A Thai in Saigon
A moped stops in front of an industrial laundry facility in Ho Chi Minh City. It’s Somsak Supitayapron, a Thai national that freshly landed from a trip to the United States. With alienating confidence Somsak walks past the reception into the hall. He’s stopped by a security guard donning a G-star shirt. “Where the fuck you going?” he exclaims in Vietnamese. Somsak replies back in Mandarin. “I speak to Ronnie Jewels” he answers in the present tense.
The whole joint is confused. Nobody understands a word he says. Somsak doesn’t speak Vietnamese and none of the workers speak Thai or Mandarin. Initially, Somsak was about to be kicked out of the factory, but in a fortunate turn of events, he landed with Ronnie Jewels anyway. A tattooed Chinese-looking fella stays in front of Ronnie’s office bathroom door. Somsak is on lactating pills. Squirms and grunts are heard through the flimsy door.
A whole one and a half hours later, Somsak leaves the room. “Muslim Jules sent me”. He tosses a handful of shit-stained rubber balls on Ronnie’s desk. “Muslim Jules thinks this is funny?” Ronnie replies in disbelief as a rank odor fills Ronnie’s office. His bodyguard wafts a hand in front of his face. “My Mandarin bad. I don’t speak natively.” Ronnie’s bodyguard collects the balls off Ronnie’s desk with a newspaper to separate his fingers from the feces. He cleans the balls in the sink.
“This is just disrespectful. He sends you to bring me heroin?” Somsak ups his chin. “His boss says it’s good.” — “Where are you from, kid?” — “Bangkok” replies Somsak. Ronnie turns to his bodyguard. “He’s with Martian Man Bakar then,” Somsak confirms. “Please tell me what I’m to do with… this.” Ronnie stretches his palm to the cut-up balls of meth. “He managed to get a good product in America.”
Super Wok Explosion is a unique animated web-series about Chinese organized crime. The project is funded entirely by its audience. On this website, animator Tony Cheuk likes to share information about Asian organized crime—and world-building of the universe of the series, Chinese tongs and triads. If you're interested in learning more about the project, you can click here.