BNK48

**BNK48** is the eighth sister group of **AKB48** and the second international sister group (after **JKT48** in Jakarta, third group regarding **SNH48** in Shanghai which split from AKB48 Group in 2016).

BNK48, like other 48 Groups, are divided into two teams; **Team BIII** (pronounced B3) and **Team NV** (pronounced N5).

## History

### 2016

On March 26, the formation for BNK48 was announced alongside MNL48 and TPE48 during the 2016 AKB48 Single Concert which was held at the Kanagawa Yokohama Stadium.

The auditions for the first generation of members was held between July 29 and August 31, which had a total of 1,357 candidates apply. Out of those 1,357, only 330 were selected to move on to the next round on September 5. On September 23, the result was officially declared, with only 80 candidates passing onto the third and final round of auditions.

Due to the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, on October 13, the final selection was postponed to December 18, which then had a number of candidates selected as the first generation.

### 2017

On February 12, the first generation was offiically announces with twenty-nine girls. They then made their first appearance on the AKB48 show during the 12th Japan Festa in Bangkok, which was held on the same day.

On April 13, it was revealed that Izuta Rina, a member of AKB48's Team 4, would be transferred to the group, which brought their member count to thirty.

On June 12, BNK48 officially made their IiwakeMaybe with Aitakatta / Yak Cha Dai Phop Thoe, which was their version of AKB48's major IiwakeMaybe single. The single was released officially on August 8, and was made available to purchase, but only for a limited amount of time, and only sold 13,500 copies. There has been no official music video for the song as of today, and only features a story-version video detailing BNK48's training.

On August 30, the group performed alongside Thai singer Palitchoke Ayanaputra and K-pop boy group iKON at the '2017: 411 Fandom Party in Bangkok' concert, which was held at the Siam Paragon. It was here that BNK48 unveiled their second single Koisuru Fortune Cookie / Khukki Siangthai, which is a cover of AKB48's 32nd single.

The next day, on August 31, it was announced that members Jan, Kaew, Orn and Namneung would be demoted to Undergirls due to an unstated rule violation. The members were scheduled to perform at the Japan Expo in Thailand on September 1 and 3, and were replaced by Jane, Mobile, Pupe and Izuta Rina. At the Japan Expo, they performed Koisuru Fortune Cookie with the Japanese boy group World Order, and also revealed their group anthem, BNK48, which depicted tourist locations and various Thai destinations.

On September 11, trainee Kidcat announced her graduation from the group, marking her as the first ever member of the group to graduate. Her graduation concert was scheduled to be held on September 23.

On September 23, the group held their first formal concert, 'BNK48 We Love You' at The EmQuartier in Bangkok. This concert officially marked the end of Kidcat's activites, and she graduated from the group. Also announced at this concert was the release date of the 2nd single, which was marked as December 20. The music video officially premiered at the 'BNK48 Mini Live and Handshake' concert, held at the J.J. Mall in Bangkok on November 18.

On October 31, trainee Cincin announced her graduation from the group, citing 'not enough breaks' as one of her reasons for graduating. Her graduation concert was held on November 18 along with the music video premier.

On December 24, 2017, BNK48's first team, Team BIII, was announced at the 'BNK48 We Wish You' fan convention, which was held at Siam Square One in Bangkok. At this convention it was also announced that the group would have their first theatrical convention in April 2018, the group's second generation auditions would begin from December 25, 2017, and that the third single would be "Shonichi", which is a B-side on AKB48's 9th single Baby! Baby! Baby!.

### 2018

On January 13 and 14, BNK48 held their third handshake event at The Mall Ngam Wongwang in Bangkok. It was here that the two B-sides to be included on the third single were announced as Namida Surprise! and Anata to Christmas Eve. The next day, on January 15, member Meysa was suspended by management due to a dating scandal for a month.

On January 29, member Jan announced her graduation. Her graduation was scheduled to be on February 28.

On February 3, the group performed at the 72nd Chula–Thammasat Traditional Football Match. They also held their first handshake event and mini live outside of Bangkok between February 2 and 4 at the Central Festival in Chiang Mai.

On February 9, trainee Namhom announced her graduation. She officially graduated three days later on February 12. The day before, on February 11, the group were appointed the brand ambassador for True Corporation's project Truemove H, *TruePoint x BNK48*.

The group's second generation auditions took place between February and April. 94 of the total candidates passed the initial round on March 20, with 27 candidates being officially selected as members on April 29.

On March 31 and April 1, BNK48 held their first official concert titled 'Starto' at BITEC in Bangkok.

On May 12, BNK48's first stage, Team BIII's PARTY ga Hajimaru yo, had it's Shonichi stage.

On May 31, BNK48 announced their first album, RIVER, with a release date scheduled for August 4. After the album, member Can announced her graduation. She officially graduated on August 26.

On August 11, BNK48 held their first ever stage's Shonichi, which was the first Trainee stage PARTY ga Hajimaru yo.

On September 28, member Maysa announced her graduation, sighting wanting to pursue her education as her reason for graduating. She graduated from BNK48 on October 21. On the same day, BNK48's fourth single, Kimi wa Melody, was released.

On September 30, BNK48 announced the 6th Single General Election, which is their first ever election, in which fans voted for their favorite members to be featured in the lineup. The results were going to be announced on January 26, 2019.

On December 14, BNK48 released their fifth single, BNK Festival. In December, BNK48 was also invited to perform at the 64th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, a famous yearly end of year concert, alongside AKB48.

### 2019

On January 26, the results of the 6th Single General Election were announced, with Cherprang ranking first, and serving as the center for the single. The sixth single, Beginner, was released on March 2. On April 7, BNK48 announced their second album Jabaja, which will be released in July.

On June 2, BNK48's first sister group CGM48 was announced. Alongside this, on June 10, members Aom and Izurina were transferred to CGM48 as the groups' first two members.

On June 7, Deenee announced her graduation. She had her graduation stage on August 2, and officially graduated on August 11. On August 30, Cake also announced her graduation. She graduated on September 27.

On October 19, BNK48's seventh single, 77 no Suteki na Machi e, was announced. It was set to be release in January 2020. On November 5, Maira announced her graduation. She had her graduation stage on November 29 and her final handshake event on December 7, in which she graduated afterwards.

On December 8, BNK48 announced their eighth single, High Tension, scheduled to be released in February after the release of the previously announced seventh single.

On December 12, BNK48 announced the 9th Single General Election. The results would be announced on March 22, 2020. This was the first participation of CGM48.

On December 14, Team BIII's stage Senshuuraku was held, officially concluding the stage with a total of 144 performances. The next day, Team BIII had their temporary Waiting Stage's Shonichi performance.

### 2020

On January 14, the seventh single was officially released.

On January 17 after a performance of the Waiting Stage, members Natherine and Oom both announced their graduations from the group. They would finish activities in February. Four days later, the Waiting Stage had it's Senshuuraku, thus concluding with a total of 21 performances.

On February 2, the eighth single was released. On February 8, the Trainee stage held their Senshuuraku, concluding with a total of 64 performances. On February 16, Natherine and Oom graduated from the group. On February 8, Nink also announced her graduation. She graduated on March 25.

Due to the COVD-19 pandemic, the 9th Single General Election results were postponed to April 19. On April 19, the results were announced, with **Jane** being ranked first. She also got to pick the 9th single's main song, which was later revealed as Heavy Rotation. On July 26, the single was premiered for the first time.

On June 11, Juné announced her graduation. She stated wanting to go into acting as her reason for graduating, but would still stay under iAM. She promoted with the group for the ninth single despite her graduation announcement.

on August 9, the group announced that 19 members had joined as part of the third generation, as well as the start of two stages; Team BIII's second stage **Saishuu Bell ga Naru**, and Team NV's first stage **Theater no Megami**. On September 26, BNK48 held their first Rock Paper Scissors competition, titled 'BNK48 JANKEN Tournament 2020 – The Senbatsu of Destiny'. The top sixteen would become the Senbatsu lineup of the upcoming third album. **Gygee** won the competition and was selected as the center for the album.

On November 5, Kheng and Fifa announced their graduations. Kheng graduated on December 4 and Fifa graduated on December 23.

On November 29, BNK48 announced their third album Warota People, and was marked for release in January 2021.

### 2021

On January 9, Warota People was officially released.

On March 12, Mewnich announced her graduation from the group. On March 13, BNK48 announced their tenth and first original single, D.AAA. It was scheduled to be released in May. On March 18, Faii and Jeje were both terminated from the group due to contract violations. The reason for Faii's termination is still unknown, while Jeje was terminated for leaking terms of the BNK48 contract to members of the public.

On June 2, D.AAA was officially released, and Juné graduated from BNK48. On October 1, Mewnich officially graduated from the group, and her graduation stage was held on December 5.

On December 22, BNK48 announced their 12th Single General Election. The results were to be announced on April 9, 2022.

### 2022

On January 21, BNK48 announced their 11th single, Sayonara Crawl. It is their first single to feature CGM48 members.

On April 9th, BNK48 held the results for the 12th Single General Election, with Mobile ranking first. During the election, Music announced her graduation from the group, with the graduation schedule to be announced in the future.

On April 24, Bamboo announced her graduation, stating she wanted to study abroad as her reason for graduating. She will graduate sometime in 2022.

On May 19, View announced her graduation. Bamboo and View both graduated on May 29 and May 31, respectively.

## Members

### Team BIII

**Team BIII** is BNK48's first team. It was formed on December 24, 2017. The team color is **Pale Oyster**. They currently have fourteen members.

### Team NV

**Team NV** is BNK48's second team. It was formed on November 16, 2019. The team color is **Cerise**. They currently have eighteen members.

## Former Members

* Cincin (Graduated November 18, 2017)
* Namhom (Graduated February 12, 2018)
* Jan (Graduated February 28, 2018)
* Can (Graduated August 26, 2018)
* Maysa (Graduated October 21, 2018)
* Deenee (Graduated August 11, 2019)
* Aom (Transferred to CGM48 August 27, 2019)
* Izurina (Transferred to CGM48 August 27, 2019)
* Cake (Graduated September 27, 2019)
* Maira (Graduated December 7, 2019)
* Natherine (Graduated February 16, 2020)
* Oom (Graduated February 16, 2020)
* Nink (Graduated March 25, 2020)
* Kheng (Graduated December 4, 2020)
* Fifa (Graduated December 23, 2020)
* Faii (Dismissed March 18, 2021)
* Jeje (Dismissed March 18, 2021)
* Juné (Graduated June 2, 2021)
* Mewnich (Graduated October 1, 2021)
* Bamboo (Graduated May 29, 2022)
* View (Graduated May 31, 2022)
* Jane (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Jennis (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Jib (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Kaew (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Kaimook (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Kate (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Korn (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Mind (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Mobile (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Music (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Namneung (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Namsai (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Noey (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Orn (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Piam (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Pun (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Pupe (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Tarwaan (Graduated December 21, 2022)
* Pim (Graduated January 15, 2023)
* Pampam (Graduated March 29, 2023)
* Cherprang (Graduated October 29, 2023)