#sum up

We asked Mai which guitar he likes the most. Mai replied that it was a very difficult question to answer. Very difficult.

"But if I had to choose, it would be this one I play regularly," Mai pointed to the olive green electric guitar he was carrying. 

“He has an overall meaning and a look that we really like. He’s the one that I feel has the right look, the right tone, not too strong, has a vintage feel, and still has a modern sound that can be used.”

Throughout my life journey, the guitar is the thing that makes me feel the most charming. I am most fascinated by the guitar. It’s like I’ve fallen in love with it. I don’t know how to stop loving it. As for other musical instruments, I might have had the chance to get to know them, but I might not have fallen in love in terms of playing. But in terms of consuming, listening, of course I am someone who loves music. Whether it’s the sound of the piano or the sound design of some electronic musical instruments, they also touch my heart. But in terms of playing, collecting, or anything physical, the guitar is with me. It is my first and only love, something like that.” (smiles)

That Cherished First Guitar of 'MILE'

“It’s still there,”  we asked about the first guitar in Mai’s life.

“Since we saw the white rabbit-shaped guitar in The Guitar Mag, that white guitar started to come into my head. I remember that when school ended around 3-4 p.m., while waiting for someone to pick me up in front of the school, I would complain to myself, saying to myself, “I really want a white guitar.” Then a friend named Ying Yai walked up to me and whispered in my ear, “I don’t know how to play, but I still want one.” I was shocked, my head was full of question marks. How difficult could playing a guitar be? Why did my friend say that even though she didn’t know how to play, she still wanted one? When I got home, I went to my mother and asked to buy one. At that time, I was still young, only in the sixth grade, and I was studying in Kalasin. It wasn’t easy to find one… When I asked my mother to buy it, she said, “Okay, I’ll buy it for you if I pass the entrance exam for Mathayom 1. Let’s exchange.” I was comfortable. I passed the entrance exam for Mahasarakham University Demonstration School (Secondary Section), and I got my first guitar, which was a popular classical guitar model, which most guitar lovers probably started with.”

“As for the first songs I played, they were songs that my guitar teacher taught me, which were “Khang Khao Kin Kluai” (Due Due Due, Due Due) (and then hummed the song for us ^_^) But if it’s a song that ends handsomely, it’s a song by Potato, “Mai Hai Tur Pai”. This is a song that I really like. The MV is beautiful, the feeling is there, and I really get into it. At that time, I was in Grade 6. I knew how to get into loneliness. I felt like playing this song. It just so happened that my guitar teacher’s younger brother, who was a night musician, told me that he would teach me to play a song. He asked me what song I wanted to play, so I told him “Mai Hai Tur Pai” (No Hai Tur Pai ). So he taught me. I was really determined because I really wanted to play it. After teaching him for about 2 days, I could play it. After that, I played this song all day and all night.” (smiles)

The Guitar Masters Who Fueled 'MILE' Passion

“Wow!!! That’s a lot.”

“I think it depends on the time period or the loop of listening to music. At first, we started listening to Thai music. The guitarist at the beginning of our life was 'P' Win Potato'. After that, time led us to know many guitarists, both Grammy and RS. We dissected a lot of songs. We dissected continuously until we learned that the flavor of Thai music is like this. 

When I started studying in Mathayom 2, I secretly went to study music, which made me know about Blues, Rock, Progressive Rock, and Dream Theater (a legendary American progressive metal band). The complexity of listening began to increase. I knew that John Peter Petrucci was this person ( John Peter Petrucci, founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater). We started to enter the loop of all things Rock Metal. My seniors listened to Trivium , so we listened to it too. We felt that it was good, it was cool. (Trivium is an American heavy metal band)

“The time when I really started to change was during Mathayom 4-5. I moved to study at Triam Udom Suksa School in Bangkok. A friend of a friend who was a student at Suankularb played John Mayer ’s “ Neon” in the karaoke room. When I heard it, it made me change my taste in music. It had an acoustic guitar feel, ding ding, ding, but it was a different feel from all the music I had listened to in the past 4-5 years. I can say that John Mayer was the first person who really inspired me. After that, it was blues rock like SRV ( Stevie Ray Vaughan ). Another person I really like is Philip Sayce ( Philip Sayce, Welsh guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor, and producer ).

In Thailand, there are many. Master Winai (Winai Trinatipakdi) and Phi Jack (Thammarat Duangsiri) are my inspirations who I used to study with. If it were about the same generation, I would say The Toys . He has great skill and a clear character. But if we talk about guitarists that I like at present, there are 2 people: Mean Thaitatsamit and Kong H3F. Their signatures are clear, their accents are clear, both in their sound and playing methods.”

And if there's a chance to perform with someone on stage? 

“John Mayer,”  Mai replied with a smile.

“But if it’s a Thai artist, “I want to play with Carabao.” I like the way they present meaning through Carabao songs. I’ve listened to a lot of Carabao songs. I went to the last concert. I like songs for life. I like songs that don’t talk about small images, just small feelings. I like songs that make the receiver, the consumer feel like they’ve gained something from life. Carabao’s songs are songs that have meaning. If I had the chance to be a part of a song with an artist, it would be Carabao.”

'MILE' Dream and A Part of 'MILE' Life

We all had dreams when we were kids, but not everyone can fulfill those dreams. Because dreams of “what do we want to be when we grow up?” “what do we want to do when we grow up?” may be just imaginary dreams. Because when we grow up, “dreams” tend to change over time, according to the context of society, according to what we see along the way. My dream is the same…

"When I was a child, I wanted to be a civil engineer." This is the dream of Pakphum Romsaithong.

“I remember having a relative who worked on road construction. He took us and his children to visit the dam. We saw the development from the laterite area and then saw it gradually develop until it was completed. So we thought about what kind of career could help our city in Kalasin grow. At that time, as a child, we also wanted to have fun, so we wanted to be a civil engineer.

When I started studying in Mathayom 4 in Bangkok, I felt that the vibe had changed. When I was in middle school, I went to school in the King’s class, got good grades, had many close friends, played music, and had activities with friends all the time. When I changed schools, I still couldn’t adjust myself. I studied a lot more. The subjects I studied were more intensive. I started to feel homesick. When I started to skip school a lot, I couldn’t keep up. Things started to go wrong. It made me start to isolate myself, talk to myself more, and see people’s nature more.”

“In the past, I liked to sit alone at bus stops, parks, or wherever people walked by every day for at least two hours a day. I sat mindfully, observed people’s behavior, and talked to strangers. People in the past were very charismatic. Many people talked to me even though we didn’t know each other. Some told me their stories, complained to me about this and that. I had no reason to do this at that time.”

Time makes us grow up and learn continuously. From Triam Udom Suksa School to the yellow and red walls of Thammasat University with the TU Sexy Boy stage that made both seniors and juniors open the warp to find out who 'Mai Phakphum' is and where he comes from.

“I used to think that I wanted to inspire people, but it doesn’t mean that we have to be great or anything. I just feel that being an inspiration to someone who is confused or lost, or being able to make someone who is straying in some way, bring them back to the center, to the point where they can balance, this is what we want to do, and we did it (smiles). 

Today, more people know us, whether it's international fans, younger people, or older people who may be in their 40s. I notice from the cards they write to me or the feedback when they send me DMs. I read them all the time. I may reply to some or not. What I see is what they reflect on how we inspire them. This is one of my dreams that I've seen take shape. I've made it happen and I want to keep doing it."

'MILE' Story of Pushing Through Bad Day

“Have you ever encountered anything difficult?” “Wow, a lot.”

“The more well-known something is, the more people expect it. This is a difficult thing. Even if we have a mindset that we can’t make everyone like us or change anyone’s mind, they say that life gets harder as we grow older. I think the difficulty lies in expectations.”

“The easy way is to let it go, let it go. But when the time comes, it’s hard to do that. It’s easy to say but very difficult to do because we are people who care about others and we think carefully. The best way is to try to stop inputting things, stop playing with our phones for a while, stop asking for opinions from others for a while while the problem is happening. Try to take a deep breath and stay here, in the present, come back to yourself, come back to talk to yourself, ask yourself what happened, what is the best case, what is the worst case. I do this and feel better. Even though the problem or stressful thing doesn’t go away, in the end it gets better.”

“I am lucky that my family is lovely and always behind me, no matter when I fall or encounter something difficult. But if I encounter something not too serious, I don’t tell them because I am afraid that they will worry. I will use a method like taking a nap. When we sleep, it is like resetting ourselves. Or changing the atmosphere, changing focus, or what they say to focus on breathing. At first, we didn’t understand, but when the time comes to try, when we focus on breathing in and out, really breathing in and out, the things that are floating, the things that are stressful, the extreme suffering, will get better. The nature of the human mind is to focus for only a split second and focus on one thing at a time. When we are forced to focus on breathing, whatever is floating will disappear. 

I learned this method when I was talking to a lot of people. One person talked about breathing exercises and I followed what he was saying. I felt better. When I went home and had a problem, I used this method. Hey!!! It helps. 

But in the end, I think everyone should have their own technique. For me, when I started to get to 30, I think that if we tune everything to be in moderation, in the middle, I think it makes us happy easily and it’s easier to move forward.”

The Art of Happiness in 'MILE' Moment

“Guitar, watch, record, wine glass, alcoholic drink”

“We have a bad habit. When we do something, we like to go all the way. We are like ducks who go all the way. When we reach a certain point, we will retreat. We are not experts, but we will understand the structure and then retreat. This is our habit.

All the things I mentioned, if we put them there, they will all be beautiful. Beautiful guitars, beautiful watches, beautiful glasses, beautiful alcohol bottles. Start with beauty first. When we touch them, we will find the next thing, which is what they give us, the form, taste, smell, sound, and so on. Then it will become a story. Story can fool us later. Everything I say will be like a rocket that gradually rises. Story is the last flower that makes the passion for that matter stronger. Like a first impression, I like beautiful things. I feel that even if I put it aside, in ten or twenty years, if we look back, it will still look the same. It has complexity and I think everything is a work of art. We like to consume art, but our art tends to go in this direction. Guitars are also art. They have their own stories, their own shapes. For example, guitars are relics that make them look old or painted in this or that color, which there are many. Or guitar amps, these are all charming. They give off a very personal sound. Vintage guitar amps can’t produce sounds that modern amps can’t. They have a certain sense, a tone, a character of sound, and a certain uniqueness that suits us.”

“If it’s an alcoholic drink, the way to make it enjoyable is like we understand if it’s a top nose or not, or we don’t need any principles at all. We drink it and feel that it gives us some imagination. Rum is one type, whiskey is another, bourbon is another, gin is another, and so on. So we spend a lot of time on these things. But I have to say that I’m not encouraging you to drink it (smiles).”

Vintage is 'MILE'

“Today, I’m dressing up a bit like this vintage style. I think vintage has a sense of timelessness. It has a sense of having its own character. It doesn’t have to follow anyone. It doesn’t have to change because the trend changes. But I will change when I want to change. Vintage is right here.

I think it’s similar to my personality. Actually, I am 100% myself. I am not someone who follows trends. But I have to study trends to work or change my look to follow trends as an actor or as a presenter. But deep down, I know what I like and dislike.”

“In terms of music, I think of Stevie Ray Vaughan ’s (SRV) song Lenny. It talks about an old guitar sound, a bit clear, a bit bluesy, but the guitar tone is the sound I’m describing. A vintage guitar sound is something like this.”

Green → Rose → 'MILE' → Greeny Rose

Why do you like green???

“At that time, I didn’t know what color I liked, but I probably liked it a lot because everything was green. I asked myself that question, but I couldn’t find the answer. Looking back, I only knew that the children’s dolls that we asked for or that we chose were green. They were Shin-chan dolls. Children like Shin-chan in green shirts. Even the first electric guitar that we secretly bought was green. The first amp cabinet, I didn’t know the sound, so I chose it based on the look. It was green felt. Everything was green.”

“I think green is a color that gives a feeling of comfort and is pleasing to the eyes. At the same time, it also has a coolness to it. It’s like a young man in his mid-teens who is starting to get older. He is calm, cool, and sharp but still, not loud. The cool thing about green is that there are so many shades. The green I like the most is olive green. Olive green and British green are British green, like MINI cars and BMW cars. Racing green are the two shades that I like. This is the charm of green for me.”

Tell us about Greeny Rose. 

“The green rose” represents composure, slowness, and calmness in making decisions. Seeing him makes you feel safe and comfortable. Why does it have to be a rose? Because the rose represents the feeling of love and passion at the same time, which is Love and Passion that is given to each other. When you put these two things together, it is a Greeny Rose. But there must be a condition that the rose that is given must be a rose that is willing to let go of each other’s thorns.”

“A rose that is willing to let go of its thorns means that it will compromise with both the giver and the receiver, and both of them will be happy.  Greeny Rose is a green rose that is willing to let go of its own ego thorns. So my meaning is that fandoms should not fight among themselves, or if we have something, we talk about it. The relationship in terms of fans will continue on forever.” 

Is the meaning too deep? Mai smiled and asked us back, then continued to tell us about 3 years of being impressed with Greeny Rose.

“ I think it’s a give and take, a mutual happiness , as I’ve always tried to tell everyone, whoever we meet, it’s a good time in life. And when we’re together, continuing to be together, nourishing each other is not just about taking or giving. That’s what I call a give and take, like a spinning top. We see fun, developing our relationship all the time. This is what I’ve always seen. Whatever we can do for him, be nice to him, do good work for him, respect him all the time as much as we can respect him. Whatever we can do, we do it all.”

“At the same time, Greeny Rose has sent us good feelings in various forms. Coming to the event, sending good feelings via social media, some are not in Thailand, they are abroad, posting to encourage me. I know they are still here, but some have withered, some have disappeared, but new ones have grown.”

“Lastly, whatever it is, I have to thank everyone, thank the fans, thank Greeny Rose , everyone who helped complete the experience, and gave and took together all along. In the past, I didn’t have many chances to thank you. I want everyone to take good care of their health. I want everyone to take good care of their hearts, their minds, and their bodies, both our own and those close to us.”

'MILE' Present is The Best Present

“Being alive now is the greatest gift in the world.”

“Being who we are, living here, is something we unpack and are happy about. And the box next to it that they gave us to live through is about family, about fans, about friends, about various desires, whether it’s a guitar, a record, or other things. The box that comes together to be Present 

Experience is like a grain of sand or a pebble, a stone that comes together. The Star is a big stone that lets us see how to work in the entertainment industry. And the most obvious thing is that we never thought we would become a star. Talking about this makes me feel shy (smiles). But now we can’t deny it. We ourselves used to be secretly confused about how we got to this point.”

In the final conversation, we asked Mai about the role of Kinn, the ill-tempered young man of the main family. What are the differences between Mai and Kinn? 

Stats : 4005 Posts. 17 377 Likes. 719 Abonnés. Et accessoirement 85 brouillons. Des stats modestes mais encore merci à ceux qui suivent pour de vrai et qui soutiennent 🙏

J'aime bien les photos prises avant des tournants majeurs dans mon histoire alors que je suis totalement ignorant de ça ahah. Je dis ça parce qu'en gros l'année 2021 peut se diviser en 2 parties, y'a avant Septembre, et après Septembre ... Avant Septembre, c'était une année vraiment tranquille. On a célébré des victoires (et je parle pas de karaté) un an apres le Covid. C'était un moment ou j'ai vraiment pu prendre le temps de faire les choses. J'en ai pas fait beaucoup, mais j'ai avancé a mon rythme pour de vrai c'était assez chouette. Puis apres Septembre ... On est passé au lvl au dessus, à plein de niveaux. Comme disait le grand sage Orelsan "Le passage à l'âge adulte est glissant dans les virages [...] Maintenant t'es dans l'grand bain, devine comment on nage". Bon, toujours pareil, pas de brouillon pour écrire ce post mais en deux mois j'ai eu l'occasion de réfléchir à ce que j'allais mettre dans ce sum up. Deja, il faut noter que c'est mon 2e sum up en français, le premier étant "Welcome to 2012" (mais qui au final était juste une playlist de 2011 donc pas réellement un récapitulatif de l'année). Je suis assez fier de voir que cette série de posts dure depuis 10 ans. Aussi, toutes ces années j'ai fait le choix de les faire en anglais pour deux raisons : 1) ça avait le mérite de repousser les lecteurs indésirables avec un faible niveau de compréhension/de resistance à l'anglais 2) Ca me permettait de prendre de la distance aussi par rapport à ce que j'écrivais d'une certaine manière. Du coup aujourd'hui j'écris en français parce que ... j'ai pas le temps d'écrire en anglais, mais surtout je ne pense pas avoir de lecteur indésirable. En fait, au cas où ça se verrait pas : j'adore mon tumblr. C'est une source de nostalgie incroyable de part les photos, les chansons, les citations. C'est très très fort, et les gens avec qui je peux partager des souvenirs qui sont ici pourront confirmer. Le seul truc c'est que maintenant, je suis littéralement seul à continuer cette aventure Tumblr. Je n'ai plus personne avec qui partager les posts que je like, ou bien même mes propres posts. Donc ceci n'est pas un au revoir, mais j'en profite pour dire que je suis plus proche de la fin de l'aventure que du début. Ca me touche, mais c'est le cycle de la vie. Il faut aussi dire que ça s'approche de la fin à cause du cruel manque de temps auquel je fais face. Je n'ai plus le temps de faire des posts milimetrés, en me prenant la tête sur quel post suit quel post, quel effet ça donne etc. Toutefois, je pense pas être si proche de la fin que ça parce que ça stimule ma créativité d'entretenir ce tumblr, et j'ai quand meme beaucoup de photos qui sont pas instagrammables que je prends plaisir a poster ici. Donc voila, en bref je sais pas ce que je vais faire de ce tumblr sur du moyen terme mais au moins pour 2022 je vais essayer de poster plus spontanément, en me prennant moins la tête.

Bon sinon, en parlant de 2022 ... On a deja bien les pieds dedans. Ce qui est chouette quand ce post sort à temps, c'est qu'il est plein d'espoirs concernant l'année à venir. Par exemple, on pouvait se demander légitimement à quoi ressemblerait la premiere médaille post covid, ou bien ... à quoi allaient mener les retrouvailles de Novembre 2021. Maintenant on sait, mais il reste 9 mois a 2022 pour nous surprendre (et en bien, une guerre nucléaire c'est pas réellement ce que j'appellerais une bonne surprise). Pour revenir sur 2021 ... sincèrement c'est une suite logique de 2020. 2020 on a appris les leçons, et 2021 on a mis en application. Plus dur, plus franc. Y'a eu quelques vengeances pour ceux qui le méritaient. En vrai, j'ai pu effleurer ce que c'était de "peak at life", l'année aurait pu s'arreter en Octobre/Novembre j'aurais fini sur un sans faute. Mais bon, evidemment ce qui monte doit redescendre donc j'ai pas eu que des jours tranquilles sur cette fin d'année mais c'est le jeu. J'ai passé les 4 derniers mois de l'année à sans cesse chercher une forme d'équilibre dans mon style de vie, dans ma maniere de gérer les relations etc et je continue encore mais bon, je garde toujours en tête que les grandes choses prennent du temps mais surtout que les arbres les plus tardifs donnent les plus beaux fruits. Sinon ... en vitesse : c'était une année pleine de parties d'échecs. J'ai commencé a apprendre en Novembre 2020 et j'ai toujours rien laché, toujours en avancant a mon rythme. J'ai pris des raclées, j'en ai mises, ça me va très bien haha. (kazamastar3 sur lichess et chess.com hésitez pas !). En karaté je continue humblement mon oeuvre en tant que prof et athlète. Mais ça c'est la version courte, si je devais developper il faudrait un post entier, mais je continue à essayer de tirer mes jeunes vers le haut (même si parfois la réalité de terrain me rattrape, ca rend tout ça pas facile mais bon, la famille au dessus de tout hein)

Et pour finir en musique ... en fait cette playlist me satisfait a moitié pour deux raisons. 1) J'ai officiellement decidé d'arrêter de sync mon iPod. Ce qui fait que c'est un objet rempli de chansons témoin du passé mais j'kiffe, ça a du sens .. sauf que du coup je ne tiens plus a jour mes DDE avec les chansons dl mois par mois, ce qui a rendu cette playlist particulierement dure a faire. 2) Si je regarde globalement, je suis pas sur que la playlist soit optimale pour representer 2021 mais bon, si je vois des ajustements a faire j'hésiterais pas :) (oh et une 3e raison, c'est que j'ai beau reflechir je vois pas de projets qui m'ait profondément fait kiffer ctannée). Allez, 2022 let's go. A la fin de chaque post, j'aime bien me dire "cette année j'la vois venir comme ci comme ca", genre .. la trajectoire de 2021 était assez évidente. J'ai recommencé a etre surveillant en Septembre 2020 en me disant "jamais de la vie je tiens un an" et malgré tout j'ai tenu jusqu'au bout, avec plus ou moins de difficulté mais je savais que ça allait se finir en 2021 et ça allait laisser place a autre chose. Pour cette année 2022 je prédis une année relativement stable et tranquille toujours centrée sur "competition and currency" comme le dit si bien Drake. J'espere ne pas me tromper, j'adore la tranquillité, le calme et la compétition ahah.

2021 Playlist :

Tayc - Mieux Dvsn - Use somebody & Keep it going Travis Scott - Goosebumps (HVME Remix) Kaza - Certifié toxic Tayc - Comme un samedi Gazo - Euphon J. Cole - P r i d e . I s . T h e . D e v i l They. - all mine/the moment Kid Travis - strawberry skies Gradur & Franglish - Trucs de choses Kaza - Les femmes sont si bizarres Tory Lanez - Lady of Namek

J. Cole - Off Season