泰国滑板Preduce 2011中国行视频

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English Version :

1. First, quickly introduce yourself and Preduce.

My name is Simon Pellaux, I’m from Switzerland and I’m the director of Preduce, the first skateboard company out of Thailand.
Preduce was started by skateboarders for skateboarders in 2002. It’s a skateboard company and also three skate shops in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

2. How was your filming mission during the one month China tour? When will the video be released?

The trip went great. We went to Shenzhen, Guang Zhou, Beijing and Harbin, skated some amazing spots, got a lot of footage and met some really nice locals everywhere we went. We’ve just released a video of the tour made with some of the left over footage from the trip. And the main bulk of the footage will go in the third preduce video that will come out in January 2012.

3. When you guys came to China (Shenzhen, Guang Zhou, Beijing and Harbin), what did you think about the skate scene here? Which city you think are you most likely to come back to? Anything interesting happening during the tour? Just tell us one or two. Did you experience some culture shock?

The scene in the other cities we went to except Beijing and Shenzhen seemed still quite small. It was definitely small in Harbin with only a handful of skaters. In Beijing on the other hand it seemed like the local scene was well developed with people skating and filming every day. I heard Shanghai has a well developed scene as well but we’ve never been there yet.

We definitely want to come back to Beijing. We stayed here for almost 2 weeks and there’s still so many spots we saw that we haven’t had time to skate.

A lot of of great things happened during the trip so it’s hard to narrow it down. Going to the Great Wall with no sleep after partying all night was quite a mission. We were all blown away by the size and majesty of it. Sampling delicious food in Beijing every night was also one of the highlight of the trip. And the 24 hours train ride from Shenzhen to Beijing was quite an experience as well.

We live in Bangkok so I guess coming to China is less of a cultural shock than for somebody living in the States or Europe. But yeah there’s always cool and different things to observe in every culture and I think that’s the best part of traveling.


4. How many skaters is there in Bangkok? How’s the skate scene going there? What’s the major difference in terms of spots when you guys skate around between here and there?

It’s hard to put down an exact number but I’m guessing there should be around 2000 skaters in Bangkok. There’s skaters all over Thailand though, not only in Bangkok.  The scene is growing and there’s more and more skaters. It has evolved in the right directions the last couple years.

The major difference in terms of spots is that you can’t cruise anywhere in Bangkok. The ground is really shitty and the traffic is too intense. We have to drive everywhere to skate spots in Bangkok and the spots are really far from each other. Also, there’s no plaza type of spots where you can skate all day in Bangkok like you guys have in Beijing. The spots here are rough and hard to skate for the most part and we get kicked out a lot. We were amazed on how every spots in China are pretty much perfect.

5. You met a lot of skaters here. What do you think about them?

All the skaters we met were really friendly and helpful. Some of them were really good also. But I guess the cool thing with skateboarding is that skateboarders around the world are pretty much the same so it’s easy for us to get along.

6. Say something about Beijing city. Girls, beers, weather, people, food etc.

Beijing girls were definitely the best looking ones we saw in China, even though most of us have girlfriends so there wasn’t much action going on. Beer was good and really cheap. A lot cheaper than in Thailand. The weather was really dry and a bit cold for us and the pollution was harsh at times but it was sunny every day so can’t complain. The people in Beijing seemed a bit more laid back and relaxed than other places we went to. We could see they like to hang out, drink and have a good time. The food was amazing. We ate like kings every night sampling food from all the regions of China for really cheap. And the skate spots were perfect and endless.

7. How did you end up opening the Preduce shop in Bangkok?

I first came in 2002 to Bangkok for some holidays and to skate. I really liked it, met some good skateboarders and good friends, so I kept coming back.  I became really close friends with the skaters that are now pro for Preduce and we were thinking of some ways to help them pursue skateboarding. We decided to take the matters in our own hands and together with my partners Nung and Guillaume we started  our own company, preduce, in 2002. And later on in 2005 we opened the first Preduce shop in Bangkok. We now have 2 stores in Bangkok and one in the North in Chiang Mai.


8. Are skaters in Thailand facing the same issues or realities that happen to us here, like parents giving them too much pressure to find a good job and support their family?

Yeah Thai skaters definitely face the same kind of problems. A lot of them quite skating in their early twenties because they have to get a job and survive. But it will change gradually hopefully with the skate industry slowly growing here and now that skaters see that there’s a possibility to make a living out of skateboarding in Thailand if they work hard at it and get lucky.

9. Do you miss your home? Are you going to stay there for the rest of your life? If so, why?

I miss my home a lot, even though now after living in Bangkok for the past 6 years it feels like home too. I don’t know if I will stay here for the rest of my life. I tend to live day by day and see were life will bring me. But I’m definitely staying in Thailand for some time.

10. When it comes to choosing new skaters for the preduce team, what’s the standard?

It’s always a team decision when we put a new skater on preduce. He has to be good skateboarder obviously, but also have a good personality and most importantly get along with everybody on the team. We’ve all know each other for 10 years and are a really tight group of friends so a new team rider has to be able to fit in right.

11. You currently operate three shops in Thailand. How’s business going? Preduce carries Nike SB, Adidas SB and Converse, do you get enough support from them?

Business has been all right. There’s ups and downs but we managed to stay open for the past 5 years so we’re doing ok. You’re not going to get rich doing this skateboard thing but we’re all surviving so we can’t complain.

Sometimes, being in Thailand, it feels like the big brands focus more on other regions of the world and we’re a bit left out since the market is still really small here. That being said, Converse has been amazing for us lately. They gave us a lot of support with traveling and for our next video and they are properly hooking up three of our riders. Big props to Ian and Eric at Converse for making it happen.

12. Who mostly focus on graphic design for Preduce boards and for the clothing line?

We work with a lot of different people, graphic designers and artists, both Thais and Internationals. People who’s work we like and that are down to work with us as well. And we try to involve and get feedback from the team as much as possible when it comes to designs for boards series and clothing.

13. Have you ever thought about entering the Chinese market with Preduce?

For sure. We would be really happy to work with some local distributors or shops. Hit us up if you’re interested, ha ha.

14. I heard that there might be a chinese premiere for the next Preduce video? Is that possible?

I really hope so but it’s all up in the air for now. It will depend on budget and if people are willing to do it. Let’s wait and see.

15. Any  shout-out to Steve@Halostreetwear?

Steve and me have been friends for over 15 years. We come from the same area in Switzerland and were skateboarding and snowboarding together back in the days. He’s been telling me for years how amazing Beijing was and that I should come with the team. Him and his wife have been the best host you can hope for in Beijing and he was the best skate tour guide we have ever had. He rips too! Merci mec et à bientôt!

16. Thanks for your time and hope to see you next time in Beijing.

Yeah we hope we can come back as soon as possible. Thanks to you guys for doing this and to all the locals in Beijing, Harbin, Shenzhen and Guang Zhou that welcomed us and showed us around. You’re welcome in Bangkok anytime so we can do the same for you guys. Also big thanks to Converse for the support.

P.S

Big up to Lui for holding it down and showing us the best of what Beijing’s nightlife has to offer. Party master!

内容提供：Vince & Mr.Robort

照片提供：樊星