Thais can’t get enough of Blackpink Lisa’s favourite meatballs from Buriram

Vendors in Lisa’s hometown who were struggling during Covid-19 are seeing a boom after she raved about them in a talk show promoting her solo single LALISA

Demand for traditional Thai dress has also reportedly picked up, while PM Prayuth has thanked the K-pop star for introducing Thai culture to the world

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A scene from the music video of LALISA, the first solo single by Blackpink's Lisa Manoban. Photo: YouTube

Published: 6:00pm, 17 Sep 2021Updated: 7:25am, 27 Sep 2021

From meatball vendors to clothes stores, small business owners in Thailand have reported a rise in sales on the back of the success of Thai-born Blackpink member Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban’s first solo single.

The K-pop star last Friday released the music video for LALISA, a hip-hop track featuring scenes from her culture and hometown, to the delight of fans in Thailand and elsewhere.

Dressed in a shimmery Thai silk dress while donning a traditional golden headgear, known as a chada, Manoban performs rapid-fire lyrics as she dances against a backdrop featuring a Khmer-style Phanom Rung sandstone palace – the top tourist destination in Buriram, her home province northeast of the country.

“Being the greatest of all time ain’t fantasy,” she raps in the three-minute song.

Within 24 hours of its release, LALISA garnered 73 million views on YouTube, breaking the last record for a solo artist set by US singer Taylor Swift. On the afternoon of September 17, her YouTube music video had been viewed 160 million times.