Tom-Yum-Goong

Kham is the last of a family line of guards who once watched over the King of Thailand's war elephants. Traditionally, only the most perfect elephants could successfully defend the throne, and very great care was taken in raising them. Kham grows up forming close relations to his elephant, Por Yai and his calf, Kohrn. During Songkran festival, the elephants are stolen with help from Mr. Suthep, a local MP and his son who are collaborating with elephant poachers. Kham raids Mr. Suthep's house and beats up the poachers. He intimidates Suthep into telling him that the elephants are in the hands of Johnny, a Vietnamese gangster who runs a Thai restaurant named Tom Yum Goong Otob in Sydney, Australia.

Kham arrives in Sydney and is immediately taken hostage by a wanted thief posing as a taxi driver. Sydney police officers Mark (Petchtai Wongkamlao), a Thai-Australian, and his partner Rick corner the thief while he holds Kham at gunpoint. However, a second policeman, Inspector Vincent, has been following Kham since he left the airport. First he shoots the thief. After the thief drops dead, he tries to shoot at Kham. Mark, who is puzzled at Vincent's actions, questions why did that. Vincent argues that Kham wasn't a hostage and orders Mark and Rick to retrieve him, which they eventually do. In the car, Kham tells Mark that he's searching for relatives (but he doesn't directly tell him that they are elephants). Along the way, they spot Johnny at the Tom Yum Goong restaurant. Kham becomes erratic and urges Mark and Rick to arrest him, but Mark argues that he can't because Kham is offering no proof of a crime. Kham causes the car to crash and he evades the police. He follows Johnny to a bridge, but Johnny escapes, forcing Kham to fight his henchmen. Kham coerces one of the henchman to lead him to Johnny's hideout, interrupting a drug deal. Outraged, Johnny summons countless extreme sports enthusiasts, who arrive to fight Kham. After defeating the thugs, Kham is exhausted and falls asleep in an alley. A prostitute named Pla (Bongkoj Khongmalai), who met Kham earlier when he confronted Johnny, brings him to her apartment. In his sleep, he dreams of an epic battle involving war elephants and the Jaturangkabart, the elephant protectors. When Pla leaves, Kham wakes up to the sound of police sirens and must escape.

Mark and Rick are taken off the case and reassigned to provide security for the Police Commissioner's meeting with Mr. Sim. In that meeting, Pla acts as a hostess girl and dancer to the two men. During the meeting, Mr. Sim and the Commissioner are murdered by someone hired by Vincent. However, the murder is caught on the commissioner's camera. Vincent kills Rick and puts the blame on Mark. Mark escapes, but is later captured.

With Pla's help, Kham enters Tom Yum Goong Otob. He fights his way into the VIP area and reaches the dining hall at the top. Kham demands, "Where are my elephants?" and is met with the laughter of Johnny and his men. Johnny taunts Kham with Kohrn's bell. This enrages Kham and he fights and defeats his opponents. He enters the storage area, containing various exotic animals ready to be butchered and eaten. Kham finds and frees Mark and Kohrn, escaping minutes before the police arrive. Meanwhile, Madame Rose is made the new leader of the Chinese gang after she murders two other possible successors.

Inspector Vincent initiates a search for Kham and Mark, who are hiding in a Buddhist monastery. Soon after their departure, the monastery is set on fire by Vincent and his men. Believing that the temple and its inhabitants might be in danger, Mark and Kham decide to turn around and come back. When they arrive, Kham is confronted by three assassins: a fierce capoerista (Lateef Crowder), a sword-wielding wushu (Jon Foo) expert, and a giant wrestler (Nathan Jones). Kham defeats the capoerista and wushu expert, but the large wrestler proves too strong for Kham. The wrestler gains the upper hand on Kham, but the police arrive, and Mark comes to help him flee. By morning, Kham goes on his way. Mark is discovered by several policemen and sent to deal with Inspector Vincent, whom Pla has revealed to be the murderer.

Kham arrives at a conference hall where Madame Rose is having a press conference. Kohrn runs in, scaring off everyone while Kham engages the gangsters. Mark apprehends Vincent, but Johnny arrives and fatally shoots Vincent to "settle the score."

Kham finds himself with Kohrn in a huge room, and he is shown the skeleton of Por Yai, encrusted with jewels as a gift to Madame Rose. Her men then attack Kham, and he attacks them more brutally than previously seen, by breaking many of the men's arms and legs. The wrestler from the monastery is called in, along with three others. Kohrn is thrown through a glass wall, and Kham is knocked into the elephant ornament, causing two leg bones to fall off. Kham realizes that the tendons are the most vulnerable and important part of an elephant to protect, and with this knowledge he defeats the four brute wrestlers by using sharp ends of the elephant bones to slice their tendons. He stops Madame Rose before she can escape in a helicopter, and they both crash into the room below. Kham's fall is broken by Por Yai's tusks.

Back in the lobby, Mark is shown Pla, and forgiven by his boss, Inspector Lamond. He is given a new partner who speaks Thai. Mark is then interviewed by a reporter about Kham. Finally, a narration from Mark is heard, with scenes of Kham's childhood shown. Mark explains that Thai people treat elephants like they are their brothers, and they hate people who hurt them. Thais love peace, but dislike people who take liberties. Kham is finally reunited with Kohrn.

• Tony Jaa as Kham, the last of a family line of guards who once watched over the King of Thailand's war elephants. Kham is characterized by the juxtaposition of his red krama scarf throughout the film. As he grows up, he bonds closely with his elephant Por Yai and its calf, Korn. When they are stolen, Kham journeys to Sydney, Australia to get them back. Actor Nutdanai Kong portrays 9-year-old Kham.
• Sotorn Rungruaeng as Kham's father, who taught Kham the fighting style of the Jaturangkabat, the royal guardians of the Thai war elephants. It has been Kham's father's dream that his elephant Por Yai would be selected as one of the Royal Thai elephants. However, during a fake inspection staged by a local member of parliament, his elephants are stolen, and he is wounded by a gunshot.
• Petchtai Wongkamlao as Sergeant Mark, a Thai-Australian policeman who patrols an area of Sydney populated by Asians. He is so popular there that the locals often do him favors like giving him free mangoes and haircuts.
• Bongkoj Khongmalai as Pla, a Thai student in Sydney who is forced to be a call girl to repay the debt of her former boyfriend, the late Wittaya who used to own Tom Yum Goong Otob, a Thai restaurant.
• Xing Jin as Madame Rose, a Transsexual member of a Chinese gang in Sydney, who is in conflict with the leader, her Uncle Mr. Sim.
• Damian De Montemas as Inspector Vincent, a corrupt policeman in Sydney who collaborates with Madame Rose.
• David Asavanond as Officer Rick, Sergeant Mark's partner.
• Nathan Jones (credited as Nathan B. Jones) as T.K., a giant wrestler proves to be more than a match for Kham.
• Johnny Tri Nguyen as Johnny, a Vietnamese gangster and he use of martial arts is Vovinam is a subordinate of Madame Rose. He is responsible for her drug deals and the running of the Tom Yum Goong Otob.
• Lateef Crowder as a capoerista who fights Kham in the Buddhist monastery. He has the word "Pray" carved to his chest.
• Jon Foo (Jonathan Patrick Foo) as a wushu exponent who is Kham's second opponent in the monastery.

International sales rights (outside Asia) were purchased by TF1, which made suggestions for re-editing to director Prachya Pinkaew, who then made some cuts that slightly reduce the film's running time from its original 108 minutes.

The UK title is Warrior King, and the theatrical release was on 28 July 2006. In France and Belgium, the title is L'Honneur du dragon, and in the Netherlands and other European it is Honour of the Dragon. In Cambodia, the film is called Neak Prodal Junboth. In India, it was named Haathi Mere Saathi (literally elephant, my partner), from a name of another Bollywood film starring Rajesh Khanna.

A sequel, Tom Yum Goong 2, was released in 2013. It was also released in the US as The Protector 2.

• Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tom-Yum-Goong.

• The elephant Plai Bua Barn, starring in the film. (The elephant database)
• Tom-Yum-Goong at IMDb
• Tom-Yum-Goong at Rotten Tomatoes
• Tom-Yum-Goong at AllMovie
• The Protector at Box Office Mojo
• United Kingdom Official site
• Tom Yum Goong review at cityonfire.com