Suvanant Kongying (
Thai: สุวนันท์ คงยิ่ง;
RTGS: Suwa-nan Khong-ying; born 22 July 1978 in
Bangkok) also known by her nickname Kob (
Thai: กบ;
RTGS: Kop), is a Thai
actress. She was the lead actress in many Thai
lakorns in the 1990s-2000s. She has appeared in several lakorns (dramas), including Dao pra sook with
Sornram Teppitak, in which she played Dao, the main character. She has been voted people's choice winner for top actress for many years. She's considered Thailand's most famous actress and her leading lakorn partner is
Sornram Teppitak.
Early life
Suvanant was born in
Sirirat Hospital, and lived with her grandmother at
Chachoengsao when she was a baby. She moved to Bangkok with her family when she was three to four years old. Her father, Amnuay Kongying (d. November 2001), was a
teacher, and her mother, Ubonrat Kongying, works at the ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative. She also has a younger brother named Apisith Golf Kongying. Suvanant began acting from a very young age.
Career
Her first performance in a traditional
Thai folklore drama won her widespread popularity and her first major acting award, to which she has since added many. She went on to star in Dao pra sook (Morning Star), in which she played a teenager abandoned as a baby but who grows up to find that she is after all wanted by many people, including the leading male character portrayed by Sornram Theppitak.
She is now married to Danuporn Poonnakan also known as Brook who had been her acting partner.
Suvanant graduated with a bachelor in
Communication Arts from
Rangsit University. She was paid an undisclosed sum of money – believed to be millions of
baht – to act as a presenter for Mistine cosmetics. Suvanant is also a professional ice skating champion.
In 2003 a
Cambodiantabloid reported that Suvanant Kongying made a speech claiming that
Angkor Wat belonged to Thailand, the allegation which was later found to be groundless. This prompted the
2003 Phnom Penh riots, in which the Thai embassy in Cambodia was destroyed.[1][2]