Minnie's Birthday Gift Came From Minnie: Why Her First Thai EP Resonated

On birthdays, presents usually go to the person celebrating. But on Oct. 23, Minnie's fans joked that the birthday girl was giving them the gift: three new songs sung in her native Thai.

On Oct. 23 at noon KST, Minnie released the three-track digital EP 'i love you to the moon and back': 'to the moon :)', 'insomnia' and 'white clouds'. She contributed to the writing and composition of all three. Model Hibiki Tomiyama appears in the official MV, which uses a growing moon as a metaphor for deepening affection, according to a KBS WORLD report based on the artist's explanation.

A third-party tracker recorded 1,501,848 views, 47,379 likes and 2,816 comments on the official MV at 10:15 a.m. KST on Oct. 30. These are a time-stamped external capture of public YouTube counters, not independently verified live figures, and indicate sustained attention rather than the views of all listeners.

Four reactions appeared in a public Oct. 23 r/kpop discussion: admiration for Minnie's voice and the song; appreciation of Thai lyrics, including a user identifying as Thai who liked the arrangement; noticing a brief animated segment in the MV; and birthday-gift jokes about the singer treating her fans. In a separate r/GIDLE B-side thread, one listener singled out 'insomnia' as a favorite. These are observed comments, not universal fan consensus.

After the earlier solo project 'HER', this release focuses on love expressed in Minnie's native language. 'to the moon :)' centers on enduring affection, 'insomnia' on sleepless longing, and 'white clouds' on missing someone far away. Each track approaches love from a different angle.

Verified facts include the Oct. 23 noon release, Minnie's first Thai-language digital EP, its three tracks, her writing and composing participation throughout, and the upload to i-dle's official channel. KBS WORLD describes the moon imagery and a perspective shift near the end; the entire MV was not independently played and scene-checked. The animation reference is attributed to a viewer.

Further interest may center on live performances of the three songs and how listeners receive Minnie's Thai-language expression. The Bangkok pop-up and special live on Oct. 23–25 were release-week events, not future dates.