Leo Upsets The Dead

It would appear that not only having allegedly enraged all and sundry within a million-mile radius of Phi Phi Le Island, the much-troubled Leonardo DiCaprio and crew of The Beach have now got the spiritworld riled. As the story goes, in mid-April whilst filming near Sarasin Bridge in Phang Nga Province, aside from dishing out catering to the crew, the film-makers neglected to first make an offering to the guardian spirits. The insult to the spirits - believed to belong to two lovers who died at the spot twenty years ago - was to such a degree that banner headlines in the Khao Sot newspaper on 19th April 1999 proclaimed "Leonardo Scoffs at Making an Offering for Guardian Spirit". Not the best way to regain support from the locals. On the day in question, the crew were at sea to film a sequence aboard a long-tailed boat. As far as reports have been concerned, at least two boats were directly involved in the incident: a heavily ladened camera boat and a long-tailed boat which Leonardo was steering himself. Trouble arose when out of the blue a freak storm blew across the previously calm bay. Rain pelted down from above and heavy winds caused vast waves to whip up to lethal heights. With both boats low in the water, they several times appeared to be in grave danger of keeling over and going under. Television news programs reported that Leonardo nearly lost his life. However, both boats made it safely back to shore. Until the recent incident, Fox had been exemplary at following Thai customs. At the start of filming back in January they held a tam bon ceremony - a tradition to make merit in order to receive good luck - at the studios where nine monks from Wat Sam Kong, Phuket were invited to bless the cast, crew and all of the equipment. With regards to the water trouble, it is now believed that the film-makers firmly believe in the guardian spirits and have vowed not to make the same mistake twice.