Alexander Simon "Alex" Rendell (Thai: อเล็กซานเดอร์ ไซม่อน เรนเดลล์; born 9 January 1990) or Nirawit Rendell (Thai: นิรวิทย์ เรนเดลล์), is a British-Thai actor, singer, environmentalist and UNEP Goodwill ambassador who has starred in Thai films such as The Tesseract (2003), Indiana Joai: Elephant Cemetery (2003), Pisaj (2004) and 13 Beloved (2006). Alexander is also the co-founder and chief executive officer of the Environmental Education Center Thailand (EEC Thailand) founded in 2015 and the first Thai UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, appointed on 5 June 2020.[1][2]
Early life and education
Alexander Simon Rendell was born in Jakarta, Indonesia on 9 January 1990 to Thai mother Duangsom and British father Benjamin Rendell. He has an older sister, Bonita Rendell, and a younger brother, Simon Rendell.[3] In Jakarta, his father had been working as a chef and the family resided in Indonesia before moving back to Bangkok, Thailand when he was 4 years old. Also, Alexander's career started at age 4 when he first appeared in 40 commercials in Thailand. At age 10, Alexander met conservationist Kru Alonkot Chukaew at Koh Yai, Thailand while he was doing research on wild elephants. Kru later became a mentor for Alexander where Alexander became a student and started helping injured elephants.[2] At age 16, he changed his first contract with Channel 3 as an actor.[4]
In 2008, he graduated from Bangkok Patana School, and attended the Faculty of Communication Arts, International Program, Chulalongkorn University. He graduated in 2012 and has diverted his full attention to series/movies.[5] Alexander also has a master's degree in environmental social science.[1]
Career
As a singer, Alexander prefers solo shows such as provincial events and usually organizes them himself over having a manager.
Environmentalism
Alexander was first exposed to diving on a holiday in the Maldives. The hotel he was residing at was also offering DSD programs and after two weeks he became a PADI Open water diver. Diving would later influence Alexander to become an environmentalist as it made him grew to love the ocean. His diving today mostly concerns conservation.[2] For his role in environmentalism, he was appointed by the United Nations Environmental Programme one 5 June 2020 as a Goodwill Ambassador, the first person from Thailand to hold the title.
EEC Thailand
In 2015, Alexander co-founded the Environmental Education Center Thailand (EEC Thailand) with Kru Alonkot Chukaew and Army Noimai with the goal of raising the public's awareness and understanding around the environment as well as to promote sustainable use of natural resources. One of the main accomplishments of EEC is education around a 1000 children each year as well as conversation projects for endagendered sea and land creatures in Thailand.[6] The organization operates 150 camps within Thailand.[1]
Personal life
Rendell enjoys playing football and supports Manchester United. He has played for his Highschool - Bangkok Patana and helped clinch multiple BISAC & SEASAC trophies. His favourite number is 22 and he is part of PUAKKUA since 1993/1994.[7] One of his favourite diving spots in Thailand is Koh Haa lagoon, near Koh Lanta. Apart from diving, Alexander also enjoys cycling.[4]
