"Big" of D2B band dies

Parnrawat has been in coma following a road accident four years ago which led to bacteria infection in his brain.

Doctor Manoon Leechawengwong, who used to treat Parnrawat, said he received a phone call from Parnrawat's father, Udom Kittikorncharone, informing him that Parnrawat died at the Siriraj Hospital at 9:30 am.

Parnrawat died of blood infection, Manoon said.

His condition worsened since November 30 and he was rushed to Siriraj at 7:30 am Sunday.

Parnrawat, 25, has been in coma for four years following a road accident in the night of July 22 2003.

His car plunged into a road-side ditch and he swallowed some of the polluted water, leading to bacteria infection in his brain.

He was among three singers of the boy-band D2B, which was very popular at the time of the road accident.

The funeral service will be held at the Nam Daeng Temple in Samut Prakan for seven days. The bathing rite was held at the temple Sunday at 4 pm.

Parnrawat, who changed name from Apichet following the accident, was born to be an only child of Udom and Yupha's "Kittikorncharoen" family in Samut Prakan.

Being the only son exactly would make Big felt lonely, but wouldn't let the third student of Bangkok University's mass communication faculty complain about trifles. Instead, he takes a sense of humour in leading his life to this world.

"I'm not a type of a guy, who liked to be confined to a room," says Big, in an interview in "D2B: The Definite Collective Photography Album" as recently released.

"Big is the only child, so he is rather selfcentred," says Beam, also in the photo book. "But, he loves friends."

When he was a little kid, he was sent to Theparak Kindergarten as his first school. At his teens, he moved to Assumption School in Samrong until Mathayom 3. After that, he studied at Pensamit, in Bang Kapi, for a high school.

At that time, he got his first chance of being presenter for two TV commercials of Swensen's and Pepsi.

At the high school, he participated to be a member of a singing club, and not longer he was suggested by a teacher to apply for RS Promotion's singing contest, "Star Challenge." And that was his first and important step of leading him to stardom, and unexpectedly to become a member of D2B, a very popular boy band of today.

Back in late 2001, three boys of different ages and places Kawee "Beam" Tanjararak, Worrawech "Dan" Danuwong and   were grouped as a boy band, under the name of D2B derived from their abbreviation of nicknames, with their debut self-titled album in 2001. Despite a slow start, sales exceeded a million copies.

The popular D2B won over teens with such hits as "Tor Na Chan (Ther Tham Yangnan Dai Yangrai)" (Why Did You Do That Before Me?) and "Mai Mee Ther Wannan Mai Mee Chan Wannee" (Without You Then, Without Me Now). The music videos, which star the three lads, are also going down well with Thai teenagers.

Different from the Western boy bands, D2B are a trend these days that are a bit like the craze on Taiwan's F4, whose dancing style is slow and smooth and the music is what called sweet pop. Everything revolves around their good looks. A question is why the Thai boy band became popular.

"I think it has to do with fortune," says Dan, in the last interview with The Nation. "Back then, none of the other boy bands in the market managed to have a hit with every single track."

"Instead of putting the emphasis on singing and dancing, we worked on making their act a real show," explains Niphan Chuaysongkroh, who produced D2B's debut. "We watched and listened to top US boy bands and decided that D2B would sing in harmony because it worked well with their very different tones. Dan has a melancholic voice that's good for rock, Big is the prototype of pop, and Beam's voice is warm  perfect for love songs."

From a research, the target group of D2B was different. Beam was adored with university students, Big was a teen heartthrob and Dan appealed to everyone mainly due to his boy-next-door looks.

Coming to this year, three boys are so busy with the promotion of their debut movie, "Sanghorn", and their second studio album, "Type II." Three promoted tracks are "Thi Doo Wa Phom Ying … Thi Jing Na Phom Ai" (I'm Not Pretentious, Just Shy), "Hueng" (Jealous), and "Ja Kohok Kan Pai Thueng Nai" (When Do You Stop Lying?).

Not longer, the boy band comes up with their breathtaking concert, "D2B: The Miracle" at Hua Mark Indoor Stadium.

From the popularity, D2B received many awards. In 2002, there are Pikhanet Thongkham for Best Group, Top Award of "TV Pool" for Popular Vote Group, C2 Awards of C2 Centre of Concert for StageWinning Artist, and Public Relation Department for the 20th Outstanding Young Media. This year, the boy band awarded a MTV trophy for Thailand's Best Group, and for Popular Thai Group from Channel [V] Thailand.

In the photography album book, Big says of future: "I would like to have a meadow with a cow farm, because I would like to be a boss, and not a follower. Most importantly, I think that it is private and peaceful."

Big's works:

TV commercials: Swensen's, Pepsi, Pond's, Panasonic, Mistine

Albums: "D2B", "D2B Summer", "Type II"

TV Series: "Wai Rai Freshy"

Film: "Sanghorn"

Live concert: "D2B: The Miracle Concert"

The Nation