You might like: TWICE vs BLACKPINK: Let’s Compare The Hottest K-pop Girl Groups They come a long way from Thailand, they get trained, survive, and finally get massive success in South Korea. Are you curious to find out more? Let’s find out which are the K-pop Idols who come from Thailand in Channel-Korea. Stay tuned!
2PM’s Nichkun
Nichkun from 2PM! No one can tell from his appearance that he is originally from Thailand. He can fluently speak Korean, and even English since he has lived in the United States. Nichkun lived in Thailand since the age of 5 years old and then moved to the USA and finish his education at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, California. He got scouted by a manager of JYP Entertainment at the Los Angeles Korean Music Festival and thus begins the story of his trainee days, in 2006, which leads to him debuting as a member of the boy band 2PM. Recently, Nichkhun released his solo album ME in South Korea, on February 18th, 2019. The album that contains a special song titled “Umbrella” is available for streaming in South Korea, China, and Thailand. This song is dedicated to his fans and has been released in five different languages: Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, and English.
RANIA Joy
Joy was born in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. Joy debuted as a member of the group RANIA formed by DR Music in 2011, created by American producer Teddy Riley. RANIA that stands for “Regeneration Idol of Asia” released their single album, Teddy Riley, The First Expansion In Asia with the title track “Dr. Feel Good,” released in April 2011. Apparently, Joy RANIA went on hiatus after her group released their second EP Time To Rock Da Show, because of her family being affected in the flood that occurred in Thailand. Then, later on, she departed from RANIA in June 2012 and came back on the stage as a member of a new group, GAIA: a Taiwanese girl group that released the song “Audition” in December 2013.
TINY-G/Real Girls Project Mint
Mint, whose real name is Goonshipas Peonpaweevorakul, is quite popular by the name Mint. She comes from Thailand and is a member of the girl group TINY-G/REAL GIRLS PROJECT. This girl group was formed for the drama series The [email protected] in 2016 under Interactive Media Mix. She started dancing at the age of 5 years old and at the age of 11 she was chosen to be a dancer for the famous Thai singer, Thongchai McIntyre. They released the digital singles “Dreaming” and “One for All.” After being on a hiatus in 2016, she came back on the stage under a new agency, JSL Company, and released a new album titled Already Go Ready.
BLACKPINK’s Lisa
Lisa, whose real name is Lalisa Manoban, born on March 27th, 1997, is a Thai singer, rapper, and dancer based in South Korea. She is popular as a member of the South Korean girl group BLACKPINK under YG Entertainment. She got into an audition to enter YG Entertainment in Thailand and passed in April 2011. She, who can speak five languages: English, Korean, Thailand, Japanese, and basic Mandarin, debuted as a member of BLACKPINK in 2016. Lisa and BLACKPINK are well-known with their debut single “Boombayah” that entered the Billboard World Digital Song chart, and also climbed high on the debut music views on YouTube. She has now become the most followed K-Pop Idol on Instagram surpassing Chanyeol from EXO, in April 2019. Also in April 2019, they did performances at Coachella as the first K-Pop idol girl group there.
GOT7’s Bam Bam
Bam Bam has the real name Kunpimook Bhuwakul in Thailand. He was part of the dance crew We Zaa Cool, same as Lisa from BLACKPINK was before. He joined Rain Cover Dance and finally got selected to become a trainee of JYP Entertainment in 2010 and debuted as a member of the boy band GOT7. Recently, Bam Bam announced his first fan meeting tour which was to take place from March 2nd to March 17th, themed “Black Feather in Thailand.” This meeting tour took place in five different cities, including Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Phuket City, and Chiang Mai.
CLC’s Sorn
Sorn’s real name in Thailand is Chonnasorn Sajakul. She won the survival idol contest K-Pop Star Hunt Season 1 in 2011 by Cube Entertainment. She thus became a member of the girl group CLC under Cube Entertainment. Sorn, who was born on November 18th, 1996, took vocal training lessons to pursue her dream to be a singer since she was a child. She can speak multiple languages, including Korean and Thai fluently. She debuted as a member of CLC on March 19th, 2015, and released the mini debut album titled, First Love.
NCT’s Ten
Ten, whose real name in Thailand is Ten Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul, debuted as a member of one of the subunits of NCT in 2016. He was born and raised in Thailand, ethnically Chinese and successfully won the Teen Superstar Contest in 2011. He can speak multiple languages, such as Thai, English, Korean, and Mandarin. He officially joined SM Entertainment in 2013 after passing the audition at SM Global Audition.
(G)-IDLE’s Minnie
Minnie, also known as Minnie Nicha Yontararak, is a Thai singer under Cube Entertainment. She is the main vocalist of the girl group (G)-IDLE who has other members, namely Miyeon, Minnie, Soojin, Soyeon, Yuqi, dan Shuhua. She debuted in May last year, after being a trainee since 2016. At first, she had a dream of becoming a K-Pop singer, then she tried out for the audition by Cube Entertainment suggested by her vocal teacher and she successfully passed.
Trainee Natty
Natty is a Thai singer, a former JYP Entertainment trainee. She is well-known as a contestant of SIXTEEN and Idol School. In 2015, in the reality show SIXTEEN that formed the girl group TWICE, she was eliminated in episode 11. Natty also took the opportunity to become a participant in Idol School after leaving her agency JYP Entertainment, but in episode 11 she got eliminated again since she was of a very young age and didn’t debut. Some rumors said that she has joined WM Entertainment since she follows WM Entertainment’s account in her Instagram account, but this information still needs to be confirmed. That’s all about the K-POP Idols who originally come from Thailand, a beautiful country in Southeast Asia. Fingers crossed for all those who leave their own country to reach their dream. You can do it!
