Woody Milintachinda

Early life and education

He graduated from high school in New York City and then moved back to Thailand to finish his bachelor's degree from Thammasat University (major in International Economics) and master's degree from Chulalongkorn University (major in Mass Communication). Milintachinda's father, Piamsak Milintachinda, is an ambassador, while his brother Pulin is a former diplomat.

Career

His career started in 2000; he joined 88 Peak FM as the nation's first bilingual deejay. In 2003, he became a veejay at MTV Thailand. In 2004, Woody founded his own company under the name Double U Network Co., Ltd. In 2009 it was renamed to Woody World Co., Ltd. Woody not only acts as president of the company but also as a host of its shows. Woody's television hosting credits include The One, Music X-Change, I-DNA, MTV's Just Arrived, Unseen TV, Bangkok's New Year's Countdown, and MTV Just Talk. However, his most successful show is The Woody Show or Woody Kerd Ma Kui (Thai: วู้ดดี้ เกิดมาคุย) which was aired in early 2008. Though not a conventional talk show, it would lead the audience to the unexpected stories about celebrities that might not been told anywhere else. The Woody Show airs every Sunday night at 10:30 pm on Modernnine TV, Thailand's leading terrestrial network.

In 2010, Woody started to produce a show called Woody Daily or Chao Doo Woody (Thai: เช้าดูวู้ดดี้) (since renamed to Wake Up to Talk or Tuen Ma Kui (Thai)) which airs 5 days a week at 8 to 8:45am on Modernnine TV. It differs from his previous shows in that he discusses "talk of the town" topics for each day.

Among the world's top celebrities he's had television exclusives with are Yến Trang, Will Smith, David Beckham, Britney Spears, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, Coldplay, Baz Lurrman, Rain, F4, Colin Farrell, Alicia Keys, Missy Elliott, Jay Chou, Jamiroquai, Amitabh Bachan, Jackie Chan, the Twilight Saga cast, Choi Siwon from Super Junior, Nichkhun Horvejkul from 2PM, JYJ, Enrique Iglesias, Hugh Jackman, Maria Ozawa, Michelle Yeoh, and Trịnh Tú Trung.

One of the great opportunities, Woody has interviewed Princess Chulabhorn Walailak of Thailand. It was a rare occasion for a Thai audience to see her on a talk show. Headlined in local newspapers several days ahead, the famous talk show Woody Kerd Ma Kui on Channel 9 recently aired an exclusive royal interview with HRH Princess Chulabhorn Walailak, the youngest daughter of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. She reflected that royalty was not to be viewed as a fairy tale but as hard work. Hosted by Woody Milintachinda, the show has become one of the most highly rated and influential talk shows in the country. It is known for its exclusive interviews of controversial public figures and topics that penetrate into Thai pop-cultural consciousness, and for Woody's bold style of direct questioning. These features of the show had heightened the anticipation for this particular interview.

Not only be known in Thailand but Woody is also well-known all over countries in Asia. He has been nominated for Best Entertainment Present at the Asian Television Awards. He was also picked by CNN to be included in their Asia's Top 100 Influential Personalities list.

Awards