Thailand’s gay-romance TV dramas help revive flaggg tourism dtry | Thailand | The Guardian

Contents:

• THAILAND’S GAY-ROMANCE TV DRAMAS HELP REVIVE FLAGGG TOURISM DTRY
• THAI BL/GAY - BL AND GAY DRAMAS AND MOVI OM THAILAND

THAILAND’S GAY-ROMANCE TV DRAMAS HELP REVIVE FLAGGG TOURISM DTRY

I Told Sunset About You is part of a recent wave of Thai dramas known as “boys’ love” (BL) – also lled the “Y” seri Thailand– whose portrayal of gay romance has attracted a large followg across Asia. BL offers a happier, more posive portrayal of same-sex relatnships than elsewhere Thai media, where gay love tends to end tragedy, said Kangwan Fongkaew, a lecturer at Burapha Universy Chonburi provce, who has studied the reprentatn of LGBT muni Thai while this is some ways rehg, BL dramas do not offer te reprentatns of society. They are generally foced on “puppy love” and om the reali faced by gay men Thailand, which still do not have basic rights such as equal marriage, said Kangwan.

Viewers, add Kangwan, “might misunrstand that Thailand is a gay paradise, which is totally not te” leadg characters are also predomantly light-skned, middle class and ted, he said: “The boys’ love seri don’t reflect the real diversy of the LGBT muny Thai society, and that’s why the stigma and discrimatn agast LGBT are still gog on right now. ”Soontaree, who is gay, said she supports the BL seri, addg that the dramas are a powerful tool for Thailand: “I n see clearly. )The whole crap wh the IRL homophobic behavur and ments om one of the lead actors as well as om people the productn, left one wh a very bad taste one's mouth, not to mentn that the homophobia severely affects the end rult terms of chemistry.

THAI BL/GAY - BL AND GAY DRAMAS AND MOVI OM THAILAND

If you don't scerely want to portray homosexual relatnships, but only thk "BL is trendg, let's release a BL tle" whout any sire to actually create a good piece, you won't be able to wre nor direct a way that actually creat a believable atmosphere or chemistry between the actors.