Look into the heart of Singto Prachaya, who has grown up in the entertainment industry for the past 5 years
- He’s the only child who takes care of his father at the age of 26.
- He I wants his family to live comfortably

- He’s open-minded. He used to aim to take the cadet exam, but ultimately he wanted to alleviate his family’s financial burden

You could say that life is really beautiful for Singto Prachaya Ruangroj, who plays the role of Kongpob from the famous series "SOTUS The Series: The Evil Senior and Mr. Freshman”, which aired 5 years ago.

Opposite his imaginary couple partner, Krist Perawat Sangpotirat, who plays Arthit, the villainous head hazer, they satisfy the squealing hearts of Y-girls everywhere, and Singto has become widely known, with fans all over Asia.

Singto visited Thairath Online to talk about his life in the entertainment industry over the last 4-5 years.

“I started by trying to get casted in the SOTUS: The Series. It was my first time. I'm not sure how many people went for casting at the time, as they opened up two casting locations, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. There were probably over 1000 people.”

Was it difficult?
“At the time, I went for casting and met other actors who were casting as well. There were models that I was familiar with and looked better than me. I wasn’t sure if I could win the part over them or not."

"When going to the casting call, I just wanted to find a job to help ease the burden at home. At the time, I was in my 4th year at Kasetsart University, and I thought from then on that I wanted to go to Bangkok University, so the trips back and forth cost a lot of money.”

“So I thought that I would look for work like modelling. I was really just exploring the idea; I didn't think that I would be able to act in a series. At the time, I couldn’t act. I had to attend lessons and workshops for acting, as I had zero experience.”

“My gained a lot of acting experience from SOTUS, as I started at nothing when the casting results were announced. Then from there, to workshops, to filming the episodes...from the start of filming to the end, it was about a year.”

Why did want to cast for this particular story?
“I just wanted to lighten the burden at home. I was on my own and had no knowledge of the entertainment industry. So when the opportunity came, I chose to seize it. I wasn’t looking for any specific role to cast for.”

“But about SOTUS, it seems like the team had their contacts. Also, the character corresponded with my life experience, because at that time, we really were senior and junior at our university faculty, which you can see from pictures shared on the Internet.”

“If I can be open, without reservations, my mother was sick. I felt that there were a lot of expenses. And at home, we didn’t have that much money. I though we could receive benefits for future treatment. If my parents had any problems, we could rely on welfare.

“Also, when I was little, I felt that the cadets looked really smart and seemed cool.”
(I get the feeling he might be talking about being a hazer but damn if I know )

Did you really want to do that?
“Honestly, I don’t quite like following orders if I can’t see the point or results. Like, I don’t have to agree with it. You form an objection internally; you might follow along but in your head you just don’t agree.

I didn’t like it. ‘Why? Why? Why?’ I would be the one who always questions. ‘Why does to have to be done like this?’

I had to go to the cadet exam, but as luck would have it, I didn’t finish. I must admit that the examination for the Cadet Academy is very difficult.

I felt like a lot of it centred around maths and physics, subjects I’m very weak in. But I’m good with languages. However, as the exam only consisted of one language portion, I felt like I was lacking. But deep down I think it was good that I didn’t get stuck on the idea.

[REST] lmao again, just adapted from bot translation so I might have worded/misinterpreted some things. Don’t come for me, just tryna help

Were you upset about not getting in? “I have no regrets. I just wanted to try for the exam. I was disappointed when I got the results as I had hope, but it wasn’t anything I wasn’t expecting. I might’ve had hope, but looking back, I don’t regret it, as I still learned from it."

Studying while making decisions:
"When the cadet exam didn’t work out, I went back to studying. I studied at Kasetsart University, but at that time studying for about 4 years, I decided to drop out, because I wasn’t good at calculations, yet I chose to study economics.”

“At that time, I took my language scores & other qualifications, submitted and applied with them. For my college application, I used my GAT/ PATs. Luckily, I did really well in the GAT, so I submitted them with other scores. I met the criteria for the Faculty of Economics, KU.”

Were you happy there?
“Honestly, I learned a lot. When I entered university, I became a really active person. In high school, I was someone who didn’t care much for activities and ultimately I only learned to play basketball as one of two activities.”

“Something I’d been thinking since my third year was that I was really stuck with anything related to calculation, especially in chemistry. As an econ student also studying chemistry, I didn’t like calcuation. Put together, it was just too much.

If I’d stayed with that faculty, I wouldn’t have been able to enter another one. So I made a better decision for myself.”

"When I came to study at Bangkok University, Faculty of Communication Arts, I was very happy.”
Were you tired?
“SO tired. I’d already started working in the entertainment industry so I had to study at the same time. For Krist, too; it was when we’d just entered the spotlight.”

“But we didn’t want to just drop it because it was our dream. Even if we were up late working, we still had to wake up early the next morning to study. We had difficulties with how many activities there were when studying at KU, but we couldn’t just skip classes...”

“...otherwise we would have our grades deducted. We had to find ways for us to boost our scores in exams, as even if we weren’t good students, we still wanted to graduate. So we had to push ourselves to attend class.”

"When I asked my father if I could go to study at Bangkok University, he asked if it would make me happy, because if it would then I should do it. It’s the core of every decision I make; I ask my father. My father always answers the same thing; whether I’m happy or not.

“When I ask whether or not *he’s* happy, he says that my happiness is his happiness, too. If I’m happy, do it. Something he always says is that he won’t be with me for the rest of my life, and I’ll have to be on my own. So what do you enjoy? Choose that and be happy. Go for it.”

“I have a dream to buy a house with my father.”
"When I came to work in the entertainment industry, if my mother were still around, she would’ve been my biggest cheerleader. Because before entering the industry, Mae was the one who took care of my appearance.”

“I just felt that I wanted to try modeling work. Mae would feed me with turmeric and tamarind because while she was still here, I was still studying. I might have burned out if I didn’t take care of myself. I didn’t expect to work on the entertainment industry...”

“...but she thought that even if she couldn’t do work in the ent. industry, she knew character and image were important. Fortunately, my mother took care of me during that time. When I went to university, everything started to improve.

“My skin was getting clearer, even if I wasn’t fair-skinned. My face, which used to have a lot of acne, was okay because I was taking care of it. At home, this is what she did to support me.”

“But my dad does the same. My mother passed away before I even entered the entertainment industry, so she never got to see me reach that point. When my mother died, I hadn't started casting work yet.”

“At first, I planned to buy a house with my father. But when we talked about it, even if I bought a house, Por wouldn't move. My father lives in a house near the mouth of Khlong Talad. He’s alone as I love in a condo due to work and my studies at Bangkok University.”

“My father war the one who pushed me to get a condo, so that I wouldn’t have to sleep too late or wake up too early just to get to school. When I asked him to move with me, he said he didn’t want to because he’s lived there for so many decades.”

“Everyone there knows and greets him. He can talk to them and not feel lonely. He’s afraid that if he bought a new house and moved, he would be lonely when I go to work. He’s afraid that he won’t have someone to talk to.”

“He was worried about having Alzheimer’s (smiles) and after following up, it turned out to be true. If I’m working, who’ll be with him? But if he stays where he is, it’s OK even if he’s alone. The area where he lives is a small market community, where he’s been for a long time.”

“Everyone knows and respects him as a senior there, and they always greet him. Whenever I go back to to eat with my father, he walks like an MP, so I keep my hands raised the entire time. Some people do not know that I am a celebrity. They only know that I am his child.”

Rod...(laughs) everyone knows me as his son, and they praise him because I bigger than my father and look older than my father.” (VERY NOT SURE)

“The next plan that I have for Por is to buy a house, maybe not for him to live in, just to stay for a day or two, just buy it first.”