The other night, while sitting outside a bar, I look over to my left at the parking lot and saw a shiny, brand-new, lime-green Lamborghini. It belonged to non-other than Thai Tennis superstar, Paradorn Srichaphan. It made me think about other famous Thai icons and publicized individuals. In class, although they are sometimes mentioned, we usually focus more on either western popular culture, or on Korean pop (K pop) or Japanese pop (J pop) stars. My own curiosity intrigued me to formulate a list of the most popular names in Thai media today. I tried to vary the names so these individuals range from sports players to singers to politicians - this list is in no particular order.
Bhumibol Adulyadej – Also known as King Rama IX, he has been the King of Thailand since June 9, 1946. He is the longest reigning monarch in the world, and easily the most famous person in Thailand.
Paradorn Srichaphan – Paradorn is a famous Thai tennis player. He has been ranked as high as #9 in the World Tennis rankings. He currently resides in Bangkok, Thailand and is married to Natalie Glebova, a Russian supermodel that was Miss Universe in 2005.
Khemanit “Pancake” Jamikorn – Pancake is a famous Thai supermodel. She was Thai Supermodel, Model of the World in 2004 and she currently is on the face of many Thai advertisements.
Thongchai “Bird” McIntyre - Bird is the most successful and probably most famous singer in Thai music history. Although he is currently 51, he is still in the studio working on releasing new albums.
Bodyslam (band) – This is one of the most famous Thai pop-rock bands. They have been successfully producing new albums since the early 2000s. Their songs can be heard on the radio all day, every day.
Tony Jaa - Tony Jaa is a badass. He is a Muay Thai fighter, an action movie star, and a stunt man. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes his break through into American movies in the next couple years.
Tata Young - Tata is currently one of the most famous singers not only in Thailand, but in all of Asia as well. She has been in the media light since she was a young actress, and she will most likely continue to be publicized for years to come.
Thaksin Shinawatra – Thaksin is the former Prime Minister of Thailand, and has been of large media conversation ever since he was ousted in 2006. It is hard to read a newspaper, or an online article, without a story about Thaksin in there somewhere.
Abhisit Vejjajiva – Abhisit is the current Prime Minister of Thailand. He has been PM since he was nominated to power in the end of 2008, and he hasn’t really had much peace and quiet since then.
Theeradej “Ken” Wongpuapan - Ken is Thailand’s most famous actor. He studied at the Brooks Institute in California, and he has been in many of Thailand’s most popular films and tv-shows.
Although this surely isn’t an extensive list of all famous people in Thailand, it covers some of the major name and faces that are seen everyday in Thai media.
