On May 25, H1-KEY’s management agency GLG released an official statement announcing Sitala’s departure.
GLG’s full statement reads as follows:
Hello, this is GLG.
We would like to notify that Sitala, who has been a part of H1-KEY until now, has decided to leave the group due to personal reasons.
The agency discussed this matter with Sitala herself as well as with the rest of the H1-KEY members, and the decision was made after a thorough review of the overall situation.
Above all, we apologize for causing concerns with such sudden news.
We ask for your warm encouragements toward Sitala’s future, and also toward H1-KEY members, who plan to resume the path to their dreams again. Thank you.
H1-KEY debuted in January 2022 as a 4-member girl group with the release of its first single ‘Athletic Girl’.
Even before the group’s debut, the group’s Thai member Sitala swept up in controversy after K-pop fans in Thailand raised concerns over her family background.
Sitala’s late father, Sarunyoo Wongkrachang, was a famous actor/filmmaker in Thailand.
Apart from his career in the entertainment industry, Wongkrachang was also an active participant in Thailand’s politics, known for his pro-royalist sentiments.
He was allegedly one of the chief orchestrators of the 2014 coup, which removed the Thai democratic government and put the nation under military dictatorship.
While some pointed out that her late father’s past wrongdoing has nothing to do with Sitala’s life, several Thai fans questioned her evident devotion to her father―as she named her father as her role model in a self-written profile.
At the time, GLG shared an official statement, saying, “We have come to the conclusion that we cannot hold Sitala accountable on the basis of her father’s past decisions and actions that were beyond her responsibility.”
In regard to the self-profile issue, the agency stated, “Sitala had named him her role model based on his role as a parental figure of the family, actor and film director; and not upon his political views and actions.”
(Credit=”Sarunyoo Wongkrachang” Facebook, GLG)
( Star)
