Digital Cover: Thai Actor Tay Tawan Vihokratana Lives Life in Full Colour

The day Tay Tawan Vihokratana is having his photoshoot for the L’OFFICIEL HOMMES X Loewe digital cover is the same day that the trailer for the Cherry Magic 30 Virgin series is released. Tay seems relieved to be able to finally talk about this project openly. “I plan to work just on one series this year,” says Tay, who starts the conversation with visible excitement. It is the same enthusiasm that the shoot 
crew and his fans are familiar with. 

“In previous years, I starred in so many series and ended up feeling burnt out. I found myself being unable to focus. Where I stand now, I can say that I’ve been doing so many things — unlike some others who may have chosen to focus on one thing like castings for soap operas or releasing songs. The record label I’m with has such a wide variety of work — what I do now includes being a show host. I have my show, my concert, and filming… I have to take a singing course to prepare myself for my concert because I am not a singer in the first place. After the classes, I’d host shows and also star in series. In the past few years, I worked daily — I’d have one job a day and there wouldn’t be enough time between each job. So now, I intend to work on one series at a time. Casting requires tremendous 
energy to be able to do well. In between casting for two or three different roles, and hosting a show where I truly need to be myself, I had to figure out what I wanted to do but there was no time. I spent all of my time in castings. This is why I aim to star only in Cherry Magic this year,” he elaborates.

Tay admits he regrets letting go of many great opportunities. Yet he adds, “But this is my intention. It’s better for me to wait until I’m fully ready rather than not excelling at any work.” We ask if he knows what he likes best now, especially since he’s dipped his toes in different areas of the entertainment industry. He replies: “I like myself when I do a variety of things because that spices up my work life. I can see that people have their perspectives about what they do. Some of my friends have full-time jobs, which is boring for some, but one good thing about it is that they can keep accumulating experience doing the same things every day. I might not be able to improve my skills as quickly as they can because of the variety of skills — it’s one bit of each at a time. It’s more fun and less boring though. It’s how I can develop myself in various areas at a time.”

It has been ten years now since Tay entered this industry as a show host to support himself financially. “I never analyse how I feel about things. I just keep going. I like where I am now. I like the challenges I have faced. I got into this industry with no specific passion or any outstanding abilities like some others. However, once I got to try something, that passion grew and it has been driving me to want to make myself better every day. I have learnt that it’s not easy for someone with no built-in skills in the first place, like me,” he explains candidly.

As Tay moves on to give an example of how a gifted singer in the early stages of his career may differ, he pauses mid-sentence and seems to want to change the topic entirely. Having a conversation with Tay, we must admit, requires quick reflexes to catch up with his fast-moving thoughts.

Photography THANUT TREAMCHANCHUCHAI
Styling CHANOND MINGMIT
Hair SIRASIT SIRIKARIN
Makeup PIYACHET THANACHOTRUECHUWONG
Photography assistants CHUDCHPONG 
AUMPONRAT and PATCHARPOL 
KETSUWANVATANA
Styling assistants NAPAT ROONGRUANG and RAPEEPAN JANTARANIPA