Pakorn "Dome" Lum's mother once ran a cosmetic surgery clinic. Luckily, her son has no need for such services. The teen singer is a perfect 10.

His cute face was spotted by ad agencies at the very early age of six.

Do you remember the plump, darling-looking boy who wore nothing but a pair of spectacles as he buried his nose deep into a newspaper? ... Or the small boy who tried to measure up to his big brother as a cheery, powdered milk jingle played: "One day we will get bigger and bigger."

Well that was him, the star of more than 40 commercials.

A decade later, Dome is back in the limelight. His good looks have got even better, he now measures in at a very respectable 1.88 metres, and his blazing smile has been described by many as "dangerous" - as in Dangerous Dome, the name of his new album.

His first release, in 1996 stirred teenagers' hearts and shook up the record industry, selling more than 1 million copies.

It also won him last year's Pikkhanet Award. "I was eating sukiyaki with friends when I got a call that I had won the award and rushed off to receive it," recalled Dome.

But how did he make the move from advertisements to singing?

Luckily, Dome's house is in Lat Phrao Road 15, the same soi as his record company, RS Promotion. Three years ago, Surachai Chetchotisak, the company's main man, spotted Dome's face splashed on the front of various teen magazines. The rest, as they say, is history.

"I played music for fun, having a band with friends at school. When RS gave me the chance to make my dream come true, I jumped," Dome explained.

The product of a broken home, the 19-year-old singer said he still had a happy childhood. "My mother's just great. She is my mother, father and friend," said Dome.

"You can't blame others. It's up to you whether you want to be good or not."

Despite a pretty affluent background, Dome is no spoilt rich kid. Income from his early modelling days went to his mum, but now "she lets me keep the money myself."

Careful with this hard-earned wealth, his only real indulgence is a twin turntable deck and LPs. Not surprisingly, he loves to DJ. "I practice at home. Choosing and mixing music," said the singer.

And when he has freetime, he drops into some of the small bars around the Silom area to sharpen his skills. "The customers are not my target fans. No one bothers me if I DJ for them," said Dome, who describes his music as techno/dance.

He also loves the cinema and is often spotted hanging around Siam Square after dusk, catching the odd "psycho" movie.

"I don't like action movies or comedies," he revealed.

Is that why he keeps turning down offers to star in movies or TV dramas while all around him are jumping onto the acting bandwagon? "The offers are for teen romantic leads, I'd prefer a lead in a psycho film," he explained. As for the future, despite finishing high school two years ago, the singer is currently much too busy to study. However, he did check out an institute for Recording Artists in San Francisco last summer and plans to go there in the not too distance future. u Dome will stage a "Dome Hey Dangerous Concert" at 3 p.m. on August 22 in the MBK Hall at the Mahboonkrong Centre. Tickets, priced at 300 and 200 baht, are available from Star City and public relations counters at all branches of The Mall.

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