When Thai influencer Aon Somrutai met Fan Bingbing

Sisterly love: Aon Somrutai and Fan Bingbing. Screen shot: aonsomrutai/Instagram

Three days ago, the Thai mom-fluencer Somrutai Sangchaiphum, better known as Aon Somrutai, shared on her socials that she met celestial body, Fan Bingbing. Exactly when that took place remains, predictably, a mystery that, for her followers, isn’t one. It is even more unclear why it was necessarily for acquaintances to meet in the day, dressed for the cocktail hour. Or, as if for a Thai wedding dinner. The two women paired up has never been seen online. But now, they were chums, both dancing to Ms Somrutai’s sole pop single Thank You Kateyki (Lalala). In nearly all her reels on Ms Fan’s visit, Ms Somrutai was with a heels-shod baby in tow. The luxury bag-loving diva concurrently pitches wholesome domesticity. This was all for the attention economy, of course, but whose attention they were trying to attract was not so evident. Ms Somrutai’s 2.6 million followers or the Chinese fashion star’s 4.7 million? It is a fascinating study in brand-synergy, where the sacred bond of sisterhood is seamlessly down-cycled into a focus group for the inane.

The conversation was light, but the gravity of the situation was intense. This interaction underscores a shift in the current clout-chase, where traditional film stars and digital-first entrepreneurs bring instant chumminess to a shared camera angle. But this was a highly choreographed encounter. Their chumminess was a performance requirement, not a natural emotion, and the easily-turned-on intimacy is the primary tool. The word we keep hearing these days is “adjacency” or standing next to someone famous enough to mask one’s own lack of personality. And that afternoon in Bangkok, it played out marvelously: two influencers not connected in substance, yet bound by the logic of visibility. And Ms Somrutai had one up for her: adjacency through affection. In a comment on one of her posts, she wrote: “我爱漂亮的姐姐 (I love a pretty older sister)”. A moment of tenderness expressed in a language she cannot use for uttering, let alone writing. The glory of a translation app? Or did someone from Ms Fan’s team or the occasion actress herself texted it?

Sisters are dancing for themselves? Screen shot: aonsomrutai/Instagram

In the world of high-stakes, low-ceiling influence, there is no such thing as casual; there is only event-ready, which renders the chumminess even more artificial, even more premeditated. This was not the first time that Ms Somrutai spotlight-squatted with a star. She has shared a shopping video with compatriot Lisa, was present at the launch of the singer-of-K-pop-as-Thai-tourism-embassador, attended the Blackpink’s Bangkok concert, and repeatedly mouthed about her love of the Buriram native. She even included her daughter in the adoration. If she could make her baby wear heels, she could make her love Lisa. Ms Somrutai’s brand of popularity enhancement thrives on being seen in orbit. She must possess a gravitational pull strong enough to trap passing celebrities, though whether it’s charisma or just a very aggressive publicist remains a matter of some debate. That Mother Bhumi was there to roll out her Fan Beauty Diary was timely convenience. Her (repeated) declarations of affection for Lisa and now Ms Fan aren’t about intimacy or a search for connection, but a strategic docking manoeuvre, anchoring herself to their relevance just to give her own followers something to look at. It is not hard to see this as a parasitic bond.

The women were truly dolled up for a brief first meeting in an unspectacular corridor. Fan Bingbing, who has never done day wear after turning a fashion influencer to resuscitate her career, wore a light gown by Richard Quinn. As it was from the current spring/summer collection, the long-sleeved dress was an aggressive expression of a productive orchard at harvest time, with a massive bloom plonked right where her cleavage would be. Not to be outdone, Aon Somrutai swathed her post-natal body in a tiered Zimmerman fog, proliferated with painterly petals. It seemed that either the women had been planning this for a while, or that their reps had. Only a Vogue shoot could be this deliberately coordinated. The effect was sheer influencer lightness. Together, they dramatised the realm of blossoms-as-banners: One, a colossal flower as a sovereign emblem, the other floaty feminity with petals multiplying across fabric until they become overwhelming. They highlighted the gap between a Golden Horse-level prestige and a Thank You Kateyki reality. In a room full of nuance, it couldn’t be starker.