Bangkok is a city that lacks arts and culture!

That’s what I thought when I first came to Thailand. You see all the skyscrapers and the big billboards. Millions of people on public transportation. Another million in cars and taxis. And unlike in Europe where arts and culture are always present. You know where the theatres are, there are billboards with the latest shows, galleries promote their art very visible, it is all more hidden in Bangkok.

It takes time to find out where things are happening.

Where to go, where is what taking place? Concerts? Theatre? Art exhibitions? Why isn’t there a website? Where are arts and culture happening in Bangkok? How to get this kind of information!

Jack Gitting’s Newsletter

One of the easiest overviews of artistic events happening in Bangkok is by subscribing to Jack Gittings’s bi-weekly newsletter. Just drop jack an email at: jackgittings12@gmail.com and ask him to subscribe you to his newsletter. Every two weeks you will get a comprehensive update on artistic events in your mailbox.

All the information from his newsletter can also be found on this (not that beautiful, but very functional) google calendar also provided by Jack:

https://sites.google.com/site/bkkmacaldetails/

I have had two or three rare occasions to bump into Jack when watching a play and he is a really nice and decent guy. He has been keeping his newsletter up for many years and is one of the Bangkok legends.

Subscribing to Jack’s Newsletter is definitely a good way to keep up to date on Arts and Culture in Bangkok.

Bangkok Theatre Calendar

Personally, I am also trying to keep up with the latest theatre events in Bangkok. On this very website namely here: http://actors-thailand.com/bangkok-theatre-calendar/

You can see at what time and what day the plays are happening and if you click on it you can see more details about the event. I take the information from Facebook events that people create. Most of the Thai plays are posted on this Facebook Group Theatre Shows and Workshops in Bangkok So join it if you want to keep up to date – a lot of postings are in Thai, though. 🙂

Bangkok Post + The Nation

Both, the Bangkok Post and the Nation always have a section about arts and culture. The Bangkok Post calls it Lifestyle, while the Nation calls it Life. So it’s still handy to fall back on a paper version of either newspaper if you are looking for artistic and cultural events for the evening.

Their online versions take a bit of time wrestling with to find the information you are looking for. You can still try:

Bangkok Post: Bangkok Post’s Event Listing, Section on Entertainment, Art and Culture and Galleries and their general section on Lifestyle

The Nation: The Nation’s Life Section about Art and Culture

BAM! Bangkok Art Map

There is both the Facebook page and the website of BAM! Where you can find information about the latest art exhibitions.

Those are the sources that I use. If you have any other sources for arts and culture and cultural events, let me know or just leave a comment

 

Do you want to know how to become an actor / model in Thailand? Check out this video or this article How To Become an Actor in Thailand:

Do you want to learn more about me? Check out my website: http://www.robinschroeter.de

What can be done to improve the situation for talents, production companies and agents in Thailand? We need more Transparency!

A lot of actors and models complain about the agents, a lot of agents complain about actors and models. A lot of actors and models complain about the production companies and their standards, a lot of production companies complain about the non-professional talents. There is way too little transparency of what is going on.

There is a lot of misunderstanding going on on all sites. Some of it comes from cultural differences, difficulty to communicate in one language or another, a different outlook on the world, what is ethical and what is not.

Ignorance is a bliss – or not.

Some issues come up because people ‘just don’t know’. This counts for either side. Actors and models don’t know what the agents and production companies expect of them. Agents don’t know what their talent expects of them, and production companies don’t know what the talent expects. A lot of misunderstandings happen.

Misunderstandings where neither side is willing to give in and admit that they just didn’t know can lead to conflict. And once you’re in a conflict it’s not that easy to get out in a way that makes either side happy. Most likely you’ll end up saying you never want to work with this or that person again.

How to prevent this?

Communication, obviously, but an important part that needs to happen – and happens much too seldom – is: More Transparency.

Transparency from all sides. About the jobs, about what is expected, about what either side needs.

What can you do?

A friend of mine started this industry wide survey and I would like to ask you to participate in it.

English
Production: http://bit.ly/helloproductionen
Actors and Models: http://bit.ly/hellocasten

Thai
Production: http://bit.ly/helloproduction
Actors and Models: http://bit.ly/hellocast

What is the survey about?

He asks both sides about their opinions. What they expect, what they need and what their grievances are. This way we can open up a channel of communication to improve the situation for everybody.

The results of the survey will be published and distributed among talents, agents as well as production companies.

This may not be a lot, but it is a first step to improve the communication between the production and the talents. And I think it is an important step to take.

So if you can spare 5 minutes of your time, please take this survey.

English

Actors and Models: http://bit.ly/hellocasten

Production: http://bit.ly/helloproductionen

 

Do you want to know how to become an actor / model in Thailand? Check out this video or this article How To Become an Actor in Thailand:

Do you want to learn more about me? Check out my website: http://www.robinschroeter.de

 

Have you ever done any voice over jobs in Bangkok?

Voice over jobs can be a nice way to supplement your income in Bangkok.

Voice over companies are always looking for new talent. The population in Bangkok is always fluctuating and voice over companies are always looking for new voices to present to their clients.

Do they need my language?

I literally have seen job postings for all kinds of languages from all around the world. English with different accents (British, American, Canadian, Australian), Dutch, German, Hindi, Persian, Indonesian, Arabic, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai….You name it, they need it.

If you think that you have a pleasant voice that people like to listen to, this might just be a job for you.

Voice over jobs pay by the hour.

Usually they pay anything between 800-1500 per hour’s work and a session will last for 1-6 hours. Sometimes they pay even more, if you agreed to a specific amount and you can finish the job faster than expetected.

Voice over work is more tiring than you’d expect.

In every day life you may not notice the little sludges and and slurries that enter your speech patterns. You think that you pronounce words clearly. With voice over work your voice is on the spot. People can’t look at your mouth to help them understand what you’re saying. Usually they allow you to take a 5 minute break after each 1 hour session. Believe me, you will want to take a break and it will help you to get back in focus.

Which companies are doing voice over jobs in Bangkok?

Andovar

Andovar is one of the biggest Voice over companies in Bangkok. They are located on Sukhumvit, close to Phrom Pong BTS (and have offices in India, Singapore and the US as well).

For Andovar you can apply online here: http://www.andovar.com/voice-talents/
Tel: +66 2 712 7196
Website: http://www.andovar.com/

EQHO Communications

I have done both work as talent as well as language monitor for EQHO. They are professional and friendly. There is always free drinks and mints ready for you. EQHO is located close to BTS Surasak.

You can contact EQHO via this email: grm@eqho.com
Telephone: +66 (0)2 637 8060
Website: http://www.eqho.com/contact/

TriCS

Tri is a very friendly Indian guy with a studio close to Punnawhiti BTS. It’s great working with Tri. He gets all kinds of voice over jobs.

This is the contact email: info@trics.asia
and website: http://www.trics.aia

Voice Over Asia

Keith has his studio in a beautiful building close to Huay Kwang MRT station. I did a regular gig for Keith. We had a lot of fun doing that job and I made some good friends in the process.

Tel. +66 865235888
Email Keith @ info@voiceover-asia.com
Website: http://www.voiceover-asia.com/

Those are probably the biggest companies for voice over work. I have worked with all four of them and can recommend working with any of these.

Doing some research for this article I found 4 other companies that apparently offer to do voice over work in Bangkok. You’d have to contact them yourself and see how working for them is; and maybe tell me about it afterwards:

Paradise Production

Paradise Production is located in Town in Town.

Email : nicolai@paradisepi.com
Alternative Email : nickkbh@me.com
Skype : kongkehlet
Facebook : Paradise Production
Website: http://paradisepi.com/contact/

TIS Translation

Is located in Samut Prakarn – a little off the regular track.

The contact data for TIS Translation are:
Tel: 092-595-9933, +662-730-9933
Email: admin@tistranslation.com
Website: www.tistranslation.com

Trevi Multimedia

Trevi Multimedia has their office on Samsen Road, which is close to Khao Sarn.

Phone: 08-3716-3600
Email: contact@trevimultimedia.com
Website: http://trevigroup.co/contact/

What should you do?

Just follow the links to their websites, go to their contact us section, send them a message and tell them that you’re available. They will probably ask you to come in and take a recording of your voice. It is kind of your audition. When a job comes up they will present your voice sample to their client.

What kind of jobs can they offer you?

There are actually two kinds of jobs that they may offer you:

1. The actual voice over job
2. The language monitor

The voice over job is obvious. You’ll have to read the script and they will record your voice while doing it.

All of the bigger companies employ a language monitor. The language monitor gets paid around half of what the voice over talent gets paid.

Not a full-time job, but a nice way to make some extra money

Voice over jobs may not fill your coffers to pay your rent, but they can pose a nice way to supplement your income and make some extra cash on the side. And while you are waiting for your film and commercial work to draw in, you can do some voice over work and hone your skills.

Remember: The voice is one of your main instruments as an actor 😉

 

Do you want to know how to become an actor / model in Thailand? Check out this video or this article How To Become an Actor in Thailand:

Do you want to learn more about me? Check out my website: http://www.robinschroeter.de