"

The director turns his attention to the breathtaking locations which he and his team used and the impact which they will have when shown on the cinema screen.

"The first place anyone thinks about when they hear the word Australia is either the Sydney Opera House or Sydney Harbour Bridge, or both. The beauty of these two structures makes it almost obligatory to have them in your story. Almost every movie that has ever been shot in Sydney has at least one shot of them and they have been shot from every conceivable angle, except one. For TOM-YUM-GOONG I wanted to make something a bit more exciting, but I am not going to give the game away quite so soon. If you want to know what it is, you will have to watch the movie! Some of the other wonderful locations which we used were Darling Harbour, another Sydney trademark and a haven for tourists, as well as Thai Town and China Town, which are conveniently located quite near each other which made our lives a little bit easier.

Prachya gives us a glimpse into his personal feelings about the movie.

"TOM-YUM-GOONG is literally a dream come true for me. It has been extremely hard work but I wouldn't change a thing. Everyone might be expecting a second Ong Bak but this is not it. TOM-YUM-GOONG is very different. The roots are still there and, of course, we still aren't using any wires or stunt doubles, but that is really where the similarity with Ong Bak ends. This is such an extreme film with such an amazing storyline. I am really proud of what has been accomplished. Everyone from every department did an amazing job.

Panna Ritthikrai

Panna Ritthikrai describes the concept behind TOM-YUM-GOONG.

"Basically, the underlying concept is similar to Ong Bak in that there are 'No Wires, No CGI and no Stunt Doubles' however there is one big difference: the budget. This time we could let our imaginations run wild, anything that we thought of or dreamt up we could make happen. We used Sydney for about 80% of the film and we wanted to see Tony Jaa jump really high with the Harbour Bridge as backdrop. Before, that would have been impossible, and even today it was extremely difficult, but after a lot of planning, we finally managed to get permission from the authorities in Australia to do the shot and I think the results are stunning. We did a lot of research into an ancient form of Muay Thai used by a very special band of soldiers known as the 'Jaturungkabart'. The Jaturungkabart were soldiers who would stand at each leg of a royal elephant and whose task was to protect the King, who would be sitting upon the elephant, whilst in battle. These soldiers were extremely skilled in martial arts; they were unsurpassed in their time. I found these ancient soldiers and their techniques to be fascinating and decided that they should be brought back to life which is why many of their techniques have been incorporated into TOM-YUM-GOONG."

TOM-YUM-GOONG is a hard hitting, super-charged, action picture and one scene in particular epitomizes the strength and determination that went into making TOM-YUM-GOONG. The four minute take shows off movie action at its most raw. Kham, played by Tony Jaa, is determined to confront the villains who have stolen his majestic elephants. To do so, he must first battle a barrage of assailants as he punches, kicks, jumps and throws his way up a four storey building. Panna Ritthikrai explains more.

"We realized that the audience would have high hopes for TOM-YUM-GOONG, both in terms of the storyline and the action scenes and we were not going to disappoint them. After a lot of preparation, everyone on the team came together to produce a 4 minute, not stop, unedited action sequence: that is extremely rare. Many movies do have what we call a long take, a long shot without cutting, but this one is different. Our long take concentrates on action not words; it's a full-blown martial arts scene which has never been attempted before. It is extremely to difficult to try and keep the quality of the shot high whilst doing a long take like this. Great care and attention must be given to every part of the process, especially the actors' cues. If one person misses one cue then everything must start again and, as it is all about action and timing, the complexity is multiplied. A cameraman holding a single camera has to follow Tony's every step and everyone has to work in harmony. This scene was the hardest thing any of us had ever done and to be totally honest I wasn't sure if even someone as capable as Tony could do it, but in the end he pulled it off and it is a superb scene."

Tony Jaa

Tony Jaa explains how he feels about his previous success, in Ong Bak, and his upcoming movie TOM-YUM-GOONG.

"Ong Bak helped me to transform people's perception of Ancient Muay Thai, the slogan (No wires, No stand-ins) made people stand up and notice Ancient Muay Thai and in the process made me what I am today. I owe a considerable amount of gratitude to those who inspired me, including Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan and, of course, my instructor Panna Ritthikrai. Before I could start filming TOM-YUM-GOONG, I had to go through a rigorous 2-year training program. I had to learn thousands of new moves, blocks, kicks and jumps, perfecting them so that I might be able to capture their beauty and elegance on the screen. For Thai people and, indeed, everyone in every corner of the world, we have given our hearts and souls to this production: relying on the beauty, elegance and prowess that is Ancient Muay Thai, an art never before seen on film, and drawing on its magic to create TOM-YUM-GOONG."

source : TYg official notes