Any celebrity would want their face to be seen anywhere, be it press, radio, TV or social media. But sometimes it can be a double-edged sword that could do both harm and good.
Singer-songwriter Suthita "Image" Chanachaisuwan, who has been in the spotlight for quite some time, is still somewhat struggling with the positive and negative sides of fame.
"Recently, I have come to accept a lot more about other people's opinions and comments about me online, but I'm still learning new things every day about how to behave properly as a public person," said Suthita.
The 21-year-old has recently released her latest single Unlucky, and although it is only the second official song released with her new record label Smallroom, Suthita was a familiar face in showbiz long before that. In fact, her career began at 16 when she came second in The Voice Thailand in 2014.
Fast forward several years and as she gained popularity, Suthita became a model, actress and a famous singer, known for solo hits like Not A Goodbye, Jaiyen (Still) and many other special songs she's done for films and TV series, along with Where The Wind Sleeps, the hit song she's collaborated with renowned producer and pianist Jakkawal "Neung" Saothongyutitum for the game Blade & Soul.
Unlucky is a synthesizer-based pop ballad where Suthita croons about a lonely person who's finally met her long-awaited partner.
"I first got an idea of lyrics for the song from a phrase that popped into my head, which goes, 'I'm an unlucky person who's lucky enough to meet you', " said Suthita.
"I knew that I had to do something with the phrase eventually, so I tried picking up an acoustic guitar and started singing these words on top of these guitar chords I came up with, and somehow it worked."
Suthita started working on the song with her producer and Smallroom's managing director Rungroche "Rung" Uptampotiwat who signed her to his indie label.
"I've been a long-time fan of Smallroom and remember growing up listening to songs by the label's artists such as Tattoo Colour, Somkiat, Greasy Cafe or Polycat," she recalled.
"So, my producer at the time Stamp [Apiwat Eurthavornsuk] introduced me to Rung. And as he accepted me to the label, it was definitely like a dream come true for me. So far, I've really enjoyed working with the label a lot because they gave me 100% creativity freedom on how I'd like my music to sound, or how I want to speak my mind with my lyrics."
Similar to her previous single Still, Unlucky is a slow and sad song reflecting on themes of self-doubt and the lack of confidence to be in a relationship, which the singer admitted is something she also struggled with in her personal life.
"I know I'm not one of the most confident people out there in show business. I often think that I'm really unlucky sometimes," she said.
"I wouldn't call myself a real songwriter or a talented artist, because I'm still in a process of learning to be one at the moment. So, I usually try not to have any high expectations for anything, so it won't hurt that much if I fail at something."
Last year, Suthita was chosen to be the mysterious "Mattress Mask" in the third season of the hit singing competition The Mask Singer. She started weeping onstage after revealing her face to the audience, who gave her a standing ovation. When asked why she cried, she replied: "I always have this doubt that I'm not good enough. And I wasn't sure that I'd still be accepted if people found out who I really was under the mask."
Suthita is typically seen wearing a long-sleeve black jumper and black trousers, which is quite different from the way other young singers dress nowadays. Her choice of clothes is because she has been a victim of cyberbullying and harassment.
Like many pop stars, Suthita has hundreds of thousands of followers across social media. While some offer kind words and support, others sexually harass her, criticising her body in vulgar terms instead of focusing on her music and work.
"I used to get mad at a lot of those comments, and it made me very uncomfortable about how I should look in public," she said.
"But now I'm now aware that these kind of things are beyond my power, and I can't control everything. You can't stop what people think or say. But I can instead be more cautious about what I do or what I wear in public."
Suthita was once the subject of a mini-scandal in 2017 after criticising the country's poor public transport via twitter after waiting many hours to catch a bus home in Bangkok. Then she tweeted: "What a lousy country. It's not going to improve in 1,000 years from now. Now shoot me." To her surprise, the post went viral. Netizens were fast to interpret her message as an attack against the country's military government, with "shoot me" referring to the violence leading up to the 2014 coup.
She was chastised and demonised to the point that she had to come out and apologised for making an "inappropriate" tweet, even though what she said is quite true.
"I never criticised the government and politics in the country, I was complaining about the city's welfare, but many people got the wrong idea and tried to draw them together," she said.
"I can only say that I won't repeat my mistake. If I complain more politely, then things would have turned out better. I'll give everything I post more careful thought next time and continue to do my job well."
Now apart from playing concerts and touring, Suthita is finding time to hit the studio, working on a song that will soon be her third single, and she said the song could be in either Thai or English.
"It depends on my mood or what I think is appropriated for the song. At the moment it might be easier for me to write words in English, but I also want to write good lyrics in Thai too," she said.
"I think people are open so much more about language than in the past. There are more and more artists nowadays who are writing songs in English like Part Time Musicians or My Life As Ali Thomas, and people are still supporting them. So I wouldn't worry about that anymore."
