Toey Jarinporn Joonkiat Moves At Her Own Pace

‘Everyone has their own timing,’ says Jarinporn Joonkiat – and from someone who has spent nearly two decades in Thai entertainment, it reads as a perspective shaped by experience. Better known to audiences as Toey, the Bangkok-born actress, model, and host first emerged in the late 2000s and has since moved between film, television, and advocacy without losing momentum. With credits including ‘Dear Galileo,’ ‘Kleun Cheewit,’ as well as Netflix’s ‘Enigma Black Stage’ and ‘Same Day with Someone,’ she has shaped a public life that extends beyond the screen – informed too by a long-standing interest in environmental issues. There is something especially apt, then, about having her as our April cover star: in a month marked by Earth Day, her connection to the natural world feels all the more resonant. Sitting down with us at Artifact Bar in Hong Kong, Toey spoke about navigating the pressures of fame, choosing a life that feels aligned, and finding perspective in places outside the spotlight.

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It would be easy to look at Toey’s career and mistake it for a straightforward rise, but she is quick to push back on any idea that success arrives in a straight line. ‘I’ve been working in this industry for almost 20 years, so it doesn’t mean I haven’t tried,’ she says with a laugh. ‘Sometimes you plant a tree and you have to wait for it to grow.’ A fitting image for an actress whose career has unfolded in chapters: from early fame and film recognition to more mature television work and a phase of life that now feels more open-ended. ‘I don’t want to be too competitive. I just want to enjoy myself and be happy.’

That outlook has not come without effort, especially in an era where social media has a way of turning any pause in output into a public question mark. Toey’s response is simple: she sits down, writes things out, and asks herself honestly what feels off. ‘I just talk to myself,’ she says. ‘If I feel unbalanced, I ask, what’s happening right now? Why don’t I feel okay?’ It is a habit she has developed over years in an industry where external noise rarely stops, and one that has helped her stay clear-headed as her profile has grown. Thailand’s entertainment industry is notoriously fast-moving, with new faces emerging constantly and public attention shifting fast – making inner steadiness feel all the more essential.

A similar instinct toward self-honesty also shapes the way she handles more intimate decisions. Perhaps nowhere has that been more visible than in her decision to publicly document her egg freezing journey – a choice that felt both intensely private and defiantly open. ‘It’s very, very intimate,’ she acknowledges. But she was moved by the idea that another woman might stumble across her story and feel a little less alone in it. ‘As women, when we see something like that, maybe we can feel like, oh, we have friends.’ Before going through the process herself, Toey looked to other women’s stories for that sense of reassurance, so sharing her own felt like a natural way of paying it forward. Her reasoning, when she offers it, is typically straightforward: ‘I don’t know the future, and I don’t know if I want to have kids or not. But just do it. Innovation is very advanced right now, so why not?’ It reflects a mindset that values openness, practicality, and not needing every answer in advance.

If that is how she meets noise, nature seems to be where she goes to leave it behind. For all the digital visibility, Toey seems most herself away from the pace of the industry. She built a house in Khao Yai, and when work starts to pile up, she heads there for even a few days at a time to reset. ‘I have to get away from everything to calm myself down,’ she says simply. That pull toward the natural world runs through her life off screen. One of her most cherished relationships is with her adopted elephant, Kwan Mueng, now a full-blown naughty teenager. ‘He eats a lot,’ she says, grinning. But the experience has given her far more than just affection. Through him, she began to understand more clearly how central elephants are to forest ecosystems – how other animals move in their wake, and how much the health of a landscape depends on them. ‘I learned a lot more about how important it is – beyond simply enjoying being around them – to understand the environment and the ecosystem.’

That awareness has only deepened her sense of where that part of her life could go next. Toey speaks about sustainability not as a side interest but as something she wants to develop with greater purpose, including through schools and projects with wider international reach. And what she seems to be reaching for next is not simply a broader platform, but a way of making environmental care feel more shared – something that can move across borders, classrooms, and cultures.

That same thoughtfulness carries into the way she approaches work. On the career front, Toey is similarly reflective about what she chooses and why. The more she works, she says, the more clearly she understands what fits – and what does not. ‘If I work in this series, what can I give the audience? What does the story want to deliver?’ She thinks not just in terms of visibility, but of meaning – of what a role sends out into the world and what it leaves behind. It is a standard that has shaped her choices across the years, and one she seems intent on carrying into whatever comes next, including a deeper engagement with mental health conversations through her YouTube series ‘Spajai.‘ ‘Maybe I can give something back to society on that side too,’ she says.

In the end, what stays with you is not simply that Toey has done many things, but also the way she has allowed each chapter to take shape without forcing it into somebody else’s timeline. There are some people who seem to grow more fully with time rather than all at once. Toey is one of them.

‘Just do your best. Enjoy your time, enjoy your thing,’ she says. ‘Don’t compare yourself too much to someone else.’ Simple advice, but from someone who has formed a life in the public eye for as long as she has, it carries the weight of lived experience.

Editor-in-Chief & Executive Producer: Catherine Pun
Creative Direction: Christoper Axiotes
Talent: Jarinporn Joonkiat
Photography: Kim Lo
Photography Assistant: Sing Chung
Videography: Jack Fontanilla
Styling: Kellie Chan
Hair: Santipong Khwanseng
Make-up: Yothin Chuaysri
Location: Artifact Bar

Catherine Pun

Editor-in-Chief |  + postsBio

A Hong Kong native with Filipino-Chinese roots, Catherine infuses every part of her life with zest, whether she’s belting out karaoke tunes or exploring off-the-beaten-path destinations. Her downtime often includes unwinding with Netflix and indulging in a 10-step skincare routine. As the Editorial Director of Friday Club., Catherine brings her wealth of experience from major publishing houses, where she refined her craft and even authored a book. Her sharp editorial insight makes her a dynamic force, always on the lookout for the next compelling narrative.

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