Sonia Couling

Couling is Eurasian or Luk khrueng, with an English father and a Thai mother;[5][7] fluent in Thai, English and French.[3] She also speaks German and Italian. She attended St Michael's all-girls boarding school in Surrey, England and studied German literature at University College London. She graduated from European Business School London (EBS London) with Bachelor of International Business in 1998.[1][5][8]

As a child she was a talented dancer, winning a slew of medals from the UK Dance Teachers Association in jazz, tap and modern dance, before later taking up ballroom dance, jive and salsa.[7][9]

Couling started her modeling career in a Seven Up advertisement when she was 13.[2][5][6][7] While attending boarding school and university in the UK, she worked with Storm modeling agency in London landing ads for L'Oreal UK and many fashion spreads[6] and throngs of photographers from Thai magazines flew to the UK to snap her until she graduated.[5]

Once back in Asia she settled into a supermodel role,[7] she has been the face of beauty products over Asia,[3] like L'Oreal Asia, Olay Asia, Nivea Visage, Eucerin, 1st Asian Ambassador for Rado watches, Clairol Worldwide and plenty more. The much sought-after model appeared in countless Thai TV dramas and talk shows, and appeared on the covers of most leading fashion and women's magazines. She also appeared as a catwalk model in fashion shows and worked as a bilingual MC for various high-profile events.[5][6][7][8]

In 1998 Couling became VJ for MTV Asia, based in Singapore. She's the first Thai ever to land the job and launched her career into the pan-Asian stage.[7][8][9]

In 1999 Couling was voted Thailand's sexiest woman by FHM.[5] The UK magazine FHM chose her as number one sexiest woman in Thailand and second in Asia and 10 sexiest women in the world.[10] In 2016 she was chosen as the most beautiful Thai actress.[11][12]

In 2002 she won Best Actress in a Lead Role at the TV Gold Awards (Thai television awards) for her performance as Phitawan Satchamat in Thai TV series Maya (2001).[13][14]

Couling also works behind the cameras producing TV show Thailand's Next Top Model (2005)[6][15] and internationally as the executive producer on A Stranger in Paradise (2013).[6]

In addition, Couling has starred in international films and TV series, including The Mark, The Mark: Redemption and Strike Back : Legacy[6][16].

In 2018, she appeared on The Face Thailand season 4 All Stars[17] and The Face Men Thailand (season 2)[18] as a mentor and The Next Boy/Girl Band Thailand as a producer.[19]

Couling, who is Thailand's number one international celebrity and has been involved in many Muay Thai projects, has been chosen to be the face of Muay Thai.[20][21]

Her in-depth experience with Muay Thai, includes having been an English announcer in Jao Muay Thai Fight at Siam Boxing Stadium on Thai TV3[22] for 3 years, hosted and MC'd The 2010 King's Cup and The 2010 Queen's Cup and plenty more. She, moreover, appeared on The Challenger Muay Thai (2011) on AXN as a ring announcer,[23] and hosted Muay Thai Premier League (2012) on FOX.[20][24]

On 8 September 2007, Couling married to Paul-Dominique Vacharasinthu who is half Thai-French.[25] They have a son, Pasha-Dominic Vacharasinthu (b. 21 October 2015).[26]

Couling flies single engine planes, reserve pilot for the Royal Thai Air Force[1] where she was a guest pilot on the F5 and F16 fighter planes.[6] She is also a horse rider[6] and female polo player.[3][27]

• Thailand's Next Top Model as Executive producer
• A Stranger in Paradise as Executive producer