Thailand flexes Korean wave-like power with boys' love dramas

BL actors stimulate consumptions as next trendsetters and brand ambassadors

20250310 boys love drama
AIKO MUNAKATA

One day, Wandee, a male orthopedic surgeon, was called in to examine Yoyak, a Muay Thai boxer with a brash attitude. Neither came away feeling impressed, but when Yoyak later bumped into a drunk and heartbroken Wandee he helped the doctor home, and a bond between the two began to grow.

GMMTV, the pioneer of Thai boys' love dramas, produced "Wandee Goodday" in 2024, and the first episode has been viewed about 3 million times on YouTube alone. Boys' love, or BL, is an English term spawned from Japanese pop culture and used to categorize stories about romance between men.

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