Paris comes to Bangkok

I was shooting the new True cafe on Soi Thonglor when this guy comes up and asks me, in French, if I'm French. I say I am and he introduces himself as quadruple world boxing champion, Jaid. He then says that back in Paris I once did him a favor that he'll never forget.

Jaid Seddak.
Born in 1962 in Mostaganem, Algeria. French.
73 fights, 10 losses
Thai Boxing: French Champion from 1985 to 1992, World Champion from 1990 to 1995
Full Contact: World Champion from 1992 to 1995
info ripped from this site

It took me a while to remember where we met, how, and what I'd done for him. That made me realize how constantly smashed I must have been back in those days where both he and I were going out way too much. We talked about Thailand, boxing, his debut as a boxing manager, his first protege Isham "Jai Di", and he made me listen to some music he's currently recording--staccato word plays reminiscent of Gainsbourg, which fits his current look pretty well. He's got so many projects I'm happy to be a photographer, not a journalist, because they'd take forever to describe in detail.

Later that evening I met up with another friend from Paris, a much closer one though. Antoine was in Bangkok because he does a lot of things for the Thai government to promote Thai fashion and is also redesigning a whole bunch of stuff for Thai Airways (about time). But he was much more excited about his new ventures as a video clip director for Datarock, a band that plays, as you might have guessed from the name,electro rock. His video clip for "Computer Camp Love" is here. It's funny and very well made.