Everyone has a duty. My dad taught me that you must take responsibility in society, starting from the micro-society of family.

You can’t wait until you grow up to take responsibility. On top of studying, I had housekeeping duties while my parents were out at work.

I was lucky that I grew up in a rich family, but I didn’t revel in our wealth. Seeing my parents work so hard for money and have no time to enjoy it made me realize I wanted to do what I love rather than what would make me rich.

Being rich is nothing. Capitalism teaches us that wealth is the most important thing in life. Everyone aspires to make the most money possible, which leads to a hollow existence.

Try everything to find out what you love most. I didn’t know the answer when I was a teenager, so I tried every job imaginable to discover what I most wanted to do.

I tasted success with my first job as a car washer. Ever since, I’ve simply done what I love to earn a living. With each change of job, I’ve experienced the changing face of success.

I never thought I would work in the media even though I graduated in mass communication. But some circumstances led me to work in television. I started in production before becoming a host. I’ll never forget how I got to where I am today.

The charm of making a TV show is in bringing stories to people. No matter whether it’s happy or sad, these stories flow through us first. We absorb it before releasing it to our audience.

Managing audience emotions is important in TV. I learned this since becoming host of Thailand’s Got Talent where we try to capture the true emotions of both participants and the audience. Society tells us to keep our real feelings out of public scrutiny, but not in our show. That’s why such programs are international hits, because they’re real.

Most Thai TV hosts are more like MCs rather than real hosts. A host must be like a home owner, someone who knows their place best and invites others to enjoy it. But many just stand there reading a script.

Desire to prove themselves drives people to enter Thailand’s Got Talent. It’s not the B10 million prize money. Participants just want a stage to express themselves or prove they have the guts do it.

You can’t do new things without cutting back on old things. I’ve worked as a TV host for ten years now and it feels repetitive. I need to cut down on my workload in order to take a step back and do something new.

People have me all wrong because of the press. After holding a press conference to announce I was cutting back on my hosting duties last year, the media reported that I had quit my job.

It’s dangerous when the media sends out a message without truly understanding what they’re saying. I’ve spent a whole year explaining that I was just reducing my workload!

It’s almost pointless trying to fully explain things in this era of the 140 character limit!

Losing out on B24 million a year is nothing to me. I’ve reduced my workload so it’s only fair that I make less money. I’ve never been all about the money, anyway. I now get something much more valuable, time, which I’ve been craving for a decade.

It’s easy to make B24 million, in the entertainment industry, anyway. It comes down to making the most of your abilities and working hard.

Entertainment news is just news that entertains people. If you don’t read any entertainment news for a whole year, it won’t affect your life, unlike political or economic news.

My dad’s death made me think I’d never have happiness again. I had been lucky and never lost a loved one until his passing. My mind had never felt such depths of sorrow before. I still can’t believe that I’ve lost him.

Time heals. After five years, I gradually regained my normal energy. I whistle while I drive now. My mind has installed a “grieving mode,” so if I lost my mom, it wouldn’t hit me quite so hard.

Wearing sunglasses is part of my personality. When I was a photographer, my foreign colleague once told me that the light here in Thailand could destroy my eyes. I’ve been wearing sunglasses ever since. He still doesn’t understand why sunglasses aren’t the highest selling products here.

Bangkok is a land of extremes, and I like it. We have the most luxurious malls standing next to slums. The places where billions of baht flow through daily have the poorest people out front selling stuff. Our most developed areas have the worst pollution in the country. It’s the best and the worst of everything. It’s so me.

I will retire at 50. I hope to be a married middle-aged man who travels around with my loved ones. I might make a show out of it or become a chairman of a company who does nothing.

We live in an unpredictable world. This planet changes so fast, especially with social media. A man of my age can’t keep up sometimes. Things that are trendy today can be outdated tomorrow, or even within hours.

How did Jay the Rabbit start?
I started writing captions and text bubbles on photographs of rabbits I’d get off the internet. But I couldn’t always find rabbits that really matched the mood I was trying to create so I tried to draw my own. First I used apps, but I didn’t like that so I switched to pen and paper—and it worked! Jay the Rabbit’s look was inspired by Fifi Lapin, a fashion blogger. It quickly became popular, then my friends encouraged me to start a page and here I am.

Do people at your office know about your identity?
Some of my friends know, but when the page launched, nobody wanted to know who was drawing Jay. People wanted to imagine the rabbit on its own—or make it their own. They connected with it. Seriously, only four people have ever asked who draws the comic.

Why do people connect with Jay the Rabbit so strongly?
Because every page these days is corporate, informative, but people work in an office, in a box, and they don’t have a window. This page is their window to look out of. People want something funny, something to express themselves in a positive way. Out of all the comments Jay gets, there is no bad words, no politics. The page didn’t grow gradually. It was an instant hit. It was a case of right place, right time.

What kind of comments do people leave?
They connect to Jay’s experiences. They get to talk about themselves. For example, there’s the “nan-ok” comic [based on the hit song with a dance routine where women push out their breasts] where the rabbit complains it has nothing to nan-ok so it has to put things in this old grandma bra. In the comments, the girls were shouting, “Oh you know my technique!” And the guys were saying, “Oh I get it now; that’s why my football socks disappeared!”

So guys comment, too? It looks like the themes are very feminine.
Look, every office is the same. The women will talk, gossip, find something to eat. And the men, they want to know what they’re talking about but they can’t be seen hanging out with them. They want to know the gossip, they want to know what was in the lakorn last night. So men come to Jay the Rabbit to know what women think. Actually, 40% of my readers are guys and it’s going up. It’ll be 50/50 soon.

You have over 145,000 fans. Do any of them stand out?
One woman, she is about 45 years old, she sells fresh meat in the market. She doesn’t have a lot of friends. She works very hard. She uses a mobile phone to read the comic and she comments every day. Once I did a charity post card for dogs and she bought some, decorated her shop with cards and she sent in a picture. Another one of my fans, her mother cannot move on one side, she’s half-paralyzed. She can hardly smile. But my friend shows her Jay on an iPad and she starts to smile. Sometimes, I’m so touched by messages from Jay’s fans, I want to cry.

Visit Jay the Rabbit at www.facebook.com/jaytherabbitofficial

I’m totally Thai even though I’m half-French. I was born in France but moved here when I was three years old after my parents got divorced.

You must fight to survive. I was so lonely and got bullied at school when I was sent to study in the UK at the age of 12. They insulted Thailand as a third-world country and mocked me by saying I had to travel around on a buffalo. Finally I punched a few of them and no one dared bother me again after that.

Humanity has always intrigued me, and studying psychology at university gave me lots of answers. I want to know the human mind.

I’ve dreamed of being an actor since I was 17, but my dad forbid it at the time. He was afraid that I wasn’t strong enough to resist all the temptations. I decided to put that dream on hold and explore life by opening an event marketing company, and working as a waiter in a hotel in Europe and a butcher in France.

Nothing is crystal-clear in the entertainment industry. When I had a chance to work in it 10 years later, everything was exactly as my father had feared. It’s the same even now. I just ignore that bullshit and concentrate on what I love to do most, acting.

Acting is one of the most fascinating arts. It transforms letters on paper into a real act. It’s fucking awesome. It’s like awakening something deep inside you and unleashing it.

When you are at your lowest point, you feel you have no right to make people listen to you. I was in that place in 2006 when I had no job and had just been dumped by my girlfriend of five years.

Don’t give a shit about people who don’t see your value. After getting drunk for weeks and even contemplating suicide, I woke up one morning and suddenly realized there was no point getting hung up on people who made me feel worthless.

I started doing new things as a way of reviving myself. I packed my bags to go study acting in New York where I did odd jobs working as a waiter, translator and actor. It led me to meeting Romchat Thanalarppipat, an acting coach, and Nattawut Poonpiriya, the director who made the short film Long Lai (the original version of Count Down). They enticed me back to Thailand again for the big screen adaptation.

There is no success without misery. Bas, Rom and I kept pinning our future dreams and hopes onto our little projects. It’s a road where you never know when it’s going to end. When I won the best actor award at the Thailand National Film Association Awards (Supannahong), it was fucking brilliant. Jerking off a million times couldn’t compare!

Everything happens for a reason. When bad things happen in your life, it’s teaching you something. It just depends on whether you are conscientious enough to learn from it or not.

Acting for stage plays is like stripping. It’s just us actors sending all our energy to the live audience. If you forget a line, you must think quick to save the situation. It’s hard but a lot of fun, too.

The magic of film is being devalued because of celebrities’ over-exposure. In the past, we called actors “stars” because they couldn’t be reached. Now, you can see them everywhere and there are too many of them.

Thailand is the holy land. It has everything from wonderful nature to unique culture. We could be the greatest country in the region, but corruption holds us back. We’ve been overtaken by Malaysia and soon Myanmar will follow suit.

It’s sad to see Thais still worshipping dead animals or scratching trees to find numbers to buy lottery tickets (legal and otherwise). This sort of thing belongs in the distant past!

The Thai lottery is definitely fixed. It should be impossible to have the same number twice. The chances are one in a billion! These things don’t happen randomly, that’s for sure.

Hardship forces Thais to cling to their lives through gambling. Our system doesn’t help people to stand on their own two feet adequately. Gambling is such a big part of modern Thai culture that it’s going to be hard to change.

I’m OK with bribing cops on the street. I used to feel disgusted by it. Now I simply understand the whole cycle. It’s their way of surviving.

Feed people properly before teaching them about ethics. We fail to rid ourselves of corruption because our people are still poor and hungry—including police officers. It’s impossible for policemen who earn less than B10,000 a month to take care of their wife, kids, cars and groceries. They need that extra money.

Home is where the heart is and Ratchaburi is where mine is right now. I live with my girlfriend in Ratchaburi. Life in the countryside is awesome. Fewer cars, fewer people, lots of nature and great food!

Love is essential for life. It gives you hope, sorrow and happiness. I was hurt by love and became really self-protective, always ready to raise my fists and fight. But new love has brought back my softer side.

Living without goals is so boring. Give yourself some purpose and add real meaning to your life.

Playing traditional Thai music is how I got my start. I played ranad ek (Thai xylophone) and gong before I played guitar.

I quit traditional Thai music after seeing my friend play rock on stage. It was so cool. I wanted to have a band just like that, so I formed one with my friends in grade nine. We eventually won best band at the school in grade 11.

Music wasn’t my biggest dream. I quit music when I went to study arts at Chulalongkorn because I wanted to focus on my education. I just played guitar to relax.

The Coke Music Award was my turning point. I saw many bands playing the same kind of music, fusion jazz. The funniest thing is that they were also all dressed the same!

It’s good to be different. It’s boring when all bands do the same thing, so I decided to form a band with my friends (Pong and Methi) in order to perform the noisiest music at the next year of the competition. In the end, we won. We then released our first album, Moderndog-Sermsukparp, on Bakery Music in 1994.

I was extremely nervous after the big success of our first album. I decided to pack my bags to go study song composition in New York. As a 22-year-old man, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to write any more cool songs. Really, though, it was a pretty useless thing to study, as I knew how to do it already.

Bakery Music was a miraculous lineup. It’s like when you hear about those stars that only align once every 2,500 years or whatever. It’s amazing to have 6-7 great artists together at the same time.

The decline of Bakery was something I was afraid of. I warned the Bakery execs that they should stay a boutique record label rather than play the major label game. But I was just an artist, and truth be told, my opinion wasn’t important enough.

Launching a record label has never been in my plans. Taking care of others is tough. It requires a highly sensitive intellect because the product is human, not just a song. I’m much better suited to being a creator than taking care of other creators. Moderndog is one of the foremost indie bands in Thailand because we have no label so we never have to bow to pressure to release an album.

Songs are pretty much freebies nowadays. Releasing an album is like burning your money. You release a song one day, the next day it’s available for free download.

We’re struggling to accept a new system whereby artists release singles all year-round before putting out a proper album. We’re accustomed to writing songs and going to the studio to record them, 10 songs in a row.

My perception of being an alternative musician includes singing pop songs. It’s about freedom of choice. Back in the 90s I might have been known for playing in an alternative rock band who loved to jump around, but that’s not the be all and end all. I love grasping new opportunities, and playing with an orchestra is one of those.

Orchestras are so energetic. It’s a whole new dimension of music that is so powerful, layered and beautiful. I’ve performed as a guest for an orchestra before and it touched me deeply. So when I was asked to create a concert that’s all about me, I decided I wanted to sing with an orchestra. I work with Trissadee Na Pattalung for the show, too.

I’ve slowly become an observer of my life. I’ve learned to step back and absorb the things around me, and this has really impacted my songwriting.
Music is just a tool to explore my life. I’m actually interested in life, itself, more than anything else, and I use music as a way to find the answers I need. Dharma is a big help, too.

Dharma and entertainment are actually the same thing. It’s all about how you balance yourself in the real world. Dharma can help you get through anything.

Let yourself fall. I’ve been successful since I was young as I was great at school, good at music and being famous. But it’s been stressful because through all those successes I was so afraid to fail. I’m always fearful that I won’t meet the high expectations that I, in fact, set for myself.

Yoga helped me learn to fall. I used to do headstands for more than 10 minutes and even though I was tired I wouldn’t let myself fall. My trainer noticed how tense I was and told me to let myself fall. It’s a necessity of being human.

Playing concerts is my exercise now. I don’t get much exercise anymore, so I always put all my energy into my performance.

I love to paint. Performing music is a way of communicating with an audience, but painting is about communicating with yourself. I’ve spent lots of time in recent years creating art and luckily it has sold, too. I want to continue following this passion even more in the future.

Seize the moment. Find your balance in life and enjoy every moment.
 

The last few months have seen plenty of column inches devoted to the 600-rai plot of greenery situated in the heart of the city, just twenty minutes from downtown Siam. The Makkasan rail depot is owned by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) who are looking at redeveloping the land in an attempt to recoup some of the huge debts they currently hold. The obvious solution would be a shiny new concrete complex of hotels, malls, condos and office blocks but there has been growing opposition to this plan from environmentalists, architects, historians and even everyday Bangkokians who don’t want to see this green oasis lost forever. We spoke to various stakeholders in the project and found out why they feel Makkasan is so important to the city and what it could potentially be used for.

Make A Stand

Duangrit Bunnag, architect

“No person can be blamed; it's down to all of us who never make a stand to protect green spaces in Bangkok. We speak out on what we want to have in this city, but gossiping and complaining can’t change things. The old Terms Of Reference (TOR) for Makkasan didn’t make any sense in terms of truly developing the city. The SRT needs B200 billion [to repay its debts] but no private sector company has that kind of huge budget to develop the Makkasan area, which could end up being another 'Hopewell' [a failed infrastucture project] if it isn’t well-planned. As a citizen and architect, I decided to go and talk to the Transport Minister Chatchart Sittipan to offer my idea about how Makkasan could be developed. I feel [my plan] is the better solution for the city. We can have a park, museum as well as commercial areas and a market like Chatuchak without cutting down all the trees and destroying the beautiful old buildings. The authorities might not listen but at least I made a stand for what I want for this city. Now it’s your turn to stand up for what you want in this city too.”

Flood Barrier

Chaya Panyasook, President of Thai Association of Landscape Architects

“Undeveloped land like this plays a really important part in absorbing water. Soil can absorb millions of cubic meters of rainwater every year. Makkasan is full of such land and is also home to a large swamp that acts like a cesspit for Bangkok. There's nowhere else like this in the city anymore. We already waste millions of Baht every year to buy oil to run water pumps to stop the flooding in the rainy season. So imagine if we cover Makkasan with concrete, where do you think all the water it currently retains will go? Think of the billions we’re going to waste having to deal with worse floods in the future.”

Preserve our Heritage

Pongkwan Lassus, Architectural Conservation Committee of ASA

“Adaptive reuse for old buildings is a world trend and a way of preserving the city’s character and history, and in turn attracting visitors. For example, the Bercy area in Paris where they transformed 19th Century wine warehouses into shops and restaurants instead of just letting them decay. It’s now a popular area for people to hang out and shop. Bangkok must protect its heritage as a key selling point too. Makkasan isn’t a blank space with no history. It's home to Thailand’s first train factory and it’s main building was built way back in 1922. The building has such a high architectural value that the Association of Siam Architects (ASA) honored it with a Conservation Award in 2006. If we delete our roots by destroying our existing history, such as old buildings like these, then what story will we have left to tell the next generation and people from all over the world? Reading history books just can’t compare to seeing and touching something that is real and in front of you.”

Better Urban Planning

Paradej Payakvichien, Association of Thai Urban Designers

“When we consider any giant development we must think of the characteristics of the city and how the development connects with people. Instead of targeting profit first, Makkasan should be developed as a mixed-use space. Think of Beijing’s 798 Art Zone that transformed a 50-year-old decommissioned military factory into a major art district. It is now a hugely popular area, has given people a creative space and also helped them to connect with each other. It makes the city more dynamic, helps increase the value of the neighboring properties and also generates income from tourists. Think of Makkasan’s location and its great transport options thanks to the Airport Link. It could become an important hub for Bangkok and all of its inhabitants, not just those with lots of money. King Rama V donated the land to the SRT 100 years ago with the aim of benefitting the country as a whole, so the SRT needs to stick to that vision.”

Space for Everyone

Chaibandit "Pizza" Peuchponsu, music instructor, Proud Band

“It’s hard to find a space in Bangkok that serves everyone from kids to senior citizens. As a musician and teacher, it’s difficult to find a place for learning activities in the city. We need an open art square that can serve all kinds of art activities even dance! Creating culture makes people come to an area which in turn benefits local business and society.”

Counteract Pollution

Dr. Saranarat Kanjanavanit, Green World Foundation

“Bangkok city is like hell on earth. The air in the inner city is choked by toxins from factories and cars that are fatal in the long term. The inner city has less than two sq meter of green space per person but you need green space to tackle air pollution. The only way of truly cleaning up our air is through our trees. We definitely need more green space.”

Embrace Park Life

Suwit Wongrujirauanich, writer and part of the Makkasan Hope Group

“We as Bangkokians have focused on economic growth and neglected our quality of life for too long. Let’s create a society where parks are part of our life, not just shopping malls. Makkasan can easily become our new park as it’s already full of 100-year-old trees. It can be a place for people to learn about nature and the environment right in the heart of the city, while the gorgeous buildings can be a beautiful train museum. It only takes a few months to create a new building but it takes a 100 years to grow a big tree. Let’s make parks our new destination.”

Room for Creativity

Pharuephon Mukdasanit (Mamafaka), street artist

“It is time for Bangkok to have an area dedicated to art. Other major metropolises around the world have their art streets or art zones which help benefit street culture and the city’s overall creativity. As I live near Makkasan, I know how useless it is to have the land just sitting there doing nothing. It would be great for the community that surrounds it to have a museum or public space where artists and the public can gather and share ideas together.”

Shout out for the Trees

How did you become Fellow Fellow?
Khao: We studied product design together at Rangsit University. We both loved the same genre of music: soul-pop like Bakery Music put out. It’s hard to find people my age who like this kind of music, because they all prefer rock bands such as Bodyslam or Big Ass.
Tee: When I learned that Khao could also play music, I asked him if he wanted to play with me. We didn’t want to be a big band, so we decided to play as just the two of us. Then we decided to upload our songs on YouTube—when the people at Sony Music saw them they called us up to join them. Our total views hadn’t even reached 3,000 yet!

What’s the story behind your single’s name?
Tee: I found that often when a couple fight, they choose to stay silent rather than talk openly about what’s happening and to solve the issue. When I told Khao about this observation he went and put it into words.

What do you make of the Scrubb comparisons?
Khao: Well, I kind of understand them; we are both duos and we also wear glasses like them. But if you listen to our songs, we are very different from them. They are more rock while we are more easy listening.

What do you normally do apart from the band?
Khao: I work as a composer. Apart from that I also have to take care of my yakiniku restaurant, Shinkansen, that I opened with my uni friends when I was a student.
Tee: I work as a session pianist and guitarist for other artists. I also help with my family business, VRH, producing faucets. I’ve loved drawing and design since I was young, so I enjoy the job. A set of faucets that I designed, called “Radian,” won the Red Dot Design Award in Germany in 2010. But now, I just want to focus on what I really love, and that’s music.

What have you learned from your business experiences?
Tee: From working in design, I’ve learned that even though something may look good, it might not be practical production-wise. Now, I pay more attention to all aspects of the process.
Khao: Running a restaurant is really tough. When we decided to open a small grill restaurant, we thought it was going to be easy. But in fact, we’ve had to deal with all kinds of troublesome customers and staffs. Money issues can really affect friendships too.
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I love singing. My mom taught me to perform since I was three years old and I started entering singing contests when I was six.

Singing luk tung was a constraint for me. I’ve always loved to sing pop songs, but I ended up singing luk tung for the money, until I won the Panasonic Star Challenge in 2004.

Singing contest competitors are real fighters. Taking part in such contests has given me great strength in my life. That’s why so many of the winners get jobs in this industry.

I create my own opportunities. Though I was signed to RS as a pop singer, I decided to change my style to luk tung. I grabbed my luk tung songs and walked to R Siam to offer my talents.

If you can sing luk tung well, you can probably sing any kind of song. You must be both powerful and gentle to convey both sadness and happiness.

Living alone in the big city is tough. At the age of 15, I packed my bags and left my home in Hat Yai to stay in Bangkok and realize my dream to be a singer.
I had to wake up at 5am to go to school and then went to rehearse at RS every evening. On top of putting so much pressure on myself, there were also so many temptations that could have led me astray.

You must act like a chameleon in order to survive in the big city. You have to be smart in adapting yourself to the various social circles. And that’s what I’ve done.

Hold onto your values. I’ve seen many bad things living here alone. But I’ve stood my ground. You can’t choose to be born but you can choose how to live your life. If you choose only good things, you will have a good life.

Artists must have a unique character. RS didn’t create my sexy looks. It’s all me. I love to dress up and express myself. I wear shorts because it’s my inner character. I know that I look my best in shorts.

Not every woman can be sexy. It’s not just about showing your assets all the time. A truly sexy woman can dress in a modest gown and you still see the beauty in her eyes, her movements, even her lips. It all adds to the sex appeal.

If you get things easily, you’ll lose them easily too. For me, it’s tiring to be up on stage earning money, but at least I really know the value of that money and the value of myself.

People always say that I’m famous because of my looks. But the truth is I’ve been touring nonstop for three years. People loved watching my show long before I made the news as a sexy singer.

I’m blessed that my boyfriend [Pattanapol “DJ Man” Dechkunchon Na Ayutthaya] ignores all the negative press about me. That could really put a strain on our relationship, but he understands that being sexy is part of my job as his mother used to be an actress too.

I don’t see celebrity gossip as a bad thing. It’s natural for people to want to learn about others’ lives, especially about people in the entertainment industry. We can be role models to their children, and that’s why they keep an eye on us.

Don’t judge others by comparing them to yourself. You don’t know what they’ve been through. That’s why I’m not bothered by all the criticism I receive.

Music must be adapted to the times. Many think that luk tung should remain conservative and not be conveyed in a sexy way. But music should have no boundaries. If you go to a luk tung concert nowadays, people always request “Kan Hu,” not old-school luk tung songs. Although the sexy gestures of that song were a bit too explicit in my opinion, it shows that half the population still love modern luk tung.

Respect yourself. When I look in the mirror, I see a lady that’s worth B100,000 a show. Of course, everyone around me plays a big part in this, but what it comes down to is all my effort.

I want to open a hotel or launch a record label. I love traveling and I want to encourage more people to find beauty in their lives. As for the record label, I want to use my experience to help more young singers find success like me.

Luck can only get you so far. People might say you have to be lucky to get famous. But for me, luck and destiny only account for 10% of my success. My own two feet brought me here.

Gratitude is important. People may know you because you’re famous, but people will really support you if they remember your gratitude.

Puak (taro) isn’t my real nickname, but I love it. My teacher just called me that for fun when I was in the sixth grade. I could go by my real nickname, which is Boy, but Puak is a part of my comic personality.

Watching funny ads is better than watching lakorn (Thai soap opera). I dreamed of becoming a creative thanks to all the funny commercials that were so popular in my childhood. It’s so inventive.

I love to act funny. It’s probably down to the fact that I just love to make people happy. Luckily, I always get jobs playing weird characters in commercials, too.

We all need free time. Though I loved being a creative, it’s demanding and I realized that I wouldn’t be able to create anything for myself. I quit and started working as a DJ at GMM. I’ve still had time for acting, too, as I’ve appeared in See Prang, ATM and, the latest one, Pee Mak Prakanong.

I was shocked when Pee Mak Prakanong became the all-time highest grossing flick at the Thai box office, making more than B100 million in its first three days, and even more so when it exceeded B500 million in three weeks.

I’m a bit bipolar. Though I love to act funny for people, I’m much more reflective

when I’m alone. I’m a little paranoid about whether I’ve done a good enough job. It can be hard to express your real personality when people expect you to be funny all the time.

I’m a homebody nowadays. People are always shocked to learn that I don’t drink. I also don’t smoke or go to parties anymore. I don’t see being jammed into a crowded bar as being fun. Now I just love to go to work and come back home.

People judge things based on what they see or what they’re told. We all do. But it’s simply ridiculous to see the media cover a story simply by saying that I have a pretty girlfriend. It’s hard when people have no chance to really know you personally.

People are friendlier to a comedian than a handsome guy. It’s a real perk of being a funny man.

Ladies love humor. I think women love men who make them feel happy and comfortable to be with, rather than some handsome guy who’s boring.

I’m addicted to criticism. I love to read all the comments online about my performances. It helps me improve myself.

Only do things you have a passion for. You don’t need to do stuff just because it makes you money. Remember that you’re trading your time for things you don’t like doing.

I love collecting old toys. It’s quite cool to play with old contraptions. Maybe it’s because my parents didn’t buy me many toys when I was young.

Everything is accelerated by social media. With everything so close at hand, anyone can type something and press enter without properly thinking.
Seeing the world can have both a good and bad impact on children. We don’t want them to become socially immune—they must know the difference between right and wrong.

I love villains. In every movie and cartoon that I’ve watched, the villain is always my favorite. I love the Joker from Batman the most.

Everyone has good and bad sides. Even though the Joker is a freak, he presents this idea that ordinary people in society have good and bad sides, too. But you have the power to choose which one you mostly go with.

Love can have an expiry date. When I broke up with my girlfriend of eight years, it was a big drama for me. I cried non-stop and got drunk for weeks.
There’s no shame in being sad. If you feel down, there’s no point storing it up inside. When you fall down again, you fall hard. I just let myself cry until I was able to move on.

Don’t use your experiences to judge others. People have their own ways of learning about life, each with their own complications and personal stumbling blocks.
Treat your bad experiences like a level in a video game. Once you’ve passed something, you’ll know how to handle it next time it comes up.

I love Japan. I love that everything is so detail-oriented, from the shops to the roads and the fonts used on their signs. It’s really cute. The most brilliant thing is their sense of public responsibility. People know their duties and that makes their country so beautiful.

Many people insist on comparing Thailand to Japan, especially in terms of development and habits. But we must remember that, as nations and peoples, we have such different backgrounds that we can never be the same. Every country has its pros and cons.

Money is not the barometer by which to measure happiness. Don’t concentrate on only making money. Spend your life as a human being, too.

I wanted to be in the top 10 in the world when I was eight years old. I grew up with golf as my parents owned a golf equipment shop, so I started playing when I was five. My sister (Moriya, seven at the time) and I went to lots of competitions until we collected enough points to play in junior competitions in the US. I was Asia-Pacific champion for four years running.

Going to the US made me realize that I wasn’t all that hot as a golfer. I always won golf competitions in Thailand but there are tons of great golfers in the US.

I realized I was just a beginner, and that I’d have to really improve to realize my dreams. I did. And I became the youngest player in the LPGA at 11.

Competition between sisters can’t be avoided. Mo and I always compete together, but in the end, I can count on her to tell me what’s wrong with my game. I’m lucky that I have her. Mo has been in many competitions before me as she was a bit older, so she always knows how to encourage me and gives me great tips. Now we play different tournaments, so I have to stand on my own two feet.

I live under pressure. Playing at tournaments is intense, especially at the recent Honda LPGA Thailand in Pattaya. That day I made up my mind to play for my country, to be the first Thai to win an LPGA event. But I lost.

Pressure is actually what supports me. After I lost in Hua Hin, I realized that the reason I was under so much pressure was actually because of the support that I got from everyone who believes in me. And when I lost, I saw that those people still stood by me, and will keep following me.

I’m competitive. Competition shows you your weaknesses and allows you to improve. That’s the challenge, to go up against brilliant competitors.

Being ready can happen at any age. Whenever you feel confident to go to another level in your life, just go for it. I decided to turn pro at the age of 17 because I’d never felt so confident. Now I’m ranked at 39, and I hope playing as full time will help me get in the top ten soon.

Even when you’re on top, there are always greater things that you can do. So far, I’ve done a good job, but I realize that I haven’t done a great job. The outcome was great, but I wasn’t, I still have lots more to improve on.

Golf is my happiness. I can’t say which part of my life was my happiest but I know whenever I grab my golf club, win or lose, I love it.

Every golf course has its own charm, its challenges. I like the golf course in Oakmont in the US where I played a couple of years ago. It really impressed me. I had never played a course that hard before. The more I played, the worse I got. I wish I could have a return match there.

Thailand must improve its sport science if we want to shine. People always have a misconception that children can’t train competitively, which is wrong. If you wait until they are grown up, it’s too late.

Golf requires tons of practice. When I need to fix a problem, I might spend a whole year trying to do it properly, over and over.

I still have to switch back and forth between tournaments and my school in Thailand. Luckily they help me by allowing me to do exams when I get back. I now spend most of my time in the US for tournaments.

My parents sacrificed themselves for me. They sold their cars and two houses to sponsor us. I was worried that they were taking too many risks. But as I played more and more, I saw my potential. I love what I do and they love what I do, so no matter what happens, we are confident that we can reach the world class that we’ve dreamed of.

I don’t have any regrets about my childhood. I’ve been competing since I was a kid, so I didn’t really make friends at school. But to me, the more you do, the more you have.

I love taking photos. I just shoot randomly—people, stuff, places—but I love it. Photography is an escape. I see beauty in everything. I’m not good at it but looking at my pictures makes me feel good.

I want to create a foundation to help poor kids or orphans to play golf. I feel so lucky that I have this perfect family while other kids don’t. It would be great if they had the chances that I was offered.

Stay true to your dream. I’ve never changed my dream since I was eight. I never thought of doing something else, even when I stumbled. Be patient and never forget your target is the most important thing in life.

Don’t be afraid of the outcome. I sacrificed everything for golf. But even if I’m not successful, I’ll still be happy that tried.