Thai superstar records first Mandarin pop song

MANILA, Philippines - Thailand’s superstar Thongchai McIntyre who has more than 30 hit albums featuring over 500 songs to his credit has recorded his first Mandarin pop song to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his illustrious career.

Titled Why the Tears?, the song is composed by Thai pop wizard Suwatchai Suthirat with lyrics by Wu Yu Kang, one of Taiwan’s most sought-after lyricists. The music video of the song features McIntyre himself, Taiwan’s supermodel and actress Sonia Sui Tang and Thai matinee idol Nawat Kulrattanarak. It is directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham of Beautiful Boxer fame. It is set to go on-air across Asia in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan starting next week.

Shot entirely in Thailand on rarely seen locations such as the 150-year-old Thai Palace in The Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park, and the breathtaking lake in the heart of Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park which was recently declared a Ramsar Site on the List of Wetlands of International Importance. Other locations include a number of popular tourist spots like The Giant Swing, Temple of The Emerald Buddha in The Grand Palace, The Tortoise Hill Beach (Khao Tao) and Plearnwan, Thailand’s first Eco Vintage Village which has lovingly recaptured the elegance and charm of yesteryears lifestyles.

The almost eight minutes music video tells a romantic drama involving a Thai tour guide played by McIntyre and a Chinese tourist played by Sui who joins the tour group to break away from her unfaithful tycoon fiancé played by Pong. The intimacy between the affable tour guide and the accidental tourist develops into an unlikely romance. What starts out as an attempt to get back at the beau brings about an unexpected turn of events and dire consequences.

Says Boosaba Daorueng, CEO of GMM Grammy PCL, Thailand’s largest entertainment conglomerate and executive producer of the Mandarin track and the music video, “Thai pop culture has been gaining popularity among the Chinese-speaking audiences who have become very strong supporters of our music, TV series and movies. We hope that by having Pi Bird (how Thongchai is affectionately known in Thailand) sing in Mandarin and through the specially produced music video, we’ll be able to bring Thai culture closer to our Chinese fans in Asia and around the world.”

Adds McIntyre, “I’ve enjoyed singing in Mandarin very much. It was very tough at first but when the meaning of the lyrics was explained to me, singing them became much easier. I’m also very glad to be able to share with our friends outside Thailand all the amazingly beautiful places in our country through the music video, some of which I’d never been to myself before the filming!”

The music video Why the Tears? is presented by GMM Grammy Public Company Limited with support by Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Watch the music video on Channel V, TVB Channel, other channels across Asia and on YouTube.