Becoming: The Quiet Power of Jiratchaya Kedkong

Before the global campaigns and agency rosters, before her name carried weight across Asia, Jiratchaya Kedkong was simply stepping into the unknown. This 2018 cover story captures her at a pivotal moment, fresh from her win on Asia’s Next Top Model, standing at the edge of everything she had yet to become.

There’s a rawness to this chapter. A sense of discovery. Tawan, as she’s known, wasn’t just entering the industry, she was still learning herself in the process. Every casting, every city, every first became part of a larger question she carried quietly: what does it really mean to succeed?

Looking back, this feature isn’t just a portrait of a rising model. It’s a snapshot of transition, where ambition meets uncertainty, and where the smallest wins begin to shape something much bigger.

There’s a certain kind of beauty that doesn’t ask for attention, it earns it. In this cover, framed against the bold geometry of Bangkok’s temples and the intensity of red, Jiratchaya Kedkong, known to many as Tawan, holds that exact tension. Controlled. Grounded. Unshaken.

But beyond the image is a story shaped not by glamour, but by choice.

Before the campaigns, before the international agencies, before the recognition across Asia, there was simply a girl from Lopburi, Thailand, navigating what felt like impossible decisions. Raised in a modest environment, Tawan’s early life was far from the polished world she would later enter. She once dreamed of becoming a teacher or a doctor, a future that felt more stable, more expected. But life had other plans. Financial struggles meant letting go of university, a turning point that would quietly redirect everything. 

What followed wasn’t a straight path, but a leap.

The Risk of Becoming

Modeling wasn’t just a dream. It was a question.

“Is this right for me or not?”

That uncertainty still lives in her story. It’s what makes her journey feel human. Encouraged by friends who saw something in her before she did, Tawan entered the competitive world of modeling in Thailand, eventually stepping into the spotlight of Asia's Next Top Model.

She wasn’t the obvious frontrunner. In many ways, she was the underdog. Quiet, reserved, still figuring herself out in real time. But there’s something powerful about someone who grows in front of you. Week by week, frame by frame, she transformed, not just in skill, but in self-belief.

And then, she won.

At just 20 years old, Tawan became the face of a new kind of Asian model, one that didn’t fit into a single mold.

More Than the Win

Winning changes things. But it doesn’t define everything.

Post-show, her career unfolded quickly. International editorials. Global campaigns. A contract with London-based agency Storm Model Management. The industry opened up, and so did her world. 

Yet, in her own words, success isn’t measured in scale.

It’s in the small things.

Trying food she’s never tasted. Traveling to places she’s never seen. Taking on work she’s never done. These moments, often overlooked, are where she finds meaning. There’s a quiet discipline in how she approaches life, rooted in routine and self-awareness. Sleep well. Stay healthy. Think positively. Stay grounded.

It sounds simple. But it’s not.

Because beneath that simplicity is a deeper understanding: that beauty is not just visual. It’s internal, built over time, shaped by how you treat yourself and others.

Holding On, Moving Forward

For all the movement her career demands, there’s something she never lets go of, home.

Her younger sister remains a constant in her story. Phone calls, small updates, moments of connection that cut through distance. It’s in these details where Tawan feels most human, not as a model, but as a daughter, a sister, someone still deeply tied to where she began.

And maybe that’s the point.

In an industry that often asks people to become something else, Tawan’s strength lies in staying close to who she already is.

The BLNC Perspective

This cover isn’t just about fashion. It’s about evolution.

About choosing uncertainty over comfort. About redefining success beyond visibility. About understanding that becoming someone isn’t a single moment, it’s a series of small, quiet decisions made over time.

Tawan doesn’t perform success. She lives it, in ways that are subtle, personal, and deeply real.

And maybe that’s why this image stays with you.

Because it’s not trying to be loud.

It’s simply sure of itself.

BLNC Magazine "Tawan" Cover 2018 Arun [Dawn] Photographer : Jiraphong Bank Srijunyanont @JIRA @jiraxgascyl Model : Jiratchaya Kedkong @tawanjiratchaya Stylist : Nat Chitdanai @nat_chitdanai Stylist Assist. Panupong Sookrojnirun @panupong_s Make up and Hair Irina Mysova @irinamake1 Asst.Photographer : Tawatchai Bie Khemsook @bienobita Location : Riva Arun @rivaarunbangkok