2026 Thai Watch Challenge

My go-to cheer-up and since it's the silliest, warm-hearted sitcom, it works to watch when I need some spark. Love the beginning so much I'm quite happy to 'have to' rewatch the first 5 episodes again for the Watch Challenge. It's going to happen anyway. VPN to Viu Thailand.

My reactions were all over the place. Technically poor in many ways, effective in others if you just go with it, not enough Mek Winai, a moment which was comically bad, parts of the plot which were obvious, other bits seemingly random enough to not be (though it all does eventually hold together), not enough Mek Winai, oscillations between creepy and melodrama, with the melodrama ultimately winning through. I ended up liking it. Even with insufficient Mek Winai ;)

The emotions in this are exquisite, sometimes painful, sometimes beautiful, always grounded and real. Score and pacing are superb, acting excellent - everything working together to give it such emotional depth. I really do love the Thai way with a story, especially their two hour movies.

Pared down classic road movie except with an elephant. And a Singaporean indie film-maker who's lived and worked in many places. There's a gentle dry, slightly absurdist humour (because elephant) in parts. The premise, cast, setting and language are entirely Thai but with a different feel than a Thai director might have brought.

Genres - western and Thai - become a riotous palette of textures, colours and emotions to play with. This is fascinating work.

Easy enough to vibe without subs, though I'm looking forward to filling in some gaps amongst the film-maker characters. Silly thing made me cry too. 

Spent half of it certain I'd seen some of it before - Legend of Sudsakorn, the WTF CGI-psychedelic boys own adventure is also from the poem.
This one - war movie with OTT violence, two love stories and questionable special effects. Reading up on the poem, it reconfigures a key element in a storyline but is otherwise true to the plot.

I was not prepared.

add Clean and Jerk back in after this, deleted it so Thai PBS would show up in lists on the page instead of my Challenge diary

Really intelligent youth lakorn. A bit more stressful than I was wanting but it was excellent. Cinderella turned into a critique of ruthless capitalists and the damage they do, but also a lot of growth and self-insight for the mains. And thoroughly Thai.

Violent and almost surreal - like it belongs in the lineage of Tears of the Black Tiger, but all in muted browns and dusty dirt. But I understood how Black Tiger fits into Thai cinema, and this one, I'm not sure at all what to make of it.