Soap operas in Thailand
Lakorn (Thai: ละคร) is the Thai word for play, but is also used to refer to the Thai genre of soap operas.
Lakorns are broadcast daily on primetime on Thai television. An episode with a completed story usually lasts two hours (including commercials). A series lasts an average of three months, with an episode usually shown twice a week. As a result, a television network can show three lakorns at the same time. Lakorns attract a lot of viewers, so television channels try to get those series in which the most popular actors play. The best lakorns are shown from 20.30:17.00 pm. Lakorns of slightly lower quality are programmed from XNUMX p.m., and usually take less time. Sometimes the better series are repeated a few years after their first showing, but then in the afternoons.
Features
Most lakorns contain a number of fixed characteristics. The most popular series in particular rarely deviate from this. The story always ends happily, with a marriage between the main character and his mistress.
At the beginning of the series, two lovers are introduced as quickly as possible. It is usually not difficult to recognize who the couple in love is, because it usually concerns the two most popular actors of the moment. There is at least one evil female character in the story. It usually involves a woman who is in love with the male lead, and wants to prevent the marriage with which the series ends. All conflicts are resolved at the end of the story. Everyone forgives each other, the bad guys are punished and the good guys are rewarded. Theatrical and exaggerated acting is often used for the benefit of melodramatics.
The rules of Lakorn
A reader on an English-language forum, who like many other foreigners is more or less forced to watch the lakorn of the day, has devised a way to pass the time by constantly predicting what follows certain scenes. He doesn't find it that difficult to predict: girl meets boy, a jealous lady keeps them apart until the end and all's well that ends well.
He has listed all sorts of possible events and the continuation during the series, which he has dubbed “The Rules of Lakorn” for convenience:
- When two people kiss each other, that one person appears on the scene, who really shouldn't see that
- If a pregnant woman walks up or down a flight of stairs, she will fall and miscarry
- When someone fires a pistol or rifle, it always hits a person other than the one the bullet was intended for.
- Someone who gets a few fits of coughing will die of a serious illness.
- If a person drives away angry after a quarrel, a serious accident will happen.
- If a main character is killed, it comes back as a ghost.
- When Pah Ek (the hero) arranges a meeting with Nang Ek (the heroine), the meeting is sabotaged by a jealous woman.
- When Nang Ek is seen in a bedroom with a man other than Pah Ek, she is assaulted on the bed.
- When farmers or countrymen appear - easily recognizable by the wide trousers and headbands - someone is kidnapped.
- If a mean plan is hatched in secret, there is always someone eavesdropping on that conversation.
Finally
It always ends well, that's for sure. You can probably make the list a bit longer yourself, but be careful not to say it out loud in front of your Thai partner. You might get yourself into trouble.
Source: Wikipedia/Thaivisa
About this blogger
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Bert Gringhuis (1945), born and raised in Almelo in the beautiful Twente. Later lived for many years in Amsterdam and Alkmaar, working in export for various companies. I first came to Thailand in 1980 and immediately fell in love with the country. Been back many times since then and moved to Thailand after my (early) retirement as a widower. I have been living there for 22 years now with my somewhat younger Thai lady Poopae.
My first experiences in Thailand as a kind of newsletter sent to family, friends and acquaintances, which later appeared under the name Gringo on Thailandblog. Many, many articles followed those first stories and that has grown into an almost daily hobby.
In the Netherlands still an avid footballer and football referee, but the years are starting to tell and in Thailand still avid, but the pool billiards is really of inferior quality, ha ha!
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it is indeed very exaggerated and badly acted. In addition, many soaps always have a few lady boys (screaming queens) for the exaggerated drama, a dragon of a woman who hates everyone and often 1 or more Loeng kie mauw. Drunk uncle. Almost included as standard in the total package. In short, zapping quickly to another sender. Or you have to love those series like “good Thai bad Thai” haha.
Another:
* When a beautiful, young woman of humble origins is raped by an older, wealthy man, she eventually falls in love with him and they marry
Soap operas: the national obsession, people drop everything for it and it is the talk of the day. Has already cost me a lot of wet tissues. On all channels but especially on Channel 3 but not on ThaiPBS. In general, soap operas are not worth watching. Predictable, bad acting and role-affirming.
I know of two exceptions. Years ago, my son and I watched a soap opera called 'khâ khǒng khon', or 'The Value of People', scripted after a book that came out 50 years ago. The theme was that wealth and origin say nothing about someone's worth, sometimes quite the contrary. My son still watches it on YouTube sometimes.
Later I liked to watch a soap opera titled 'thong neúa kâow' literally 'gold flesh nine' (asked some people what it means, no one knew), coincidentally with the same actress, Woranuch Bhirombhakdi (Nune)
The story is by Botan (writer of 'Letters from Thailand') and the theme is the devastation that an alcoholic woman causes in her environment. Both soaps are not works of art but pleasant to look at, well depicted and acted with a catchy theme and without exaggerated fuss.
On the Dong Tan beach I once attended some recordings.
The "shots" of 3 minutes had to be redone a dozen times.
For me it was top shelf entertainment!
But with a Thai Wai and smile I left otherwise I would have
shit my pants laughing.
How is it possible to act so bad and what else amazes me
that so much is being looked at.
What else do the Thais have?
PM Prayuth's “ge…” on Friday night?
Or the 3 "clowns" that can't be burned away, who regularly punch each other in the face
pushing or hitting the head with a rubber mallet. The girls are lying on the stands
folded over with laughter. Often very sweet with a hand over the mouth,
Soaps I can not watch, Thai soaps certainly not. Exaggerated acting and all those clichés and violence. Brrr. Was glad my love didn't watch soaps either, you will have an addicted partner who watches soaps or sports for hours. Are you sitting together in the evening on the couch or on the floor glued to the tube…
I, we, did watch Hormones. A controversial series set in a high school that also involves sex, alcohol and drugs. But that is a Thai drama and I don't think you can call it a soap opera.
I have to watch the soaps Tino mentions again. The most popular programs are or were also available with English subtitles written by fans on YouTube and Facebook, among others.
I thought GTST was bad until I saw a Thai soap opera for the first time!
Also the variety of scenes. After a comic scene with those strange noises, there is a scene where a woman is beaten by her husband…
At a friend's house, after a few beers, we dubbed one of those series that his wife watches with texts made up on the spot. Then the series suddenly became a lot more fun! No idea what that series was called, but when a blind character walked down a flight of stairs very easily and quickly, we couldn't help ourselves!
Interesting article, especially nice with those predictions. I haven't watched TV for over thirty years and I don't sit on the couch with my wife in the evening. She watches her movies, I watch mine, and we see each other again at 10 pm in our cozy bed.
I have been learning Thai quite intensively for a few months now (about two hours a day). It would of course be nice to watch Thai movies and catch the words I have learned. That way you can learn combinations and build sentences.
Unfortunately, there is no series that appeals to me. I can't imagine watching an episode like this for two hours.
Long ago, in the days before the internet and even before DVDs came on the market, I used to go to Thailand regularly and buy Thai movies on video. They weren't bad then. I even went to the cinema here if they had subtitles.
Now I wouldn't know how to get good movies. Anyone have a tip maybe? Order online at Lazada or something?
I sometimes watch with half an eye. What is striking is the meanness of the women in particular. The drama that accompanies everything does not really give a favorable image of the woman of the rich class in particular. Even if only 10% of it is true, then I would say stay away from this group of the population.
Greetings French