She comes from an affluent background
Nicha Yontararak – better known by her stage name Minnie – originally hails from Thailand, and as the lines she sings in the song My Bag imply, she was “born rich, not interested in money”. It’s true that her family is certainly well-off, making their money from hospitality and banking.
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Her grandparents run a resort in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. In an appearance on V Live in May 2020, she said she hoped she could bring her fellow (G)I-dle members to the beautiful spot and perhaps even shoot a reality show there, adding that it has a dreamy surrounding landscape with a waterfall, river and mountain.
Meanwhile, her father previously worked in a senior role at Siam Commercial Bank and now serves as president of the Bangkok YMCA, according to Mnet’s TMI News.
The royal link
Minnie is sometimes called “Princess Yontararak” by her fans, but it turns out that she does have a royal link within the family. Her aunt, Pawongduen “Sugar” Yontararak, was a popular Thai actress in the 1970s, and also happens to be the great granddaughter of the last king of Lanna, a northern kingdom of Thailand.
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She married Minnie’s uncle Nat Yontararak, a famous Thai pianist and composer. As Minnie also writes songs for the group, musical talent clearly runs in the family.
She speaks five languages
Knowing a second language is already pretty impressive, but Minnie speaks five: Thai, Korean, English, Japanese and Mandarin. On episode 53 of TMI News in 2020, Minnie even introduced herself in the five languages she was fluent in.
She makes use of her linguistic skills to connect with her global fans. When her group was awarded the Best of Next Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards 2018, she gave her acceptance speech in English.
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Minnie often surprises and delights her fans with her grasp of Korean too, which appears to be totally fluent. For international K-pop fans hoping to learn Korean, she’s even compiled her own language learning tips into a YouTube video, explaining how note-taking, practising and reviewing previously learned vocabulary has been the key to her success.
She’s acted in a Netflix show
Not just limiting herself to music, Minnie has also tried her hand at acting. She made her on screen debut last year in Netflix’s Korean sitcom So Not Worth It.
The series is about a group of international students who come together in a university dormitory in Seoul, with Minnie playing a character very similar to herself – a Thai student who’s a big Hallyu fan. Her name is even Minnie in the show, too. In an interview with the website Hashtag Legend, Minnie said she was able to relate to her character as she’d been a K-pop lover as a child too: “I’ve been a very big fan of all of the members of Super Junior since I was young. I wanted to be like them and I wondered how they could become such legends in the K-pop industry.”6 K-pop idols who are ‘human luxury brands’, from V to Jennie
Blackpink’s Lisa is one of her besties
Minnie’s friendship with Blackpink’s Lisa is no secret since the pair often support each other in public. When Minnie made her acting debut, Lisa congratulated her by sending a coffee truck to the production site of So Not Worth It.Fans have also been given an insight into their friendship via social media, where the pair shared that they have spent Christmases and birthdays together. In October 2019, they were photographed wearing matching butterfly friendship necklaces as they headed to Winner’s concert together.
Minnie has said previously that Lisa was there for her during her gruelling trainee days, encouraging her by saying “Just try your best and everything will turn out all right!” according to Kbizoom.
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