As a citizen of Thailand, I brand this work as the best piece of filmmaking works that came out of Thailand to date. The world has seen countless Thai films with higher production quality and full of eccentricity. Quite a lot of ghost stories and mindless comedies. Some propaganda works for the Thai royalty. But this one means business. Not just a commercial sense, which is actually the theme, but conveying some thoughts as a struggling society as never before. Thailand is not prettier or uglier than what it really is. Top is just a boy who faces a tough situation around his family and school life, and he stumbles and rises a few times before discovering the way out and his character through a business that seems to cut out for him. The Chinese Thais are truly like that. The joy of middle-class life, business rise and fall, family's ambition for the children, fight to grow together as a family and separately as an individual. The aforementioned is revealed in the film realistically and truly. An enjoyable film. Almost a thriller in the business world. Anyone who finds it boring clearly doesn't care to live his or her life to the fullest.
10 Reviews
A good movie but still finish your studies
zarah_009911 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Being Asian, I'm not really a fan of Asian movies, but seeing this one is something different. I was moved by the main character's (Top) perseverance and determination to become a businessman. I also admire the character work (kudos to the writers) for Top's uncle, for being his biggest supporter and 'main man' in pursuing his dreams.
Few things though, to teens (or kids) who have seen this movie, the idea of reaching for your dreams is important but, please try to finish your studies. In today's world, it is essential that even though we don't have the brains, we still have the diploma and the right to say we graduated. And also to parents, be not like Top's parents who just move to China when things got worse.
The whole movie was moving, and I am inspired by it. Clap to those who did good things like these, and to dreamers who never let go of that dream. Thanks!
Few things though, to teens (or kids) who have seen this movie, the idea of reaching for your dreams is important but, please try to finish your studies. In today's world, it is essential that even though we don't have the brains, we still have the diploma and the right to say we graduated. And also to parents, be not like Top's parents who just move to China when things got worse.
The whole movie was moving, and I am inspired by it. Clap to those who did good things like these, and to dreamers who never let go of that dream. Thanks!
How to make the business?
lfilatova25 January 2019
Do you interest how people make their business? Then you need to see that movie, it is base on the true story, so it worth to spend time on it. This is a guide on how to make the company. Before to come to success, you will face many various problems and learn to overcome them. After watching the movie you understand that work on your business is an interesting way, and the result doesn't come quickly. Sometimes you fail. But the most valuable is the experience. Never give up. Maybe you find your business in the first steps or maybe after the long way. But you should not give up because the most interesting is the way to the goal but not the goal itself.
Worth watching
luckchuckchuck134530 April 2013
AMAZING!! This is the first Thai movie that i have ever watched in my life which was worth watching.This movie has so many messages, my jaw dropped when I got to know that it is based on a true story! just amazing! Ittiphat Tob is a big inspiration, he got deceived several times, fell down so many times, still he didn't give up instead stood up and worked hard to reach his goal which actually seemed impossible for a teenager! he jeopardized his future by not attending university classes,he didn't have a university degree but still how amazingly he achieved success and got rid of debt ,and now he is more like a billionaire!
There were so many parts in the movie that moved me. Everything looked perfect,the plot was amazing as well as the acting.Pachara Chirathivat is a great actor, played his role very well.
There were so many parts in the movie that moved me. Everything looked perfect,the plot was amazing as well as the acting.Pachara Chirathivat is a great actor, played his role very well.
Finally a movie that's not just a shallow lazy script
JurijFedorov28 September 2021
Lately I've been watching a lot of historical movies and just fun new big projects from largely USA. A lot of it really feels like production line products. I see the same styles, settings, topics and even themes in Hollywood productions and it feels more similar than ever before. It's not that I dislike American movies it's just that soooo many movies feel the same. Lazy produced products with no soul to them and you forget them a few weeks after you watched them. USA as a setting is also boring by now. It's the greatest country on Earth to film in and set a story in, but while watching this movie I really understood what I was missing. The down-to-Earth product made with care and not just flashy scenes. Here everything feels real. It's seldom you watch a movie that doesn't feel like a reproduction, but the real thing. A careful movie with sets that are ALL natural to the local environment. We get to see all sides of Thailand: indoors, university, business, 7-Eleven, small factory, roads, train station, mall, outdoors mall. Just this alone is great. It's like experiencing a tiny bit of Thailand and it's a breath of fresh air. All sets look way better than flashy big Hollywood sets and I was constantly glued to the screen trying to make out funny letters, cool posters, interesting cultural traits. It was like traveling through Thailand via a plot. They filmed in real locations so there was nothing fake anywhere.
Even the script itself was relaxed and real. There was no rush, no flashy fake scenes, no fake runs or overblown dialogue lines. It all felt like a real story which is frankly very hard to find. You need a tight budget and no CGI, greenscreens or big actors to pull this off. It needs to be calm relaxed scenes with people just trying to be themselves and act natural as students, workers, friends. No one was trying to outshine each other. Everyone was trying to be real.
Now, even though I really liked watching the movie it is very much not a product without mistakes. It's all like real life, but it misses some things you would expect from any regular life or movie. Top for example doesn't really have friends. Top has 1 friend at the start and I was waiting for him to play some role, but he soon totally disappears from the movie and many scenes are with just Top alone or with his uncle. Even the girlfriend storyline doesn't go anywhere. He is REALLY obsessed with money and sales. I get this, it's just that it feels empty at times. You can always feel when a movie doesn't include scenes from real life. You watch a scene and story and it feels empty and lacking. Then you read up on the story and see that the scene lacked that one real person who made the setting and scene interesting in real life. I think they are going for a minimal setting and minimal actors. So it's always a bit empty, but at the same time it gets to breathe and just feel historical. It's weird how even at the very end I was trying to figure out what he did in a Pokemon game. It's like all scenes felt important. It's hard to describe. Even small simple scenes felt like they were trying to tell you something important about the world.
Furthermore in negative things there was some wooded acting here. The mom, dad and Top were all subpar actors for sure. Top often spoke in near slow-motion in an unrealistic way even when he argued with his girlfriend. It felt more natural when they didn't have eye contact with each other. But when actors looked at each other it all became like an amateur theater play. I think the camera just needed to linger on scenes to really catch the real atmosphere.
It maybe even took longer time to track this movie down than to watch it. But as soon as I started it it just dragged me into the story. No silly gags, action or hot chicks to sell the movie. It's just the story alone that works here. It's hard for me to really explain what the experience can be for the right viewer. It just feels like a movie that has a point and is supposed to exist and not just a produced product made for fast consumption.
Even the script itself was relaxed and real. There was no rush, no flashy fake scenes, no fake runs or overblown dialogue lines. It all felt like a real story which is frankly very hard to find. You need a tight budget and no CGI, greenscreens or big actors to pull this off. It needs to be calm relaxed scenes with people just trying to be themselves and act natural as students, workers, friends. No one was trying to outshine each other. Everyone was trying to be real.
Now, even though I really liked watching the movie it is very much not a product without mistakes. It's all like real life, but it misses some things you would expect from any regular life or movie. Top for example doesn't really have friends. Top has 1 friend at the start and I was waiting for him to play some role, but he soon totally disappears from the movie and many scenes are with just Top alone or with his uncle. Even the girlfriend storyline doesn't go anywhere. He is REALLY obsessed with money and sales. I get this, it's just that it feels empty at times. You can always feel when a movie doesn't include scenes from real life. You watch a scene and story and it feels empty and lacking. Then you read up on the story and see that the scene lacked that one real person who made the setting and scene interesting in real life. I think they are going for a minimal setting and minimal actors. So it's always a bit empty, but at the same time it gets to breathe and just feel historical. It's weird how even at the very end I was trying to figure out what he did in a Pokemon game. It's like all scenes felt important. It's hard to describe. Even small simple scenes felt like they were trying to tell you something important about the world.
Furthermore in negative things there was some wooded acting here. The mom, dad and Top were all subpar actors for sure. Top often spoke in near slow-motion in an unrealistic way even when he argued with his girlfriend. It felt more natural when they didn't have eye contact with each other. But when actors looked at each other it all became like an amateur theater play. I think the camera just needed to linger on scenes to really catch the real atmosphere.
It maybe even took longer time to track this movie down than to watch it. But as soon as I started it it just dragged me into the story. No silly gags, action or hot chicks to sell the movie. It's just the story alone that works here. It's hard for me to really explain what the experience can be for the right viewer. It just feels like a movie that has a point and is supposed to exist and not just a produced product made for fast consumption.
Amazing Story
bayubirru5 June 2019
This movie was really hit me so hard.
The story is really great, how Tob can strongly act as a stubborn, also his parents too. Many messages given by this film, and really he is my new inspiration.
Strong story, perfectly acted, but -1 on how his campus life / friendship doesn't explained well. But, its really worth to watch!
The story is really great, how Tob can strongly act as a stubborn, also his parents too. Many messages given by this film, and really he is my new inspiration.
Strong story, perfectly acted, but -1 on how his campus life / friendship doesn't explained well. But, its really worth to watch!
Growing Up
LennardTeo18 October 2021
Itthipat Peeradechapan aka Tob, is the entrepreneur who started Tao Kae Noi, the famous flavoured seaweed snack. When I watched this Movie based on his life, it did not say anything about this until the 2nd half.
"The Billionaire (2011)" illustrates how different and difficult his life was as a Youth. Although his lack of motivation not to study is never an ideal, but definitely his willingness to make mistakes to succeed in business.
I love watching Thai Movies, because they have a way of storytelling, whether it is Comedy, or Horror, and in this inspirational one, Drama, based on the life of a Person. You may want to watch this with your Family. Enjoy. ; )
"The Billionaire (2011)" illustrates how different and difficult his life was as a Youth. Although his lack of motivation not to study is never an ideal, but definitely his willingness to make mistakes to succeed in business.
I love watching Thai Movies, because they have a way of storytelling, whether it is Comedy, or Horror, and in this inspirational one, Drama, based on the life of a Person. You may want to watch this with your Family. Enjoy. ; )
AMAZING!
xnwmaamyr5 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This film is based on the true story of the owner of 'Tao Kae Noi' and this film is really inspiring. So this film depicts the role of Top who has a business spirit, he has never given up, and he is not afraid and is always determined to make decisions. And there are quotes from this film. Don't ever be discouraged by whatever happens, because if we give up it's all over.
Good writing and good supporting cast marred by poor transition and a very mediocre lead
sadhukar14 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
'The Billionaire' is a biographical film about the early adult years of Aitthipat Kulapongvanich, a Thai entrepreneur who successfully pitched and started selling dried seaweed snacks to convenience stores around the country and, by age 23, became one of the country's richest people. As a story, the film gives a very interesting premise on the character's goals, motivations, and the troubles he faces along the way, such as finding a way to fry and preserve the seaweed without it turning bitter, his early attempts at opening stalls which whilst commercially successful were forced out due to one issue or another, and finally his clever attempts to attain an audience with a procurement manager for the country's largest convenience store, 7- 11. The film depicts this well and I enjoyed their comedic moments and was vested with the main characters.
The biggest 2 issues that I have with this movie are however, the 1) pacing and 2) choice of lead. The pacing was subpar, with scene transitions very obvious and akin to 2006's 'Naresuan' with their absolutely god awful scene transition involving a black screen and ominous music ripped from a video game called Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (I'm not kidding, look it up). Scene transitions in movies are supposed to be seamless, with the audience vested into the story and not how the setting has abruptly changed. If your audience notices this, then you have a problem.
The second and more important issue is the lead character. To put it bluntly, Pachara can't act. He has one face - the 'I am slightly annoyed and perplexed' face, which he wears pretty much permanently throughout the film. I can't recall a time he laughed and looked sad, and even when he smiled it still looked like he was just slightly less annoyed and less perplexed.
The irony here is that Pachara belongs to the Chirathivat family, whose networth rank not only in the billionaires but also in the US dollar billionaires, making them one of the richest people not only in Thailand but in the world, which no doubt had significant input on the direction of this film and also on this pretty mediocre piece's surprisingly high score.
The biggest 2 issues that I have with this movie are however, the 1) pacing and 2) choice of lead. The pacing was subpar, with scene transitions very obvious and akin to 2006's 'Naresuan' with their absolutely god awful scene transition involving a black screen and ominous music ripped from a video game called Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (I'm not kidding, look it up). Scene transitions in movies are supposed to be seamless, with the audience vested into the story and not how the setting has abruptly changed. If your audience notices this, then you have a problem.
The second and more important issue is the lead character. To put it bluntly, Pachara can't act. He has one face - the 'I am slightly annoyed and perplexed' face, which he wears pretty much permanently throughout the film. I can't recall a time he laughed and looked sad, and even when he smiled it still looked like he was just slightly less annoyed and less perplexed.
The irony here is that Pachara belongs to the Chirathivat family, whose networth rank not only in the billionaires but also in the US dollar billionaires, making them one of the richest people not only in Thailand but in the world, which no doubt had significant input on the direction of this film and also on this pretty mediocre piece's surprisingly high score.
What a boring snoozefest of a movie...
paul_haakonsen20 March 2022
Well, sure the fact that this movie is based on real events is actually interesting enough. And thumbs up to the guy who persevered here and rose to become a billionaire. But was it a story that was becoming of the screen? No, not really.
The storyline just fell completely short of providing me with any sense of entertainment or enjoyment. So writer Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit didn't really deliver anything grand here. And it was such an insanely slow paced movie that it was hard to stay awake and focused on the things on the screen.
Director Songyos Sugmakanan didn't really deliver a riveting movie with "Top Secret: Wai Roon Pun Lan" (aka "The Billionaire"). But hey, I am sure that there are some out there in the audience with an interest for business and financial investments that might get a kick out of watching this movie. However, I was expecting a proper movie to be entertained by, and instead I was served a plate of financial investment mogul. Sorry, but no deal here.
I've seen actor Pachara Chirathivat in other movies, in which he was much more enjoyable to watch on the screen.
"Top Secret: Wai Roon Pun Lan" just wasn't aimed at me as a target audience, so I can't say that I was entertained or impressed with this 2011 movie.
My rating of "Top Secret: Wai Roon Pun Lan" lands on a two out of ten stars.
The storyline just fell completely short of providing me with any sense of entertainment or enjoyment. So writer Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit didn't really deliver anything grand here. And it was such an insanely slow paced movie that it was hard to stay awake and focused on the things on the screen.
Director Songyos Sugmakanan didn't really deliver a riveting movie with "Top Secret: Wai Roon Pun Lan" (aka "The Billionaire"). But hey, I am sure that there are some out there in the audience with an interest for business and financial investments that might get a kick out of watching this movie. However, I was expecting a proper movie to be entertained by, and instead I was served a plate of financial investment mogul. Sorry, but no deal here.
I've seen actor Pachara Chirathivat in other movies, in which he was much more enjoyable to watch on the screen.
"Top Secret: Wai Roon Pun Lan" just wasn't aimed at me as a target audience, so I can't say that I was entertained or impressed with this 2011 movie.
My rating of "Top Secret: Wai Roon Pun Lan" lands on a two out of ten stars.
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