Thailand’s BL industry – ‘BL’ is for ‘Boys Love’ – is certainly competing with Korean dramas, with several BL drama releases coming out each week. These stories feature male x male romance stories, and tend to have a majority female audience. The genre has picked up steam during the pandemic lockdown, and has continued growing exponentially.
However, with the profusion of dramas being released and the number of actors coming onboard, it’s scandals will follow. Whether it’s crazy fans, BL actors or production houses, here are some bizarre moments that have led to some actors in Thailand’s BL industry to be cancelled, boycotted, or even arrested.
GMMTV actor Win Pawin withdraws from series due to abuse allegations
GMMTV actor Pawin ‘Win’ Thanik, who is set to star in an upcoming BL drama titled “We Are” has been dropped from the series amid serious accusations of abuse. He’s also been suspended from further activities amid this case. His now ex-girlfriend – known as Kaelyn – posted photos and videos of her injuries, claiming that Win hit her head, slammed her against the floor, and choked her. She was admitted to the hospital feeling dizzy.
According to several sources, the incident happened after an argument broke out, triggered by Win’s excessive gaming. This caused an angry Kaelyn to throw Win’s computer out the window – and it accidentally hit a construction worker who happened to be on the ground floor. Sadly, the worker had to undergo a series of life-saving operations which put him in a precarious financial position – to date, there has been no compensation of 30k baht given by Win or Kaelyn.
One source who managed to get a hold of Kaelyn’s statement mentioned that she had no recollection of a computer being thrown out the window. However, what she did remember was an argument about a computer, and that led to her being injured. The last thing she remembered was Win calling the police on her.
In an interview, Win told the public that her allegations were untrue. He went on to say that she was suicidal, and that the bruises were the result of him stopping her from harming herself (and from self defense).
Details of the case haven’t been made public as of March. GMMTV – a huge player in Thailand’s BL industry – has already announced that actor Poon Mitpakdee will be replacing Win in ‘We Are’, and all filmed scenes with Win will be reshot with Poon.
OhmNanon fans and their weird demands from GMMTV
Since 2023, there’s been a lot of chatter about certain fan groups of OhmNanon (consisting of Ohm Pawat and Nanon Korapat), one of GMMTV’s popular ships (they even have their own branded merchandise). However, the pair haven’t been in the same BL series since their debut together in Bad Buddy (2021). While we may never know the reason, videos of the pair arguing in front of their audience did spark some theories.
In October 2023, GMMTV dropped a hint that OhmNanon will be a pair no more. First, they discontinued OhmNanon’s merchandise, and in their place, they announced 2 new ships (WinnieSatang and PerthChimon). Then in their 2024 showcase, none of their lineup of upcoming BL series featured OhmNanon. Ohm himself will be in a new BL series called ‘Kidnap’, but he’ll be paired with someone else: Peng.
This announcement has prompted some fandoms – notably the OhmNanon_CNFC from China – to ‘demand’ that GMMTV bring them back in a series and as a pair, in a letter posted on X.
This has sparked outrage among many other fans who don’t support this group’s actions. But this hasn’t stopped these fans from doing more outrageous acts. They even sent advertising trucks in front of GMMTV’s headquarters in Bangkok with slogans like “Give OhmNanon back!”
In an interview with Nine Entertain, Nanon has said: “If they want me to be in that way, they should just follow someone else.” He’s also announced that he’d be taking a hiatus, stating in an interview: “My fans are so whiny like they keep whining all the time telling me to go back to accept series.” Such is the drama of fans of Thailand’s BL industry.
The stalking and harassment of Freen and Seng
BL fans are all too familiar with the concept of ‘shipping’ when it comes to BL actors. But what happens when their favourite ships ‘break up’ due to someone from another ship?
The most recent case involves two actors from very different ships. Seng Wichai – formerly paired with Billy Patchanon as BillySeng – created a Twitter (sorry, X) storm when there was speculation about his romance with Freen Sarocha, a GL (girl’s love) actress who’s shipped with Becky Armstrong as FreenBeck. Some fans of both ships harassed them, accusing Seng of ‘breaking up’ FreenBeck and ruining their lives/careers.
One person went as far as stalking and filming the couple illegally – apparently by gaining access to an abandoned building next to the condo that Freen lives in. The perpetrator even tried to blackmail Idol Factory (the agency that Freen belongs to), threatening to leak the video to the internet. But the video got leaked anyway, and the couple were then harassed by fans into making a statement about their relationship. Freen and Seng have since engaged in a lawyer to bring the offender to justice.
Instead of wishing the happy couple happiness, some fans were upset at both Seng and Freen, as well as Idol Factory, for hiding the relationship. The couple were forced not only to admit their relationship before they were ready to. Freen even apologised to her fans for performing fan service with Becky.
Scroll through social media and you’ll see how some devoted fans were badly affected by the breakup of FreenBeck.
While Freen and Seng both had their privacy violated, with threats hurled at them in the past few months, fans of FreenBeck seemed more concerned about Becky being left behind. Hashtags like ‘HERE FOR BECKY’ were trending, proving that sometimes, fans aren’t able to discern fan service from real life.
Fandom can be a great source of support and encouragement, especially for young actors starting out in Thailand’s BL industry. But when fandoms become toxic, everything they’ve built can go downhill fast.
Mew Suppasit reprimands fans on Twitter
Mew Suppasit fired up his Twitter fandom on Feb 15 2023 with a series of posts aimed at some of his fans to address their continued obsession with his relationship status with fellow actor Gulf Kanawut. His series of posts generally vented his frustration at fans – at one point, he even suggested some extreme fans to get mental help. He’s been trying to tell his fandom that him and Gulf haven’t spoken in 2 years.
Translation: “There are a lot of lovely/nice couple-fanclub and I really appreciate it. I’ve said that you can imagine because it is your own space. But some of you cannot separate between ‘reality’ and ‘imagination’ and blame it on us. This is not right. That’s why education is important. I’ll leave this to the government.”
While most people generally acknowledge that fan service can take a mental toll on actors and fans, many of his fans have taken offense at his tweets because of the harsh tone.
Build Jakapan and BOC (and more)
Those who follow Be on Cloud (BOC), the studio behind hit series KinnPorsche, would know that Build Jakapan (Pete in KinnPorsche) left the company after a live announcement on January 28, 2023. This came on the heels of a multitude of accusations he received from Poi, one of the writers of KinnPorsche.
Among other things, Poi – who maintains that they were dating – accused Build of abuse, cheating, and copyright infringement, posting a multitude of text messages and images from random Pinterest pages to support her case. She also wanted Build to return things she’s bought for him, including a condo, a BMW, a saxophone, and a number of designer items.
After the allegations emerged, Build was dropped from all brand sponsorships and from any future BOC projects. Build has also deactivated all of his social media accounts. While no one really knows the truth, the duo are set to go to court to settle their disputes.
But that incident wasn’t the last time Build got into hot water. In July 2023, leaked text messages indicated that he insulted Jackson Wang. Fans of Jackson even started the hashtag BuildJakapanApologizeToJACKSONWANG.
Apparently, in other leaked text messages, he also disrespected most of the artists at BOC, including Apo, Build, Job, and Bas. As a response, Build issued an apology: “About the private chats in the past and things that I inappropriately said that hurt others, I’m very sorry. I would like to apologise to everyone I mentioned and didn’t mention. I apologised and will take responsibility for what I did to the people I referred to. I’m not like that anymore. From now on I’ll be careful with my words so I won’t upset others again.”
Earlier in 2022, Build got into trouble for posting inappropriate comments online involving rape and racism several years ago. As a result, he had to make a public apology on social media.
When actors are forced to apologise
If anyone follows K-pop then a similar pattern is emerging in the BL fandom. You know the story – just when an actor is getting popular, someone would dig up something bad they did in the past. The actor will then make a public apology, and be counseled by their management companies (this may or may not result in a short suspension).
January 2023 began with Ohm Pawat’s apology for bullying a classmate with autism when he was in middle school. According to his apology statement, the school and his parents had punished him right after the incident. However, since the incident resurfaced, he’s apologised on social media. Some fans are disappointed in his behavior (and apology).
Not long before Build’s controversy, Zee Pruk – who recently played Hia Lian in Cutie Pie The Series – was also forced to make a public apology. This time it involved joking about NC scenes (aka romance scenes) with his on-screen partner NuNew Chawarin in episode 3’s behind-the-scenes video. He livestreamed his apology not long after.
Toy admits to murder of his girlfriend
Toy Thanapat (WhyRU) admitted to stabbing his girlfriend, Chatsaran Suwannakit, over 20 times with a kitchen knife in a blind rage. The act took place at a townhouse in Bangkok where the 21-year old actor was arrested. Her body was found in a bedroom on the second floor. Toy initially told the police that she brought a knife to the bedroom to hurt herself, and that he tried to stop her, but the struggle resulted in her death.
Of all the scandals in Thailand’s BL industry, this is perhaps the most heinous.
Bright faced China’s wrath and boycotts (a few times)
Bright Vachirawit (2Gether, F4 Thailand) received mass hatred from China more than once in 2020! The first time was rather innocuous. He retweeted a photographic post that described Hong Kong as a country. This angered Chinese netizens (they forgave him after his apology though).
However, their wrath couldn’t be contained when his girlfriend, Weeraya, supported the idea that the coronavirus originated in China. She also considered Taiwan a country (although her Instagram post didn’t specifically say that). As a response, Chinese netizens not only stopped ‘stanning’ Bright, and boycotted 2gether, in which he co-stars.
They even interacted with Thai fans to voice their distaste. This was met with plenty of hilarious responses from Thai netizens with the hashtag #nnevvy. It then ballooned into a global movement: the infamous Milk Tea Alliance of Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. This was seen as uniting like-minded activists against authoritarianism.
The Motive Village and the 2Moons Scandal
The series 2Moons (2017) was a big hit for production company Motive Village (MV), starring God Itthipat, Bas Suradej, Copter Panuwat, Kimmon Warodom, Tae Darvid, and Tee Thanapon. However, hot on the heels of its success was a host of scandals.
2Moons was supposed to be a 3-season series with the same cast. However, MV claimed some copyright violation with the entire cast and had issues with God (who left on his own). They then cast all-new actors without prior knowledge of the previous cast, who were undoubtedly miffed. However, the cast members – or SB5 (minus God) – managed to move onto greener pastures with another entertainment agency.
Then comes 2Moons2, with newly-cast actors Benjamin Brasier, Earth Teerapat, Joong Archen, Nine Kornchid, Pavel Poom, and Dome Woranart, which went onto great success. All (except Dome) were bound by contract to MV for the remaining 2 seasons. MV tried to make a boy band (called OXQ) comprising all the actors except Earth, whom the company deemed unsuitable. Naturally, it caused a lot of commotion among fans.
MV then collaborated with Chinese entertainment company NSMG to participate in an idol survival contest in China. Only Joong and Nine were selected and heavily promoted, leaving the rest of the cast members in limbo. They were still under contract, but had no jobs to do. This led Ben to do a Twitch Live to voice their situation.
By this point Ben, Pavel, and Earth were looking at ways to end their contract. At the end, all cast members (including Joong and Nine) were free of their contracts as of 2021. Joong ended up at GMMTV, while Pavel made his mark as the lead in Pit Babe (2023).
Nobody really knows what happened to MV, but they proceeded with the production of 2Moons3.
The “I’m not gay” guys
Joong explained to Turkish friends on his Instagram page that he wasn’t gay because he was on 2Moons2 in 2018. He said: “I’m a man in real life, not gay”. Joong’s action prompted Motive Village to issue an apology and gave Joong a probation.
Fellow actor, Frank Thanatsaran (Our Skyy) also tweeted “…and I’m man not gay, thank you” in an unrelated post in 2021.
Krist Perawat (SOTUS, Our Skyy) was another actor who vehemently objected to the notion that he is gay. On one of his Instagram Live sessions, a fan asked “are you gay?” and he replied with “Absolutely NO ??!!”
Their comments have left some BL fans disappointed.
Krist and Singto joke about rape on a live feed
While Krist Perawat and Singto Prachaya (SOTUS) were testing filters on a live feed, Singto found one that blurred his face. He commented that he looked like a rape victim in an interview and that Krist was the one who raped him.
Mew Suppasit in Thailand’s news for all the wrong reasons
Mew Suppasit (What The Duck, TharnType) and Art Pakpoom (What The Duck) played lovers in What The Duck (2018). During the promotion of the series, the pair spent a night at Mew’s apartment. Afterwards, Art publicly (and tearfully) revealed in a livestream that Mew kissed him and that he wasn’t comfortable with it.
While Art considered Mew as a ‘brother’, he alleged that Mew tried to tell his own friends to “stay away from Art.” All of this clouded the MewArt fandom, with fans split in opinions. Some accused Art of seeking attention, while others accused Mew of sexual harassment.
Two years later, Mew was cast as the lead with rookie Gulf Kanawut in a new series, TharnType (2019). Art basically disappeared from the limelight. The controversy seemed to be swept under the rug, but it resurfaced in 2021 prior to TharnType 2‘s release. Fans revisited the #MewSexualHarrassment hashtag. However, Mew continued gaining fans (over 3 million fans on Instagram, compared to Art’s 200,000+). He also has a successful music career.
Just when Mew thought the online drama was done, he became a victim of cyberbullying himself a few months later. This time, by Thai NCTZens (fans of Kpop boy band NCT). They accused him of copying Jaehyun’s I Like Me Better MV vlog style cover with his song After Glow. Mew’s studio then issued multiple apologies and took down the song. Fans then insulted him for his sexuality, music career, and education, and demanded he be pulled from sponsorships. This happened over 8 days until Mew hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit against those who falsely accused him on social media.
Thailand’s BL industry and being single
Thailand’s BL industry fandom is undoubtedly all about the ships (or pairings). There are a few popular ones who manage to gain a loyal band of fans who support their fan service. The premise behind the fan service is usually to perpetuate the myth that the “couple” are more than just friends. Some fans buy into this entirely. So when one of them has a girlfriend (which isn’t uncommon), fans tend to turn on them.
The most recent case involved Mile Phakphum from KinnPorsche series. He was literally lambasted online for dating someone.
Fans of MaxTul – Max Nattapol and Tul Pakorn (Manner of Death) – were shocked to see Max with actress Mook Woranit. Mook took her post down soon after. Max also had to make a public announcement on March 2021 that he was indeed dating Mook.
OhmNanon – Ohm Pawat and Nanon Korapat of Bad Buddy – surged in popularity recently due to their highly successful BL drama. While fans loved their off-screen relationship, things took a turn when Ohm was found hanging out with a random girl. Their pictures went viral. This led rabid fans to dig up her social media accounts, and began harassing her. They’ve also blamed Ohm for lying about being single.
There are many more tales of scandals that have been happening in Thailand’s BL industry in recent years. With the popularity of the genre, it won’t be surprising to hear more in the coming months or years.
