Prachya Pinkaew

Prachya Pinkaew
Prachya Pinkaew attends the world premiere of King Naresuan in 2007.
Born	(1962-09-02) September 2, 1962 (age 54) Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, and producer

Prachya Pinkaew (Thai: ปรัชญา ปิ่นแก้ว; rtgs: Pratya Pinkaeo; born September 2, 1962) is a Thai film director, film producer and screenwriter. His films include Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior and Tom-Yum-Goong, both martial arts films starring Tony Jaa.

Prachya graduated from Nakhon Ratchasima Technology College in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand, in 1985, majoring in architecture. He began his career in 1990, working as an art director and later as creative director at Packshot Entertainment, an advertising firm. He directed music videos and won several Best Music Video Awards at Thailand's Golden Television Awards.

His first feature film was made in 1992 and called The Magic Shoes. It was followed in 1995 by Dark Side Romance, a karmic thriller-romance.

By 1998, Open Maker Head and BaaRamEwe 1999 was concentrating on producing films, including the vampire movie Body Jumper, the action-comedy Heaven's Seven, the horror movie 999-9999, the musical Hoedown Showdown, the frankly sexual comedy Sayew and the arthouse drama Fake.

With his own Baa-Ram-Ewe production house, his name is seen on many films produced for Sahamongkol Film International.

In 2003 he took the director's chair for Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, starring Tony Jaa, which went on to become a worldwide sensation and was the highest-grossing Thai film of the year. He also directed Tony Jaa's next starring feature, Tom-Yum-Goong.