Now, the Thais have many loves; playing the lottery, watching TV soap operas, eating Somtum, jumping the queue at 7/11, gambling on the football, watching slap-stick comedy – but it could be argued that the national obsession with ‘superstars & scandals’ tops the list!
Pick up any old Thai newspaper these days and you can be sure to find the face of some scandalous superstar plastered across the front page. As for any serious international story – that can be found in the bottom corner somewhere at the back squeezed under an advertisement for anti-zit lotion.
Perhaps I’ve been here too long, as even I can be found scanning the press for the latest scandals! So, for all yous foreign readers who would like to know just what half the Thai population talks about all day, here today is a blog on just some of the most recent hottest scandals to hit the national newspapers.
(Beautiful File Foto of Kathleeya. Once Loved…….now loathed)
Let’s start with the biggest scandalous story of the past few months – Kathleeya Mac Intosh (Mem). Not just a mediocre TV presenter/actress, Kathleeya (boyfriendless) was a mega popular role-model for the country’s young girls. An idol for millions, she was glorified on TV and in the press as the ‘most decent Thai girl’ of the decade! She could arguably have been (still is) one the nation’s most influential women. So, what the heck did she do, to suddenly turn herself into one of the country’s most loathed woman in such a short spate of time? Here is the story.
Late last year, the nation’s folks weren’t so daft not too notice that Kathleeya was getting bigger and bigger by the day. Within no time at all the newspapers were full of gossip along the lines of ‘Kathleeya is Pregnant!’ Now, what a scandalous thing to even think, Katheelaya here, was the most perfect proper Thai girl in the history of Thai TV. Not long passed, and Katheelaya was on the TV blaming her weight on new medicine she had been taking and “No”, she told her millions of fans “Goodness gracious, me pregnant? absolutely no way!” On top of this, her family and best friends also got onto the steam-wagon and were seen on endless TV chat shows, ridiculing these myths. Time went past and one day to the shock of the nation, Katheelya in tears told the media “I’ve just found out that I am 5 months pregnant, Im so sorry – I didn’t know til this morning!” Of course, the audiences weren’t so stupid to believe such an excuse and she gained millions of enemies overnight. Lie – No. 1
Lie – No. 2: Just 2 months after she told the nation that she was 5 months pregnant, she flew out to California and gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. By now, her boyfriend, some super-rich Thai businessman, is also in the news with an array of excuses to why they had a baby outside of marriage! What a terrible thing – so un-Thai! Anyway, it all ends happily, and just last week Katheelaya and her boyfriend got married in pompous ceremony.
(‘Film’ Ratthaphum – just a nice friend or …..just a gigolo?)
Then, we have the scandal surrounding one of Thailand’s most popular singing superstars – Rathaphum (Film) who is also nominated for the ‘Biggest Bunch of Lies’ of the year award! It all started a few months back, when one of the local newspapers posted headlines along the lines of …… ‘Rathaphum (Film) suckered millions of baht from his former gay lover!’. Flabbergasted and disgusted at such headlines, Mr ‘Film’ is soon on the TV dismissing such rumours, Lie – No 1 “I don’t even know this man – never seen him in my entire life!” Anyway, the man in the story, another big business is soon on the TV and all over the newspapers admitting that he had given millions of baht worth of gifts to ‘Film’ before he made it famous. Such gifts included a couple of fancy cars and a spanking house! And “No” they weren’t actually gay lovers but just very close friends. He was darned angry with Film, and claimed that after Film had struck in lucky in the world of stardom he completely ignored his once very generous friend.
Lie – No 2, Film goes on to say “Ok I told a white lie, I did know him, but it is a scandal for him to report that he spent 7 million baht on me – he is a darned liar!” Unfortunately for Film however, his old friend had collected together all the receipts and loadsa fotos of all the gifts and was soon in front of the camera showing off the ‘proof’. There was no lie number three and ‘Film’ has done his best to stay out the limelight since.
Next, we have the story of one of Thailand’s most famous rock stars – ‘Mr Dag’ from the rock group ‘Big Ass’ (What kinda name is that!?) It hit the media’s attention that there was currently a young 16 year-old girl under the care of politician and head of Thailand’s ‘Woman and Girl Rights’ association – Paweena Hongsakul. The poor 16 year-old mother claimed that Mr Dag was the father of her newly born toddler! How scandalous, Mr Dag already had a serious girlfriend – wouldn’t been seen dead messing around with a 15 year-old! Now, Mr Dag never denied getting up to any naughty hanky-panky with the schoolgirl, but he did deny that the child was his. To get the truth of the matter, both sides called for DNA testing. Biggest headlines in the newspapers, just this week, were “DNA testing, proves Negative – Mr Big Ass himself…. is innocent!”
(Mr Dag and his buddies – hoping for no more girls’ school concerts)
Then, just two nights ago on the TV, on a late night chat show, was an interview with the girl. She had this to this “I want a new round of DNA testing, this is dreadful – impossible, Mr Dag is the father, I never played around with any other guy”. For now anyway, it looks like Mr Dag is off the hook, and Paweena Hongsakul could get herself into trouble once more for helping to fabricate some story! (Hong Kong Reporter & Paweena – was a pathetic scandal for a later blog!)
Just like in the world of entertainment in Farangland, it is a fact that some folks use the stardom of others to benefit their own careers. The juicy scandal lately concerning mega Asian pop star Thai/American Tata Young and her supposed half-sister reads very suspect….to say the least. It came to the attention of the media a couple of months back that a 16 year-old girl named ‘Sai’ had gone missing in Pattaya – her mother had filed a disappearance report with the police. A few days later the girl mysteriously reappears to the delight of the nation.
Next, when being asked fervently by the media to the likes of “Who is your father?” she bursts into tears and says “The same one as Tata Young’s”. The mother claimed that she had never told Tata’s father – ‘Mr. Tim Young’ that she had given birth to his child! As for the young girl, already 16, she is again balling her eyes out on the TV saying “I just want Tata’s father to financially help me and mother and accept the fact that he has another daughter outside of wedlock”. Sounds rather suspicious right! I mean, how come it took 16 years for the daughter and mother to come to the conclusion that they needed the father’s cash. What is even more suspicious, is the fact that this girl had spent the past year attempting to enter the world of modeling….but to no avail.
After all the media attention though, she has…..not surprisingly just won a couple of nice contracts! Perhaps, her and her mother shan’t be needing Tata’s dad’s cash after all. As for the Tim Young, he fled the cameras and flew off to The States.
Other hot sandals of the past year include a superstar having her naughty homemade movie circulated on the Internet and every market in the land. Another got sentenced for ten years behind bars for dealing in drugs and of course lots more…….juicy stories concerning that delinquent hip-hop star – Joey Boy. Anyway, it is wise to keep such sordid stories for another less family-orientated website!
I look forward to more new scandals soon…….
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