To the best of Utt’s knowledge, he still has absolutely no idea why Mediacorp wanted him to host a horror anthology docu-series called Incredible Tales. You and me both.

Come to think of it, the Thai-American, then a MTV VJ based in Singapore, is the last person you would associate with anything remotely out of this world. (Actually, there is something we’ve always find peculiar about him, but more of that in a bit.)

“On MTV, I’m bouncing off the walls being really hyper and everything,” Utt, whose full name is Greg Uttsada Panichkul, recalls. “And here’s a show that’s a whole different genre — very brooding, supernatural, paranormal — from what I had done before.”

That said, Utt aced the audition and the rest is history. He went on to host Incredible Tales for eight seasons; it started in 2004 and ended in 2017. But the show never went away; all 104 episodes of them on meWATCH. (There’s even a Mandarin version with Guo Liang hosting.) Utt is surprised by the series’ longevity and its fervent followers in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. “There are fanbases there even back before it’s on Netflix!” he exclaims.

Incredible Tales, or rather a ‘Best of’ compilation of Incredible Tales, is now on Netflix. Whether you’re a first-time viewer or someone who hasn’t seen it for a while, you’d notice something intriguing — Utt hasn’t aged a bit. Well, maybe a bit. In the years that I've known him full disclosure: we worked together at MTV Asia back in the day), he hasn't physically changed much. If you compare his past and present pictures, it’s hard to tell when they were taken. He's 47 but looks like he just celebrated his 35th birthday. Let’s face it: Utt is an Incredible Tale unto himself.

The curious case of Utt: one was taken in 2020, the other 2004.

“This is really interesting because I just came from shooting a show today,” says a bemused Utt. “They actually asked me the same exact thing; that the team was a bit shocked as to why I still kind of look the same to them.”

These days, Utt is a freelance producer and media consultant, per his LinkedIn description; he’s previously spent a year at Thai telco True Corporation, running its True ID app. (His other corporate gigs include Head of Creative and Content for the music app Joox and a consultant with talent agency Beam Artistes.)

Here, speaking to 8days.sg via FaceTime from the Greyhound Cafe in Bangkok, Utt shares with us more about his memories of working on Incredible Tales and what he’s been busy with during the COVID-19 pandemic.

8 DAYS: Before we begin, can you please state for the record that you’re not a vampire.

UTT: I’m not a vampire. And what if I am?

Then that’ll will explain your eternal youthfulness.

Okay, I’ll say it for the record, I’m not a vampire (laughs)! I don’t drink blood.

But you drink a lot of booze instead.

Yes I do, actually (laughs).

What was your first reaction when you found out that Netflix is streaming Incredible Tales?

I was very happy! I mean, it was unexpected, but what’s even more unexpected is the amount of direct messages I’ve been getting since it’s been on Netflix — from viewers, fans, and even friends who are binging on Incredible Tales.

As we speak, Incredible Tales is the No.3 most-watched show on Netflix in Singapore. What do you think is the show’s appeal?

I remember when each season came out, because I was living in Singapore at the time, everywhere I would go — be it the hawker centres or in a taxi — I never realised how these stories were [embraced by] different types of people.

I would have an uncle tell me, as I’m taking his taxi ride, about how his wife visited him the night before, and then he just went into this really long, long story. I had no idea this was connected to Incredible Tales. I just thought well, you know, he probably recognises me and he’s just telling me a long story. But towards the end I found out that his wife passed away! So he was actually telling me a story about how the spirit of his wife had visited him. I would get all these random stories all the time while I was living in Singapore. So somewhat, in some strange way, I became the mascot of Incredible Tales and everyone was just sharing their [supernatural] stories with me.

Wait, that's not Utt: No, that's Alaric Tay in an early appearance on 'Incredible Tales', where he played a man possessed by an evil spirit in the episode 'Possessed/Missing'. Accidental method acting at its funniest.

You suddenly became an expert on the supernatural.

Yeah! I remember at the time when we were shooting Incredible Tales, as a host I’m supposed to be very neutral, you know? Not leaning towards one way or another, whether it’s true or not true. It could be a figment of your imagination or these are just stories [told by others] that we’re retelling. But personally, and I don’t think I’ve ever said this in any interview, I actually have a sixth sense and I personally do see and sense things, which is quite strange. It has nothing to do with Incredible Tales; I’ve always had it since I was young. And this is the first time that this is on record, by the way.

A sixth sense? What kind of things do you see or hear?

When I’m in strange or new places, I tend to sense things very quickly, whether it feels right or not, whether the energy is positive or negative. I’ve always had that; sometimes I sleep well, and sometimes I don’t. It’s not a pleasant experience. Sometimes I do see things, like shadowy figures or strange occurrences like lights going off in the room, stuff like that. I’ve experienced those before. I think what I realised through the years is that a lot of people who aren’t believers, especially close friends or people I work with, like camera crew or a producer, they would hear stories from me. They might be non-believers, but a lot of times when I have these experiences, they end up having those same experiences when I’m around, and then it becomes their first time experiencing anything like that. So I guess if you have to take a trip with me, you better have second thoughts! It’s actually become a situation where some friends don’t really travel with me (laughs).

I wish I had hung out with you more often back in the day. I would love to go on a supernatural trip with you.

Well, once the COVID situation settles down, I can go back [to Singapore] and we can hang out!

I’m curious about how the show was shot.

So what we would do is, we would shoot first the re-enactments, and then the host links where the re-enactments were shot. And the re-enactments themselves were a mix; sometimes they were shot at the actual places where the stories took place, and other times when we couldn’t shoot at the actual locations, we’d have to [set it elsewhere]. I would say definitely, the re-enactments that were shot at the actual locations were a bit creepier for obvious reasons (laughs). And with Singapore being a mecca for cultural diversity, it was quite interesting because we shot at these different places like cemeteries, and I would see the crew of different nationalities praying to their respective Gods that things would go smoothly that night. So that was quite interesting.

Did your sixth sense pick up anything?

During the shoots I didn’t really experience anything that was too ‘out there’. But there had been a couple of times I’d experience things that weren’t very normal. For some of the seasons I wasn’t living in Singapore, so I would have to fly in from Bangkok and I’d be put up at certain hotels, and that’s when I would have certain experiences before or after the shoots.

Be honest: have you actually sat through an entire episode of Incredible Tales?

I’ve definitely watched the episodes when they came out the first time, because I find them very entertaining. When Incredible Tales was airing on terrestrial TV, I was surprised how parents were letting their children watch it because we would air at about 10pm! And I would hear from random fans about how they were watching it with their kids, and I’m like, “What! You’re letting your kids watch this? How are they going to get to sleep?”

When you did the promo for Netflix, was it easy to get into the Incredible Tales frame of mind?

I’ve always found the delivery of hosting Incredible Tales a bit, uh, funny because it’s a different character. I was always giving different takes where I might do it lightly, and then I might do it more serious, and then they always went for the more serious takes, because I guess it’s become become the tone of the show already. Even when we were shooting this promo for Netflix, I had a Thai producer who’s never watched Incredible Tales but had only watched some of the links I did. She was like, “I think you’re being too serious, should we do a take that’s lighter?” I was like, “No, I think they’re gonna like this one. This is exactly the delivery that I did for the actual show.” And in the end, that’s the take that Netflix took!

If Incredible Tales were to be rebooted, how would you do things differently?

I would definitely be interested in an Incredible Tales reboot and what I would want to do is have more social media interaction and connection with the viewers ... stories submitted from people where we could re tell their stories and they could share stories with one another. Create an Incredible Tales community that’s much closer, do a best Incredible Tales impersonation of my hosting [style], and stuff like that.

What did you do during the lockdown in Bangkok?

We’re definitely really fortunate here in Thailand because the government has been able to curb the COVID numbers really low, so in terms of moving around, we move around a lot more freely than our neighbouring countries, or countries worldwide. I think in general, Thais are very good and disciplined at making sure to wear masks. I have no complaints. I think we have been very fortunate here in Thailand. At one point in time we were all in quarantine for a good two months, so that was a very interesting period where you basically can’t do anything. So I had a lot of time to read and learn to cook and stuff like that from YouTube.

Do you have a signature COVID-19 dish?

I do! My signature dish would be my beetroot salad. I ended up just doing delivery to relatives and friends, and it seems to be a popular dish that I ended up making really well. Another one is my lemon cookie clusters, or lime cookies, because I guess it’s not as popular in Thailand to make them, so I just looked it up on YouTube and somehow perfected that as well.

What else did you do? Do you have a lockdown exercise regimen?

I’ve always been really active. If you see me on social media, I’m running around doing many things in a day. I think one thing I’ve learnt from the pandemic is to really embrace what’s in front of you and what you have. So coming out of quarantine has made me want to see more of Bangkok. I think a lot of times when you live in your particular environment, you don’t really see it, and now I’m trying to just see and appreciate everything that’s around me, so I’m out a lot more and going to different corners of the city, and even when I’m travelling outside of Bangkok. So that’s what keeps me active. I also have a whole group of friends who like to skate. My latest fix is surf-skating, which is basically a skateboard for surfing on the street.

You recently did a show at the Museum of Contemporary Art. I never pegged you as a performance artist.

I’ve always been quite drawn to the arts, it’s just that probably in the past, I don’t present it as much on my social media. I have a lot of friends who are in these circles, and I’ve been more involved in helping them curate or expand on their curation. I have a good friend who’s a curator at a local museum — it belongs to his family — and I’ve done theatre performances in the past as well. But I don’t think it’s an area a lot of people know about, so it’s interesting that you’re asking me about this. This is a new part that I’m sharing more on social media, so it’s always been an interest of mine. I’ve always been incredibly inspired by how art is encouraged and supported in Singapore, and I always talk about that when I’m here in Thailand, like how the Singaporean government actually supports artists in the industry.

I just wrapped up a TV series, and I have another one coming up in February. I’m also in talks to host a reality show. [Back] in the corporate world, where it’s pretty much full-time, I can’t really take on a lot of projects in front of the camera. And now that I have more time, it allows me to do a lot of projects, and I guess people also kind of miss me (laughs)! It seems like that when I see people and they’re like, “When are you going to act again?” or “When are you going to host again?” So it gives me a good excuse to do these projects.

By the way, what’s your skin-care regimen like?

I use natural products for hair and skin, like coconut oil or organic type of products. I’m in the midst of creating skin-care samples [based on] a mix of products I use daily, with a university friend who’s already is a supplier of skin-care products. Once it’s perfected, I may have something in the near future.

The Best of Incredible Tales is now streaming on Netflix. You can catch all eight seasons of Incredible Tales on meWATCH.

Utt Photos: @surround_ig Virapoj Asavajarn