Mastering The Art Of Duality

“JJ” Krissanapoom Pibulsonggram and “Thanaerng” Kanyawee Songmuang are a celebrity couple who have gone against the grain of having their narratives crafted by others.

- MANFRED LU

Behind the scenes, developing a name in the media industry is an unyielding endeavour that repeatedly occurs as such: a team of “marketers” decides their careers and guards their true attributes by creating a masquerade, hoping it may one day thrust them into stardom by having fans buy in to their story. It is even more apparent in the Asian media landscape, where a rapid interest in the region has urged entertainment companies to prescribe varying frameworks for each new talent that arises. In almost every conceivable way, it also includes developing celebrity couples and betting on the influence of two rising names.

However, Thai celebrity couple “JJ” Krissanapoom Pibulsonggram and “Thanaerng” Kanyawee Songmuang have doubled back on having their narratives written by others. “When there is an opportunity, it should be immediately taken,” Thanaerng reasons. “Besides, it has remained a challenge for us in every job.”

After both of their contracts with Nadao Bangkok ended in 2021, JJ and Thanaerng performed a daring left-turn by opening their talent agency, QOW Entertainment the year after. The move enabled newfound liberty for the couple with a complete set of self-authority in managing their future works and those of other artists.

Though QOW Entertainment takes them to task in building their own careers from now, it also highlights the sneaking candidness under a commercial surface that radiates from their relationship. Their kinship transpired in 2014 when JJ posted a tweet on Thanaerng in her acting debut on Hormones: The Series Season 2, just as he was entering the start of his acting career. While they were both eventually signed to the same entertainment company, the two have never met before that encounter. “Our relationship began as friends,” describes JJ.