BANGKOK: When Black pink mega-star Lisa takes to the stage in Bangkok Saturday, seeing the Thai-born K-pop sensation dance in the flesh will be a life-defining moment for many native superfans.
Lalisa Manobal, 25, who belongs to Buriram province in northeastern Thailand, last performed on home turf in 2019 with her South Korean girl band.
With gossips rife over the group’s future, Thai Blink fans, as they call themselves, are anxious to see a potential last hurrah.
She is very charming and attractive when she dances and she is the best dancer in the band, said by Nipattanachai Thepkamdee, a TikToker who also attracts hundreds of thousands of followers.
Thailand Blackpink
He further said that Saturday will be his first Blackpink concert for which he spent more than 100,000 baht ($3000) and to hi when foreigners think of Lisa Manobal, they will definitely think of Thailand.
Nipattanachai hopes one day he will dance on the international stage like his idol.
“I always watch at her photo and tell myself that if Lisa can do it, I can do it as well. I really love her,” Thepkamdee said.
The government of Thialand is also fond of the young singer and hailed her a soft power icon after she wore traditional Thai headgear and performed in front Phanom Rung stone castle, a Hindu Khmer Empire temple complex, in a 2021 music video for her first solo album.
Fans waiting the concert
Meanwhile a thousand early bird fans, being dressed in pink and black clothes were gathered outside the Suphachalasai National Stadium, round noon to buy stocks, take selfies and participate in dance flash mobs with a giant blue bear mascot.
One of the Blackpink fan Sittipong Jitaue said that he liked every single one of the band members but he like Lisa the most because she is Thai.
Pornthip Dumklang, 25, who travelled from another province to attend the concert, said she was filled with a sense of national pride to see Lisa Manobal perform.
#BORNPINKinBangkok and #LisaHomeComing were also trending hashtags on Twitter in Thailand on Saturday.
Formed in 2016, Blackpink, comprising Lisa, two South Korean members Kim Jisoo and Jennie Kim, and New Zealand-born Australian-raised Roseanne “Rose” Park, has assisted to raise K-pop’s global profile with tens of millions of fans. – APP
