Most viewers will know from the outset that "Krabi, 2652" doesn't offer any action scenes or plot. So from an average viewer's perspective, this movie doesn't offer much value. However, viewers who have travelled Thailand, specifically South Thailand, will find this movie a fresh breath of air; the cinematography offers stunning views of the open, vibrant communities including Thai markets and the peaceful, serene caves and waters.

The movie showcases the ordinary lives of both visitors and locals from the small Thai town, Krabi. The town mostly serves tourists, with foreigners overrunning the downtown area.

One narrative focuses on a woman who scouts out Krabi for a flim. She mostly keeps to herself, working hard to safeguard the development of the upcoming film. Her life clearly stresses her; she feels incomplete, but she doesn't know why.

Similiarily, another set films a scene on a beach (also frequented by tourists). The director just can't get the set right, so he opts to take his crew to Karaoke. The director also feels incomplete; he just wants some company, but his crew only seem to see him as a colleague, not a friend. The main actor on the set also feels alone in his hotel room. He randdomly encounters a caveman and runs away.

Nearby, a young woman running a tourism company refrains from taking advantage of tourists; she helps the tourists orient themselves, directing them to the beach on which she sells tours.

Something about the acting in this movie just rings "authentic" in Krabi, 2562. The beautiful scenes of the Thai beaches and caves, juxtaposed with its locals' monotonous lives, the stark contrast of locals' attitutes from composed to sombre when they leave the public eye, the genuine selflessness of locals, and the extensive history of the land -- all illustrate that a modern movie doesn't have to have action scenes or a thick plot line to inspire awe and wonder. Krabi 2562 deserves a place in the modern viewer's neverending library of media; it offers a new perspective on local life, on the menial nine-to-five work schedules most of society has embraced. Krabi 2562 may not please everyone, but it offers a refreshing illustration of local Thai life for those who can appreciate it.

This movie is a fantastic cultural critique, focused on a provincial town in southern Thailand and propelled forward by actors in a real setting. It largely deals with the point where the past-both distant and recent-collides with the modern day.

What stands out most is the mysticism, how ghosts and spirits inhabit the same space as the living in Thai culture. But even the way the directors juxtapose nature with contemporary life is brilliant. Monkeys climbing on sculptures; elephants and tigers frozen in time as statues, no longer wild roaming; the old boxer in his jungle hut, a spectral spectator in his own home. Then there's the sense that memory is fragile and failing, and the past isn't necessarily what we think it is. The choice of soundtrack-koel birds, the cadence of Thai cadets marching, cicadas-ties it all together.

The pacing, too, works wonderfully. It can be slow at times, but by and large the shifts in scenes and long, static shots keep you on the edge of your seat.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. That could be because I've lived in Thailand quite a while. If you don't live here, or if you haven't invested time in understanding its folklore or even its collective identity today, then it might not all click. But give it a shot anyway. The cinematography alone is worth your time.

If the objective was to discourage tourism to Krabi with this film, then they succeeded. Real piece of crap. Krabi, where I spent 2 weeks in 2014, and it's people deserve better then such an amateur movie.