James discovers talents beyond mere prettiness

Appearing on Channel 5’s “Jor Jai” talk show on Thursday, James was asked what specifically he bought. And, just like any teenager, he wasn’t exactly sure. He recalled snagging a mobile phone and two tablet PCs, but that’s about it.

“Before I got paid that small fortune, all my money always came from my mum, but she could never give me enough for all the things I wanted when I was growing up,” James explained, sort of. “I think the shopping binge was all my inner stress being released all at once!”

So James spent, spent, spent until he realised he had only Bt700 left in his wallet. Then he tried to tap his manager Charnchalard Thaweensab for fiscal aid – but this was before the series even hit the air and the still-unknown James had no other jobs lined up – so his manager told him he didn’t have any spare cash either. 

Charnchalard might have been teaching James a lesson. He told the rookie actor he’d just have to sell some other stuff – like a wristwatch or even a car – if he wanted to keep buying more treats.

Soon enough, though, the TV series was on the air and a smash hit, and job offers started pouring in for James, including plenty of commercial endorsements. He’d hit the jackpot.

Charnchalard continues to be a clever manager. James has just returned from South Korea, where he spent six weeks learning to dance and sing and working out in a gym with one of the country’s top showbiz companies, Cube. The manager obviously knows that James’ pretty face alone won’t keep him popular forever, so he’s beefing up his talents ready for anything that might come along.

And the Koreans provided another valuable lesson for the kid from faraway Phichit, Thailand. James got to see how hard they work to achieve their dreams. It bucked him up for a gruelling 10 hours a day of training. 

He’s bringing it all back home, and will share what he learned with his admirers at an upcoming K-pop-style fan meeting where you can get right up close to him and horse around a bit.

“James will show you what he learned in Korea at this event,” says Charnchalard, acknowledging that the boy has to be able to survive in careers other than just acting, which tends to be short-lived for idols his age. “All that work will improve his other skills and, one way or another, it will be a big benefit in his life in the business.”

 

Golf tees off

Boy, it’s a good thing we have the social media these to vent our frustrations over all this political haggling. Rapper Nattawut “Golf” Srimhok, who also goes by the name Fornicating Hero except that he doesn’t say “fornicating”, has been burning up the Facebook fuel after coming under attack for condemning anyone who challenges the monarchy.

“I will fight against the government when they do wrong, and if anyone can’t tolerate that, we can part ways. Peace!”

The rapper is adamantly standing by what he said. “The fact that I’m a rapper doesn’t mean I can’t exercise my rights,” he said, although music purists might object. On second thought, Golf thought, everyone is family, regardless of our shirt colour. “Have we forgotten that?” 

Golf says his dad is a red shirt and they often “fought” over politics, but when people got killed at Ramkhamhaeng University, Gold found enlightenment. “I’d bought an apartment for him in the area and all I could think about that day was how to get him out. There wasn’t the slightest thought about anything else. It made me think, ‘Why do we spend so much time hating each other?’”