A new romantic comedy set in Laos has a hapless director and a girl who simply isn't interested

Director Sakchai Deenan returns to Laos for "Sabaidee 2: From Pakse with Love", the follow up to his 2008 romance "Sabaidee Luang Prabang".

Also back is Laotian beauty queen Khamly Philavong, reprises her role in "Sabaidee 2: Mai Me Kamtob Jak Pakse" as the tour guide Sornpaiwan. But this second entry in the Lao-Thai movie franchise isn't a sequel, it's a prequel, offering the back story to how the first film came to be made.

In the first film, Khamly starred with Ananda Everingham, who played a Bangkok-based Australian-Lao photographer who gets in touch with his family roots and falls head over heels for his lovely tour guide.

Ray MacDonald takes over as male lead in "Sabaidee 2". He's an unemployed Thai director named Por who's landed a small job making a wedding video in Pakse. There he meets the Sornpaiwan and falls for her charms, but she is irritated by his eccentricities and rebuffs his every approach. Por won't be put off, however, and begins to like the town - and the girl - so much that he's inspired to make a film and that movie is "Sabaidee Luang Prabang".

At last weekend's premiere at the Lao World Cinemax in Pakse, many audience members wondered out loud how much of the film was based on Sakchai's personal experience. Did he meet his own Sornpainwan before making the movie?

Sakchai wasn't saying.

"Many films are based on a director's real life experience with plenty of drama added in the cutting room," he explained at the post-screening event in a floating restaurant on the Mekong.

He says that he's included similar scenes in both films to illustrate that real life isn't always as beautiful as in the movies.

"In 'Sabaidee Luang Prabang', you see a sweet woman falling in love with a smart romantic guy, but in real life [in "Pakse"], you see the same woman really annoyed by a guy," he says.

Yet there is plenty of comedy in "From Pakse with Love", which shows the hardships Por goes through after his movies flop (look out for real-life directors like Adirek "Uncle" Watleela in cameo roles).

The young man doesn't give up though, taking his new productions to the film company time and time again, only to meet with rejection. Finally, just to put food on the table, he takes up the wedding video offer, a job any respecting filmmaker would turn down.

Yet when such an unimportant job seems to impress people in Laos, Por can hold his head up high.

"I can understand how my character feels. I was out of work for a while and people treated me differently. "I'm amazed at Por's resilience. He has a tough life but he has never given up on making his beloved movie. And he doesn't blame anyone for his troubles," says Ray, who is tackling comedy for the first time.

"I usually play complex characters, so complex that even my mother and brother often ask me why I can't choose a project that they'll have less trouble understanding. So this film is for my family," he says.

"We always see Ray in a serious role, but I think his real personality is cheerful and relaxed. In this role, he is more than that. He's like a mixture of Stephen Chow and Jim Carrey," says Sakchai.

"Sabaidee Luang Prabang" was hugely successful in Laos, earning more than Bt3 million even though the country has cinemas in only three cities: Vientiane, Savannakhet and Pakse. In Thailand it earned around Bt12 million. Its success also made shooting the second part in Laos a lot easier.

"There was a better understanding and that helped. Lao people are cooperative and kind," says the director.

Sakchai is now planning to stay on in Laos and work as a producer, explaining that he's been contacted by local companies interested in filmmaking but without much experience.

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"Sabaidee 2: Mai Me Kamtob Jak Pakse" opens in cinemas next Thursday.