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
• THAILAND GAY ROMANCE
• BOYS’ LOVE: THE GAY ROMANCE TV GENRE TAKG OVER SOUTHEAST ASIA
• THAI BL/GAY - BL AND GAY DRAMAS AND MOVI OM THAILAND

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

The prence of Boys Love seri, a unique drama genre that picts homoerotic relatnships between male characters, has creased signifintly recent years. It was probably the first time Thai entertament history that two boys wh homosexual clatns were featured the lead. Thai Boys Love is a lol appropriatn of yaoi, the Japan-origatg form of homoerotic fictn that revolv around the romantic narrativ between a mascule boy (lled “e”) and a more feme boy (lled “seme”).

THAILAND GAY ROMANCE

Uta Boonorana, a medil doctor who’s also an LGBTQ fictn thor known by his psdonyms, Patrick Rangsimant and Mor Tood (“Homo Doctor” Thai).

He’s also the md behd GMMTV’s LGBTQ productns, many of which have been praised for their plex and thought-provokg narrativ, cludg Gay OK Bangkok.

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.

BOYS’ LOVE: THE GAY ROMANCE TV GENRE TAKG OVER SOUTHEAST ASIA

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. BL, short for Boys Love, has bee an umbrella term for any Asian drama centerg on a gay love story.

An adaptatn of popular web novel TharnType Story, this story follows prejudiced universy stunt and his homosexual roommate whose tense relatnship gradually velops to affectn. Tharn moltg Type repeatedly triggers Type’s homophobic tennci and Type’s childhood trma are some of the issu that need proper reckong.

Watch STRAIGHT BEST FRIEND; New Sgapore Gay BL Web Seri. Sce we are on the topic of gay BL dramas, here is a shoutout to our latt BL (Boys Love) productn ‘‘Straight Bt Friend’. Whout a doubt, gay teen romance Heartstopper has been one of the big televisn succs stori of the year.

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

” And, well, ’s fairly self-explanatory: The are shows mostly about young adult gay romance…. The guys are cute, the stori are sweet and breezy, the mic is upbeat, and they’re largely optimistic, ee of anythg too trmatic (serly, ’s almost as if homophobia don’t exist a great many of the shows).

Dpe s foc on homoerotic stori between two men, BL has largely been created by and for women.

It’s certaly a limed ia of the queer experience, wh most BL media focg on light-skned, well-off young gay men whose biggt ncerns are whether or not their csh like them back. As Thai amic Kangwan Fongkaew told The Guardian, ternatnal fans “might misunrstand that Thailand is a gay paradise, which is totally not te. Like Heartstopper, the boy love televisn shows may prent a particularly rosy view of the gay experience, but their wispread reach has an opportuny to enurage a more global embrace of the LGBTQ muny.