The Tin Mine

"Mr Archin Panjabhan"

"Examinations Failed."

"Expelled."

This is my university certificate,

presented to me in 1949, the year they tossed me out.

Penniless, unemployed, discouraged, frustrated...

... and nearly broken-hearted.

"...I'll send you to work at Krason Tin Dredging...

Hope you work hard - your Father."

What I had no way of knowing then was that

this piece of paper would be the most valuable thing I had owned

even though it said I only made it through

my second year of engineering school.

I was the only who knew I'd left all hope

behind me when I left school that day.

The Tin Mine was to be my last chance...

... to nourish new hopes, and start to believe in my future again.

The Tin Mine

When I was a little kid,

the Takua Tung district in Southern Thailand

was just a tiny dot on the map

that sometimes the map-makers left it off altogether.

And the sub-district called Krasom?

Not even worth a dot.

What the hell is that?!

Help!

But that day...

it's where my father sent me

to make amends for the errors of my ways.

It's definitely not the kind of place you'd go on holiday,

or in search of new adventures.

And it's the last place anyone would go to find themselves.

"Krasom"

- Can you tell me where the office is?

- Over there.

Another order?

Are you using or re-selling them? Too many orders you've placed.

Looking for someone?

Is the manager here?

Not here.

What's up?

I've come to see about a job.

Nope, no jobs here.

Hey, I said no jobs!

Any kind of job, really...

- I said, no jobs!

- Stop!

Hey Kid, don't hang around here.

There aren't any openings for new workers.

Take a look.

A university student like you could handle working as a laborer?

Could you handle manual labor?

Can you?

Yes, Sir.

For a miner's standard monthly wage?

Yes, Sir.

Will you do it?

Okay then.

I like people who like work.

If you like work,

I like you.

You mean... I'm hired?

As a laborer, ok?

Office Boy!

Yes, Sir.

The place you're staying is next to the cemetery.

If you're not afraid of ghosts,

you'll see it could nicely fit for a boss.

But if you can't handle it,

you can always move in with me.

We're both Bangkok boys, after all.

Hey, I like it already.

Yeah, well... good luck.

Oh, by the way...

the lights shut off at 11.

Soon enough, a month started to seem like a year.

FRESHMAN:

A part of me was determined to make a go of it there

to work hard and learn to be a man.

But another part of me couldn't wait to get back to Bangkok.

Hey, look at Bangkok boy.

Oh! Sorry! Sorry!

That rice stank of gasoline.

I found the dog chewing on this. Thought it might be yours.

That was hot.

This Southern-style soup is so flavorless.

Oh, I stretched it with more water.

Hey...

What are you doing out here in these woods anyway?

You'd get better food in prison.

There aren't any movie houses

and no girls for miles around.

I came to save up some money.

Save money for what?

I'm getting married when I go back.

Getting married, huh?

That's good, then. Keep you from getting in debt later on.

What's that?

Oh, your sweetheart.

Yep, she's a looker. You hang on to that.

You know, there's an old saying.

"If a man goes away to China...

... or to sea...

... or to Java...

... or to Phang-nga,

his girl will wait 3 years for him.

But after 3 years...

if she takes a lover,

she's not the one to blame."

Hey you.

Seen one yet,

at your house?

The ghost?

No, not yet.

Where you off to this morning?

The Singaporean Clerk's sending me to get the mail.

Take this one. And this one, too.

Has the Office Boy come back?

Is the Office Boy back yet?

Where'd he head off to anyway?

Gone to town.

Waiting for a letter from your girl, huh?

It's 50 km there and back!

Why didn't he go by car?

Who's got a free car?

The mail's no big deal!

50 km by bicycle, at his age?

About your letter...

... there... wasn't one.

"There... wasn't one." Hah!

No mail!

It's a pity.

At that house...

every evening

there will be a girl coming out for a stroll,

completely naked,

with her long tongue flapping

and her hair black and shoulder-length.

People say...

she's the ghost of old Choom's wife, died while still with child.

One night Aom went out for some coffee

and left his wife alone.

He saw her with his own eyes.

Jong and Jon saw her too...

... scared'em half to death.

Actually...

I'm not afraid of ghosts.

It's the sound of her walking that gets me.

Care to make a bet?

10 bottles of hooch to 1. I'll give you the odds...

She's coming tonight for sure!

Hair down to her shoulders... no clothes...

... with a belly ready to burst!

That's Mrs. Choom!

She's the old boss's wife.

She... died while she was pregnant.

I showed her my respects and told her...

I'd come from far away...

looking for a job and a place to stay.

What'd she say?

She just nodded her head.

It's very scary.

Unbelievable, they believed me!

I got my first big assignment...

... the day they gave me an oil drum.

They told me to turn it into a trashcan.

I gave it my best shot.

Ouch!

Sh*t!

What happened?

Let me see it.

Hold still!

It's okay, let me see.

It hurts!

I can see it hurts. You think it'll stop hurting on its own?

Daydreaming about your girl, were you?

For me, the Tin Mine seemed like an entirely new world.

It wasn't just the difference between city and country.

With hundreds km from any highway,

I felt I'd crossed a border into the unknown.

Who's that?

How the hell should I know?

My first real test came when the dredging engineer was on holiday.

The boss wanted me to write out the supply order, in English.

They'll soon be promoting you to engineer for sure.

Construction equipment, accounting, English...

I'd studied all of that back at school.

The thing was just I never made it to graduation day.

Hey! Hey you!

That order come yet?

The Boss is ready to check it over.

So?

Where's my order?

Don't tell me you've just been wandered around all day.

Sorry, but the man at the warehouse said to tell you...

a "bolt" is male and a "nut" is female.

You can't just order nuts.

You've got to order "nuts and bolts".

Well, what about the 30 nails I ordered?

Don't tell me I've got to order hammers to get nails.

He said, nails have to be ordered by the pound...

not by the piece.

Boy, were you just born wrong or what?

Sorry, sir. I'll make out a new order right away.

Sir, the light in the steam room is out.

We just need one frosted light bulb.

Don't order it by the kilo, ok?

Yes.

Pearl light bulb.

"P... e... a..."...is that right?

I'd really begun to respect my Australian boss.

He'd opened the Tin Mine's gates for me.

And I wanted to show him that he could always count on me.

Why don't we take the belt off

when the stream pressure is at its maximum?

Because... well...

So cute.

Here little one, buy yourself a new shirt, ok?

My boss's name is Mr. Sam.

He's 56 years old.

He set a lifestyle that I wanted to always follow.

He loves to have fun.

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