Paitoon, who studied mime in 1980 with Slovakian mime actor and director Milan Sladek, in 1984 found Konnakhao Mime, which was later developed into the Konnakhao Mime Academy in 2004 to conduct classes and workshops in the unique performance art. Konnakhao Mime’s first show Erotic Mime (1986), which was the Asia’s first mime performance portraying a story about sex and gender inequality, led to Paitoon receiving the Goethe Institute scholarship in 1987, which enabled him to visit a mime festival in Germany for one month. Paitoon initiated the Kon Rak Mime Festival in 2016 to bring pantomime performances by international artists to Thai audiences and organised workshops for people to seeking to improve their performances. Paitoon was born on July 31, 1962 in Nakhon Si Thammarat. He moved often as a child and studied at Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Benjamarachuthit School, Chiang Mai’s Wattanothai Payap School, Bangkok’s Wat That Thong School and Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Suwansri School, the last of which is now defunct.

Source: The Nation Bangkok November 09, 2017 08:03 UTC