Playing guitar was considered fucking cool when I was teenager. That’s why I started playing guitar at 14 and I’ve never looked back.

You must take your passion seriously to make a living from it. My life as a musician didn’t get off to a good start, as I always got fired for not playing well enough. But I made up my mind to really make it as a professional, so I formed a band with some older friends called The President.

My involvement with Carabao was borne out of frustration. I went to see them play at a pub and asked [Carabao frontman] Ad to play their song “Lung Khee Mao” but the owner wouldn’t let them play Thai songs. I thought, is this Thailand or some other country? Why can’t Thai bands play Thai songs? We reacted angrily by kicking over some chairs. That was 30 years ago.

I love working on solo albums. Working with a large group of people, like in Carabao, inevitably leads to some conflict, which is necessary to make our music the best it can be. I keep whatever has been turned down by the band for my own personal work. It’s an escape for me.

I feel a close bond with all my guitars, as if they had feelings. I gave my favorite one to my son, but he just hung it on the wall. Recently, Hard Rock Café approached us about an exhibition of Carabao guitars. I asked my son about it and he said I could give that one away, which hurt me. I wrote a song called “My Guitar” as a tribute before donating it last month.

Real life is more fun than fiction. No two lives are the same. The Young Bao movie scriptwriters tried to twist my story, but I made them change it three times so that it stayed true to reality.

Writing books is my favorite hobby. My next one’s going to be pretty risky as it’s going to be a tell-all about my adulterous past. I had to confess all this to my wife, who’s already forgiven me. I now feel clean.

I don’t want to create the illusion that my family is always happy. I always tell the truth about my bad behavior to my friends who later slip some stories to my wife.

I really respect my wife for her patience and her perspective on life. She knows me best. Now I dedicate my life to her. I bring her with me everywhere, whether Thailand or abroad. She deserves this.

Live life according to your age. As a young musician, I gallivanted all over the place. Now, as I’m getting older, I just want to sit at home and do gardening. I hope to lead a peaceful existence some growing fruit and vegetables at home.

Teenagers would rather listen to their friends than their parents. I used this knowledge to my advantage when my son was in high school. He always argued with his mom because he played too many video games and it was affecting his grades. I called his girlfriend and told her that if she wanted to be with him, she had to make him study harder and play fewer games. It worked! He became the top student in his class.

Blocking kids from doing stupid things doesn’t help them learn. We should talk with them openly so that they know what the consequences of their actions might be, then let them decide whether they can live with it or not.

If you achieve your dreams, don’t go looking for more. As Ad says in this song he wrote, “Talay Jai,” life is like tuning the radio. I’ve already found my frequency, I don’t need to go any further.

I’m pretty much retired, but I still love hitting the road to go on tour. I’ve found my happiness, so I’m never tired when it comes to doing what I love.

I try to be as fit and healthy as I can. I used to carry all sorts of heavy stuff and it nearly broke my back. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to move and that this would affect the band.

Lam Morrison is my idol. Though there are many great guitarists all over the world, he is number one in Thailand. It’s so cool to see him play live. He inspires me to play better. I hope I can jam with him someday.

I love wearing straw hats everywhere I go. It’s just so comfortable as Thailand’s weather is really hot. One of my hats even raised more than B300,000 for charity. It just so happened that one of my fans gave me a 50 euro tip, which I decided to put it in my hat that I had placed on the floor—the donations kept coming. Finally, I put that hat on a Buddhist altar!

You don’t need to be clever all the time, just don’t do stupid things. That’s enough.

Life is like Russian roulette. Everyone should realize that we are all lucky. Earth could be hit by a meteor at any hour, so simply living is the most important thing.