Folklore (2018–2021): Season 1, Episode 4 - POB (Thailand) - full transcript

Hi there.

Hello.

Your car was done a week ago.

When will you pick it up?

Right.

How much is it?

Give me a minute...

It's... 5,623 baht in all.

OK.

I'll go get it soon.

How soon?



Maybe in two weeks?

Up to you.

OK. Thank you.

OK, bye.

Bye.

Mr Manop.

Our cashier has asked me to remind you

that your bills were due three weeks ago.

—Right. —Well...

Can you make the payment today?

Sorry about this.

—For Mrs Wilailuk Sansakul? —Yes.

It's 10,363 baht.

Out of order.



Nearest restroom in OPD building.

Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Morgue

Morgue

Hello?

This is what we know so far.

The deceased is an American male.

Paul Conrad, aged 56.

He was a top executive of

a multinational PR firm.

Mr Conrad moved to Thailand

less than two weeks ago.

—OK. —Yes.

Any signs of severe injuries?

We heard his internal organs are missing.

No comments for now.

I'm letting my team do their work.

Did the security cameras capture anything?

Who...

Who are you?

Look at me.

What do you think?

You're a ghost.

Very good.

At least you're showing me respect.

Unlike that white dickhead.

You mean... Paul Conrad?

So that's his name?

It's that f**ker's fault I'm stuck here.

What happened?

What are you doing here?

I'm here to cover the story of his murder.

So, you're a reporter.

You want to know what happened?

I do.

Grab a seat.

Won't you sit down too?

I'm a ghost.

Sitting makes me less scary.

May I record our conversation?

Do whatever you want.

By the way...

which newspaper are you from?

It's an online news outlet.

I'm a blogger.

What the hell is a blogger?

A blogger is...

someone who writes stuff on the Internet.

Hi there.

Conrad. Paul Conrad.

How are you doing?

You're so pale...

and skinny.

Are you hungry?

Well...

come on, let's go to the kitchen.

I'll get you something to eat.

So you had no idea that white guy lived there?

I've been here a long time.

It used to be a Chinese family living here.

I couldn't get in then.

They had a Buddha statue.

This guy just moved in two weeks ago.

No wonder the house looked kind of empty.

And the white guy...

had no idea you were a ghost?

He wasn't spooked even one bit.

I couldn't explain it to him.

My English sucks.

Come on in.

Have a seat, make yourself at home.

Let's see what we've got here.

OK...

Here, have some cheese

and I'll make you a sandwich.

So, I just got here two weeks ago.

Annie and the kids are still in Atlanta.

They'll come once I've settled in a bit.

It's been really crazy since I got here.

Bangkok office is way understaffed.

So I've been in meetings

and interviews and more meetings.

And I've got to sort through

a lot of shit there too.

So...

I haven't had a chance to go out

and have any fun yet.

But don't you worry, I will.

Heard you have a wild and crazy

night life here.

Cheers.

That's why I told Annie and the kids

not to come yet.

So, are you married?

Now, I've been married three times.

Divorced once

and one of my wives passed away.

Dorothy.

Strange death too.

You see, Dorothy loved going to

the hair salon

and there was this Korean hair salon

near where we lived in Atlanta.

It was run by a woman named Mrs Kim.

I can still remember her.

Long jet-black hair

porcelain skin, beautiful complexion

and tiny.

Well, anyway...

Dorothy loved going there

and she went there a lot.

The reason she went there is because

she loved getting the manicures.

And Mrs Kim had told her

that all the equipment was from Korea.

And Dorothy thought that that was so exotic.

Well, apparently the bacteria was

accumulating under her nails year after year.

Finally, one day it all went to her brain.

Turned to cancer and spread

throughout her whole body.

Dorothy was dead less than three months

after that last manicure.

Mrs Kim and I went out

for a little while after that

But it really didn't work

because every time I saw her doing a manicure

I'd think of Dorothy.

Ignorance is bliss.

He wasn't scared of you at all.

The real f**ked-up part was

I started to be scared of him.

He made all these assumptions

and babbled on as if he knew everything.

What a godless prick.

It's no wonder

the whole world hates the Americans.

Were you afraid of white guys

when you were alive?

Of course.

I couldn't speak to them.

Never thought I'd have

the same problem when I'm dead.

That's me.

And that's me a long time ago.

And that's Dorothy.

I know what you're thinking, pal.

You're thinking, she's a smoker, right?

And it was because she was a smoker

she died of cancer.

Not Mrs Kim's manicures.

Well, you're wrong, pal.

I had a good friend look into it.

He's a cancer specialist

and he confirmed it was the manicures

that caused the cancer, not the smoking.

You see, if they could prove

that smoking caused the cancer

the insurance company wouldn't have

paid us a cent.

But they paid us in full.

That's my uncle, John.

He was in Vietnam.

Married a Vietnamese woman.

Beautiful, long jet-black hair

delicate skin and tiny.

That's the thing.

Delicate and quiet.

Our women are rough.

They're loud, they're aggressive.

They're like, "Hey! Here's your dinner!"

Eat this, eat that.

"You think you're in charge?"

"I'm in charge! I take care of shit too."

"You're not the only breadwinner here."

It's women's rights... women's left.

Women's lib. Do you know what that is?

You know women's liberation?

I say that in my own country, I'd be dead.

Anyway...

This is Annie, my wife now.

And this is Harry, and this is Sally.

I know what you're thinking again.

Harry and Sally.

When Harry Met Sally, the movie.

Well, you're right.

We named our kids

after the people in the movie.

We loved that movie.

You know when you find something good

stick with it.

That movie, it makes us laugh

makes us cry... it's wonderful.

Do you have any kids?

That's OK. I get it. You're shy.

That's what I like about you Asians.

You appreciate silence.

In the US, we hate silence.

If you're quiet, you get nowhere.

You've got to be loud.

You've got to be bold.

You've got to be aggressive.

It gets exhausting sometimes.

That's why, you know, when I travel

I really have to remind myself

to keep my mouth shut.

I really don't want to look and sound

like the obnoxious American.

You're a ghost.

Why didn't you just poof away?

By then, I wasn't much of a ghost.

I couldn't poof away.

I couldn't even scare a child.

And that butter stank of fart.

That wasn't butter. It was cheese.

I don't give a rat's ass what that crap was.

Casper!

Casper! Stop it!

Casper!

Excuse me.

I think we have some visitors.

I'm going to go.

F**k! Shit...

F**k! Shit...

Hello? Yeah, Doctor Somporn.

Yeah, this is Paul Conrad.

Yeah. I've been attacked...

Attacked in my house.

Yeah, in my house.

Yeah, two guys tried to come in.

They were going to rob the place.

Yeah, I saw them

and we ended up getting into a fight.

They were trying to take the TV.

Yeah, I know it was stupid

but I'm big and they were small.

And I had a baseball bat.

OK, look.

I'm losing a lot of blood.

Yeah...

No...

They're gone. I let Casper go after them.

He chased them away.

No. He just... the guy had a knife

and he cut into my hand.

No, he didn't cut my hand off!

He just cut into my hand deeply.

No. No, look.

I don't have a first-aid kit here.

And I don't have a car...

so I can't get to the hospital.

Somboon took the car to the garage.

So if you could come over here real fast

I'd appreciate it.

This cut is deep and I'm losing blood.

No, they didn't get the TV!

They dropped it on the lawn.

Yeah... if you can get here soon

I'd really appreciate it.

No...

There's somebody here with me.

A friend's here with me.

Huh? Hold on.

He wants to know if you've got a car.

I don't know, he hasn't said a word.

He hasn't said a word since he got here.

He's really shy.

So I don't think he's got a car.

Anyway, come on.

If you can get here as soon as possible

I'd really appreciate it.

OK, thanks.

Yeah, I'm losing a lot of blood now.

Yeah, OK. I'll wait here.

I'll be waiting right here. Thanks.

This is shit.

Is all of this true?

Of course it is.

When the doctor came, he saw the cuts

and told the white guy to go to a hospital.

But the white guy had lost a lot of blood.

He needed a blood transfusion along the way.

In the car?

Yes.

In the car, on the way to the hospital.

So the doctor asked me if I could drive.

Wait, was this doctor Thai?

Couldn't he tell that you're a ghost?

By then, my "ghost-ness" had gone kaput.

Next thing I know...

I was driving them to the hospital.

What a clusterf**k.

Yeah, exactly.

Excuse me, what's your name?

Mena.

Were you born in March (Mena)?

Yes.

To the hospital. My friend's hurt!

Come on!

Go now!

What are you waiting for? Go!

Faster, my friend's dying!

Hang in there, man.

Can you put on some music?

Thanks.

Were you born in March (Mena)?

Yes.

Turn right up ahead.

Hey, I said turn right!

Go right.

Good.

Now turn left into where it's dark.

Pull over.

Get out.

I said, get out!

Give me all your cash.

And your watch.

And your amulets.

I'll have your car too.

Why the hell did you do that?

It was an accident.

Accident, my ass!

Are you OK, Mena? What's wrong?

Mena, are you all right?

It haunts me.

How long ago was that?

I don't know.

My concept of time is different from yours.

Days, months, years, hours, minutes...

those are just human constructs.

Make-believe.

It's much simpler for ghosts.

When it's light, I sleep.

When it's dark, I go out to feed.

That's true

So what happened after that?

Don't tell me you died again.

I'm dead. I can't die again.

Well, it was just a minor crash.

The doctor had a cut on his head

and hurt his neck.

That American got his hand stitched up.

Then they took me to the emergency ward.

I can't hear your heartbeat.

It hasn't been beating for a while.

Let me take your pulse.

No pulse either.

I'm a Pob.

Pob... as in the ravenous ghost?

Yes, Doctor.

Thanks so much, Doctor.

I hope you're feeling better soon.

OK. You're welcome.

OK, I hope you recover soon too.

Normally, I'd invite you back in for a drink

but it is almost five o'clock.

So I think you'd probably want to

get back home to bed.

You're right. I'll take a rain check.

—OK, good night. —Good night.

Goat.

Hey, I thought you'd left.

Come on in, sit down.

You want another beer?

Goat.

Goat?

That's my dictionary.

What are you doing with my dictionary?

Goat!

Goat.

Phee. (Thai for "ghost")

Goat.

Corpse, dead body, phantom, ghost...

Holy f**k!

I see.

So you're hiding here, waiting for nightfall.

Yes.

Do you think I'd be able to

capture your image on this?

How the hell would I know?

Let's give it a try.

How should I pose?

No posing. This isn't a fashion shoot.

Why didn't you attack me

when I came in here?

I'm stuffed.

Did you see the size of the white guy?

I won't have to feed for days.

His intestines didn't taste of much though.

I know what you mean.

I find Western food really bland too.

Nice.

You said you're a blogger?

Yes.

I bet my story will break the Internet.

Pob.

Can I be honest with you?

Your story is pure hogwash.

Hogwash? Are you calling me a liar?

I would be nuts if I believed any of this.

A lot of what you said don't make sense.

If I put this online

I'll be skinned alive by the netizens.

Do you know how blood-thirsty

social media can be

when it turns against you?

Asshole!

I spent hours telling you my story

and you're not going to run it?

I really can't.

Just telling people I've interviewed a Pob

would ruin me.

Still, it's an entertaining story.

I'm no netizen but I'll skin you alive now!

I'm wearing an amulet.

Hey.

Mr Pob?

Let's make a deal.

Give me the winning lottery numbers

and I'll run your story, OK?

Got it.

I'll run your story if the numbers come out.

Will you be paying in instalments?

I'll pay the full amount.

—No kidding? —Yeah.

Did you win the lottery or something?

Here are your keys. Thank you.

Thanks.

Take care then.

Mr Manop?

The doctor needs to talk to you.

Out of order.

Nearest restroom in OPD building.

Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

What did the doctor say?

About what?

Your mother.

The doctor suggested an operation.

It'll give her another year.

Otherwise, she probably won't make it

through the month.

But the operation has its risks.

Are you going to let them cut her open?

I don't know...

I'm still thinking about it.

If you let them operate on her

she'll never get to leave this place.

They won't stop with just an operation.

They'll put more tubes and needles in her.

More procedures...

more nonsense.

Thanks for writing my story, by the way.

I'm famous now.

Pob, it's you?

I'll be reborn soon.

They've given me a slot.

Congratulations.

I'm serious about your mother.

No one wants to die in a hospital.

It's pure torture.

Where's my mother?

Your mother went into shock.

We've taken her to the ICU.

Can I see her?

Visitors are not allowed in the ICU.

I'm not just any visitor. I'm her son.

Only doctors and medical professionals

are allowed in the ICU.

I know, but...

she's my mother.

I know, please wait in the room.

How is she now?

Please wait in the room.

Hey, Pob.

If my mother pulls through...

I'll let you eat me.