Jernjern Boonsoongnern

Nattawat Boonkirin (Thai: ณัฐวรรธน์ บุญคีรินทร์; born November 25, 1957), known professionally as Jernjern Boonsoongnern (Thai: เจินเจิน บุญสูงเนิน is a Thai singer. She is recognized as one of the earliest openly transgender female artists in the Thai entertainment industry. She is part of a prominent musical family, being the sister of pop singer Nittaya Boonsoongner and the aunt of singer and producer The Toys.^[1][2]

Early life

Jernjern Boonsoongnern, named Nattawat Boonkirin, was born on November 25, 1957, in Sung Neon District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. She was assigned male at birth. She is the son of Udom Boonsoongnern, a monk at Chatturat district, Chaiyaphum Province. She was born in a poor family, which her mom abandoned them at a young age. She finished highschool at Ratchasima Witthayalai School. She continue studying at Chiang Mai University until she got a degree in Faculty of Education. While she was studying in Chiang Mai, she worked a part time job as a singer in restaurants. She switched her clothes to a woman and known monomously as Jernjern.^[3]

Career

In 1984, Jernjern officially started her singing career when she joined a singing contest at KPN Award and won. Then, she moved out from her home to Bangkok. After years in Bangkok, her music professor ask her if he could make a music for her, so she made an album, which became very successful. Her album later got cancelled because she made a deal illegaly.^[4]

In 1989, while she was performing at a restaurant inside Mido Hotel in Saphan Khwai, she met Wisan Laukaewnu, the owner of Lepso Studio, which was looking for his company's first artist, was highly impressed by her performance. He then spent three days speaking with the renowned songwriter Pornpot Antanai about her past life stories. This collaboration resulted in her debut album, Chan Ko Pen Phu Ying Khon Nueng. The album contained 10 tracks, all of which were written directly from Jernjern's real life, and it became a successful collaboration.

After her successful life, Jernjern moved to the United States in 2002 after a friend told her to invest as a partner in a restaurant there. However, it turned out she was defrauded out of millions of baht in partnership funds after working there for only eight days. Although she won the lawsuit, she was unable to recover any money because the culprit could not be located. As a result, she had to travel and perform in various locations, spending a total of 14 years living in the United States. Afterward, she released six collaborative albums with Laotian singers in Laos. Between 2014 and 2015, Jernjern released a total of four new singles.

In 2019, her husband, which he met while living in United States, died by Cancer.^[5][6][7]

Discography

References