New York Times - Thomas Fuller (Bangkok Haunts)
“I still feel very Thai, despite my straw-colored hair and sharp nose,” Sonchai says in “Bangkok 8.”
The narrator’s frequent reflections on Buddhism complete the cultural mélange. Mr. Burdett himself meditates one or two hours a day.
It’s hard to imagine how the broad and nuanced canvas Mr. Burdett paints in his books could be conveyed on the big screen. But Millennium Films, which recently produced “John Rambo,” the fourth movie in the “Rambo” series, in Thailand, has optioned “Bangkok 8” and is serious about making the film, Mr. Burdett said.
John Thompson, a producer, is currently scouting locations in Bangkok. He said that James McTeigue, the director of “V for Vendetta,” had been hired to direct, and that production would begin in 2008.
“Wherever you place the camera in Bangkok is interesting,” Mr. Thompson said. “This is the only city where the humidity kills you, where the heat and smog make your nose bleed, and you say, ‘I’m never leaving.’”
Mr. Burdett has also completed what he said would be the final installment in the Bangkok series. The book will touch on Myanmar (a choice not motivated by current events, he said) and send Sonchai to the Golden Triangle to investigate a Thai general suspected of running a methamphetamine factory there.
Once the Bangkok series is over, Mr. Burdett says, he wants to diversify away from police thrillers. But he’s quite content staying in Bangkok.
“From a novelist’s point of view it’s a gift,” he said, “because you’ve got so many different things, so many different themes all coming together. It’s a crucible.”