Pleum's just wild about TabTimTelevision presenter Surabot ''Pleum'' Leekpai says he is the lucky one to have met his bride-to-be, not the other way around.
Mallika ‘TabTim’ Jongwattana and Surabot ‘Pleum’ Leekpai.
The only son of former prime minister Chuan Leekpai says love is what counts, not your family name.
Pleum, 25, and co-host Mallika ''TabTim'' Jongwattana, 24, announced last week they planned to marry. The pair met on their teen-themed TrueVisions TV show, VRZO, and have been going out together for two years.
Asked if they were not rushing into things, Pleum said he was the decisive type. His father knew that if he made a decision, it was usually well considered.
''I knew after going out together for just one year that TabTim was the right one for me,'' he told Modernine TV.
''I have been working since I was 16, so I feel I'm now ready to look after someone. Age is no barrier, it's what's in your heart.
''I have looked into it carefully, and decided I love this person. I can find no reason why we shouldn't marry immediately,'' he said.
The couple's engagement will be on Friday, and the royally sponsored wedding party barely a month later, on Nov 24. They have been granted an audience with Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who will hand them consecrated water for the ceremony.
Pleum, who says he is not the romantic type, surprised onlookers at a city department store on Friday when he went down on bended knee to request the hand of his lady love. Amid a shower of rose petals which fans dropped on the pair, Pleum slipped a ring on her finger, and kissed her hand lightly. TabTim burst into tears and hugged her husband-to-be as a large crowd of admirers applauded the happy couple.
Pleum says the guest list probably wont hit the 3,000 mark, though his father was already getting ready for the big day. ''He's offered to design the invitation card himself,'' he said proudly.
''Two things in life can cause us bother: work, and love. We have to find work to raise our families,'' Pleum said.
''Love can also cause us headaches. Once we have found it, we have to make sure it is right for us, which is unsettling. It can affect our performance at work.
''I think I have found the right one for me. Now I have met that person, I think its important I make that decision clear, and definite. Its a way of showing respect to my partner, but also allows both of us to get on with working without having to worry about love any more,'' he said.
A reporter asked TabTim whether getting married to the son of a former prime minister was intimidating. Pleum, however, jumped in to answer on her behalf.
Jirantanin ‘Kusjung’ Pitakporntrakul and Pakorn ‘Dome’ Lum.
''Some people probably think that TabTim is an ordinary person, while I'm the son of an important political figure, a two-time prime minister. TabTim must be lucky indeed to marry me.
''But I would like to declare that it's me, on the contrary, who regards himself as lucky, as she is a great girl. Love in any case has less to do with a family name or wealth, but with what's in the heart,'' he said.
''What's ordinary is a beautiful thing.''
Pleum is having a wedding dress adorned with rubies made for his bride-to-be, but says his family won't be splashing out on a dowry, as he and TabTim would rather keep that money aside for their careers.
TabTim, who said little during the interview, said Pleum was a gentle soul who cared for his parents. ''I stopped worrying at that point,'' she said.
Asked for three words summarising the way they felt about each other, Pleum turned to his bride-to-be and said: ''I love you.''
TabTim turned to Pleum and said: ''You're number one.''
(For more on Pluem, see this week's Brunch cover story.)
Late riser or attention seeker?TV presenter and actress Jirantanin ''Kusjung'' Pitakporntrakul has some stiff words for netizens who claim she is trying to put on an act even while posting bleary-eyed pictures of herself fresh out of bed.
Netizens criticised Kusjung after she posted on Instagram a picture of herself shortly after rising for the day.
Kusjung appears bleary-eyed and wearing her nightclothes, lying on her side in a picture published shortly after noon on Oct 14. She blurred the picture of her nightdress at chest level, just in case it looked too revealing for some. ''I have risen late, kaaaa,'' she wrote.
Netizens asked whether she had really just risen for the day, as they noted she had managed to put in her contact lens. They also wondered why she should censor herself, unless she wanted to attract attention.
''You are trying to look Japanese or Korean, as they have mastered the art of putting on 'natural' makeup,'' one woman sniffed. ''In fact, I can see you have put liner on your eyes, and probably applied faint gloss to your lips as well.
''You are too young to be so affected,'' she said.
Manasnan ‘Donut’ Panlertwongskul.
Posting in response, Kusjung, 20, said she did not claim to have just risen when the picture was taken, merely that she had risen late. ''I put in my contacts, but was not wearing makeup, nor had I done my eyes.
''Since when does my being less attractive than this or that person mean society cannot accept me?'' she wrote on Instagram.
''I know some people hate me. But I have studied well, work hard, and look after my family. Is there anything else you don't like?''
Kusjung goes out with actor and DJ Pakorn ''Dome'' Lum, who is known for his angellic good looks and eye for the women. His girlfriends regularly attract prickly criticism from jealous fans who think he can do better.
''I know that going out with Dome automatically means I'm a sassy type, but I still wonder why you are willing to forgive other actresses who let slip revealing pictures, but not me,'' Kusjung told her critics.
''I speak directly, but I never put on act,'' she said. ''I find it hard to stand in society when you criticise so much.''
Posting in response, sympathetic netizens said Dome's previous girlfriends had suffered the same hostile fan reaction. They praised Kusjung for speaking her mind. ''Hang in there. It's just envy. You will need patience to go out with Dome,'' one said.
Hot propertyActress Manasnan ''Donut'' Panlertwongskul is appealing for the return of computer equipment stolen from her vehicle as she was promoting a travel book last week.
Donut said a thief broke the window of her Toyota Fortuner near the House RCA cinema in the RCA area last Saturday night, making off with a brand-name bag, notebook computer, two external hard-drives, jewellery and mobile phone worth about 85,000 baht.
The actress said she parked the car outside the cinema about 8pm and was gone only a few hours. When she returned to the vehicle, she found the left rear window smashed and her valuables stolen.
''I hid them on the floor of the vehicle, thinking they would be invisible to any thief. But he must have seen me sorting through my things just before I left the vehicle,'' she said last week.
Donut has laid a complaint with Makkasan police, who are inspecting CCTV footage in the area. The actress was launching her book, The Other Side of the World, about her travels while studying overseas. It took her seven years to write.
''At first I shrugged it off as just another computer theft, but when I started listing off the items taken I realised some cannot be replaced. They include an external hard-drive that I used while studying in New York. I have also lost another hard-drive containing work from my office, travel pictures, and a short film which I had intended to load on YouTube,'' she said.
''OK, so the thief wants my stuff, but I would like it back. I'm willing to pay him if he wants to return it. He can keep the notebook computer, but I would like my external hard-drives. He can drop them anywhere he likes,'' she said, adding she had yet to decide how much to offer.
''I'll pay him for the waste of his time, but I also want this episode to serve as a lesson to all,'' she said cryptically.
