Meet Krit Boonyarung, 23. Known online as Bie the Ska, he’s a growing Youtube sensation thanks to video parodies of popular songs. His latest, of K-Pop chart-topper “Gangnam Style,” already has over 1.2 million views.

How did you get started as Bie the Ska?
It was actually in the middle of a busy exam week. I’m currently studying my master’s in IT at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. Many students were stressed out, so I just wanted to relieve the tension. I made my first parody [of Poyfai Malaiporn’s “Man Tong Thon”] the day before an exam. It turned out people really loved it and they passed it on to their friends. I like surprising my friends.

Was it tough following up your first clip?
Wherever I went it seemed “Man Tong Thon” was a hit and people would constantly ask me, “When are you going to release another one?” These were mostly university student and the vid only got around 10,000 views. Then there was this ad on TV that featured children and disabled people singing “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” and I was like “Yeah! This could make audiences weep.” So I created my own vid of it, lip-syncing as usual. The feedback was good and it attracted even more viewers.

Tell us about shooting the video for “Gangnam Style.”
Most scenes were easy to shoot, like the ones on the MRT, but for the scene at the fountain in front of CentralWorld we had to trick a group of security guards by saying one of us had lost our bag. When they went searching for it, we took off our clothes and shot the scene really quickly. Then we ran away as soon as the guards returned.

How do you choose what videos to make?
I mostly choose from what people request. I check which songs have been posted to my fan page and decide whether they are possible to parody. They should feature dancing that I can interpret. Finally, what matters most is that I like the song. For “Gangnam Style” I recruited some of my fans to join the shoot. We didn’t know each other but everyone had a lot of fun putting together a funny clip.

Do you receive many negative comments?
Yes, things like, “This is bullshit” and “You are ignorant.” Others have called me ugly and silly. But these people don’t know me or what goes into my work. It doesn’t worry me too much because the percentage of people pressing the dislike button [on Youtube] is small.

Who are your role models?
As you can probably tell from my name, Bie the Star is my idol, especially the way he manages his time. Today he has a lot of work, but takes his responsibilities as a Thai superstar all in his stride. That impresses me. Mark Zuckerberg is another who inspires me, making me believe that anything is possible.

What’s the future for Bie the Ska?
From next month, I’m probably going to start a weekly or fortnightly programme on Youtube. It will be like a talk show with parody videos.

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