Jirayu La-ongmanee (Thai: จิรายุ ละอองมณี; RTGS: Chirayu La-ongmani; born 29 October 1995), nicknamed Kao (Thai: เก้า), is a Thai actor and singer. He has starred in several Thai films and television series and has done advertising and modeling work. Currently, he is also the vocalist for Retrospect and a guitarist of Bad Baboon
Early life and education
Jirayu La-ongmanee was born in Rayong and moved to Bangkok when he was 3 months old with his mother, Woranuch La-ongmanee. He went to Amatyakul School and entered the entertainment industry at the age of five. Jirayu graduated with a bachelor's degree from the College of Social Communication Innovation, Srinakharinwirot University, and a master's degree from the School of Communication Arts, Sripatum University.[citation needed]
Career
Jirayu began acting in several television soap operas (lakorn), becoming widely noted for his role as Santi in 2005 Fa Krachang Dao. He was then invited to try for a cinematic role in King Naresuan, in which he played the role of young Boonthing. He has since acted in four other films and has numerous television, advertising, and modeling work.[1][2]
Jirayu gained popularity after he starred in the 2011 Thai comedy film, SuckSeed. He won Daradaiy The GREAT Awards 2011 Best Actor for the role. After his success from SuckSeed, in 2012 La-ongmanee starred opposite Nattasha Nauljam in a short movie "Just a Second" and Sutatta Udomsilp in a romantic film, Seven Something, directed by Jira Maligool, Adisorn Trisirikasem and Paween Purikitpanya. He won the 29th Saraswati Royal Awards Best Supporting Actor for the film.
Due to the popularity of Jirayu in Indonesia, he has promoted his movies in Indonesia twice, in 2014 for Chiang Khan Story and in 2015 for Joe Hua Tang Mo.
Jirayu started his musical career again by forming a band called "SLEEPRUNWAY BAND" in 2015, he was a vocal and guitarist. They released a single entitled "SLEEPRUNWAY". In 2016, he released a new single, "Thuk Yang Man Plian Pai Laew" (Everything Has Changed).
In 2022, Jirayu performed as a special guest with Retrospect at the Migrants in Kaoshiung Music Festival 2022 in Kaoshiung. He played alongside the band's three other members. In March 2023, Retrospect announced that Kao Jirayu would become their official vocalist, replacing Nap who left the band in 2020. Kao Jirayu received a lot of support from fans. In July of the same year, Retrospect released their new single, "ชีวิตหลังความตาย (afterlife)." This marked Retrospect's comeback to making music with Jirayu as their lead vocalist.
^"จับเข่าคุยกับหนุ่มน้อยสุดเฮี้ยว เก้า-จิรายุ ละอองมณี (Interview with Jirayu La-ongmanee)". การศึกษาวันนี้ (Education Today) (in Thai). Watta. July 2007.