The reality of her now starstruck life now is in stark contrast to her upbringing in Betong in Southern Thailand, near the Malaysian border, when she dropped out of school at age 12 to take care of her younger siblings while her parents worked on a construction site.
She confessed on national television during the competition she once ate rice mixed with cooking oil and salt because she had no money to buy other food, and later started working menial jobs such as cleaning, before perfecting her English and starting to sing in clubs in Yala. Eventually she moved to Phuket and was able to make enough money to support herself.
Gig was first featured by The Phuket News in June when she had reached the competition semi-finals. While she was already well known in some music circles on Phuket, the vast majority of people on the island had no idea who she was, and she certainly had no national exposure.
Understandably, life has changed considerably for Gig, 32, since the competition finished.
“Now everyone wants to take a photo with me. I think “wow”, and I really like it. I feel like I’m a superstar, and it makes me feel really good.
“I just don’t believe it. It was my dream come true. Even being in the newspaper, that was my dream. I used to see people being written about, and said maybe one day that can be me.”
Since featuring on TV, she is called up far more often to perform in Phuket, and will also sing at an event in Chiang Rai soon. Gig has managed to turn her love of singing into a real career.
Her profile is also rising on the international stage: She recently returned from a trip to Europe where she performed in both Denmark and Austria, one performance of which was fiancé Soeren Hede’s mother’s 90th birthday.
Sadly, deflecting attention from her obvious talent, Gig’s relationship with the older Scandinavian man came under intense scrutiny during the show, and many people were less than convinced of her “poor” upbringing, saying she was now enjoying the good life because she had a “rich farang husband”.
“It made me really sad, and I got upset. They don’t know about my life. When we first met Soeren, I didn’t know if he was poor or rich. He was very kind and a real gentleman, and I love him. He takes very good care of me and my daughter (10-year-old Nuaianna), and I really appreciate that.”
When Gig was interviewed for the television show while in Haad Yai, she was asked to talk about her past and how she ended up on the show.
“I talked for about 45 minutes about my whole life, but when I saw it on television I was talking for only 10 minutes, and it didn’t explain the full story. Many people just say I have a farang boyfriend so I must be rich. It is not true. Everything isn’t mine – it is his, and I just can’t take it.
“We are not married yet – everything is his, and I still work and earn my own money. Of course he helps me a bit and he will buy things for me if he sees me in trouble. But he teaches me if I want something I have to work hard for it myself.”
“I want to have my own album with original songs, and my new band (Gig and Friends) are writing lyrics at the moment. During Thailand’s Got Talent, everyone knew me for singing English songs, but I want to sing both Thai and English. I was so hopeful that I could win the competition.
“But the winner this year [aerial acrobatic performer Leng Rachanikorn Keawdee]... he was so talented. Most people cannot do what he did, but many people can sing.”
Gig has plans to audition for The Voice next year, saying she might have a better chance at winning because the competition is about singing only.
“No one wants to know about my life or all about me [on The Voice], and I love that competition.”
However, she’s more than ready to ditch her signature song, the 1993 pop rock song “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes, that wowed judges and audiences alike during Thailand’s Got Talent.
“I don’t want to sing What’s Up, I know that one already.” So what would she like to sing instead?
I really like ACDC’s Highway to Hell. [During] that song, I think I can really show my power.”