A MARATHON FILM GOER CELEBRATES BREAKING A RECORD IN BANGKOK, 2000-02-20 (photo)

Thai film buff Sumalee Suwanpat, 50, is lifted aloft by her son Pattanasan Porpat near a recreation of a scene from the film Titanic after she became one of only 14 people to emerge victorious from a cinema in Bangkok February 20 after a movie marathon competition which lasted 48 hours and 45 minutes. From a total of 468 filmgoers that began the movie marathon on Friday with only a five minute break between each of the 25 films shown consecutively, Sumalee is one of the handful that stayed awake continuously and broke the record which stood at 37 hours and 25 minutes, and earned her share of the 100,000 baht (US$2,600) in prizemoney pool and a one-year free movie pass. JIR/TAN