Petchtai Wongkamlao (thaï : เพ็ชรทาย วงษ์คำเหลา), né le 24 juin 1965 dans la province de Yasothon, est un réalisateur et un acteur thaïlandais. Cet acteur joue principalement dans les films d'arts martiaux en second rôle. Il joue souvent avec l'acteur Tony Jaa. Malgré ses rôles dans les films d'actions, il est également l'un des humoristes les plus célèbres en Thaïlande.

Biographie

Comedian and TV shows
Mum started his career as a comedian in the Bangkok "cafe" scene (restaurants in Thailand with live music and comedy performances). He started his own comedy troupe with "Jaturong Mokjok". Mum became widely known to the public from the variety-game show Ching Roi Ching Lan (ชิงร้อยชิงล้าน) hosted by Panya Nirankul. He appeared in comedy section with his group members and performed stunts. He also co-hosted with another popular game show Wethithong (เวทีทอง) with Kiat Kitcharoen. He also has his own TV show named Mum Show, which airs every Saturday night.


Film roles
Wongkamlao is perhaps best known for his film role as George (or Dirty Balls) which is from the Isan language word, Buk Hum Lare; บักหำแหล่), the comic-relief character in Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, a popular action film that stars Tony Jaa.

Mum reprised the comic-relief role in the follow up to Ong-Bak, Tom-Yum-Goong. Instead of a con artist, as in Ong-Bak, he is a Sydney police inspector. Much of the comedy in Tom-Yum-Goong was over Mum speaking English, which is not his third language (after Issan Lao and Thai. A gag reel over the closing credits shows him struggling with many of his lines.

His first starring film role was in 2001's Killer Tattoo, the debut film of director Yuthlert Sippapak. A story about a group of bumbling hitmen, his character was called Dog Badbomb.

After the success of Ong-Bak, Mum was able to write, direct and star in his own film, The Bodyguard, a wire fu action comedy in which he portrays a bodyguard who is fired after the billionaire he is protecting is killed. Martial-arts action was choreographed by Panna Ritikrai, and Ong-Bak's Tony Jaa has a small part as a fighter in a supermarket. One of the most famous scenes is when Mum's character runs naked across Bangkok's crowded Victory Monument public square, a major junction for public transportation. In the "making of" documentary on the film's DVD, Mum said the scene was one of the most embarrassing things he has ever done.

Mum wrote, directed and starred in 2005's Yam Yasothon (Hello Yasothon), in which returned to his roots as a nightclub comedian for a musical romantic comedy set in rural northeastern Thailand in 1967. It was an homage to the Thai musical comediess of the 1960s and '70s, especially the films of Mitr Chaibancha and Petchara Chaowarat. The dialogue was entirely in the Isan Lao dialect, and for screenings in Bangkok it Thai subtitles so that central Thais could understand it more easily. In the Thailand National Film Awards, Yam Yasothon received a best-actress nomination for Mum's co-star, Janet Kheaw.

Mum also has shown a flair for dramatic acting. In 2005, he starred in Midnight My Love (Cherm), as a loner taxi driver who has a relationship with a massage parlor girl. Cherm was screened at the 10th Pusan International Film Festival and other festivals. Mum was nominated for best actor at the 2005 Thailand National Film Awards. His co-star, Woranut Wongsawan, was nominated for best actress.

He is often seen in smaller roles as well, including the hit 2005 Thai comedy The Holy Man (Luang Phii Theng), as well as an uncredited role in Dumber Heroes, a part he says he did for "a case of beer".

Mum has written a short autobiography, The Untold Story (ISBN 974-91946-9-1).

At the end of 2005 Mum starred in Ghost Variety (Pee Chalui), a comedy-horror story in which he plays the director of a reality TV series that searches for spirits in haunted places. The film was released on December 29, 2005. The film was directed by Adirek "Uncle" Wattaleela, a veteran producer and director, and it featured guest appearances from many Thai film directors and producers, including Somsak Techaratanaprasert, Prachya Pinkaew, Piak Poster, Cherd Songsri, Yuthlert Sippapak.

Along with his film work, he continues to be a regular part of the cast of the BBTV Channel 7 variety-game show, Ching-Roi-Ching-Lan, working with fellow comedians Pongsak Pongsuwan and Choosak Eamsuk.

Among Mum's movies during 2006-07 is The Bodyguard 2. The movie is a prequel that tells the story of his character Khumlao and how he came from the fictional country of Nongwaileum to work in an undercover police assignment in Thailand. His character posed as a luk thung singer named Mummy Lao, so in addition to action and comedy, the film features singing and dancing. Mum also featured in another movie in 2007 called Kuu Raet (The Odd Couple), where he played the role of a ladyboy.