Next stop enduring fame for sweet-voiced Radklao

SINGER-ACTRESS RUDKLAO Amratisha, who’s been in show business for more than a decade, is currently enjoying a golden time thanks to her winning turn in the hit Channel 3 melodrama “Sud Kaen Saen Rak”, where she plays a spiteful, acid-tongued older woman. Younger viewers have been wondering online who this riveting actress is and are surprised to learn she’s also a great singer.

Well, Radklao has been in fact famous for years for her powerful, crystal-clear voice, as heard in many a stage musical. And, as she told Wuthitorn “Woody” Milintajinda on his “Woody Talk” show the weekend before last, she’s also the voice of the station announcements on the Skytrain!

It’s Rudklao whose recorded voice tells passengers which stop is coming up next and reminding them to be careful getting off, as well as other pronouncements. The BTS hired her specifically because she’s got such great diction.

She said she also recorded announcements for the stations now opening as the transit system expands, only to discover while riding to one of them that someone else’s voice was used. She wasn’t the least bit miffed while telling Woody this, instead calmly surmising that perhaps the station name had to be changed and a BTS staff member was recruited to read out the new one.

 

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Danny’s guardian angel

Half-American Danai “Danny” Sripinyo was one of the first luk krueng actors to make it big on the screen back in the 1990s, appearing in many movies and on TV dramas and game shows. And then he just disappeared! Recently, though, he did a guest turn on the Channel 8 talk show “Khon Dung Nung Clear”, where he told host Yingsak Jonglertjesadawong that he’d suffered a serious health crisis during his hiatus. 

In 2008 he and some friends climbed to the peak of Khao Khitchakut in Chantaburi to pay respects at one of the Buddha’s footprints that dot the country. Suddenly he felt numb in his face and along one side of his body. He thought it was just some superstitious reaction, but then his condition grew worse, with one side of his mouth drooping. 

Six hours later Danny was in a Bangkok hospital. He’d suffered a stroke. He remembered that the brother of his boss, TV host Kiat Kitjaroen, had had a stroke but managed to bounce back to normal, so he called Kiat to ask about the best route to recovery.

The next thing he knew, he woke up to find Kiat and his wife at his bedside, making arrangements to have him moved to Bumrungrad Hospital to be treated by the same doctor who tended to Kiat’s brother. Danny refused at first, worried about that hospital’s high prices, but Kiat insisted and pledged to take care of all the expenses. “He told me to shut up and said we always have to help one another while we’re still alive,” Danny recalled with a smile. 

Today Danny is “almost normal”, though he’ll continue to take anti-stroke medication for the rest of his life. He never has found out how much Kiat shelled out on his behalf because Kiat refuses to tell him. And Kiat got him back to work, too, appearing on a TV show produced by his company. Every day Danny puts his best efforts into the role, just hoping to pay back his super-boss.