CAPTURING THE ESSENCE of CapCher
CHERPRANG AREEKUL
Former Member and Captain of BNK48 and Actress
Nearly a decade ago, Cherprang Areekul steppedinto Thailand’s music scene when the word ‘idol’was practically unheard of. Who would have imagined this young woman would become ‘CapCher’ the beloved captain of girl group BNK48—rewriting Thai music history and forever changing how Thais perceive what it means to be an idol?
Unlike the polished perfection of K-pop idols who seem untouchably flawless, J-pop style idols like BNK48 are refreshingly accessible and genuinely warm. Perfection takes a backseat to sincerity and the heartfelt effort to bring joy and inspiration to fans through music. It’s no wonder her devoted fans consider her their eternal inspiration.
What strikes us most about Cherprang is her remarkable self-awareness and almost superhuman resilience. Throughout eight years, she’s lived by one simple yet profound principle: “I don’t want give anyone a hard time.”
This single phrase became her driving force through months of relentless schedules and non-stop chaos, even when exhaustion nearly broke her and burnout came knocking just a few years ago.
But this cat-loving idol isn’t all serious intensity. Beneath her petite frame and sweet smile lies acharmingly quirky side. She’s refreshingly honest about her paradoxes —loving herself while battling insecurities, feeling worthless yet being incredibly hardworking, admitting to laziness while maintaining high productivity. This level of genuine authenticity, coupled with her eccentric humor and unique worldview shaped by her physics and chemistry background at Mahidol University International College, only makes her fans love her even more.
In just a few months, the idol-turned-actress will trade filming sets in Thailand for lecture halls in Japan, pursuing her MBA. The career pause doesn’t concern her. After experiencing a profound loss of a family member, she’s learned to live each day to the fullest, knowing tomorrow is never guaranteed.
Life is fleeting, dreams are worth chasing, and even as she approaches the big 3 next year, for Cherprang, 30s are the new 20s.
Next year you’ll be turning 30. How do you feel about that?
I still feel young! (laughs) I feel like it’s not really that different from before because I feel like there are still so many things for me to learn and new experiences I want to continue developing. Maybe I’ve gotten better at speaking in front of cameras, like today where I can speak naturally, or my personality, makeup skills have improved – things like that. Taking care of myself has changed quite a bit from when I was 20.
I remember you saying that doing multiple things in life simultaneously makes everything turn out better, but if you do just one thing, it doesn’t turn out as well. That’s quite interesting.
Yes, it helps me manage my life and focus better. It forces me to do each thing within the given timeframe as best as possible. Sometimes I get too comfortable with myself. Being a bit more relaxed might be good, but my grades started dropping. I was shocked and knew it wasn’t working. So I returned to do the student committee job while studying at the same time. Honestly, I was confused too since I should focus on one thing at a time, but it turned out to have a much better effect.
For someone who admits to being lazy, you’d have to be considered a highly productive lazy person.
That’s because I’m lazy. When I rest, I want to rest without any worries, so I want to get everything done. But my way of getting everything done is I don’t like to do things carelessly. I want my work to be good. I have a perfectionist streak, so I find ways to finish work as quickly and as well as possible so I can go rest and be lazy to the fullest (laughs), reading books or watching anime to my heart’s content. Before reaching that point, the work has to be good first. I feel at peace knowing I’ve done my work. It might not need to be excellent, but it has to meet good standards.
At the very least, my parents invested in me, so I should do my best with each opportunity I get. We don’t know if we’ll use it in the future, but at least we do our best today, just in case. My “just in case” preparations have been very useful many times…Actually, many things in life happen because of preparation, and it’s the result of putting our full effort into whatever we do.
In everything you do – choosing your major, becoming a BNK48 member, participating in university activities, even acting – you always say it’s because you like them. How important is passion for you?
I grew up in a family that used a reward system – you have to do one thing to get another thing. I realized later that I have quite low self-esteem and don’t really love myself. I feel that just existing as myself doesn’t deserve to receive anything. I have to do something first. Like when I was little, I was taught that I had to finish washing my socks before I could watch cartoons or do other things. There always had to be an exchange. I felt that just existing without doing anything wasn’t enough.
The result is that I feel proud of my work or achievements instead, putting value on what I do more than just being myself. I’m aware of this now and am trying to change it. But the good side is that it keeps my standard high when I do something so I can get high returns.
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