Do You Know These Thai K-POP Artists?

K-POP has become a popular around the world genre thanks to artists like BTS, Big Bang, Blackpink, Girls’ Generation, 2PM, Super Junior, Monsta X, Super M, and more. Foreigners from different countries are being scouted to become K-POP idols.

In K-POP today, you’ll find idols from many different countries but for this particular article, we will focus on Thailand. The genre has taken Thailand by storm, not only because of fans in the country but because Thai artists have been covering various K-POP songs at their own concerts.

In South Korea, these notable Thai idols have made a name for themselves and have not only promoted K-POP in their own country, but they represent Thailand in an industry that the world recognizes. While some of these idols are inactive in South Korea now, they are still among the very few to debut in K-POP.

So let’s introduce these wonderful stars!

• Nichkhun made his debut under JYP Entertainment in 2008 with his group, 2PM. Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul was born in Rancho Cucamonga, California. He moved to Thailand with his family at a young age but moved back to the USA for High School. He comes from a wealthy family and has an older brother and 2 younger sisters – all of which are well-known in Thailand. He is fluent in English, Thai, Korean, Japanese and knows some Chinese. Nichkhun is dubbed the Thai Prince in South Korea due to his popularity in Thailand, his wealthy background and great looks.
• BamBam (real name: Kunpimook Bhuwakul) made his debut in 2014 with the boy group, GOT7 which is also under JYP Entertainment. At a young age, BamBam has been a fan of Korean culture thanks to his mother who, also a fan, took him to various Rain concerts. He took up dancing and joined the dance crew We Zaa Cool where he met Lisa (before they were K-POP idols). At the age of 13, he passed the JYP audition and moved to South Korea to become a trainee. BamBam is now fluent in Thai, Korean, English, Japanese and some Chinese.
• Lisa (Pranpriya Manoban) debuted under YG Entertainment in 2016 in the 4-member girl group, Blackpink. She started dancing at the young age of 4 and began competing. She joined Wa Zaa Cool dance crew with BamBam of GOT7. In 2010, she auditioned for YG Entertainment and was the only participant to pass among 4000 people. Lisa is the first non-Korean artist to join YG Entertainment and her success has been remarkable. Lisa has become fluent in Thai, English, Korean, and basic Japanese and Chinese.
• Sorn (Chonnasorn Sajakul), is a member of Cube Entertainment’s girl group, CLC and made her debut in 2015. Sorn has always wanted to be a singer so her mother enrolled her for vocal lessons at a young age. Sorn grew up in a wealthy family as her father works for the Prime Minister of Thailand. Her brother, Teerapat Sajakul, is a famous singer and actor in Thailand since 1997. Sorn is known to be fluent in Thai, English and Korean.
• Ten (Chittaphon Leechaiyapornku), of SM Entertainment made his debut in 2016 with NCT. He is a member of NCT as a whole but also a member of NCT U (as he was one of the original members to debut) as well as the Chinese group, WayV. He is also a member of the SM’s super group, Super M with mixed members of NCT/WayV, EXO and SHINee. in 2010 he won the Thai show, Teen Superstar where he had the opportunity to join Starship Entertainment which he refused. A few years later, in 2013, he joined SM Entertainment and began training. He participated in SM Rookies before becoming a member of NCT. He is fluent in Thai, English, Korean and Chinese.
  • Lucas of NCT/WayV/Super M is half Thai!
• Minnie (Nicha Yontararak) of (G)I-DLE debuted with the girl group under Cube Entertainment in 2018. While she may have recently debuted, she is already known as a singer, songwriter, composer and record producer. She joined Cube Star World Audition in Thailand where she got her opportunity to go to South Korea in 2015. Minnie is multilingual as she speaks Thai, English, Korean, Japanese and Mandarin. She revealed to have grown up listening to Super Junior which has made her dream of becoming a K-POP idol.
• Natty (Anatchaya Suputhipong), unlike everyone else on this list, made her debut as a solo artist in 2020. She was a contestant of Idol School as well as Sixteen but failed to debut through either show. While she has been a trainee under JYP Entertainment for these two shows, she signed with Swing Entertainment in April of 2020 and made her debut just a month later. While she only has one single so far, she has already gained many fans and has appeared on KCON’s online seasons of KCON:TACT.
• Mintty (Goonshipas Peonpaweevorakul) is formally Mint of girl group, Tiny-G. She made her debut in Tiny-G in 2012. While she was noticed by both GNG Production and JYP Entertainment, she ultimately chose GNG Production where she made her debut with the girls of Tiny-G. At a young age, she started dancing and became a backup dancer for famous Thai singer, Thongchai McIntyre. She continued her career as a dancer in the Thai industry before going to South Korea to be a K-POP Idol. After much changes to her group, she returned to Thailand to act in a drama but later returned to Korea with a new agency, JSL COMPANY. She debuted as a solo artist under the name Mintty in 2016. She took part in The Unit where she was eliminated as rank 38.
• Joy and Namfon are former members of the girl group RaNia.
  • JOY (Jutamas Wichai) was a part of the original lineup of RaNia who debuted in 2011. She departed the group due to her a flooding in her hometown and debuted again in Thailand as part of the Thai girl group, GAIA. She is fluent in Thai, English, Japanese, and Korean.
  • Namfon (Korapat Bisechuri) made her debut with RaNia in 2018 but left the group in January of 2020. She is also known as Kora, a Thai model, gamer, and Youtuber. She Speaks Thai, Korean and English.

So now that you have the list, who are your favorite Thai K-POP idols?