BK: How did you guys come together?
Chai: We didn’t play together at first. I had my own band with friends, while Chai, Tong and Ball were playing together. We always met each other when playing at pubs in Chonburi, which is our hometown.
Champ: The turning point happened when we joined the Sunshine Music Challenge hosted by a radio station in Pattaya. We met Narong Decha of the band Ster. When he saw our performance, he approached me and said he wanted us to go to Bangkok to audition with GMM. After competition, my band and Chai’s band broke up, so I asked them to join me. We went to the audition, and we passed.

BK: What took you so long to have your first single?
Chai: Well, when we passed the audition, we were too young and still in high school. So they told us to get more experience. We created a band, named Maya King, and sent out a couple of singles. We also went to play gigs in other towns, like Hua Hin.

BK: So why did you change the band’s name to Funky Burger?
Champ: The producers think it is cooler than our old name. I was totally against the idea because I thought our fans know us as Maya King. But we finally said OK in the end because our music is kind of funky and our old name doesn’t reflect that.

BK: Why do you dance when playing?
Chai: It is something that sets us apart from other bands. We can play good music, but we can dance and entertain people more, too.
Champ: We were so freaked out at first. The producers sent us to dance classes. We had to practice for about four months until we could dance like we do today.
Tong: The hardest thing at the beginning would be when we have to separate our hands and feet to play and dance at the same time.

BK: Do you worry that audiences will think that you aren’t serious artists?
Champ: I don’t, because we know that we are focusing on making music that we love. Dancing is just a fun act for our fans.

BK: If you could invite someone to dance with you, who would it be?
Champ: Girls’ Generation! It would be great to dance next to pretty, sexy girls like them.
Chai: Ma Boy Sister from Wonder Girls. They give me a thrill every time they shake their hips.
AF: If he were still alive, I would love to dance with Michael Jackson. I’d want to do “Smooth Criminal” with him.
Chai: Chin Chinawut. I think he’s a very talented dancer and a good singer, too.
Ball: I would love to dance with Add Carabao.

I credit destiny for bringing me to this point. I never dreamed of being in the entertainment business. My mom was the one who pushed me to take part in beauty pageants in Chiang Mai, and here I am.

I chose to be a nude model. People might think it’s really provocative, and it sparks controversy, but I only think of it as being a professional model.

If you’re strict about only doing normal photo shoots or just walking on the runway, please don’t call yourself a model.

I have never had a worst moment in my life. I accept everything that happens. I don’t blame anyone.

My temper has softened as I get older. I used to be very impatient and always made decisions without properly thinking about them.

Meditating at a temple to improve your life is useless for me. You might feel good when you are there, but if you still have your worries when you come back home, then what’s the point? I don’t hold it against anyone who loves to go. It’s good for them, just not for me.

I don’t care about any gossip or rumors. I know what I am doing. If I paid attention to them, I would have gone crazy a long time ago.

I don’t read magazines or newspapers anymore. It’s all a waste of time. They just create exciting headlines, but when you read the story you will find nothing. Reading the news also stresses me out. I don’t want to be stressed, so I stopped buying newspapers.

I love politics. People might think it’s not important to get involved, but for me, it’s vital. We live in a society where changes in politics affects us. Even if it’s just some politician switching positions or changing sides.

The compliment about my “eternal beauty” puts pressure on me. People always expect to see me looking good. But I feel exhausted trying to keep myself like that all the time. Some days I just want to be an aunty. But I can’t do that because everyone expects to see me looking beautiful.

Everyone grows old. I’m 50. I can’t always be pretty. My body declines every day. I just try to slow the process as much as possible.

I won’t go for plastic surgery. It might be good for others, but not me. What we have been given naturally is already great. Just take care of it as much as you can.

I have no secret for my eternal beauty. I drink, I smoke, I go to sleep late at night and wake up early. I just opened, That’s Wine, a wine restaurant in Chiang Mai, which means I have to drink more, too. My real secret might be my mind. I don’t like to get worried about things.

I love to take part in movies. I like the fact that films usually look far more beautiful than lakorn (TV series). The working time is also shorter. Working in lakorn, which is my main income, takes at least 3-4 months to shoot, but a movie takes about one month.

My life right now is all about work. I’ve just participated in It Gets Better, where I have a role as a transgender. It was quite a challenge for me to play a man who becomes a woman. I had to imagine what it might be like. Luckily, I have lots of katoey friends, so it was easy to understand how they feel.

I think gay people are so talented and have a much better vision than normal people. It’s really obsolete to discriminate against them. I think it’s just jealousy from narrow-minded people.

I think women these days are more slutty than katoey. I think good katoey are more well-behaved than some bold women who run after guys.

My life is happier without having a boyfriend. I’m tired of being with someone. I want to be alone. I can do anything without worrying that I have to care about another person’s feeling.

Love is beautiful. Those who have it should really nurture it.

Jealousy is what destroys love . Everyone should have freedom and the right to do what they want to do. Couples should respect and give each other a freedom.

I don’t believe in marriage. It’s just an act for your parents or society or whatever, but not yourself. Marriage is all about two people. Will the thousands of guests at the wedding ever know that these two people actually have fights when they live together?

I don’t like women who show off their assets too much. Sexy doesn’t mean that you have to show your body to everyone. Who would you blame when you are molested?

Just wearing a T-shirt, plus personal charisma, are already sexy enough for me.

I don’t like to dream about the future. I don’t want to put pressure on myself. I don’t want to be hurt when I can’t do something.

Just do what you like best, then pursue it to the next level.

BK: How did you guys come together?
Tong: I wanted to create a band like the Bee Gees. I love the way they sing together. No one leads anyone. Thailand didn’t have this kind of band yet, so I talked to Boyd Kosiyabong and he supported us. We tried to find good male singers with beautiful voices and we found Sean, Wut, Mhai and Kevin, who is American. He used to play with bands in the US—Ashanti, Backstreet Boys—and in Japan; and then us.
Kevin: I met my wife here and have family here. It’s true I would earn more money if I still played in Japan. But I rather play here because I can be part of something, which is my band, not just be a musician.

BK: What happened after you released the first album?
Wut: It flopped. Really. Our tour was dropped suddenly. We even tried to spend our own money to go on tour, but it still didn’t work. So we thought about quitting the music scene. I quit my job as a teacher at the Bangkok Christian School to do music and it flopped. Fortunately,
P’ Boyd always helps us by giving us studio jobs so we could survive.

BK: What inspired you to come back?
Tong: A fan wrote me a letter to thank us for the song “Thank You.” She said that she was so depressed and when she listened to our song, she felt better.
Sean: Another point is that we won Best Recording Single at the Seesan Awards, which was really a big change for us. We thought that no one cared about us, but our small group of fans do care.

BK: What are the difficulties with being a musician in Thailand?
Wut: In Thailand, you need discipline. If you have it, you will respect yourself and practice more. It also teaches you to respect others in terms of not showing up late and working together as a team. Especially our band, who has to sing as a chorus.
Kevin: The music scene in America is really going through a hard time. The music business has really slowed down. Not a lot of clubs and pubs want live music. But here, I can play every night.

BK: If you compare your voice to an instrument, what would it be?
Mhai: I would be a saxophone because its voice is really beautiful.
Sean: I think I am a classic guitar. My voice is like a chord. I can sing only in-one tonal range.
Wut: It’s piano. It’s soft but strident at the same time.
Tong: I think I’m like a violin. My voice is rough and in high key so every time I sing, it will stand out from others like a violin.
Kevin: Bass. It supports all the other instruments.

BK: How did you guys come together?
Chris: I met Guang nine years ago when he was forming the band. We’re friends of friends. I heard that Alliance Francaise de Bangkok was running Fête de la Francophonie, a French music competition, so we decided to take part, as I am Thai-French and I have written many songs in French and English. They used my songs to compete, and we finally won first place.

BK: Why did it take nine years to get your first single out?
Guang: Nothing concrete happened after that competition. We went to play at Fat Fest and tried to reach many record companies, but they all refused because Chris couldn’t sing Thai clearly. We finally met Boyd Kosiyabong, and he was interested in our songs and let Chris sing on his single, “Puen Sanit.” Anyway, we didn’t get the record right away because we didn’t have much experience. He let us play as a backup band for various artists, like Lipta, "Two" Popetorn, “Pun” Paiboonkiet, Stamp, The Begins and “Mint” Maleewan, to gain more experience. We’re also doing our own songs as well as going onstage as a band.

BK: Why did you choose Shining Star as a name?
Meng: We love R&B and soul music from the Motown era. Back then, they loved to use the word “Shining Star” both in lyrics and in praising up-and-coming artists. We think it’s a good name and love the way it translates, too.

BK: What sets you apart from others?
Meng: We might not be good at entertaining people while we are playing, but we focus on passing on the emotional feeling through our lyrics. Like our first single “5 Years” that talks about lost love lingering in the mind and good memories of the past.
Guang: I think Chris’ voice is unique, too. He doesn’t sing Thai totally clearly, but it’s a unique style. The way we write lyrics is also different. Chris will write the song in English, and then others will translate it into Thai.

BK: Who do you think is a “Shining Star” in the music scene?
Meng: For me, it would be Boyd Kosiyabong. He’s my idol in making music. His songs have stories and inspiration behind them like “Season Change,” which is all about teaching you to get through a tough life by comparing it to the weather—it can be good and bad.
Art: I think Michael Jackson. He was more than just a singer. He was so good in conveying a message in his songs. Most of his songs that I like aren’t dance. It’s all R&B with cool lyrics, like “Man in the Mirror.” In Thai songs, we will only see good story lyrics from peua cheewit [songs for life] artists.
Guang: I like Thailand’s Innocent band. Their songs were simple but really modern in the 1980s. It’s still cool even now.
Chris: I like Jamiroquai. It’s old-style music, but made modern and they also send a good messages, like political ones, in songs.

I never dreamed of being a singer until I listened to The Cranberries while I lived with my mother in Australia 15 years ago. Her [Dolores O’Riordan] voice is so beautiful, I wanted to sing like that.

I started singing on my own before my mum sent me to a singing class as my birthday gift and let me sing at our house parties.

I made up my mind when I was 15 that I wanted to come back to Thailand to chase my dream of being a singer. But my mum urged me to wait until I graduated from high school, so I did.

I finally came back to Thailand and headed to GMM right away. I told them that I wanted to be a singer, and they accepted me.

My life before being a singer wasn’t easy though. I had to work to make a living while I was working on the album. I went back to my childhood school, and the headmaster let me work there as an English teacher. I worked there for a year and a half until my first album, Palmy, was released in 2001.

My life as a singer has been successful ever since my first album. I don’t feel the need for more fame, but I don’t want to stop making music.

I really thank God that I was born in my family and that I am surrounded by my best friends. They really help me keep my feet on the ground. They always remind me that I’m just a normal person.

Working with a big record label was complicated. There are a lot of rules and processes to follow and sometimes I couldn’t say what I wanted to say. Businessmen always think differently from artists.

I dropped out of the music scene three years ago because the music circle became something that I hated. I didn’t hate music itself but I did hate the things that surround it.

I decided to make music by my own, but a side benefit was getting to travel to a lot of places. It makes me realize there’s a lot more to life than just work.

Nepal is my favorite destination. It has magic. It makes me love everything that I see. Even just a plate of chicken fried rice makes me happy. Sleeping in cheap hotels makes me realize that the simple life is so valuable. It raises my energy levels back up. Afterwards, I can face anything that comes at me.

I think of my fans every time I make a song. When I buy my favorite artist’s albums, I expect it to be better than their previous one, and my fans expect that from me too. That makes me stressed.

I even stopped listening to music because I was afraid of it. This feeling finally went away when I walked into a CD shop with friends in Nepal and listened to a Nepalese folk song. I was like, “Wow, it’s alive.” It’s that image of music that was lost from my heart for a long time.

I finally put those worries aside. I gradually started thinking that you don’t have to be afraid of others not liking your music. Don’t worry about that.

The best thing that happened to me is the fact that I have very strong friendships. I adore all the friends that I have. It’s really hard to find a group of people who are open to listening to each other without getting angry when criticized. These kinds of people are rare to find in Bangkok.

I really admire Dr. Vorapat Poocharoen [a former NASA engineer who is now a Buddhist preacher]. This man saved my life from sinking further.

I always stay away from things that make me feel bad, like mingling with selfish people, but he taught me to learn how to live with that.

I love my privacy. It’s more precious than anything in this world.

I really love decorating my home. I have decorated three houses. I am a small woman, but I love to buy big furniture. I also love gardening. Now I have no space left to grow more plants.

I don’t like to be around people all the time. It’s a paradox in my career. I try to balance it as much as I can. Now GMM and I are more on the same page.

I love to be funny on stage. The fans’ laughs when I dance poorly or do some silly move fulfill me every time I perform.

I am so tired with the rumors that I have a baby and a husband. Why do I have to hide all these things? It’s a human life. I can’t hide someone’s life. I don’t spend my life lying.

I think bad journalists are destroying this society. I don’t know whether they do it for fame or money, but they should have standards and not hurt anyone.

No matter what you do, do your job with a conscientious attitude. If you do well, no matter what others say, you can be proud of yourself.

Love from the one you love is the most valuable thing. That can make you happy, not money.

BK: How long have you been a van driver?
I began about eight years ago. My life was pretty boring. I didn’t know what to do with myself after my wife left me. My brother asked me to join the driver team at Piya Tour, which runs between Bangkok and Petchaburi, so I agreed to join right away.

BK: Do you like it?
I do. During the first couple years, it was really good. I loved to do it. I meet new people every day. It’s good to see many types of people. But then again, after driving for eight years, I’m getting bored again. My life doesn’t have much excitement. It’s a lot of waiting around to drive.

BK: How is your work environment?
It used to be better a couple years ago. We had a lot of drivers, and I had to drive only once a day. Nowadays, I have to drive two times a day because there are fewer drivers than in the past. They quit to do something else or drive for other operators. The number of operators has grown rapidly in recent years, so our customer numbers have also dropped.

BK: How do you start your day?
Our van service operates from 5am-8pm. If I have to start as the first driver of the day, I have to wake up at 4am and catch the first van from Petchaburi to Bangkok. If I have to drive from Bangkok early morning, I might just sleep in the car and drive to Petchaburi.

BK: How much do you earn?
I first started at B10,000 a month, but now they give me B12,000 a month.

BK: Have you ever had an accident?
Never. I drive fast but I don’t drive recklessly. I don’t like to drive close to other cars because that can lead to accidents.

BK: How do you feel about the gas price hike?
I’m OK with the hike, but the thing that I worry about is if gas will run out. We have recently faced this problem at gas stations, where they say they’ve run out of gas and we have to switch to diesel. The prices are so different—B1,000 versus B400 for a full tank . Anyway, I think the people who will really worry about the hike are our customers, because when gas prices go up, we have to raise our fares. The burden falls on the customers.

BK: Do you ever want to do something else?
Not really. I might stop driving next year and go home to help my family business. We sell coconuts.

Sharp

- Very high ISO—meaning you don’t need a flash indoors for example. Even at the highest ISO, 25,600, the grain is much lower than what many compacts crank out in the 1,600 range.
- Full HD video.
- Longer battery life (enough for 300 continuous shots)
- Easy to use. Menus are less confusing and benefit from the lavish 3-inch touch-screen display, making this a semi-pro sensor in a point-and-shoot package.
- The screen tilts up to 90 degrees for more creative angles.
- Panoramic shots are incredibly easy, just pan the camera and let it do the rest—a function other manufacturers have yet to master.
- New toy camera effects, such as the tilt-shift blur.
- The magnesium alloy body is lighter than the NEX-5.

Blurry

- Time to display images after shooting some what slower than full-fledged compact and DSLR.
- Often out of focus when the object is moving or even with still objects in some cases.
- Touch-screen focusing option is not very responsive.
- Menu functions are still confusing for those who like the instant acccess offered by full-on DSLRs.

Verdict

- This is a great camera for those who have given up on DSLR photography lessons—or have given up on carrying one around. Light and with superior image quality, this should appeal to both amateurs looking to upgrade and disguntled DSLR users.
16.1 MP, 269 grams, ISO 100-25,600, tiltable LCD touch-screen, full-HD video. B24,990 with an 18-55mm lens, B27,990 with two lenses (18-55mm and fixed 16mm, f/2.8), or B20,990 without lens. www.sony.co.th.