For love of family and music

MANY CHILDREN GROW up wanting to follow in their parents’ footsteps but the yearning to be a scientist, doctor, train driver or teacher usually wears off by the time the kids enter their teens. 

There are of course exceptions and in the world of performing arts, the children often do follow mum or dad into the business.

Take Metal, the 23-year-old daughter of rock legend Chatchai Sukhawadee, better known as Rang Rockestra, who is a pop star in her own right. Then there’s Temfah “Pan Pan” Krisanayuth, daughter of rock diva Thitima “Waen” Sutsoonthorn, who at just 19 is already an accomplished singer and TV actress.

Last but not least there’s Suthirat “Koong” Wongtewan, the 36-year-old son of the likay family headed by Narong Ausupha and Thaweep Wongtewan.

Rang readily admits that he spent his wife’s pregnancy hoping Metal would be a boy. Indeed, for the first few years, he treated his daughter like a boy, cutting her hair very short and dressing her in trousers rather than dresses. 

“When I first saw her, I thought she looked just like a sarapao [steamed bun]. She had a really round face! In fact, I wasn’t really trying to make her look like a boy but wanted her to be as strong as a boy. That’s why I called her Metal. I didn’t prepare her to be a singer either but I did encourage her to play music. In the morning, she practised a traditional Thai music instrument and in the afternoon, she played sports after school. We’ve always had loads of musical instruments in the house and CDs by many foreign artists. I never forced her to play or listen but I hoped she’d do it by herself. And I encouraged my musician friends to play whenever they visited me.”

Metal did indeed like music but preferred classical to rock. 

“I dreamt of being a pianist in an orchestra for a while and used to find my father’s shows at Rock Pub much too noisy. My attitude changed when I was in my teens. Suddenly I found that people, my teachers included, loved my dad and his songs. Someone told me that my father was the first artist to wear ripped jeans!”

Metal listened to her father’s songs including his hits “Rak Ther Jing Jing” and “Khid Theung” quite by chance while searching for something she could perform for her audition at Iconic Records, the label owned by Dome Pakorn Lum. She passed with flying colours and recorded two singles with The Poison – “Girlfriends” and “1951” – before pursuing a solo career. She covered her father’s patriotic song, “Rak Ther Prathet Thai” in an electronica arrangement and wowed the audience with her dance moves at last year’s Nine Entertainment Awards.

Now she’s releasing her first single, a lively disco number mixed with pop and funk that she wrote herself. 

Rang is proud of Metal’s accomplishments. “I’d love her to sing a ballad, something along the lines of my songs,” he says.

Unlike Rang, Waen didn’t have any preference for a boy or girl while she was pregnant though her husband, she says, definitely wanted a girl. When she was born he promptly named her Pan Pan, a nickname derived from bang pan, meaning distributing something to other people.

Pan Pan, now 19, is a girl of many talents. Over the years she’s studied piano, ballet, violin, ice skating, swimming and gymnastics and was on the national gymnastics team for two years.

 “I never forced her to do anything. She made her own choices,” says Waen, adding that Pan Pan has always loved music. 

“I’ve listened to everything from golden oldies and jazz to Queen and Elvis Presley as well as my mother’s songs. I used to accompany her to concerts and even had the chance to sing with her on stage at the ‘Flashback to Thitima ‘Waen’ Sutsoonthorn 25th Anniversary’ show,” says Pan Pan, who names Norah Jones and Taylor Swift among her favourite artists.

Waen was also an accomplished actress and Pan Pan has followed suit, appearing in her first TV drama, “Buang Rak” in 2012 and in “Ruan Saneha” in 2013. She also recorded “Khon Ha” for a compilation album “Frontage Luggage”, which was released in 2013 and followed up with “Sak Ka Nid” featuring Hunz the Star on “Frontage Freeform” in 2014. Pan Pan expects to release her first single in April, around the same time as Chatrichalerm Yukol’s last chapter in the movie series “Naresuan” in which she also stars, hits the screen.

“At first, I was afraid of being compared with my mother and not meeting expectations,” she says. 

“It was easier for me than for others to get into the entertainment circle so I have to develop better than others. My mother doesn’t give me any suggestions about acting and singing. She worries far more about whether I am well and eating healthy food.”

Waen agrees with her daughter’s assessment, but explains that should she offer professional advice, she would worry about pushing Pan Pan into adopting her own singing style.

Koong Suthirat, one of Thailand’s most popular likay performers and singers, grew up performing folk operas and knew from the time he was old enough to think for himself that he would fulfil his father’s dreams and assume responsibility for the likay troupe. 

“I prayed to a revered Buddha image at a temple in my home province of Chainat that Koong would take over the troupe. It wasn’t an easy life for him or for us but he took it in his stride,” recalls dad Narong.

Koong absorbed the performing art without difficulty and performed for the first time at the age of 10 to mark his teacher’s retirement. His parents and relatives were excited about his performance and his mother spent hours making his first likay costume.

“As a kid I was really hung up about wearing make up and that weird costume and performing in front of an audience. But after the first time, I discovered I liked it,” says Koong.

The youngster became a full time likay performer after his father’s younger brother, the supporting actor in the troupe, was killed in a car accident.

Koong is determined to breathe new life into likay and is adding technological savvy to put it on par with modern Westernised entertainment and make it more palatable to the new generation. Although busy, he gets back home as often as he can to have dinner with his retired parents.

“My father always prepares food for me and his dishes are delicious. I try and make it back to my hometown as often as I can. Family is really important to me,” he says.

That’s not to say the two don’t have their disagreements.

“I didn’t like his girlfriend who wasn’t fond of my career,” says Narong. 

“I worry about his life and his marriage.”