Famous Thai Actresses: 13 Stars of Lakorn, Film and Streaming

From Aum Patchrapa and Chompoo Araya, who defined the lakorn era, to Baifern, Mai Davika and Yaya, meet 13 famous Thai actresses — their breakthrough…

At a glance

Thai television drama — lakorn — is one of Asia's great popular art forms, and its leading actresses are stars of the first rank at home. This list favours sustained leading careers over single viral moments and spans the Channel 3 and Channel 7 prime-time system, the film industry and the freelance streaming era. Every date and credit has been checked against published biographies. Where a freely licensed, identity-verified photograph exists it is shown with its credit; six profiles are text-only because no such photograph could be verified when this page was prepared. Thai audiences usually know these stars by their nicknames, so nicknames are given throughout.

Patchrapa Chaichua (Aum) — Channel 7's defining leading lady for over two decades
Araya A. Hargate (Chompoo) — Lakorn star and Cannes fashion regular
Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul (Baifern) — Breakthrough in Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Davika Hoorne (Mai) — Star of Pee Mak and Heart Attack

Shortlist and comparison

Name	Why it stands out	Start with
Patchrapa Chaichua (Aum)	Channel 7's defining leading lady for over two decades	So Sanaeha (2003); long described as Thailand's highest-paid actress
Araya A. Hargate (Chompoo)	Lakorn star and Cannes fashion regular	Dok Som Si Thong; ambassador for L'Oréal Paris
Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul (Baifern)	Breakthrough in Crazy Little Thing Called Love	Played Nam in the 2010 hit film
Davika Hoorne (Mai)	Star of Pee Mak and Heart Attack	Suphannahong Best Actress winner
Urassaya Sperbund (Yaya)	Channel 3 superstar and multiple award winner	Brother of the Year; two Suphannahong National Film Awards
Bella Ranee Campen	Star of the Love Destiny phenomenon	Over 45 awards won between 2013 and 2020
Natapohn Tameeruks (Taew)	Award-winning Channel 3 dramatic actress	Kumkaew in Nakee (2016)
Kimberley Anne Woltemas	Thai-German Channel 3 leading lady	Breakthrough as Nam in Thara Himalaya (2010)
Nittha Jirayungyurn (Mew)	Channel 3 romantic-drama lead	My Husband in Law, opposite Prin Suparat
Supassra Thanachat (Kao)	Teen icon of Hormones: The Series	Played Sprite in Hormones (2013)
Mookda Narinrak	Miss Teen Thailand 2011 turned Channel 7 lead	So Wayree (2020)
Esther Supreeleela	Freelance star of the U-Prince series	Prikkang in U-Prince: The Handsome Cowboy (2016)
Pimmada Boriruksuppakorn (Pim)	Singer-actress of Zaza and the sitcom Pen Tor	Three decades across pop, sitcom and drama

The brands in detail

Patchrapa Chaichua (Aum)

Patchrapa Chaichua, nicknamed Aum, was born on 5 December 1978 in Bangkok; her birth name was Khaimuk Chaichua. She entered the entertainment industry in 1997 after winning the HACKS beauty and talent contest, and became a star with the 2003 drama So Sanaeha, playing Pralee — a performance that won her the TOP Award for Best Leading Actress. Her first film, Fake, followed the same year, and she won a second TOP Award in 2005 for Pleung Payu. For more than two decades she was Channel 7's defining leading lady, long described as the highest-paid actress in Thailand, headlining a long run of prime-time lakorns while also working as a model and television presenter. After her Channel 7 contract expired she became a freelance actress, choosing projects across broadcasters. Few Thai actresses have held top billing for as long, and her name remains a benchmark for lakorn stardom.

Araya A. Hargate (Chompoo)

Araya Alberta Hargate, better known as Araya A. Hargate or by her nickname Chompoo, was born on 28 June 1981 and is of English, Lao and Thai descent. She rose to fame in 1998 after winning the Miss Motor Show Contest; at just 17 she took her first acting role in the Channel 7 lakorn Pleng Prai and soon became a household name. Her most notable acting achievement is her role in Dok Som Si Thong, and she has remained a leading lady of Thai television drama for over two decades. Alongside acting she is one of Thailand's best-known fashion figures — a long-serving ambassador for L'Oréal Paris, a regular at the Cannes Film Festival and international fashion weeks, and a frequent cover star, as in the Cannes photograph above. That double career, equally at home in a prime-time lakorn and on a Paris runway, has made Chompoo one of the most recognisable Thai celebrities of her generation.

Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul (Baifern)

Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul, nicknamed Baifern, was born on 30 September 1992 in Dusit, Bangkok, into a family of Chinese descent. She began working as a child model, advertising a popular brand of student shoes while still in primary school, and later earned a bachelor's degree in film from Srinakharinwirot University. Her breakthrough came as Nam, the lead in the 2010 romantic comedy Crazy Little Thing Called Love, opposite Mario Maurer — a sleeper hit that made her famous far beyond Thailand and remains a touchstone for a generation of Asian film fans. She worked under contract in television drama for several years before becoming a freelance actress in 2016, since when she has taken leading roles across film and television and built a large international following. The photograph above shows her in period costume for the drama A Tale of Ylang Ylang.

Davika Hoorne (Mai)

Davika Hoorne, known as Mai, was born on 16 May 1992. She made her acting debut in 2010, playing the lead in the series Ngao Kammathep, and rose to fame with Pee Mak (2013), the horror-comedy that became the highest-grossing Thai film of its era. She won the Best Actress award at the 25th Suphannahong National Film Awards for the romantic comedy-drama Heart Attack (2015), along with back-to-back Best Actress honours from the Thai Film Directors Association. Her other notable works include the series My Ambulance (2019) and Astrophile (2022), and in 2025 she presented the film A Useful Ghost at the Cannes Film Festival — the occasion of the photograph above. Also a model, singer and YouTuber, Mai has moved easily between lakorn, mainstream film and international festival cinema, and is regarded as one of the defining Thai screen stars of her generation.

Urassaya Sperbund (Yaya)

Urassaya Sperbund, nicknamed Yaya, was born on 18 March 1993. She began her acting career with the 2008 comedy sitcom Peun See Long Hon and received greater recognition with lead roles in a run of Channel 3 dramas: Duang Jai Akkanee (2010), Game Rai Game Rak (2011), Torranee Ni Nee Krai Krong (2012), Khluen Chiwit (2017) and The Crown Princess (2018). Her film roles include Brother of the Year and Nakee 2 (both 2018) and Fast & Feel Love (2022). She is among the most decorated Thai actresses of her generation, with two Suphannahong National Film Awards, a TV Gold Award, a Nataraj Award and three Mekhala Awards. A fixture of magazine covers and brand campaigns alongside her acting, Yaya has been one of Channel 3's most bankable leading ladies for well over a decade, and one of the Thai stars most familiar to international audiences.

Bella Ranee Campen

Ranee Campen, nicknamed Bella, was born on 24 December 1989 and is a Thai-English actress and model. A Channel 3 leading lady, she is best known for the dramas Porn Prom Onlaweng, Khun Chai Puttipat, Padiwaradda (The Loyal Wife) and Plerng Boon. Her defining role came in Love Destiny (Bupphe Sanniwat), the period drama that became a nationwide phenomenon in 2018, drawing enormous ratings and sparking a revival of interest in its Ayutthaya setting; she returned for Love Destiny 2. She also starred in Krong Kam (Cage of Karma). Between 2013 and 2020 Bella won over 45 awards, an indication of how consistently her performances were recognised during the decade in which she became one of the most popular actresses in Thailand, with a following that extends across Asia wherever Thai drama is streamed.

Natapohn Tameeruks (Taew)

Natapohn Tameeruks, nicknamed Taew, was born on 6 February 1989 and has spent most of her career as a leading actress on Channel 3 (TV3). She first rose to prominence in a television advertisement for the Chinese dairy group Yili, appearing alongside basketball player Yi Jianlian and actress Liu Yifei, and she graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture from Chulalongkorn University. On screen she gained recognition as Soifah in Khun Chai Ratchanon (2013) before her career-defining performance as Kumkaew in Nakee (2016), the fantasy drama whose ratings set a Channel 3 record at the time and which won her the Best Actress prize at the 31st Golden TV Awards. She returned to that world with a cameo in the film Nakee 2 (2018). Taew's combination of classical looks, formal training and award-winning dramatic work has kept her among Thailand's most respected television actresses.

Kimberley Anne Woltemas

Kimberley Anne Woltemas was born on 22 January 1992 in Germany, to a father of German and Spanish background and a Thai mother, and grew up in Germany until the family moved to Thailand in 1999, when she was seven. She made her breakthrough playing Nam in Thara Himalaya (2010), the first part of Channel 3's 4 Hearts of the Mountains series, where she was paired with Atichart Chumnanon. The role established her as one of the channel's new leading ladies, and she has headlined Thai television dramas ever since. She completed a bachelor's degree in performing arts at Siam University in 2018 while continuing to act. Kimberley's career follows the modern lakorn star's path: a European childhood, a Thai breakthrough role while still a teenager, and more than a decade of leading roles that have made her a familiar face to drama audiences across Asia.

Nittha Jirayungyurn (Mew)

Nittha Jirayungyurn, nicknamed Mew — now known by her married name, Nittha Khuhapremkit — was born on 21 September 1990 and is an actress and model under Channel 3. Her first drama was Khun Chai Pawornruj, in which she played Thanying Wanrasa, and she went on to become one of the channel's established leading ladies through a long run of prime-time series. She is particularly associated with her pairing with Prin Suparat in the romantic drama My Husband in Law, one of the Thai series that travelled furthest with international streaming audiences. Like many Channel 3 stars of her generation, Mew built her reputation through television rather than film, at exactly the moment when fan subtitling and then licensed streaming were introducing lakorn to new audiences across Asia. Her polished, warm screen persona has also made her a regular face of Thai fashion and beauty campaigns.

Supassra Thanachat (Kao)

Supassra Thanachat, nicknamed Kao — who now uses the name Supassrathip Akkrathaweepatch — was born on 29 April 1995 in Bangkok. She became famous as a teenager for playing Sprite, the free-spirited schoolgirl in Hormones: The Series (2013), the GTH teen drama that changed Thai television and made its young cast household names. She followed it with film roles including Last Summer (2013) and the mystery thriller The Swimmers (2014), while studying entrepreneurial economics at Kasetsart University. Signed first with TV Thunder and then, from 2017 to 2022, with Channel 3, she has been a freelance artist since 2022, and has been a long-standing brand ambassador for Garnier Thailand. Kao's career tracks the modernisation of Thai drama itself: from broadcast lakorn to youth series and streaming, she has remained a recognisable lead for well over a decade after her breakthrough.

Mookda Narinrak

Mookda Narinrak, known as Mook, was born in 1996 and works as an actress, model and dancer. She won the Miss Teen Thailand title in 2011 — a pageant that has launched several Thai screen careers — and became a leading actress on Channel 7. She is mostly known for her roles in Mussaya (2017), Suparburuth Jom Jorn (2019), So Wayree (2020) and Ku Kaen Saen Ruk (2021), a run of prime-time dramas that established her as one of the channel's most popular younger stars. Channel 7's dramas are among the most-watched programmes in Thailand, and holding lead roles there across consecutive seasons is a mark of genuine popular appeal. Trained as a dancer as well as an actress, Mookda represents the pageant-to-prime-time route that still produces many of Thailand's television leads.

Esther Supreeleela

Esther Supreeleela was born on 18 May 1994 and is a Thai-Malaysian actress, model and presenter. She entered the entertainment industry at the age of twelve, modelling for teen magazines and advertising brands, and acted under contract to Channel 3 until her contract expired in 2014, when she became a freelance actress. Going freelance transformed her career: she won a wide following as Prikkang in U-Prince: The Handsome Cowboy (2016), the first season of GMMTV's U-Prince series, opposite Puttichai Kasetsin, and followed it with My Dear Loser (2017), playing Korya, and You're My Destiny (2017), the Thai remake of the hit Taiwanese drama. Esther's career is a case study in how Thailand's freelance generation built fame outside the big channel system, moving between broadcasters and production houses as streaming reshaped Thai television.

Pimmada Boriruksuppakorn (Pim)

Pimmada Boriruksuppakorn, nicknamed Pim, was born on 5 September 1980 and is a singer, actress, model, presenter and drama producer. She entered entertainment as a teenage model before joining Zaza, the GMM Grammy girl trio whose debut album Soda Sound was released in 1998. Acting followed: producer Takonkiet Wirawan cast her as Rinadee in Muang Maya (2000), and she became a fixture of Thai television, above all through the long-running sitcom Pen Tor, in which she has played Porjai across its original run and its later revived seasons. Her sitcom work in particular made her a household name with audiences who have followed Pen Tor for more than twenty years. With a career spanning pop music, sitcom, drama and production, Pim is one of the most durable all-round entertainers of her generation in Thailand.

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Start with the real decision: who will use this, where, how often, and what would make the choice unsafe or disappointing? The following checks keep the shortlist practical.

Chosen for sustained leading roles in Thai television drama or film, not a single viral moment
Covers several generations, from 1990s breakthroughs to the streaming era
Facts checked against published biographies; dates and credits are given only where documented
Photographs are shown only where a freely licensed, identity-verified image exists; other profiles are text-only
Nicknames are included because most Thai stars are billed and searched by them

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