A Thai person's view on Thai actors and actresses that are mixed race

Hi! I am Zig. 
I'm writing this thread NEVER TO OFFEND ANYONE BUT TO STATE FACTS after I wrote my reply in this thread (http://mydramalist.com/discussions/princess-hours-...) about mixed ethnicity actors and after that a kind user sent me a message to hear more about it. My message became long and I decided to share it here for everyone who's interested.

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I think it's just my personal preference that I do not find mixed race actors charming. Thailand has 99.99% Thai people, if you know what I mean. It's different than some Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia or Philippines which, I suppose, have many races as a normal thing. The case of someone being a totally different race (100% something) is very, very rare. All of the people that are not Thai but live in Thailand are travelers who come here to do business or to live after retirement. 
People (thus actors and actresses in this case) who are born mixed are viewed in these two ways (but people don't say this in public): 
1.
Most cases it's the mother's side that is Thai and the father's side is Western. Being married (but mostly not) and being pregnant with a Western man is 99% viewed badly because 99% assume that it's a one-night-stand with a tourist from Western countries, or it's prostitution. This is because a lot of this kind of relationship doesn't come from love (because like I said, it's rare to see another race in everyday life if they're not tourists -- so relationships don't build from long-term friendship here) and most of the Thai women in this case rather come from quite an uneducated background (*no offense, it's a fact*). (A.k.a. wanting to become rich by tying the knot with a rich(er) Western man) Also, in the case of older generations of mixed-race actors/actresses, most of their parents met when American soldiers came to reside in Thailand for Vietnam war.
So, the child that is a product of this kind of relationship is not viewed in a good light. But then again, the children are not really the target of ridicule. Mostly people just view the parents (the moms) badly. So, onto the next point:
2. 
The children that come from this kind of relationship are actually praised for looking "prettier" than 100% pure Thai people. This is Thai people looking down on themselves. They think that Western genes bring a more defined facial features, higher nose bridge, fuller lips, paler skin(???), taller build, longer legs, and lighter color hair. This kind of "beauty" standard is pretty much promoted by the media, and in reality not many Thai viewers agree to that because we don't see those dolls in real life! Everywhere we turn to, we see THAI people. 
(But if we have a mixed race friend, we can't just turn to them and tell them they're "not pretty", can we? They can't choose to be born from which parents either. Oh, but some of them receive praises from their parents and fake praises from their friends too often that they become arrogant as well.)
So, this makes 99% of the parents (especially their moms who are Thai) think that their kids belong to the entertainment industry. They think their kids don't have to be well-educated or actually "Westernized" (most mixed race can't even speak/read/write proper English) and they think their kids look and are "very superior".
All of these end up bringing an endless list of mixed ethnicity actors and actresses to TV. Some pure Thai blood actors and actresses that have "the look" a bit like Western people also receive a "fake-over" in their profile, like adding nonexistent "study abroad" background or "having been raised by a Western stepparent(s)." 

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I refuse to say the name but a very beautiful 100% Thai friend of mine grew up in a Thai family and she cannot speak English well at all but her mom remarried a Western guy before she was pushed (by her mom) into the industry. Later on, her manager made up her profile by changing her name to sound more "mixed" and adding different languages to the languages she speaks. They also say that she cannot speak Thai but "diligently studied Thai language for the purposes of acting in dramas". 
All these fake profiles make me feel bad for her. I don't know if they actually help her with her language education or not but her acting career does not require any language skill at all. I'm also just glad this friend was beautiful from the start so she didn't have to do plastic surgeries to look Western (but that's another story and it's really not severe in Thai industry, unlike in Korea, but some Thai actors and actresses did get surgeries to look Westernized). But, she's not among the "top" stars still because she's not really mixed (and her company sucks).

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I don't mean to offend anyone when I said about their Thai moms. I personally have a lot of mixed race friends and their moms are very nice people, but from my personal experience, 100% of the time it's true. Their moms are Thai and their dads are Westerns (and don't even live with them or support them financially anymore - leading the moms to live even a worse life T_T).
From where I come from, I'm a university student in Bangkok, capital city, 100% of the people around me have the same thoughts about not finding mixed race people appealing. But, this could be just us. It's very likely that the majority of people who really watch lakorns and enjoy mixed race (a.k.a "pretty faces") on TV are people from the countryside. That kind of beauty standard might look ideal to them.
Before, when I was young, during 1990 to early 2000, mixed race kids in school would get a very higher chance to be in school plays and parades. If not mixed, then it would be those who are from Chinese descends, again because they don't look "Thai". They have paler skin, smaller eyes, smaller build, all those features that look "doll-like" and "cute". In reality we can't even say who is from China and who is not because the majority of Thai people are actually from Chinese descends! It only comes down to who has the "look" and who don't. 
I'm a guy so I didn't experience these beauty standards directly, but I have three sisters and they get discriminated a lot for having darker skin. My family is also Chinese by the way, but we have dark skin. For a guy like me, there is always a "Chinese-looking" or "Western-looking" guy in school who's popular regardless of their grades or height. Just the face, and the pale skin.

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Hope that answered a lot of questions.

Again and again, I'm not here to ridicule anyone. Hope you understand. I'm surprised to see many people worldwide watching Thai lakorns. It only comes down to personal preferences for me to say that about Thai version of Goong (above pictures). I see a lot of people liking cable network series (Hormones, U-Prince, Princess Hours etc.) but I'm a normal guy who watch lakorns (dramas that air on national networks in the evening time slot on Channel 3, 5, 7) just for the drama. They suck a lot in terms of production like good cameras and costumes compared to cable networks (GMM, One, Line TV etc.) but they aim for different target audiences (family, working people after getting off work, and everyone in general)

Cable network series aim towards younger kids in school because they can watch them on their smartphones and Youtube, and they don't have to mind censorship too much because like in Hormones they touch on a lot of sensitive topics. On national TV it's just kiss-and-slap (hahaha). Thanks for reading. The format might come out weird now, I can't double space. Sorry if it's long as well.

Hi, rainruma. I'm glad I was of some help.

One thing I found odd on MDL (but it's nobody's fault) is that the names of actors are confusing. I guess it follows the format of [last name] then [first name], but somehow it's not consistent for every actor. To clarify the names first, Thailand uses names in the [first name] [last name] format. And, because our birth names are especially long, everyone has an 'official' nickname since birth. It's the name that does not go into your paperworks but is used widely in everyday life and even in school or work most of the time. Birth names are only for super formal occasions like business meetings and doctor appointments and such. Thai people like to use an English word or easy Thai words for their nicknames, so there are super common names and there are rare names.

With that being said, Thai celebrities are usually referred to with [nickname] [first name] format, just in case their nicknames or first names are the same as other celebrities, to prevent confusion. Sometimes they also use [last name] at the end in formal situations too. Only some, very rare, use a totally different name from their birth names, like Mike D'Angelo, for example. His real name is first name Pirat, and last name Nitipaisankul. His nickname is Mike. We still refer to him as Mike Pirat to this day. On his profile here, his given name is also in the Nitipaisankul Pirat format.

Also, Thai names could be confusing to foreigners because we do not have a romanization system, unlike Korean or Japanese etc., so we can write our names in English however we want. I would write Mike's name as Pirat because it's the most accurate pronunciation, but he might want to spell it as Pirath, it's really up to him, or the public. His last name on Wikipedia is NITIPAISALKUL instead of NITIPAISANKUL even.

Another example, Ungsumalynn from Princess Hours Thai - Her romanized name is an obvious attempt to sound unique because "Ang-su-ma-lin" would do the job just fine. (Also, her profile here has her [first name] before [last name]. Someone might wanna change that, or the rest of the database.)

I felt the need to clarify that. I hate that it became too long.

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Ken Theeradeth = [nickname] Ken + [first name] Theeradeth + [last name] Wongpuapan / He's Thai
Chakrit Yamnam = [nickname] Krit/Chakrit + [first name] Chakrit + [last name] Yamnam / He's Thai
Tui Teerapat = [nickname] Tui + [first name] Teerapat + [last name] Satjakul / He's Thai
Golf Akara = [nickname] Golf + [first name] Akara + [last name] Amattayakul / He's Thai
Sorapong Chatree = not his birth name but that's what he's known for,
[nickname] Ek or Eak + [first name] Sorapong + [last name] Chatree / He's Thai
...and I don't know which Andrew you're talking about. There are two Andrews I know, both are mixed. (I've been laughing at this Andrew for gaining so much weight and becoming an 'ahjussi' lately. Have you seen him in Muean Khon La Fark Fah? He's my man. Love him. Speaking of this, romanized titles of lakorns are so confusing for a Thai like me. They could've just used an English translation of it.)

I'm super surprised because those names you know go wayyyy back. They're not the usual choices for foreign fans of Thai lakorns. Haha. You rock for knowing Sorapong Chatree. His charisma reaches the sky. Actually I'm not sure if he has mixed ethnicity in his family line. There are some oldie-but-goodie actors that are either from Laos or the Philippines as well. I'm actually a noob at Thai actors' names. I just watch them and I keep forgetting their names unless they're mentioned so often these days like Mark Prin, Boy Pakorn, James Jirayu, James Ma, Ken Phupoom etc.

Except Cee Siwat and Weir which are specific names, I don't know which Toomtam, Son and Pong you're referring to. Sorry! ^^ Cee and Weir are Thai. These are Channel 7 stars, which I honestly don't know much about. I watch Channel 3 the most. Unlike in Korea where actors are under different labels and can work with any TV network, most of the time Thai stars are signed to specific networks, and if they happen to change networks, they change once in their lifetime. That happened to Chompoo Araya and Jui Warattaya for example. They switched from Channel 7 to Channel 3 (and became super famous).

A lot of Thai actresses that you mentioned that are pure Thai blood, however, they have gone through surgery at least once. It's not illegal or bad, but it's the same to other places in the world where the people lose hope in their "beauty" because they're not "real", you know what I mean. Pooklook Fonthip, Saiparn Apinya are pretty good choices though. They're 100% Thai and I think they haven't gone through any plastic surgery at all. I like them a lot as well, although I'm not necessarily into Pooklook's acting. Aimee Morakot was born in England but she's also Thai. May Pitchanat is Thai. Cat Stephany Auernig is a mix of Thai and Austrian.

My choice of the beautiful Thai actresses would be endless, but my family and I agree on one person, which is Jui Warattaya, partly because she's one of the rare pure Thai who has "the look" and hasn't done any surgery. (Sounds like surgery is a big criteria now. It's just personal preference. I don't mean to sound offensive.) Also, it's not that I don't like mixed actresses. I really like Matt Peeranee, and Yaya Urassaya may be the sweetheart of foreign fans from way before, but she's been super famous especially lately because she appeared as a guest on The Face Thailand and slayed all the contestants with her dancing and singing skills. (They had to film some kind of a music video for Maybelline as a "mission" on The Face, but Yaya is the real-life representative of that campaign and she had to demonstrate to them and she definitely did better than all of those models and even the mentors). I like Ice Preechaya from I Fine Thank You Love You, too.

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Next topic, Thai language has a lot of words from Cantonese, especially in Thai Southern dialects. There are words from Khmer, Pali, Sanskrit, Javanese, and many others too. About the Chinese ancestry, like I mentioned before, most Thai people are related to Chinese blood somehow. Most Chinese families that remain true to their Chinese roots would do trading business (merchants), so anyone who's a guy, is Chinese, and owns a store, would be called 'Sia' and most of the times they give that title to themselves. In lakorns, it becomes another plot device. We don't see a lot of real-life 'Sia' or mafias lately. You will still see a lot if you go to China Town (Yaowarat in Bangkok) or downtown Phuket, where Chinese culture is still very strong.

It's not that Thai people look down on Chinese people. Most of the time Chinese are, like you mentioned, "mafia" as in powerful in trading business, so we should rather be scared of them, but we're not either. Only sometimes, but very rarely, they refer to Chinese as low working class because Chinese people choose/like/commit to do hard work, making them come off as "workers". But this is so, so rare though. This came out in a reading assignment when I was in middle school exactly once, and that book was actually praising the Chinese for their tough and diligent characters.

People down south are close to Malaysia, and so a lot of them are Muslims. They might take in a lot of culture that are not similar to other parts of Thailand because we're mostly Buddhist. It's really following some certain conflicts that happened to be involving them, that might have made some Thai people hate or look down on them, but normally we live together just fine. Muslims are never treated badly in my country although they're smaller in number. They do speak Thai, btw.

The ones that might not speak Thai are from up hill in the Northern region. That includes Hmong people and some others. They live in recluse, mostly, so they don't receive the same education like the rest of Thai people, and it's difficult to reach them with electricity and supplies since they live in mountains. But that's old news. It's 2017 and a lot of volunteers live there with high speed internet LOL. I also volunteered there. Most kids speak Thai but in Northern dialects. At least they know Nadech and Yaya which were the only topic we talked about. I had fun. These people mostly don't have citizen papers. Sometimes it's because they don't bother to leave their mountains to do the paperworks, but sometimes it's the government. Bleh.

I had fun sharing knowledge. I hope I didn't sound so rude for including my own opinion. Ask away any time!

I am not sure i understand the one box .... will u still have the AKA box?

Does that mean Thai names can be listed Nickname  First-name Last-name?

BTW, @Hessa... can u guys give a warning before new version comes out ... I am using the MDL extension and need time to copy all the links and threads  I saved .... as extension  will become obsolete when new version comes out.

Thanks for the post, it is really informative and interesting!

I added Toon Hiranyasap and it was a loooooong list! I'm sure he's been in most of the dramas you've seen.

Hi Zig,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and perspective. You explanation on names also helped as I use multiple sites to track shows and got confused on the ways the names were display. For example, MyDramaList.Info/Trakt.TV have first name followed last name for Thai Actors/Actresses while this site did not.

Rainruma -- Kob Suvanant? Woowwwwww :) She's a real beauty. You surely know and have seen far more dramas than I have. I've seen her only in some, but I agree she's really sweet. She's the epitome of "Kullasatree" or "lady" (as opposed to gentleman... so gentlewoman?!)

Thai people sniff cheeks... HAHAHAHAH Yes. I never doubted it. The word "fragrant" (adj.) is "horm" in Thai. Then there's this same word for "sniffing cheeks" as well but it's a verb. So, it's from where that word is from, I think? To tell someone's fragrant, you have to "smell", so I think that's where the word originated from. In reality though, it's not about trying to tell a person's smell (that sounds so wrong LOL) but I guess we just don't like getting saliva on the cheeks? Haha. It's a way of showing manners, then it became tradition, then people just do it without thinking. 

The obsession over royalty desserts, I'm sure it's a drama thing. Like I said, I obviously have seen far less Thai dramas than you have. I'm not the type to prefer historical dramas either. But am I mistaken? Are you talking about food in historical dramas? If you're talking about dessert menus that were first invented by royals that are still consumed in modern days, it's still not an obsession, but it does have a meaning, right? It was made by royal members after all. People are too westernized to eat those desserts in modern days though. You really gotta go to Thai specialty dessert cafés (which are rare) to eat them. Or, you can ask your grandmothers or mothers to make them. It's an old and outdated thing.

I really do not know where I can watch lakorns. Only recently that channels start to upload their lakorns on Youtube, but they never did until 5 years ago, I suppose. I just watch when they air on TV. I never looked for ones online. I guess the only way is for you to come to Thailand and buy CDs from black markets. LOL. I'm serious. Let's hope people put them up online more and more. I searched for the one you want in Thai and nothing came up. Only the newest version came up. I'll try again later!

Thank you very much for this message.

I've had my very first contact with Thai culture like 2 years ago with Hormones and the differences between Thailand and France, my home country, were very stricking but I've never got the chance to speak with a Thai person to know more about the culture. Honestly, even if I'm still an ignorant about a lot of Thai subjects, I kinda fell in love with the culture and I would be interested very much in continuing some of my studies in Thailand so earing what a true Thai person has to say about foreigners / mixed race people is very interesting to me. Thank you so much one more time!

(I haven't read all the answers yet, but I probably will have some questions after that, so I hope I won't forget to check the answers later ha ha)