Thailand Gay romcom boom boosts tourism

There is a table in Soontaree Thiprat’s Phuket cafe that is always fully booked. Most of her customers at the Dibuk restaurant want to sit in the corner, at the spot with the red tablecloth and purple flower.

It is the table where the male student characters Teh and Oh-aew, played by Putthipong “Billkin” Assaratanakul and Krit “PP” Amnuaydechkorn, sit and flirt in I Told Sunset About You and its sequel, I Promised You the Moon, a romantic Thai series that has proved hugely popular at home and abroad. Devoted fans have flocked not only from across Thailand but from Japan, Korea and Vietnam to pose for photos in Billkin and PP’s hangout.

I Told Sunset About You is part of a recent wave of Thai dramas known as “boys’ love” (BL) whose portrayal of gay romance has a large following across Asia. This year, 17 Thai BL series have been released, with 43 released in 2020 and 2021. The romcom drama series 2gether, one of the genre’s biggest hits, surpassed 100m views.

As Thailand tries to rebuild its travel industry, the country’s tourism authority has sought to capitalise on their popularity, hosting “Thai BL” booths in Osaka, Japan, where the dramas are popular, and running a Japanese-language Twitter account profiling locations featured in scenes.

Private firms have also responded to the trend. Japanese company HIS recently ran online tours of 2gether locations, and some Thai language teachers are offering lessons that specialise in slang used in BL dramas.

Monruethai Harada, a Thai language teacher at Jaya & 3S Groups in Tokyo, said she has seen a 20%-30% increase in students wanting to learn Thai after BL dramas became popular in 2020. Most are women aged about 30, though one recent student was 75.

While BL has its roots in Japanese manga comics, Thai production companies have transformed the genre by adapting it for TV, said Rujirat Ishikawa, assistant professor at the School of Cultural and Creative Studies, based in Tokyo’s Aoyama Gakuin University. Thai BL dramas first boomed in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.

In Japan, similar series are usually only accessible on subscription but Thai broadcasters are more relaxed about uploading content, said Ishikawa. “[Audiences] just say: ‘We watch it on YouTube, it’s free, why not?’” He added that most fans are drawn to the series by the attractive male actors, the often happy storylines and the music.

For Thailand’s struggling tourism industry, the popularity of the dramas is welcome news, though commenters point out that the Thai government has struggled to embrace the genre.

The majority of BL series are shown in Thailand on alternative platforms that link with smartphones, said Poowin Bunyavejchewin, senior researcher at the Institute of East Asian Studies at Thammasat University in Bangkok, which “may ease the concerns of Thai conservatives, as sweet erotic love between young men has not been highly visible to them”.

But some in the LGBT community have mixed feelings about the dramas. BL offers a happier, more positive portrayal of same-sex relationships than elsewhere in Thai media, where gay love tends to end in tragedy, said Kangwan Fongkaew, a lecturer at Burapha University in Chonburi province.

But while this is in some ways refreshing, BL dramas do not offer true representations of society. They are generally focused on “puppy love” and omit the realities faced by gay men in Thailand, which still does not have basic rights such as equal marriage, said Kangwan. Viewers “might misunderstand that Thailand is a gay paradise, which is totally not true”.

The leading characters are also mostly light-skinned, middle class and educated, he said: “The boys’ love series don’t reflect the real diversity of the LGBT community in Thai society, and that’s why the stigma and discrimination against LGBT are still going on right now.” But Kangwan also believes the dramas could bring change, especially if their portrayals of same-sex love become more nuanced or political: “I am still hopeful.”

Soontaree, who is gay, said she supports the BL series, adding that the dramas are a powerful tool for Thailand. She welcomes the fans. If they are busy taking photos, she said, they will not be rushing her to serve them: “They don’t pressure me to cook as fast.”

‘Viewers might think Thailand is a gay paradise, which is totally not true’

Kangwan Fongkaew Lecturer