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Calling out to all Thai drama watchers who enjoy heterosexual ships

Thenosa Yechette

First off, this is not a discussion about heterosexual kisses in Asian dramas in general. My main objective is to find other heterosexual kisses from Thai dramas that I may be able to like. And I know it would be helpful if I had video clips/pictures to add in this article, but collecting them is kind of a challenge for me at the moment, since they're all over the place, and my memory isn't very reliable either.

Alright. I have watched about 20 Thai dramas so far in the past 6 years after I started watching Asian dramas, at least according to my watchlist on MDL. A lot of them featured at least one heterosexual ship each. And while I know Thailand is known for BLs, they're not my cup of tea, so I usually avoid them.

Here's the main topic- in all of the Thai dramas I have watched, most (if not all) of the kisses(mostly between the ships I have liked) that I have seen were not satisfactory to me. I say that as a girl who grew up watching only Hollywood before giving Asian dramas/movies a shot. And now, I primarily watch Japanese dramas, and some Thai dramas every now and then. Based on that experience, I have seen that Jdramas/movies have kisses that are closer to what I have become used to while watching Hollywood productions.

This is my first time discussing anything related to displays of affection, so if I'm not very good/clear with my wording/phrasing, I apologize. My main complaint is this- the kisses in Thai dramas that I have seen are mostly pecks, and if they are kisses with actual lip movement, it gets covered, or it's not actually visible in the scene.

Let's take Disney (movies/series) kisses for example to explain what I mean. They're PG rated, but we actually see them happen (as in, the shots of the lips), and they're not limited to just pecks.

For the Thai drama kisses I've seen, if the drama is family friendly, then the kiss was just a peck. And if it was something a bit more mature, (like if the kiss led to other things), then the shot doesn't show their lips at all, like I know they're kissing but I can't tell what it looks like. The example of these are the kisses between Aye and Mond's characters in episode 10 and 11 of P.S. I hate you. https://kisskh.at/715909-p-s-i-hate-you

The kisses lead to other things in the example above, so the shot doesn't focus/zoom in on the actual kiss for more than 2 seconds. And the other one totally gets covered up. To me, this is an example of an UNSATISFACTORY kiss. The other thing I have seen is the total opposite- too intense kisses, which are obviously for more mature dramas/scenarios. And I don't like those kisses because that falls in the "making out" territory vs. simple kisses that allow me to enjoy a ship's storyline and make me happy when it comes after a long wait to see them finally get together. Bottom line, I want to see a middle ground.

Now I'll give examples of better (not quite satisfactory, but not as bad as the ones described above) kisses to explain what I mean. Some that I can think of from the top of my head are:

  1. The final kiss between Paithong and Theewin in Bpai Hai Teung Duang Dao https://kisskh.at/38777-bpai-hai-teung-duang-dao
  2. The kiss between Koya and Austin in episode 3 of Love Books Love Series: Dark Fairy Tale https://kisskh.at/25748-love-books-love-series-dark-fairy-tale
  3. The kiss between Nanfah and Pladao in The Jungle episode 7.  https://kisskh.at/743925-the-jungle But it has the flaw I mentioned above, the shot zooms out during the kiss, so we can't see the scene play out properly. Nonetheless, I'm willing to call it decent.

I will admit that it's most likely due to my poor choices in dramas, and mostly watching GMMTV shows (and never branching out) because I like many of the actors from there. If it is due to that, and other people who've watched Thai dramas from other networks have had a different experience, then I haven't had the chance to read about that yet.  Either way, my experience almost convinced me that I may not find a satisfactory kiss scene from Thai dramas ever again, unless I branch out to watch other networks' shows and deliberately try to find satisfactory kissing scene clips on social media, which I'm too lazy to do. This was until recently when I actually found a satisfactory heterosexual kiss scene in a GMMTV show, of all places, which is none other than "The Three Gentlebros". https://kisskh.at/715919-the-three-gentlebros

The kiss I'm talking about is the kiss between Thames and Nueng in episode 12. I have ZERO complaints about this one.

  • More than a peck, meaning there's lip movement, check.
  • Doesn't zoom out, doesn't get interrupted (by things like effects, and filters or whatever) too soon, check. What happens instead of either of these is, the shot shifts a bit to their right, where we can still see their reflection (on a window glass or something, I'm not 100% sure what it was), and the continuation of their kiss. I found this to be an interesting and creative thing to do, especially considering GMMTV shows love to add "flair" (different effects) to their kissing scenes for some reason. And like I said, I hate this because it ruins te scene/moment for me.
  • Not too intense and doesn't lead to other things, check.
  • Between a ship I really like, check. More like a cherry on top.

Now, this is where I want you guys to step in. To those of you who have watched a good amount of heterosexual ships and kisses from Thai dramas and have more experience in this field than me, I request you all to suggest some kissing scenes that you think will meet the expectations I have mentioned above, as well as similar to the given  example. It'd be great if it is from a drama where the romantic storyline is well executed so that I could try to check out the entire drama and not just that one scene. It would be even better if you guys can suggest a kissing scene like that from a GMMTV show, then I'd watch the show even if it's not that good.

I know you're probably thinking that I'm stupid for thinking and even writing this despite my lack of experience.  But I would appreciate you guys withholding any sort of judgement and forgive this kouhai, who is far less experienced than my respectable senpais, and listen to her teeny tiny request. Even if you can't listen to my request and have read this stupid soliloquy of mine from the start, I thank you for being patient and bearing with me. 😇🙂🙃😊 

Sincerely, with loads of love,

Thenosa Yechette, a random drama watcher.

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autumn iris

I counted the Thai non-BL dramas I completed and it's exactly 20, out of 77 Thai dramas I completed in total. And I dropped 11 dramas, put 1 on-hold, and currently watching 3. That makes 35. But not all of them are romance drama. So I'm not an expert either.

I don't really pay attention to kiss scene, but I get that they tend to be more polite than kiss scene in BL where the leads looks like they want to eat each other during kissing, and I don't remember any heterosexual couple doing french kiss either. But maybe I ignore them since I'm more interested in the plot.

You could try another platform other than GMMTV. But unlike GMMTV who provides subtitles, another platform like OneD, Channel 3, Channel 7, and MONOMAX may or may not provide free video/with subtitle. I think GMMTV make a good rom-com and mystery drama but for romance drama, I prefer Channel 3. You could try Dhevaprom: Dujupsorn, My Cherie Amour, and To the Moon and Back as they're my favorites; 10/10. Fyi, Dhevaprom itself has 5 titles and 5 prequels, but each title is a stand alone. As for the titles with passionate kiss scene, I hope the next person can provide some recommendation.

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Thenosa Yechette

@autumn iris Thank you so much for the recommendations! I will make sure to check them out when possible. I really appreciate that you read my post and commented, cuz I kinda expected almost no one to have interest in this. So again, THANK YOU!! 😁😄

One thing I would like to point out is, I'm NOT looking for french or passionate kisses. I already mentioned that, and used the example of Disney movies to explain that. I'm actually looking for a gentle, soft one, like the one from The Three Gentle Bros (no pun intended 😅) episode 12. It was NOT a French or a passionate kiss, it was totally PG rated. But like I mentioned, it's more about how the scene was edited. It shows the full kiss, instead of zooming out or covering/blocking the kiss. That's the main thing I'm looking for. Nonetheless, I really appreciate your recommendations, and I will let you know after checking them out.

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Elisheva

Eye contact and emotion matter more to me, so a kiss which feels more like it's about connection and commitment than sexual passion suits me. The best for me are the ones where it feels like their souls are connecting, and those don't need lip movement, just emotional intensity.

I could suggest some with more of the making out you don't want, but whether lips were moving or not during a couple's simpler kisses, that's just not what my brain remembers. Sorry.

I have seen a fair bit on your list though, so my impression is you're looking in the wrong places. There are several without romance or at most some mild flirtation (Bad Genius movie, Enigma, Homestay, The Con-Heartist, Midnight Motel, Peaceful Property as a few) and a lot of youth/coming of age.

GMMTV is GMM's youth-orientated channel - their kisses and skinship are always going to be milder, especially for het as they're protective of their young actresses. A lot of talent within their acting pool - watch for that.

one31 has a fair bit with English subtitles on their official YT, mostly orientated towards older audiences as their youth series tend to end up on GMMTV's YT. A fair bit unsubbed too, so you'll have to do some exploring.

Channel 3's YT is mostly unsubbed, but a subscription to their on-demand service (Ch3+) isn't expensive (how relatively cheap it is depends on your exchange rate but it's under US$30 for an entire year, around US$2 for a month) and they have ten or so lakorns with English subs available through it.

From Ch 3 - Game Prattana has A LOT of kissing so chances are *something* in there will suffice (it changes a lot from the beginning). To the Moon and Back's 2nd couple have some great kisses (Ryu Vachirawich is fantastic with using his breath and eyes to convey intensity) but they always lead to "other things". Those are implied rather than shown so maybe? The 1st couple are very innocent 30+ year olds raising puppies. It's a long haul to get to their intimacy and I don't remember if their lips moved.

Baifern Pimchanok and Nine Naphat have brilliant chemistry (they were together in real life for awhile), but again, lips moving? I don't remember. Their characters always draw me in to their stories.

 Thenosa Yechette:
what I have become used to while watching Hollywood productions.

If I may suggest a different approach - why hold onto expectations one way of doing things has conditioned you towards?

Thai storytelling excels in emotions. They do it differently from other countries, with different pacing and focus,  so it's best to be open and go with the flow. A movie with a ghost may turn out to be about grief, but it won't be sad or scary and when those emotions open up, they'll be wrapped in warmth and kindness. A far-fetched, ridiculous plot in a lakorn will be entertainment to carry the real story, which is always in the emotions, and they usually get those right. Just two examples, Thai media is very rich this way.

If you really need to see things done just like Hollywood does it, you're limiting yourself. Why do that?

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Thenosa Yechette

@Elisheva Thank you for your insightful comment! I didn't know any of this stuff so I appreciate the information and suggestions you gave here. 🙂😊

I agree with you. And I also mostly enjoy the stories, the interactions, bonds and connection more than anything romantic like displays of affection. Like, one of my favorite romantic movies featuring GMMTV artists, "May Who" doesn't even have a kiss. But I couldn't care less about that because the story was so satisfying and wholesome to me. Would I prefer that it had a kiss in it? Absolutely not. Some things are perfect as they are and don't need an extra thing just for the sake of it.

It's honestly not a big deal to me, and I never bothered to even think about it until now. It's just that, while I was watching the current show I'm watching, I was so pleasantly surprised and taken aback by that scene, it made me a little bit curious if something similar is in existence but I don't know about it. It truly isn't as important as it may seem here with my long and detailed analysis. I'm not too invested in this topic, it just made me curious is all.

I guess I'm looking at it the wrong way. I'll rethink things before setting my expectations from now on. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and investing your time to discuss this with me.

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Elisheva
 Thenosa Yechette:
I guess I'm looking at it the wrong way. I'll rethink things before setting my expectations from now on. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and investing your time to discuss this with me.

Thank you for reading it all :) I admit I got distracted by the detail you put into your descriptions of kisses. Very glad to hear you're open to and already learning more <3

May Who? is such a great movie. Electricity as a metaphor for teenage emotions and hormones was perfect and the way the oh so handsome love rival turned out to be a genuinely good guy too was a nice touch. Try Low Season - comedy/"horror" that's never too scary with gorgeous scenery in the northern mountains and a female lead who wears glasses.

Have you picked up on "sniff kisses" yet? It's a lovely SE Asian way of showing affection, haawm in Thai, which the rest of us lack. Can be innocent (grand/parent with a baby or child), sweet or silly (new relationship), or rather sensual once it's further along. Easy to spot once you know what to look for, one person puts their nose to the other and breathes in their scent. They're always a sign of emotion.

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Thenosa Yechette

Lol, I know. I felt absolutely RIDICULOUS when I wrote the details myself. Never have I EVER paid so much attention to this thing before. I don't know, that scene just made something inside me just click, and I felt like I need more of it, which I admit I'm still holding onto, but maybe I won't have the same expectations anymore.

And about the "sniff kiss"/"haawm" you mentioned, I can't say I can distinctly recall it from anything Thai or Southeast Asian I have watched so far. If you are able to point out some examples, I'd really love to go check them out. But it sounds like a very sweet but subtle thing from what you described. 😯😮😃

And of course, thanks again for the recommendations. I'll definitely give them a watch when I have the chance. 😁😇😊

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Elisheva
 Thenosa Yechette:
it sounds like a very sweet but subtle thing from what you described

It can be :D   It can also be exuberantly goofy, with the joy of a new romance. Those are easy to spot.

Try Astrophile, hopefully it's still on GMMTV's YT. Be wary of the comments section, I think some of them watched a different series. I'm pretty sure I remember at least one sweet but subtle haawm. It's also my favourite het romance. Kind, caring gentle people taking care of each other.

Century of Love has the best sensual haawm I've seen so far. It's not het though. Fun series with the energy of a lakorn but less of the mess.

I'll keep an eye out for more I can suggest to you. Not every title has them, but they're common enough you'll likely see some as you branch out.

 Thenosa Yechette:
felt like I need more of it, which I admit I'm still holding onto, but maybe I won't have the same expectations anymore

Maybe you can keep it in the background, not an expectation so much as letting it be a good surprise when you happen into one?

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Thenosa Yechette

I can certainly imagine it being goofy too, actually. 😁 I think I'll check out Astrophile for now, sounds interesting to me. I'm not looking for anything sensual right now, honestly. Not only from Thai dramas, but from everything I watch nowadays. For Thai drama, I'm watching Hide and Sis right now, but I've been skipping through the "mature scenes" because they don't interest me as much as the murder mystery plot. 

And the last suggest about keeping it in the background, I'll try to do that. I'll most likely just forget about this particular scene I'm currently thinking of by next week or so and go back to not thinking about "kissing scenes" in anything for a long time, lol. It's not something I did before and that's what I'll go back to soon enough after checking out the recommendations mentioned by you guys in this thread. So if a pleasant surprise ever does happen again, I'll just take it happily without overthinking things. 😅🙃

Oh, and @Elisheva I wanted to ask, have you checked out the kiss from The Gentle Bros that I was talking about as the perfect example? I know you may think it's not necessary, but I think it would give you an idea of what I kinda asked for more of in Thai dramas. All the episodes of the series are still on the GMMTV's YouTube in case you didn't know.

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Elisheva
 Thenosa Yechette:
they don't interest me as much as the murder mystery plot.

You might like The Death of Khun Phra on Thai PBS. Three friends, slaves in the 1800s, investigate the murder of an aristocrat. Mayhem ensues, along with some serious social issues.

I haven't looked at any of your examples, don't want to spoil myself. None of them were particularly on my radar but I like what I've seen from the director of 3 GentleBros (including Astrophile) so I'll watch that once I've finished or dropped something. Thanks for the heads up.

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