Just don't insult my English

Aum, manager 'A'

Actress 'Aum' Patcharapa has denied claims by a television presenter that she wouldn't understand spoken English if she heard it.

She's not dumb, she insists: Of course she gets English!

Never let it be said that Thais have an inferiority complex over their grasp of the foreign language.

Aum was one of two actresses involved in a stoush over a car with television presenter 'Khem' Kritteera Inpornwichit (เข็ม กฤตธีรา อินพรวิจิตร), also known as Kem Tee Sip.

Aum and her friend, actress May Feuangarom (or Fuengarom), tried to get Khem to leave a Mini Cooper they spotted in the carpark of a city department store. May believed rightfully that the car was her own, but didn't know that her boyfriend had lent it to Khem for her own use.

Khem believed she was entitled to drive it, and resisted their demands that she leave the vehicle. As the row heated up, she called a Thai friend on her mobile phone for help. She spoke to him in English, as she was sure the girls would not understand. This was supposed to give her an advantage over her adversaries, though just how has not been made clear.

Khem was interviewed on Tuesday about her ordeal, which took place in the Emporium department store carpark last week.

Aum's manager, 'A' Supachai Sriwichit has come out to insist that Aum is smarter than Khem's comments would have Thais believe.

'Khem's comments suggest she judges people by appearances. If she was able to look deeper, she wouldn't be so easily tricked.

'Does Khem really not know that Aum's mother graduated with a master's degree in England; that her father finished his education in India; and that Aum is close to luk kreung [Thai-foreigners]...and when she talks to them, they talk in English?' he asked.

'Khem should open her mind, and stop looking down on other people. At the moment, no matter whether it's Aum, May, or Khem, everyone is hurting,' he said.