TWO YEARS AGO
Here's to our company's first day of opening.
Damn, you're going full-on.
I wanted some booze, not fucking champagne.
Look, man. You can get booze whenever.
But today's our company's opening day, so it's champagne only.
Because it's all about making our way towards profit from here on out.
How much profit?
- 1000%. - 1000%!
Are we seriously going to get rich? Wow.
So, everyone, go all out!
Hey.
What are you doing sitting here alone, Golf?
Just give it a go. Come on.
I don't drink.
Come on, just this once.
Hey. Let's take a photo.
Hey, were you guys seriously
taking a co-founder selfie without me, you bastard?
Cheers, man. Yeah.
Okay, we had our damn drinks.
We're 25, but...
we're running a 30-million-baht business
to generate a 300-million-baht profit.
Damn right. We took out a 25-million-baht loan for this.
Who said anything about a loan?
We're talking about profit here. All right?
But honestly, for me,
it feels like,
when we're together,
I can be fucking fearless, man.
Let me ask you this.
Why did you ask me to join you?
- Tell me. - You sure you wanna hear this now?
Okay. Fine.
I don't know why.
I just knew it had to be you.
All right. Let me ask you back.
Why would a valedictorian like you
quit school to take this risk with me?
Running any business is risky.
It's about who you run it with.
Holy shit, that was smooth as hell.
So, on this occasion...
What?
I just wanted to say
that we
will
destroy
Metaverse.
But just writing on paper isn't enough, all right?
You know what a blood oath is?
Real blood is a bit much. Let's use ketchup instead.
We've made a pact.
- We're in this together, no matter what. - Hey. Of course, you dawg.
Look at that!!
- Come on, let's drink. - You drink.
{an8}THE BELIEVERS
So? Go straight, and then what?
Keep going straight and turn left in three kilometers.
- Okay. - I'll keep navigating.
{an8}So, which temple? There are tens of thousands of them in Thailand.
{an8}How about you do a search?
{an8}TEMPLES IN THAILAND
Wow, that's a shitload.
Let's start with Bangkok.
- What about this temple? - No, too big.
How does big equal bad?
A temple this big must have a big committee.
They already have their own people to share profit with. No room for us.
Look.
TEMPLE COMMITTEE PRESIDENT, MEMBERS
TOO MANY PEOPLE IN CHARGE
Bangkok won't work. Let's do the countryside.
Not too far, though. No customer base.
The outskirts, then.
Seems good. It's at the center of a neighborhood.
See? There are four or five more temples around here.
Think you can compete against existing rivals?
TOO MUCH COMPETITION
- How is it? - I think it's a no-go. Look.
Too old.
We might as well build a new temple.
TOO OLD
Probably will cost a few million. Let's drop it.
This temple looks good.
Let's just talk to the abbot.
What are you talking about?
But we have good intentions for what we're trying to do, Father.
It's a grave sin.
It can also
be a way to support the religion.
You religious charlatans.
OOPS, HE KNOWS WHAT'S UP
- What the fuck is this? - Got it from the last temple.
He said it might help cleanse your minds a little.
Win. Seriously, though.
If this project doesn't work out, then what's next?
Well... We'd earn merit, I guess.
Merit, my ass.
Dude.
I need to pee.
Can you look for a gas station?
Not sure about a gas station, but you can go behind the bushes.
No fucking way. I can't have people seeing my butt.
- I'll find a gas station for you. - Okay.
Hold it for a bit.
- Hey, pull over! - What?
Pull over!
And back up the car.
What? Pull over here? This temple?
Yeah, this temple. Back up.
This is fucking dangerous, making me pull over in the middle of the road.
PHUMMARAM TEMPLE
My body is sore.
How about getting a massage when we're back in Bangkok? I know this one place.
The masseuses are fucking amazing, but there's this one masseuse there.
Her name is Jeab. She's a bit off.
She always offers dick massage.
Hey.
Hey. Where's Win?
Not in the car?
If he was, he'd be here with me.
Let's go. It's getting dark soon.
I think this temple is a good size.
There's a ton of space. We could renovate it.
This temple?
It looks abandoned.
Not a single person around.
There's only one dog.
But I'm with Dear on this.
What are you saying?
Let's go with this temple.
It looks fucking abandoned. You sure you guys can renovate it?
I think the people at this temple should be easy to talk to.
The abbot seems kind.
How would you even know that?
PHUMMARAM TEMPLE 70 YEARS MONK VEERA ITSAVARO, FATHER KIW
OFFERINGS STATION: FLOWERS, INCENSE, CANDLES
Hey, kid. Where's the abbot?
There. You can try asking that old man up at the pavilion.
Excuse me.
Hey. What's up, young man?
We came across this temple and decided to stop by to make merit.
- I see. - Can you show me where I can do that?
- You're here to make merit? - Yes, brother.
You don't have to call me "brother."
- Just call me "uncle." - Okay.
To see young people at the temple, wow! That makes me so happy.
Hey, to make it even better, go to the ordination hall
and pay respects to the Buddha statue.
It might seem old, but it's incredibly sacred.
Is the abbot here today?
He's not feeling well. It's best not to disturb him.
He's very old.
When you're here, just come and find me.
I'm Tang, the lay leader at this temple.
Well, we're looking to meet the abbot.
We'd like him to bless our car.
Oh, I see. Come back another day, okay?
He's not going anywhere, lad.
I'm going downstairs.
Hey. Your face seems a bit somber.
Maybe try a ritual to ward off bad luck?
You've got bad luck. Your face looks grim.
He seems a bit wacky.
I think he has the key to the donation boxes.
He might even handle the money too. We should try approaching him.
Me again, huh?
Shit.
Excuse me.
I...
- Haven't you left? - No, I haven't.
I'd like to leave this donation to the abbot with you.
We don't see many people at this temple,
so we'd like him to have some funds on hand.
May you prosper, young man.
I'll get you the donation form.
That's okay. We're leaving now. Just give it to the abbot for us.
Oh, okay.
Here's what we'll do. Hold on, just sign it right here.
I'll take it to the abbot.
SOMDECH
Here you go.
Bye, Uncle.
May you prosper, young man!
Let's go.
We can all confirm this is the temple?
Wait longer and we won't get things done. At least pick a temple to rebrand.
CONTRACT WORK & GENERAL SERVICES PHUMMARAM TEMPLE
- Let's go. - Let's go.
Here.
So? Let's just go talk to him and get it over with.
- Let's wait a bit longer. - Okay.
What?
Oh, shit.
He just shed his skin.
- Hey. - Just a sec.
- Can't you go faster? - It's an electric seat.
Hey, man, slow down a bit. We're too close.
Left.
Left, dude!
Fuck, that was too late.
- I'll go around. - Fuck.
Speed the hell up.
How would I know he'd take the exit?
Should we call it quits?
It's obvious he knew we were tailing him.
Even if he didn't, we don't even know if he'd be on board with our plan.
Hold on a sec.
I might remember his number.
Hello?
Who the fuck is this?
Hello?
SANGSRI KARAOKE
SOMDECH
Come on.
May the host prosper!
SANGSRI KARAOKE
Thank you, table three. Next up, our guests from table seven.
I need to pee. Be right back.
Hey!
You little shits!
Why the fuck did you follow me here?
Quiet, huh?
Fine.
So?
Why did you follow me?
Actually,
we didn't follow you.
We're just here for some drinks.
This place seemed like a nice hang-out spot, so we stopped by
since there aren't many good drinking spots around.
You suck at lying.
I saw you tailing me from my house.
Did you wanna rob me?
Are you sure?
I'm sorry, but we're really not planning on doing anything like that.
Do you seriously think we'd rob you?
We're here to discuss business.
What business?
I asked, what business?
Temple business.
You mean temple services?
Like morning and evening chanting?
We want to hire you as a consultant.
What's a "con-sultan?"
Like an advisor.
We want you to advise us on our project to develop and rebrand Phummaram Temple.
With tens of thousands of temples in the Thai market,
getting 1% market share for Phummaram Temple
will be enough to make us rich.
I think we can get 5%.
An all-inclusive Buddhist commerce, aiming for a 1,000% short-term profit.
In simpler terms, it means... we're looking to benefit from the temple,
like what you're doing.
Hey.
Here's how it goes.
Simply put, we'll run the temple to make it famous.
Then people will start flocking in.
You know what that brings?
Money.
There's a million ways of doing business. We just saw an opportunity here.
We're willing to offer you 40,000 baht per month, excluding bonuses.
Your role would be giving us advice and taking action on things we can't do.
Oh.
It's an advance payment.
I didn't think you guys would be this fucked up.
You guys are real pieces of shit.
I never thought in my life I'd hear something so seriously fucked up.
Then...
just pretend you never heard it.
You guys think you can just leave like that?
Look, Uncle.
We came to discuss business.
If you're not on board, then we're done.
What you guys said, you think it will be that easy?
You mentioned bonuses.
How much?
When the temple hits the break-even point, we'll give you 5%.
That means if the temple makes, say...
ten million baht, then you'll take
500,000.
500,000?
All right? If you're in, you can sign the contract.
10%.
How about seven?
Fifteen.
Fine, 10%. But we'll handle all the temple's accounts.
Deal.
But I need to be in the loop about everything.
If I ever catch you guys being sneaky...
Then the first job you need to do is get us into the temple.
Sure. I'll take you to the abbot.
But tell this white bitch to dye her hair.
It's hurting my eyes.
NARUETHIP WATER COMPANY'S DONATION TO PHUMMARAM TEMPLE
Sure you wanna use my family's name?
Yeah. It seems most credible.
People will see it as a big company doing CSR.
Or we could use my dad's name.
"Roger Kennethsmith the Third."
Hey.
Chitchatting? Are you ready?
The abbot is ready.
Okay.
We've got water, Father.
It's the water from the company of these young folks.
It's clean and refreshing, Father.
Is it cool, Father?
These young folks proposed a development project for our temple.
I can see their good intentions, so I'd like to help promote their water.
It's rare to see young people taking an interest in Buddhism.
They're putting in a lot of effort, so I'm supporting them.
Who says young peepee...
Who says young people don't go to temple?
Here they are. These three kids right here.
They're determined to preserve Buddhism
and support our temple.
What are you planning to do?
Well, we have prepared slides to present our project to you.
Here it is.
PHUMMARAM TEMPLE CHACHOENGSAO
The way we see it,
the beauty of the location is the first thing that attracts people.
So we'd like to renovate the temple. We'll do it in three phases.
In the first phase, we'll begin by restoring what's already there and...
Hold on.
I actually don't have any issues.
In fact, I want to thank you
for donating all these things to the temple.
But...
I'm quite old.
I might not be able to offer much help.
But based on what you've told me, it seems pretty interesting.
Let's just say that, from now on,
I'll entrust Tang to supervise you guys.
- Of course. - Let's help each other out.
Damn it.
I worked on these slides all night.
Asshole, that was me.
- It's the same thing. - How is it the same?
Do you see now how much the abbot trusts me?
The bill for the microphone.
So, what's your plan?
First thing,
we'll start with renovations.
We'll give life back to the abandoned-looking temple.
All right, back up.
Straight back, slowly, back up.
Careful. Back up. Okay, stop.
Watch out, a sidecar's coming. Go, sidecar.
You can go. Thanks. Put them down gently.
Here, I bought you guys new paint. Paint it nicely and get the job done.
Okay.
Oh, it's good you're here. Pay me back 20,000 baht for the paint.
Get closer, Note.
Get closer.
Get a little closer.
Keep smoking them out.
Damn it, closer.
Come on, they're just bees. What are you afraid of?
I think top right, eye-level.
BUDDHA STATUE MOULDING EVENT
The previous spot was good. People can see it easily.
No, that spot's better. Easier to put money in.
Move it back.
Fuck that. You know what user experience is?
Arrive, pray, put in money. Easy.
This way's better. Trust me.
Hey. Move it back.
Okay, bro?
Okay.
Wait a minute.
Everything you've mentioned needs money.
Are you rich or something?
I'm going all in on this.
Is there any chance you could lower the price?
This is the lowest I can give you. I've done a lot of interior work on it.
All right, okay. Send me your account details.
I'll transfer you the money.
RED ENVELOPE MONEY NOT TO BE WITHDRAWN BEFORE AGE 60
What is it, Tang?
I'm going digital with the temple's accounts for easier handling.
One, two, three. Okay.
Turn to your left.
One, two, okay. Look straight ahead.
Smile.
All set.
Here.
Online on three platforms.
The admin is always active. Start firing ads.
Then we'll get donation spots set up and ready for service.
But nowadays, it's all about a cashless society, so...
Right. We'll move money and accounts over to DeFi
and pay off some debts with it.
Candles, incense, and gold leaves can bring in some cash.
But we've got bigger income sources.
Consecration ceremony.
Redeeming cattle.
Hey. Let's not do that. I feel bad for the animals.
Then how about this instead?
DONATION BOX REDEEMING CATTLE
BUDDHA STATUE MOULDING EVENT
Put up phapa baskets everywhere. Leave no spot empty.
And we'll set up a market in this area to create activities for the temple.
Note, just get closer. What are you afraid of?
- Come on. - Wait. Let's hold it.
Those are bees.
- Hurry up. - What bees?
Those bees.
- I said hold it. - What?
So what do you want me to do? It's hot, you know?
- Leave it there for now. - Huh?
What the hell?
Boo!
You're doing this in the temple?
Cheers.
That sounds good, but...
But fucking what now?
Did you guys take Buddhism classes when you were kids?
I got an A.
I got a C.
Okay, then.
What are some Buddhist holy days?
Magha Puja, Visakha Puja,
Buddhist Lent, End of Buddhist Lent, Asalha Puja.
Not bad.
You know, temples can survive because people come to make merit.
But people don't come to make merit every day. You see?
That's why we have to make the most of those holy days.
The first one,
Magha Puja.
{an8}THE MAGHA PUJA OF 1976
It was the day when monks gathered together.
All 1,250 of them.
Right.
It's a very boring day.
Visakha Puja
is the day of Buddha's birth,
enlightenment, and death.
And we walk around the temple building three times.
But this day,
Buddhist Lent, is a big deal.
Both the start and end of it
are when we have major events.
A big crowd will show up.
During these times, you'll get hundreds, thousands of envelopes.
Countless temples rally people to donate.
Kathina events just keep on going one after another.
That's all you need to focus on.
Can we get things done in time?
In time for what?
Oh, I mean, we have to
do the soft opening.
What? "Oh, Penny?"
Okay, let's keep this simple.
What days are coming up soon?
Coming up soon, in April, there's...
Hey, Auntie. Why has no one shown up?
Hey, can I request a song? I'm bored out of my mind.
Sure.
Many people are here to make merit.
Merit, my ass. They came for free water.
Shit, stop it!
Hey!
Stop right there!
The bills.
For decorations, supplies, labor,
gasoline.
Game will transfer the money.
Opening a temple
isn't as exciting as opening an amusement park, you know?
With a temple, you need to take it slow.
If everything is complete,
then what can people donate for to make merit?
My face is tight.
I feel like we might have messed something up.
Nobody's showing up for this damn event even though it's a big one.
Based on what I've seen, famous temples often come with legends,
like drifting Buddha statues or a temple that didn't burn down.
That'd take too long. We've just bought the principle Buddha near the Giant Swing.
We can create something new.
What should we do, then?
How about this?
Let's just go with ghosts.
We can get... what are their names? Mor Pla and Pong to come.
Let's go all out on this.
But then people would show up here looking for ghosts.
No one would come to donate money.
If we wait for the major Buddhist holidays, it might be too risky.
Or I'll hire fake supporters for now, but I think it's just a waste of money.
- That's true. - Yeah.
Let me think.
Do you miss him?
What?
Oh, hell no.
Why the hell would I miss him? I ditched him long ago.
- It's her ex. - What? That's crazy. He's your ex?
No shit. Are you serious?
He's fucking famous. My mom loves him.
He's got lots of presenter gigs.
Dang, that's really something.
Hey!
Presenter. That's it.
We can get a brand ambassador or icon for the temple
to communicate to our targets directly.
Hey. That's interesting.
Apart from famous temples, there are also famous monks.
What if we find a monk who can act like a magnet to pull people in?