Thai TV drama

[Guest route67]

Without wishing to sound like a retired colonel from Little Bodgling (or somesuch place in Little England), and reverting to the 'It really is appalling...' cliché, I feel I must comment on the standard of Thai TV shows, of which I am bombarded due to living with my teelak.

 

Thai TV drama - it really is appalling.

 

I can't answer for the 'Why' but I'll have a go at the 'How...'

 

1.  I have no idea how much it costs to make these things, but the producers could at least make an effort to make them not look cheap.

 

2.  The sound effects, which one would expect to her on a sports blooper type of program are all over these catastrophes.  I can only assume that the producers are of the opinion that Thais are so stupid that they need things 'telegraphed' for them.

 

3.  Wildly inappropriate (and intrusive) soundtracks.  Music seems to be inserted entirely at random throughout the many aberrations I have had cause to witness.

 

4.  The actin...no, I cannot dignify what I have seen with the correct technical epiphet - it just won't do.  One might accumulate a sizeable fortune by opening a school for budding thespians in Thailand.  Alternatively, one could open the world's largest deli, such is the quantity of ham on display.  In the UK, it might be permissible - just, and only just - to 'act' on-screen in this fashion, but only in the context of a programme for those in the pre-school years.  Contrast this with some of the stuff I download, where very often less is more, and the viewers occasionally have to actually think for themselves.

 

5.  There seems to be a class scale which correlates very closely with a skin darkness scale - I'm sure one exists, but I'm too lazy to find it.  Lighter skin = HiSo, and the darker you get, the lower down the class scale you go.  Also, the servants are, well, servile.  And, yes, I am aware of the provenance of both words.  Do people really act that way in real households in this day and age?  Maybe, but I would hope not.  - I'm using 'servile' in the strictly pejorative sense.  All that bowing and scraping turns my stomach.

[Luung]

Well I'll take a stab as to why, Route67... Unfortunately, it's a reflection of where Thai culture is right now, with the bold new money crudely aspiring & grasping at class, whilst not even realising a thing about the social education that should go with it... Do you ever see any pictures on the walls or any books on the shelves in any of these shows?... Nah, of course not, the new money hi-so's in this country aren't even to that stage yet.

 

It's just about pretty people in nice clothes trying to fuck each other over with whoopee cushions going off in the background.. Which is pretty much how it is as you move up the scale here (apart from the pretty people bit)

 

So there you go, a tacky view of prejudiced, empty & bankrupt culture where cash is class & everyone is tripping over one another trying to get it, even the poor who are spending half of their almost non existent incomes on whitening products & whoring themselves out in a desperate attempt to gain some sort of well heeled, haute couture'd, advancement...

 

To coin a phrase, it's a pretty box with nothing inside.... And this is what we're going to get with any kind of media that it produces.

 

It's a lot of money spent by the production companies, just to look cheap.

 

 

On another note, I remember when I first came to this country, the pretty girls in these shows were always getting caned or beaten by their mother's or ugly auntie's or even better still getting locked in dark cupboards... Whatever happened to that??..

 

Now that, I enjoyed! :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

 

 

[Snick]

I just watch them with the sound muted and wait for a good cat fight.

 

They seem to have toned down recently, you used to be able to watch them slap each other, roll in the mud and then fall into the pool...now thats entertainment.

[Luung]

I just watch them with the sound muted and wait for a good cat fight.

 

They seem to have toned down recently, you used to be able to watch them slap each other, roll in the mud and then fall into the pool...now thats entertainment.

Yeah, I really miss that.

 

It's such a shame, but all you seem to get nowdays is really limp gay boys in expensive, yet cheaply looking, fashionable clothes, acting tough & pretending to hit each other or knocking out the brown skinned, swarthy, bad guys whilst preening their hair.

 

Shit, I want to see something in a short skirt go down in the mud.

[dixon cox]

Last year I began watching a Thai TV series called "Hormones" and I must admit I did find myself enjoying it. Not only are the girls so cute but the story-lines are entertaining and nothing like the usual garbage found on Thai TV channels. A significant cut above the typical Thai TV dross and on par with a decent western TV series.

Apart from being a very good show It also allows you to become immersed in the Thai language, which is not as bad as it may sound. A very good way to learn or pick up some Thai phrases as someone has very kindly gone to all the trouble of creating English subtitles for the show and posting the results on youtube. Links to subsequent episodes are easily available there too.

 

Source for the below quote.

 

 

From the opening episode it becomes clear why Hormones, a drama of daily life at a Bangkok high school, has become the most talked about programme on Thai television.

 

Within the first few minutes there is the sneaky cigarette during morning register, the bathroom quickie during break time, the mindless chatter about who likes whom, the agony of a boring lecture, and the impending suspension of a handsome bad boy.

 

Day-to-day life in Thailand is still largely conservative, with programming revolving around game shows and anodyne soap operas, and sex education premised on abstinence over birth control.

 

Which is why, much like Skins did in Britain, Hormones has struck a nerve in Thailand, where fans appreciate its honesty and critics lambast its "reckless" scenes of youths smoking and kissing on-screen.

 

Officials have even called for outright censorship, but its director, Songyos Sugmakanan, says the series plays an integral part in Thailand's culture, primarily because the issues it touches upon – teenage sex, drugs and general hormonal confusion – are not usually discussed at home or in school.

 

~

 

The series, which is the first of its kind in Thailand, has proven hugely popular, ranking third behind two major terrestrial channels during its Saturday night slot. A second series is slated for air next year. Non-cable viewers are able to catch each week's episode on YouTube the next day, where some episodes have reached more than 9m views. Sugmakanan says that parents often watch with their teens to get an idea of what school life may entail.

 

With each episode themed around a particular hormone – such as testosterone or oestrogen – the series follows nine characters, from heartthrobs and goody-two-shoes to wannabe musicians and tomboys. As topical issues are woven neatly into the script, including single parenthood, abortion, homosexuality and class bullying, the series has been lauded as "quality, thought-provoking programming" that could change not only the way Thais see TV, but their own culture as well.

 

"Hormones is based on real-life problems in Thailand, but that's scary to most people," said Jaded Chaowilai of the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, which campaigns for greater sex education in schools.

 

"We cannot talk openly about sex education in Thai society, so most of the youth don't know what they're doing when they have sex. Most of the young women have abortions because they don't know how to protect themselves – they don't even know how to use condoms."

 

Unsumalin Sirasakpatharamaetha, 22, who plays class president Khwan in the series, says most of the characters are based on real people, with many of the actors incorporating their own life experiences into the series.

 

"The aim is to provoke the audience to think, and because it acts like a mirror for teens, they know what can happen with each path they might take, and from that learn what to do," she says. "Censorship is really only to protect those who can't think for themselves."

 

 

Hormones - Episode 01 - Testosterone

 

http://youtu.be/Tn9YTTip0ss

[pdogg]

Apart from being a very good show It also allows you to become immersed in the Thai language, which is not as bad as it may sound. A very good way to learn or pick up some Thai phrases as someone has very kindly gone to all the trouble of creating English subtitles for the show and posting the results on youtube. Links to subsequent episodes are easily available there too.

 

 

Great find DC!  

 

I really like the idea of English subtitles.  Seems like a painless way of picking up some Thai.