That’s because she dresses up as celebrities for the photos posted on Facebook and the resemblance is often amazing.

The second-year student at Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University uploaded her first “celebrity dress-alike” picture two months ago and she now has more than 30,000 followers on Facebook and thousands more on Instagram.

The initial post was a shot of Chloe Grace Moretz in shorts and a spaghetti-strap shirt side by side with one of Sine in the same outfit. “I dress just like her, so why do I look like Co?” she said in the caption, punning on Thai slang for “cow” that rhymes (sort of) with Chloe.

Sine’s friends thought it was adorable and urged her to post it on the “LowcostCosplay” Facebook page, home to amateur fantasists in low-budget costumes. There she earned her first ovations, along with encouragement to keep being creative.

“I picked Chloe because she looked so good in shorts and the top and they were easy to find,” Sine says. “Once it hit the social networks, people said they’d love to see more funny DIY celebrity look-alike dress-ups. Whatever’s trending on the social media, if it suits my style, I’ll work on it.”

By “working on it”, she means trying to build an outfit out of whatever’s lying around. “I used my pyjamas, mesh netting from my car park and plastic bags to create a mermaid costume. And my boyfriend handles the settings and photography.”

Sine’s greatest hits have involved superstars Davika “Mai” Hoorne and Treechada “Poy” Petcharat and beauty queen Panadda “Boom” Wongphudee.

Mai looked so elegant in a black off-the-shoulder dress and pearl necklace that Sine contrived a matching gown and made do with a necklace of round sausage links. Poy looked like a princess in a Ralph Lauren satin gown and long glossy-black hair. Sine managed to replicate the look with seaweed, aluminium foil and a wire pot-scrubber.

Boom proved even more of a challenge, topped by a tiara and funnelled into a sleek black number with plunging cleavage. Sine pulled it all together and then stuck it out front, padding up with, what else, a pair of milk cartons.

Sine’s efforts got a big boost in popularity when Internet star Noo Noi Bon Yod Khao Un Nao Neb (Little Girl on Top of Cold Mountain) – a humorous fashion plate herself – shared Sine’s bosomy Boom with her multitudes of followers.

Naturally it came to the attention of Boom, who re-posted it on her Instagram, saying, “I don’t know who you are, but you’re so funny and I love it!” Boom even supplied a phone number that Sine could call to receive an undisclosed gift.

Now nicknamed the Low-cost Cosplay Queen, Sine has been booked up with TV and newspaper interviews, and one channel even offered her a job.

So, her fans asked, what was the gift from Boom? “The biggest gift Khun Boom gave me was the opportunity to be seen on her Instagram. It’s opened a lot of windows of opportunity for me and my shop.”

Interest in the upcountry transvestite fashion-queen has spiked because she’s been hospitalised – diagnosed with penile cancer.

“I got cancer because I always tucked my penis out of sight between my legs, sometimes overnight, when I appeared at special events,” says 27-year-old erstwhile farm boy Niwat Sangmor. The designer of wild and amusing outfits in rural Khon Kaen made the announcement after discovering she has Stage 3 cancer.

“Remember when I told you guys I’d become unwell and lethargic? First I thought it was because I was working so much and not getting enough rest, but now we know it’s cancer.”

It is cancer, but Pancake’s own doctor says she’s wrong to blame it on the tucking. The doc says it’s probably the result of HVP (human papillomavirus).

Pancake has spent the past three years spinning heads online with her amazingly creative use of household and farm implements and materials to construct highly unusual outfits. The bizarre yet seemingly haute couture clothes made her one of the first Net idols to emerge from rural Isaan.

Much of the fun derived from hearing about the occupational hazards she encountered, like snakes, splinters, poison ivy and falling out of palm trees. But in Pancake’s mind, at least, tucking proved to be an unforeseen hazard – too many hours spent hiding the genital bulge from view. And surely the duct tape needed to secure the package couldn’t have helped matters.

We hope Sexy Pancake gets past this quickly and is back on her rustic runway soon.

Ready for her close-up

Actress and style-setter Araya “Chompoo” A Hargate returns to the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in France on Wednesday, her fourth straight appearance at the planet’s premier movie event. And again, she’s proving you don’t have to have a movie to screen to be there.

Asked by Manager Online if she’s ready to pose for the Cannes photographers once more as the face of L’Oreal Thailand, the makeup firm, Chompoo says she’s not even done packing yet.

“I’ll never be ready for this kind of event! I don’t think anyone ever could be! It’s such a big, big deal and I’m super-excited and nervous.

“This year I’ll walk the red carpet on opening night, too, which will be a first for me. So you can imagine the pressure I put on myself. The partners and my style consultant at L’Officiel Thailand magazine are making sure everything is flawless. My suitcases is sure to be constantly arranged and rearranged right up to the minute I get on the plane.”

The 34-year-old Thai-British star is also scheduled for red-carpet turns on May 14 and 15.

She’s been doing this since 2013 as brand ambassador for L’Oreal Paris and the year after that earned the “best dressed” title in the Red Carpet Fashion Awards in a sequinned Kaufman Franco gown.

“I can’t tell you how many dresses we’ll be taking this year – it’s a never-ending selection process and we have lots and lots to choose from,” Chompoo says.

“Normally we bring loads of clothes and accessories anyway, because you never know what will happen and you have to be prepared. Let’s just say I’m now 90 per cent ready.”

AMAZINGLY, IN THE year since we last listened in (feeling just a little bit guilty), Ploypan “Ploy” Dyrendal never heard what she wanted to hear from her estranged husband, the actor-singer Peter Corp Dyrendal.

It’s been almost a year since Peter failed to return home from a day on the movie set, leaving Ploy and their two young sons wondering what was happening. In the interim he was often spotted riding in motorcycle caravans and attending parties.

Ploy dearly wanted to get on with her life, but Peter kept avoiding her, so there could be no discussion about separation or divorce. Finally, though, Ploy told the press this week, their parents and other respected seniors arranged a meeting, at which the couple agreed to end their marriage, though no documents have been signed as yet.

As to the reasons behind their split, Ploy said she’d prefer that Peter explain the situation to the public himself. Meanwhile she’ll keep the boys and Peter is always welcome to visit them. Their youngest was just a few months old when Peter turned into a no-show dad.

Ploy has just returned to her job as a Thai Airways flight attendant, leaving the kids in the care of her family, and has been delighted with the words of encouragement coming from passengers.

Ann’s back on screen

Actress Ann Sirium Pukdeedumrongrit, long absent from the spotlight after marrying Briton Justin Tate and moving to England, is back in Thailand and generating fresh wattage producing a drama series for Channel 7.

Ann is both making her debut as a producer and starring in the soap opera “Saneh Ha Maya”.

Asked if the scene has changed much in the five years she’s been gone, she says there have been a lot of changes in the industry and she’s been busy trying to catch up.

Ann is confident in her abilities as a producer, but she admits to being a little worried about getting back to acting after being gone so long. Before moving to England she’d mainly hosted TV shows while also running a spa.

Ann still looks beautiful at age 45, though. She’d started out as a teenage model before getting into film in the 1980s and finally making it big on TV. She was married to singer Billy Ogan and they had a daughter, then married Rajit Sangchuto, who owns a production firm and directs commercials.

Her third marriage, to Tate, has fared better chiefly because they’ve been able to maintain their privacy. The wedding itself took place in England about two years ago.

With her daughter now attending college in the UK, Ann felt the timing was right to return to work in Thailand, which she’s missed. Her husband has come with her and will stay for a few months. Naturally the press wants to get pictures of them together, so Ann says she’ll bring him to the set of her show – maybe once the weather cools down a bit.

Thailand said goodbye last year to lifestyle-fashion magazine Priew after 35 years of fine service and right now both Image and the local edition of Cosmopolitan are preparing their final issues.

ML Pee Malakul Na Ayudhya, managing director of Advance Publishing, has decided not to renew his contract with Cosmo in the US to keep the Thai version going, so the ladies will have to look elsewhere for advice on managing their wardrobes and their men. Pee says the May issue will be the last.

Advance now has just one magazine left, the similarly venerable Dichan, and even it went through major changes late last year to cut production costs.

Meanwhile Image, which also covered the clothing-and-lifestyle beat and was a going concern for 27 years, is also feeling unwanted and closing up shop – though hopes linger that it will return someday.

“We’ve been discussing this for a long time,” Viroj Wachiradechkul at ThreeSixtyFive, a major shareholder in Image Publishing, tells Matichon Online. “We acquired Image from GMM Grammy last June knowing the print-media industry in Thailand was in trouble. We only hoped to stem the loss of income, but it’s been much worse than we expected. We did all we could, but decided it’s best to just stop before anything else happens.”

Image Publishing also puts out In Magazine, Maxim, Madam Figaro, Her World and Attitude and they too are struggling, but they’re hanging tough thanks to adaptive marketing strategies that counter losses with income from other projects.

“This is not the end of Image, more like a pause to catch our breath,” Viroj says. “We need to stop the bleeding, patch up the wounds and regain our strength. We still hold the rights, and when we’re ready we’ll be back for sure.”

James conquers Asia

TV superstar Jirayu “James” Tangsrisuk has demonstrated that you don’t actually have to land a role in a Hollywood film to “go inter”. A turn on a foreign red carpet will do the trick, especially if you’ve got a handsome face on the front of your head like he does.

All James had to do was put in a brief appearance at the opening of an MCM Haus store in Seoul last week and his Korean fan-count skyrocketed. And at the same time he’s scored a music deal in Japan.

“It was a lot of fun,” James tells Dara Daily. “The Korean team took great care of me and I felt very welcome. All the fans were great and supportive.”

Evidently the Koreans find him adorably friendly and funny and, yes, drop-dead gorgeous – attributes that have drawn comparisons with their own superstar, Soon Joong-ki of “Descendants of the Sun” fame.

“Well, I would definitely take that as a compliment!” James replies with all due modesty. “But Soon Joong-ki is much better-looking than I am and I certainly wouldn’t compare myself to him.”

Meanwhile James’ 2013 series “Rak Sood Rit” recently aired in Japan and he’s become a massive star there too. They want to hear him sing, so a recording contract was swiftly signed.

On the road again: Our tuk-tuk wants to go home

Actor Ray MacDonald has journeyed round the world in his TV travel shows, but his last odyssey – “TT Rider”, aired on One Channel last year – was definitely his favourite, so much so that he wants to do it again.

Ray drove a tuk-tuk nicknamed Lumdaun across Thailand and into Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Now he wants to take Lumdaun to meet “her” grandpa, which means driving to the birthplace of the vehicle we call the tuk-tuk.

There were some trying experiences on that first trip as well as thrills, Ray tells 247 magazine. Lumdaun was constantly breaking down and, since he didn’t have a mechanic in tow, he was always hunting for garages along the way or figuring out how to fix the beast himself.

Nevertheless, it was fun and educational enough that a Season 2 of “TT Rider” is underway. This one should be an emotional ride for Lumdaun, returning to her native land – but what exactly is her native land? Ray hasn’t revealed that part, other than to say it’s beyond our borders.

So the crack research team at Soopsip set to work on Google and uncovered the fact that Thailand got its first tuk-tuks from Japan. Imagine that. We made a few changes so they’d break down more often, but they’re basically Japanese. And where did Japan get the idea? The world’s first vehicle resembling a tuk-tuk car was made in Italy.

However, further investigation determined that “TT Rider” has a map of its route-thus-far on its Facebook page, and Ray has aimed north and is now in Laos again, apparently heading for China. That’s quite a detour if he’s trying to get to Japan – or Italy.

Diplomatic dynamite

Kittipong Kittayarak has been travelling too. The executive director of the Thailand Institute of Justice reports on Facebook that he’s been to the United Nations in New York and met Ambassador Virachai Plasa. It was Virachai who presented Thailand’s case before the International Court of Justice when we were bickering with Cambodia about the Preah Vihear Temple on the border.

Quickly, before everyone reaches for their guns and flags, Kittipong restricted his reporting to Virachai’s musical talents. Apparently he and other UN ambassadors have formed a band called UNRocks. Denmark, South Korea and Tonga are also represented, and the lead singer is Simona Miculescu, who represents the UN Secretary-General in Belgrade, Serbia.

Probably the only rock band allowed to perform in the UN General Assembly Hall, they have a minor hit with the peace-theme “Strong UN, Better World” with a melody by Emmy-winning composer Gary Fry and lyrics by Miculescu. It’s being released for the UN’s 70th birthday on a CD that also includes UNRocks’ cover of John Fogerty’s “Rocking All Over the World”.

You really ought to buy a copy at Amazon, CDBaby or iTunes because the proceeds go to Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, which does nice things for the world. Get a preview and see the band in action at http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=FT-IXp4D_bo.

It was inevitable that the social networks would be ablaze with comments on Sunday with the premiere of Season 6 of the hit fantasy TV show “Game of Thrones”. Everyone was dying to find out whether Jon Snow was really dead. And what they got, as AFP delicately puts it, was “a huge curve ball”.

The news agency is tiptoeing on eggs not to spoil the moment for readers who haven’t yet seen the episode, and Soopsip won’t ruin it either. But, look, you have to be dead yourself or studiously avoiding the Internet if you don’t already know.

The hashtag #GameOfThrones topped Twitter trending for hours before and after the HBO premiere. Before the show aired, everyone was wondering about the episode’s title, “The Red Woman”. Did it refer to the Red Priestess Melisandre bringing Snow back to life after he was bumped off in the closing moments of the previous season?

No, as it turned out. The title alluded to the “big reveal” that came at the end of the latest instalment. Duane Brown of the Houston Texans football team reacted like this: “What. The. Hell?” British newspaper columnist James Delingpole claimed to be “slightly upset” that nothing in the episode “really upset me”.

Everyone involved in the production had insisted Snow was definitely, irreversibly dead, but conversation among fans has focused on how, rather than whether, he will be resurrected.

With more than 20 million viewers per episode, the show’s return had been touted as the biggest TV drama event since JR Ewing was gunned down in 1980 in primetime US soap opera “Dallas”. Atlanta, Boston and Denver all had theatre screenings of the show. And in Britain, weekly listings magazine The Radio Times ran a live blog starting two hours ahead of the broadcast.

Squeeze those lemons

HBO had another big night on Saturday when Beyonce cemented her status as the “queen of surprise releases” on Saturday, issuing a new album and video called “Lemonade” via a hotly anticipated onehour special on the cable network.

During the show, Reuters reports, she appeared to address longstanding rumours of trouble in her marriage with rapper Jay Z. After song lyrics about being cheated on, Beyonce made clear in the last tracks of the new album that she’s decided to reconcile with him and continue in the marriage.

In a preview earlier this week, the singer teased fans with a snippet promoting the show, mysteriously intoning, “The past and the present merge to meet us here. What are you hiding? Why can’t you see me? You’re the love of my life.”

Fans, who wondered if Saturday’s show was to be a concept video with new music from the R&B star, found out that was pretty much the case, with chapters carrying titles that riffed on stages of the grieving process, such as anger, denial and forgiveness.

Videos also featured appearances by the mothers of two black men, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, whose shooting deaths – in Brown’s case by a police officer – trained a spotlight on US racial tensions.

Celebrities tend to put their spare cash into restaurants, nightclubs, spas and beauty salons or come out with perfumes, cosmetics and clothing bearing their names. Anne, though, is obviously more down to earth than that. She’s a confirmed realist and a hard worker. She thinks big and doesn’t waste time with small-scale businesses. So she’s caught and fried up a bigger fish in the property trade and must have spent millions doing it.

The 39-year-old Thai-Swedish showbiz icon recently announced on Instagram the completion of Anne’s Place, a seven-storey community apartment with a great location, opposite Kasem Bundit University on Pattanakarn Road.

It has space intended for restaurants, a manicure shop and retail outlets, but the real appeal in this particular real estate is that the 22-square-metre, fully furnished units will cost just Bt7,500 to Bt8,000 to rent. For that low price, you get to live in a property with full amenities and services and have Anne as your landlady!

Further details and an official (non-social-media) announcement are awaited, but Anne’s fans think Anne’s Place sounds great. Her Instagram post drew a lot of praise for her “great vision” and business sense. Given her reputation for caring about quality and the fine details, the fans are convinced she’ll succeed with this venture

Baby gets impatient

It’s baby time for Chai and Vicky now that the actress has finally agreed to put aside work to become a mum. After four years of marriage, beautiful couple Chatayodom “Chai” Hiranyatithi and Sunisa “Vicky” Jett recently announced that they’re looking to expand the family with a baby.

Asked on the Sanook gossip website what they’ve been waiting for all this time, Vicky says she wanted to stay focused on her career, so parenthood was put on hold. Chai says getting the green light from his wife to become a dad left him in tears.

“It’s not really because of any pressure from our families or anything like that,” he says. “I guess we’re just finally ready – although I’ve been ready for a while!

“I think Vicky maybe changed her mind because her close friend Benz [fellow actress Pornchita Na

Songkhla] had a child last year. They’re the same age. Maybe that’s what made her want to have one of her own, which is great! I’m so happy I feel like I’m floating on air!”

Sanook wanted to know if he preferred a boy or a girl. Chai says he doesn’t really care but, given the ability to choose, he’d opt for a son.

“There are already a lot of girls in Vicky’s family, so it would be nice to have a boy for a change, but it doesn’t really matter. I’m just so happy that I’ll get to be a dad soon. Stay tuned everyone – I will not disappoint you!”

We have Dr Sarawit “Kong” Subun, who’s also an actor, and Dr Smith Arayasakul, who’s also both an actor and a singer. Now we have a doctor who’s also a film director.

Ritt Pokkrittayahariboon practised at various hospitals before settling in Khemarat, in Ubon Ratchathani on the Mekong River, and deciding to make a movie about the place, “Ormkord Khemarat” (“Embracing Khemarat”). It’s due in theatres on May 12.

Dr Ritt immediately fell in love with his new hometown, which always leaves him feeling mellow. He turned that blissful mood into a novel and now a film.

Born to a struggling family in Surin, Ritt was able to attend high school in Bangkok and then pursued a medical degree at Khon Kaen University. A professor urged him to keep studying and become a surgeon, but he had to get a job working as soon as possible to repay his parents for financing his education. He interned at a major hospital in Ubon Ratchathani before switching to the small one in Khemarat.

Though working full-time as a doctor, Ritt has also dabbled in other local businesses, growing to love the town and its people more and more. He was amazed to discover that a lot of residents weren’t proud of where they lived. So he set up a contest to encourage them to make short films about Khemarat’s obvious beauties and hidden gems.

Then came the novel, with Khemarat as its setting, and it begged to be turned into a movie, sure to promote the area as a travel destination. Ritt wrote the script and funded the project out of his own pocket, as well as directing.

It’s about a woman doctor arriving from Bangkok and falling for the owner of a local coffee shop and resort. What she discovers while tending to her patients, many of them Lao, adds to the story’s warm appeal.

And the a real doctor is playing the lady doctor – none other than Miss Thailand 2009 first runner-up Kobkullaya Chuengprasertsri, making her acting debut!

Drenched in love

Congratulations are due another film director, Poj Arnon, whose monk comedy “Luang Pee Jazz 4G” got so soaked in box-office cash over Songkran that it’s already surpassed the coveted Bt150-million milestone. Poj has declared, though, that its take is actually double that amount if all the receipts right across the country are counted.

The official box-office tally covers only the income from Bangkok and Chiang Mai, a practice that’s been in place since the multiplex boom 20 years ago. In the interim, however, hundreds of other cinemas have opened in every corner of the Kingdom, but income from them still isn’t taken into account for the official record.

It’s the same with “Pee Mak Phra Khanong”, Thailand’s most successful movie of all time. Officially it earned Bt568.88 million, but GTH, the studio that made it, claims receipts from across the country push that figure close to Bt1 billion.

See, you have to get quickly past all the boring details on the front pages. May won the singles title at the OUE Singapore tournament, totally spoiling the day for defending champion Sun Yu of China by a score that had a bunch of 21s in it. May also became the sport’s first female singles player ever to win three Superseries titles in as many weeks, having stormed through India and Malaysia as well.

She’s also now, and this is the big one, the first Thai female World No 1 in badminton, joining a gilded roster that goes all the way back to 1960 and the first Thai world champ, flyweight boxer Pone Kingpetch.

So you’ve got all that, plus the facts that May’s from Yasothon, turned professional in 2007 and six years later won the World Championships by upsetting Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui, and she once posted on Instagram (@ratchanokmay) that she dreamed of becoming World No 1.

On Sunday she did, so let’s get on with the real story. With her galactic triumph, May not only endeared herself to the nation but also earned official permission to get serious with her boyfriend, Pannawit “Tawan” Thongnuam, who just happens to be a national badminton champion himself.

May’s father, Winuchai, had agreed to let their love proceed only if she first dedicated herself to the mission at hand. “I want Nong May to focus on the tournament,” he told reporters on April 11. “Having a boyfriend shouldn’t be allowed to affect her practising. I’d like her to become the Singapore Open champion, and if she can do that, I’ll let May and Tawan take their relationship forward.”

“What? Green card!” May celebrated after her win on Sunday in a post witnessed by more than 47,000 people. Her boyfriend chimed in @witpannawit_th, “Thank you Rachanok who brings happiness to all Thais,” adding photos of May holding the championship plate. Tawan’s hashtags, if you’re looking, are #Congratulations to the new world No 1, #Congratulations to 3 Superseries, and #See you tomorrow.

The usual horde of news media and fans was at Don Mueang Airport yesterday morning to welcome May home, though surprisingly Tawan wasn’t in the crowd. May seemed unfazed, chatting with reporters and waving to the fans with a big smile. Tawan has plenty of time to congratulate May in person anyway – or at least a week. Then he has to fly to Wuhan, China, for the Asian Championships lasting through May 1.

For now we’re all watching May and Tawan’s Instagram feeds for glimpses of love set free to blossom.

Among the stoic farm boys and urban punks resigned to spending the next two years in uniform, there are the inevitable gulps, gasps and weeping celebrities alarmed at the poverty and bar haircuts lying in wait for them.

The law requires every male to either do a few weeks of basic obstacle-course training while still in high school or else report for induction when they reach 21, ready to spend two years at the mercy of a really mean drill sergeant. You can dodge the draft if you can prove you have a hazardous medical condition (hence the preponderance of asthma at this time of year), that you absolutely cannot spare time from your studies, or that you’re transgender.

Being merely gay doesn’t cut it. Gay blokes have to pile in with the straight dudes and take their chances with what’s literally a lucky draw. You reach into a bucket and if your hand comes out holding a red card, you get in line for a bad haircut. If you pluck a black card, though, you’re free to go home and resume whatever it was you were doing.

This year there was a ripple of relish when a guy we presume to be gay showed up at the registration station in Nakhon Ratchasima quite prepared to take his chances. He was wearing a pink bow in his fairly short hair. The recruiting officers exchanged knowing winks.

Video of what happened next – posted on the Facebook page of Medical Battalion 3, Infantry Brigade 3 – went viral online, because it’s a real kick seeing the young fellow’s reaction when he pulls a black card out of the bucket. The boys in the battalion obviously enjoyed it too. Their caption reads, “We admire you for going through the annual conscription. It’s the duty of all Thai men.”

The clip has amassed more than two million views and been aired on several TV channels. It shows the candidate – excited, nervous, cheered on by people in the hall – pick out his card, realise he’s still a free man and start dancing around ballerina-like with joy, even hugging the officer in charge, who’s grinning like a proud father.

It was the military officers’ empathetic, smiling reaction to the guy’s good fortune that appealed most to online viewers, even more than the dancing and the general relief at the outcome.

“This is very sweet,” one viewer commented. “All those soldiers look really friendly.” “Really admire the officer who gives this pink-bow man a hug,” said another. “He’s very nice!” And still another remarked that, “They look like a big, happy family – very heart-warming!”

The greatest praise, though, was for the boy in the pink bow, simply because he didn’t even try to avoid the call-up. “You’re tougher than all those celebrities who avoid service with their unbelievable excuses,” someone pointed out to near-unanimous agreement.