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My "guilty pleasure": why do I need 'Sangmin Dinneaw'?
That "guilty pleasure" thing is something I've never liked. Mainly, because any movie or series that makes me have a good time being guilty has very little. However, sometimes any film or television product that manages to make me forget reality for a while is welcome.
We all have that little guilty pleasure when it comes to series. That series that you love to watch even though it doesn't fit into your canons of taste. You know you shouldn't watch it either because it's bad or because your best friend told you to watch both seasons of 'To My Star' by Hwang Da Seul at once, or to repeat 'The On1y One', the LGBT+ television gem by Taiwanese filmmaker Liu Kuang Hui, but even so, you decide to continue with the series and enjoy it like there was no tomorrow, consuming episode after episode.
Some series have simply been the best accompaniment to disconnect from everyday life, and others have captured me because of the topic they deal with.
For this very reason 'Sangmin Dinneaw' has been one of my guilty pleasures during the evenings of these last Sundays, when a broken ankle has me tied to the bed.
So to combat the impossibility of going out, I ended up getting hooked on the Thai romantic comedy directed by Thitipan Raksasat. It's not that I felt especially guilty watching it, it must be said, it is true that it does not fit the type of fiction that I usually consume. And I did well taking the risk.
Sometimes, you end up with your brain so fried after the entire student or work day that all you want is to be able to see something without pretensions. And look, without any kind of shame and dishonor, I tell you that the BL series starring Choi Sang Min as Sang Min, and Petch Ratana Aiamsaart as Dinneaw, fulfills what I was looking for these days.
Don't look at me wrong. I am neither committing any crime, nor am I attacking any norm regarding audiovisual enjoyment. There is a time for everything. To see what's new from Backaof Aof Noppharnach, the latest installment by Filipino JP Habac, the next trendy romantic drama starring Fandy Fan after 'A Balloon's Landing' (which I owe a review), the future project that War ý Yin Anan They are brought up after delighting me with 'Jack & Joker U Steal My Heart!', or to remember the work of Golf Tanwarin Sukkhapisit.
And if you think not, remember that you are taking away the most beautiful and democratic thing about movies and series: there is a product out there for each and every one of us. Let's not forget that we are talking about entertainment and, precisely for that reason, we should not force ourselves to watch something we do not want to see simply because we have to.
Well, because of 'Sangmin Dinneaw' I haven't made any progress on other series I had pending. The series is to blame for the fact that I haven't taken advantage of that time to catch up and advance my long list of things that have been postponed, but at the same time I had a great time with Sangmin and Dinneaw. The two of them and the four friends is the best thing that could have happened to me during these weeks with their extravagant episodes.
Although the character of Dinneaw caused me problems at first, little by little his shy but suggestive interpretation has won me over. Because, deep down, in the eight episodes that make up the series, what is important in the character ends up being themes such as transformation and identity, discovery and acceptance.
If you don't know what it's about, I'll tell you that 'Sangmin Dinneaw' follows two young people, childhood friends, one South Korean and the other Thai, who meet again after being separated for ten years.
In all that time, Sangmin never contacted the people who lovingly welcomed him in Thailand when he was a child, and now he returns wrapped in a halo of mystery, without revealing the reason for his trip, but his frequent phone calls and having to take a medication several times a day indicate that something is disturbing your life.
Although neither of the two young protagonists masters the other's language well, they are magically able to communicate with each other. And not only with each other, since the visitor must talk to all the inhabitants of the town and the tourists who arrive at the hotel run by Orn, Dinneaw's mother (a role played correctly by actress Koy Naruemon Phongsupap), a middle-aged widow who maintains a very close relationship with his only descendant.
Soon we will meet two other fundamental characters in the story. I'm talking about Pop Arthit (Joke Chaloemdet Thammawut), the owner of a classic herbal liquor bar, and Tor (Non Ratchanon Kanpiang), Dinneaw's best friend and a meat dumpling seller at the market where he also works. Dinneaw selling crafts made in a family-owned pottery workshop.
In a cozy rural environment near the city of Ayuddhaya, the story also explores the relationship between mother and son, the pursuit of dreams, first love, and friendship.
Everyday life will lead the two main characters to reconnect with their shared past, and they will gradually discover a deeper connection that transcends friendship.
In short, morbidity is assured, since Sainam (Little Siravit Imsee), the owner of a hotel in Amphawa, is a negative character who will not hesitate to use his economic power to try to conquer Dinneaw with bad tricks; his two friends Pop and Tor have their romantic encounters, despite the second being unilaterally in love with Dinneaw, while a hot third couple will make us laugh.
But yes, the quota of silly humor, eccentric characters and comically extravagant scenarios that I had planned to see in 2025 and possibly the next 100 years are already given to me by Earth and his character Heng in 'Ossan's Love Thailand', and even with scenes and much more finished and polished situations, why do I need Pony (Sutirod Seepech?
But if I already have the inappropriate behavior and workplace harassment of a boss towards his subordinate with Yamnarm Chakrit with his Kongdech against the main character in 'Ossan's Love Thailand', why do I need Sainam?
If I already have two childhood friends who discover they have a connection beyond friendship through Max and Tul in 'Together With Me', why do I need Sangmin and Dinneaw?
If I already have Gim (Lookwa Pijika Jittaputta), a loving mother with a close relationship with her son Gun (Fourth) in 'My School President', why do I need Orn and Dinneaw?
If I already have Nuea (Rattanamongkol Nutchapon) dressed in a typical Thai woman's costume in 'Grey Rainbow', why do I need Sangming?
Yes, I already have two boys who really love each other celebrating their first Loy Kathrong together, and they even have to celebrate it days before the night of the full moon of the twelfth month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar, because on those two days of festivities they will be distanced physically because each one is in different cities, as happened to Achi (New) and Karam (Tay Tawan) in 'Cherry Magic 30', why do I need Sainam and Dinneaw, when Does the second not love the first?
If I already have a boy wrapped in a towel when leaving the bathroom in front of his platonic love, as Arc (Force) shows himself before Arm (Book) in the first episode of 'Perfect 10 Liners'... why do I need Sangmin and Dinneaw?
If I already have love triangles, like the one between Match (Jet), Mix (Jame) and Ryu (Big) in 'My Mate Match'... why do I need Sangmin, Dinneaw and Tor?
If I already have Matteo (Alan Campana) and Shokun (Bigboss) enjoying the pleasures and dangers of BDSM in 'Hit Bite Love'... why do I need Ryktor (Krin Preechachaisurat) and Guy (Boom Thunpisit Larpsumritphon)?
Above all, when I am not convinced by Sainam's manipulation of Dinneaw to get him to go to work at his hotel because: who would guarantee that the boy would try to prevent the tourist's bag from being stolen, causing him to be fired from his job?
Could it be that the classic Thai dance of the six cross-dressing boys ties me to the series? The mystery that surrounds the Korean visitor? The plots so exaggeratedly ridiculous? To know if I will get to know what happens at night between Pony and his stuffed animal? The lightness and lightness of the series? The performances of the actors and actresses? The chance to see images of the ancient capital of Thailand for more than 400 years, the three rivers that surround it: Chao Phraya, Lopburi and Pa Sak? See if they show images of the archaeological zone and its ancient ruins, including the Ayutthaya Historical Park, recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1991? Is it because I need to know what happened to the gecko attached to the towel that covered Saingnam when he left the bathroom?
I admit it, I have no filter. The series has caught me and I think I won't resist until I see the last episode.
Review update after the 6th episode:
The series changed its tone from being a comedy to being a dark drama (and in this case I make a negative review, since the transition was very violent, aggressive I would even say, with a fairly big mood change in episode 6). With the change of register or tone, the series breaks with the harmony of the narrative.
- Subplot involving memory loss, medical negligence, and pressuring a patient to undergo highly dangerous invasive surgery when the patient has repeatedly expressed that he does not want to undergo it? The way in which doctors should seek patient approval fails here.
- A love story between two doctors who arrived at the last minute?
- A mysterious illness that Sangmin has had for years that causes headaches and could only be cured with surgery, otherwise he would die of a headache?
- A surgery that can only be obtained in Thailand and not in North Korea, which motivated Sangmin to travel?
- Why wasn't Sangmin's presence at Dinneaw's house based on his nostalgia, his desire to return to a place where he was once happy, and there, suddenly, his health problems reappear?
- Tor suddenly falls in love with Athit and agrees to stop being friends with benefits and become boyfriend and girlfriend?
- Did you have brain surgery and the patient did not shave his head or at least part of it? The computer/laser guided system like the one the doctor described in episode 6 would be used in the operation would need to remove a section of the patient's scalp/skull. I find this to be a strange brain surgery for a strange post-traumatic brain injury.
- Sangmin not only lost his memory, but apparently became unable to distinguish between a person and a dog, and starts acting like a chimpanzee?
- A veteran doctor with years of experience who demonstrates that he does not have communication skills with the patient's family in one of the most important medical procedures after a surgical intervention?
- Why was the scene not used to, through the specific knowledge, skills and abilities of the main doctor, inform the viewer about the strange disease, the surgical procedure and the current and possible future status of the patient?
- New characters arriving at the last minute, with their own stories and nothing to do with the main plot? In a long series it could be justified, but not in one with only 7 episodes.
- Too many stories and characters that have no purpose other than to fill screen time.
-What do Ryktor and Guy contribute? Initially, the character of the first, forcing his boyfriend to have sexual relations with him despite his refusal, provided a certain humorous nuance that benefited the series. But today I could say that even if they had never been on the show, it would still work.
- Sainam in love with Dinneaw but in dark arrangements to acquire the hotel he runs with his mother?
- Why did Hanna side with Sangmin's mother, when everything seems to indicate that she knows about the violent relationship between mother and son?
- Breakdown of patient confidentiality?
- A mother, homophobic by the way, who has never worried about her son and today travels to Thailand from South Korea to look for him and take him home, without worrying about his state of health and whether he can take a plane trip after undergoing surgery?
Was Sangmin's attitude while third parties were discussing their immediate future and hitting each other was to look into the air and count sheep?
- Dinneaw suffering sudden and repeated fainting, then recovering quickly after a brief nap in Tor's arms? All this to show Athit's jealousy?
- Electrocute a patient through his clothing during cardiac arrest in the middle of a surgical operation?
- What happened to the butterfly? What is the story behind this? Sangmin poisoned?
- The suspense of the series finale totally destroyed thanks to the preview?
If the rest for my fractured ankle lasts another month...
We all have that little guilty pleasure when it comes to series. That series that you love to watch even though it doesn't fit into your canons of taste. You know you shouldn't watch it either because it's bad or because your best friend told you to watch both seasons of 'To My Star' by Hwang Da Seul at once, or to repeat 'The On1y One', the LGBT+ television gem by Taiwanese filmmaker Liu Kuang Hui, but even so, you decide to continue with the series and enjoy it like there was no tomorrow, consuming episode after episode.
Some series have simply been the best accompaniment to disconnect from everyday life, and others have captured me because of the topic they deal with.
For this very reason 'Sangmin Dinneaw' has been one of my guilty pleasures during the evenings of these last Sundays, when a broken ankle has me tied to the bed.
So to combat the impossibility of going out, I ended up getting hooked on the Thai romantic comedy directed by Thitipan Raksasat. It's not that I felt especially guilty watching it, it must be said, it is true that it does not fit the type of fiction that I usually consume. And I did well taking the risk.
Sometimes, you end up with your brain so fried after the entire student or work day that all you want is to be able to see something without pretensions. And look, without any kind of shame and dishonor, I tell you that the BL series starring Choi Sang Min as Sang Min, and Petch Ratana Aiamsaart as Dinneaw, fulfills what I was looking for these days.
Don't look at me wrong. I am neither committing any crime, nor am I attacking any norm regarding audiovisual enjoyment. There is a time for everything. To see what's new from Backaof Aof Noppharnach, the latest installment by Filipino JP Habac, the next trendy romantic drama starring Fandy Fan after 'A Balloon's Landing' (which I owe a review), the future project that War ý Yin Anan They are brought up after delighting me with 'Jack & Joker U Steal My Heart!', or to remember the work of Golf Tanwarin Sukkhapisit.
And if you think not, remember that you are taking away the most beautiful and democratic thing about movies and series: there is a product out there for each and every one of us. Let's not forget that we are talking about entertainment and, precisely for that reason, we should not force ourselves to watch something we do not want to see simply because we have to.
Well, because of 'Sangmin Dinneaw' I haven't made any progress on other series I had pending. The series is to blame for the fact that I haven't taken advantage of that time to catch up and advance my long list of things that have been postponed, but at the same time I had a great time with Sangmin and Dinneaw. The two of them and the four friends is the best thing that could have happened to me during these weeks with their extravagant episodes.
Although the character of Dinneaw caused me problems at first, little by little his shy but suggestive interpretation has won me over. Because, deep down, in the eight episodes that make up the series, what is important in the character ends up being themes such as transformation and identity, discovery and acceptance.
If you don't know what it's about, I'll tell you that 'Sangmin Dinneaw' follows two young people, childhood friends, one South Korean and the other Thai, who meet again after being separated for ten years.
In all that time, Sangmin never contacted the people who lovingly welcomed him in Thailand when he was a child, and now he returns wrapped in a halo of mystery, without revealing the reason for his trip, but his frequent phone calls and having to take a medication several times a day indicate that something is disturbing your life.
Although neither of the two young protagonists masters the other's language well, they are magically able to communicate with each other. And not only with each other, since the visitor must talk to all the inhabitants of the town and the tourists who arrive at the hotel run by Orn, Dinneaw's mother (a role played correctly by actress Koy Naruemon Phongsupap), a middle-aged widow who maintains a very close relationship with his only descendant.
Soon we will meet two other fundamental characters in the story. I'm talking about Pop Arthit (Joke Chaloemdet Thammawut), the owner of a classic herbal liquor bar, and Tor (Non Ratchanon Kanpiang), Dinneaw's best friend and a meat dumpling seller at the market where he also works. Dinneaw selling crafts made in a family-owned pottery workshop.
In a cozy rural environment near the city of Ayuddhaya, the story also explores the relationship between mother and son, the pursuit of dreams, first love, and friendship.
Everyday life will lead the two main characters to reconnect with their shared past, and they will gradually discover a deeper connection that transcends friendship.
In short, morbidity is assured, since Sainam (Little Siravit Imsee), the owner of a hotel in Amphawa, is a negative character who will not hesitate to use his economic power to try to conquer Dinneaw with bad tricks; his two friends Pop and Tor have their romantic encounters, despite the second being unilaterally in love with Dinneaw, while a hot third couple will make us laugh.
But yes, the quota of silly humor, eccentric characters and comically extravagant scenarios that I had planned to see in 2025 and possibly the next 100 years are already given to me by Earth and his character Heng in 'Ossan's Love Thailand', and even with scenes and much more finished and polished situations, why do I need Pony (Sutirod Seepech?
But if I already have the inappropriate behavior and workplace harassment of a boss towards his subordinate with Yamnarm Chakrit with his Kongdech against the main character in 'Ossan's Love Thailand', why do I need Sainam?
If I already have two childhood friends who discover they have a connection beyond friendship through Max and Tul in 'Together With Me', why do I need Sangmin and Dinneaw?
If I already have Gim (Lookwa Pijika Jittaputta), a loving mother with a close relationship with her son Gun (Fourth) in 'My School President', why do I need Orn and Dinneaw?
If I already have Nuea (Rattanamongkol Nutchapon) dressed in a typical Thai woman's costume in 'Grey Rainbow', why do I need Sangming?
Yes, I already have two boys who really love each other celebrating their first Loy Kathrong together, and they even have to celebrate it days before the night of the full moon of the twelfth month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar, because on those two days of festivities they will be distanced physically because each one is in different cities, as happened to Achi (New) and Karam (Tay Tawan) in 'Cherry Magic 30', why do I need Sainam and Dinneaw, when Does the second not love the first?
If I already have a boy wrapped in a towel when leaving the bathroom in front of his platonic love, as Arc (Force) shows himself before Arm (Book) in the first episode of 'Perfect 10 Liners'... why do I need Sangmin and Dinneaw?
If I already have love triangles, like the one between Match (Jet), Mix (Jame) and Ryu (Big) in 'My Mate Match'... why do I need Sangmin, Dinneaw and Tor?
If I already have Matteo (Alan Campana) and Shokun (Bigboss) enjoying the pleasures and dangers of BDSM in 'Hit Bite Love'... why do I need Ryktor (Krin Preechachaisurat) and Guy (Boom Thunpisit Larpsumritphon)?
Above all, when I am not convinced by Sainam's manipulation of Dinneaw to get him to go to work at his hotel because: who would guarantee that the boy would try to prevent the tourist's bag from being stolen, causing him to be fired from his job?
Could it be that the classic Thai dance of the six cross-dressing boys ties me to the series? The mystery that surrounds the Korean visitor? The plots so exaggeratedly ridiculous? To know if I will get to know what happens at night between Pony and his stuffed animal? The lightness and lightness of the series? The performances of the actors and actresses? The chance to see images of the ancient capital of Thailand for more than 400 years, the three rivers that surround it: Chao Phraya, Lopburi and Pa Sak? See if they show images of the archaeological zone and its ancient ruins, including the Ayutthaya Historical Park, recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1991? Is it because I need to know what happened to the gecko attached to the towel that covered Saingnam when he left the bathroom?
I admit it, I have no filter. The series has caught me and I think I won't resist until I see the last episode.
Review update after the 6th episode:
The series changed its tone from being a comedy to being a dark drama (and in this case I make a negative review, since the transition was very violent, aggressive I would even say, with a fairly big mood change in episode 6). With the change of register or tone, the series breaks with the harmony of the narrative.
- Subplot involving memory loss, medical negligence, and pressuring a patient to undergo highly dangerous invasive surgery when the patient has repeatedly expressed that he does not want to undergo it? The way in which doctors should seek patient approval fails here.
- A love story between two doctors who arrived at the last minute?
- A mysterious illness that Sangmin has had for years that causes headaches and could only be cured with surgery, otherwise he would die of a headache?
- A surgery that can only be obtained in Thailand and not in North Korea, which motivated Sangmin to travel?
- Why wasn't Sangmin's presence at Dinneaw's house based on his nostalgia, his desire to return to a place where he was once happy, and there, suddenly, his health problems reappear?
- Tor suddenly falls in love with Athit and agrees to stop being friends with benefits and become boyfriend and girlfriend?
- Did you have brain surgery and the patient did not shave his head or at least part of it? The computer/laser guided system like the one the doctor described in episode 6 would be used in the operation would need to remove a section of the patient's scalp/skull. I find this to be a strange brain surgery for a strange post-traumatic brain injury.
- Sangmin not only lost his memory, but apparently became unable to distinguish between a person and a dog, and starts acting like a chimpanzee?
- A veteran doctor with years of experience who demonstrates that he does not have communication skills with the patient's family in one of the most important medical procedures after a surgical intervention?
- Why was the scene not used to, through the specific knowledge, skills and abilities of the main doctor, inform the viewer about the strange disease, the surgical procedure and the current and possible future status of the patient?
- New characters arriving at the last minute, with their own stories and nothing to do with the main plot? In a long series it could be justified, but not in one with only 7 episodes.
- Too many stories and characters that have no purpose other than to fill screen time.
-What do Ryktor and Guy contribute? Initially, the character of the first, forcing his boyfriend to have sexual relations with him despite his refusal, provided a certain humorous nuance that benefited the series. But today I could say that even if they had never been on the show, it would still work.
- Sainam in love with Dinneaw but in dark arrangements to acquire the hotel he runs with his mother?
- Why did Hanna side with Sangmin's mother, when everything seems to indicate that she knows about the violent relationship between mother and son?
- Breakdown of patient confidentiality?
- A mother, homophobic by the way, who has never worried about her son and today travels to Thailand from South Korea to look for him and take him home, without worrying about his state of health and whether he can take a plane trip after undergoing surgery?
Was Sangmin's attitude while third parties were discussing their immediate future and hitting each other was to look into the air and count sheep?
- Dinneaw suffering sudden and repeated fainting, then recovering quickly after a brief nap in Tor's arms? All this to show Athit's jealousy?
- Electrocute a patient through his clothing during cardiac arrest in the middle of a surgical operation?
- What happened to the butterfly? What is the story behind this? Sangmin poisoned?
- The suspense of the series finale totally destroyed thanks to the preview?
If the rest for my fractured ankle lasts another month...
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