Bangkok of the mind

Indian temple curry adventure

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:54:00 +0000

Maiyuu is getting over from his cold bug quickly. He has mounted a recovery in just 24 hours, half the time it took me.

That is at it should be, however, as Maiyuu is 10 years younger.

This morning he took a long bicycle ride to Kaek temple (Wat Prasri Maha Umathewee, or Wat Kaek) in Silom.

That’s the little temple squeezed between high-rises in the central business district.

The temple, forever enveloped in a cloud of incense vapour, is a favourite with Indians and tourists.

I saw it last a few weeks ago.

My friend farang C and I were paying a visit to that wholesale computer barn, Pantip Plaza, which is nearby.

After looking at computers and cameras at Pantip Plaza, we caught a skytrain home from Surasak station, next to the temple. It was covered in incense that day, too, so much so that I could barely make out the tourists milling about outside.

But enough of the travelogue, and back to Maiyuu.

My boyfriend, a practical type, cycled to the temple not to make merit, pray, mix shoulders with wealthy Indians – but to fill our stomachs.

He has found a trader at the temple who sells tasty khao mok gai, a favourite chicken dish of ours.

‘I bought khao mok gai from the temple the other day, and you said you liked it, so today I will bike there again,’ Maiyuu said before heading out the door.

He was carrying his bicycle pump, and a small bag with a carry string which holds his wallet.

‘If you are not feeling well, you don’t need to go that far,’ I said.

I do remember the khao mok gai meal from last week, but didn't realise he had travelled as far as the temple to get it.

Maiyuu shrugged, and headed for the lift.

I sounded half-hearted at best, for I do truly like the spicy chicken, curry rice and sweet cucumber which Maiyuu buys from those parts.

Half an hour later, he was home. See picture above; he served it up as our breakfast. A recipe is here.

Also pictured is a clear soup with tofu and mince balls, and a beef vegetable dish, which Maiyuu made for dinner last night.

One side of Bangkok you don't want to see

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:31:00 +0000

Maiyuu has now picked up my head cold.

I will return the interest he has shown in me over the last few days as I myself suffered with this bug.

He has not asked me once how I am feeling, and only mentioned the subject twice.

It is no fun being ill, as we all know. But if a loved one asks after our health, it can make us feel so much better.

-

A thin, bare-chested Thai man was lying face down on the road, making hoarse, gasping sounds.

What was this? How did he get here?

I had taken a detour through the slum section on my way home from work when I came across his pitiful shape, which first I took to be a pile of rubbish.

Normally I take the safe route home, past all the wealthy businessmen’s homes and ambassador’s places just 100m down the same road.

It takes me in the front entrance of the condo, though even on that route I have to pass a grimy mechanic’s workshop, dimly lit broken roads and large packs of stray dogs.

Last night, however, I needed to visit the 7-11, which is further down in the same direction, close to the back entrance of my condo.

I walked down the road, under a flyover, past grimy shanty-like homes, and large trailer trucks.

As I drew closer to the 7-11, I passed a basketball court behind a rusted chain-link fence. Good – civilisation is nearing, I thought.

It was my first walk into this part of the slum area at night. Thais warn me against heading down here after hours, but I really did need those grocery items from the store, and had forgotten to buy them closer to work when I had the chance.

I recognised none of the staff at the 7-11, as this was the night shift, when I am seldom there.

After finishing my business there, I took a short-cut through the slum section at the back of my place.

I could have walked past the trucks and shanty homes again, but decided against. The place is deserted – why push my luck?

The street lighting was poor, and no one else was around. It was almost 11pm, and most shops in the area had closed for business.

I had expected to find a few places still open, such as the drinking stall run by my friend R the carer, but no. Even he had gone for the night.

So how did this forlorn heap of a man get here?

Thais leave their waste on the sidewalk for rubbish men to remove. I did not recognise him as human at first, and mistook him for a pile of household or shop waste.

Then he moaned.

This was not the groaning of a Thai male drunk, sleeping off a hard night on the footpath, but a hair-raising, deep in the soul noise which sounded almost inhuman.

As he exhaled, his spindly chest heaved. ‘Hooooaaaarrr...’

I have never heard anything like it, except in dogs.

Occasionally I come across lame street dogs so racked with disease they can no longer move.

They look beyond help, though probably not beyond sympathy.

Someone, somewhere must have known him. How did he end up here?

He looked in his 60s and wore a loincloth, but nothing on his feet.

He was lying outside a dilapidated shop, just 50m down the road from the 7-11 store.

A woman in her 50s sat inside, watching him sucking dust.

Perhaps she knew the man, or perhaps he had crawled down the street and ended up there.

I felt a sudden need to be somewhere safe and familiar, so hurried past.

Where in some circumstances I might stop and offer help, this was just too far gone.

I doubt he’ll be there this morning. Before sunrise, someone will have packed him up and taken him away, just like those mounds of rubbish which Thais dump on the side of the street.

I told Maiyuu about my shocking encounter.

‘He’s mad...there’s plenty of them around here. Don’t go messing with him,’ he said.

Christmas cheer (not)

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 01:38:00 +0000

I have a head and chest cold, which is no way to celebrate Christmas. Maiyuu and I have also run out of money, so will have to scrimp and pare until pay day arrives in the middle of next week.

I worked yesterday, and on Christmas Eve. Walking down the condo entrance towards home last night I noticed a Christmas tree standing proudly in the window of an upper-storey unit. The fairy lights blinked at me from above.

We have no Christmas tree ourselves this year, possibly because we threw the old one out when we moved months ago. So, no cheery reminders of Christmas there.

My office held its Christmas party the other day. As the beer flowed, I felt some seasonal cheer towards my colleagues, but not much. We are in the midst of a restructuring exercise, which could drag on for months yet. I know some of my colleagues do hardly any work; I’d like to give them the sack.

On the day of the office party, I left home at 12.45pm, getting home about 10pm.

I felt sorry for Maiyuu, sitting alone in the condo all day. He does not work, so has to miss out.

This is the season to be jolly, or so they say. I am trying to imagine how my parents, brother and sisters are spending Christmas in the company of their friends and families.

I know where they are, and what they are doing, thanks to Mum, an outstanding correspondent who keeps me updated on the family life I am not there to see.

At this time every year, she reminds me: ‘As always, we shall think of you, and wish you were here.’

I wish that I could share the festive season with them too, as my family and I have spent too many years apart. I barely know some of my nieces and nephews, as I have spent so little time with them or their parents in recent years.

One day, we will have to do a ‘catch up’, as the young like to say. Lives are passing by. Where am I?

What a good time to take in Enya’s moody Oiche Chiuin (Chorale).

Merry Christmas - from me, Kong and Phiwit

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 04:19:00 +0000

Merry Christmas to readers. I hope you have a happy, merry one.

Here are lovebirds Kong and Phiwit, whose gay romance in the TV drama, Tomorrow, I'll Still Love You, has cheered us in the lead-up to the festive season.

The image was posted at the Pantip webboard by fans of the show, which ended this week.

Nathan Oman: Night in police jail

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 02:36:00 +0000

Former singer Nathan Oman spent the night in a police cell after detectives decided he was a flight risk, and opposed bail.

Nathan’s foster mother turned up at Amnat Charoen police station last night with a land title deed to use as surety for the B100,000 bail demand posted earlier by police.

However, after questioning Nathan at length, police decided he was a flight risk, and late last night decided to keep him in the cells instead.

Today they will ask a court for permission to detain him further. Nathan would be escorted to court at 9am, police said.

Head of detectives at Amnat Charoen police, Wirapong Phongpum, said Nathan had barely cooperated. He had threatened the complainant, and since his arrest, new complainants had come forward.

Police were worried that if he was released on bail, he would abscond rather than face up to his responsibilities.

Nathan was arrested at a tamarind plantation in Chiang Khan district, Loei province early yesterday.

Detectives were acting on a complaint laid by Nathan’s former live-in housekeeper, Saman Sukserm, who borrowed B300,000 at his request last year.

Nathan said he would pay back the loan, but never did. Last week, Mrs Saman said banks were threatening to foreclose on 16 rai of family land worth almost B500,000 which she mortgaged to help Nathan. She laid a complaint of fraud against him in her home province of Amnat Charoen.

After being arrested in Loei, police took him to Amnat Charoen for questioning.

Pol Col Wirapong said Nathan refused to sign in acknowledgement of his arrest. While admitting he was in debt to Mrs Saman, he denied he owed as much as claimed. Nathan says he borrowed B170,000.

Saman says that with interest, the debt has now ballooned to B750,000.

After hearing about Nathan's arrest, a nun from a temple in Surat Thani called to congratulate police. She said Nathan had called offering to make merit at her temple, but had asked to borrow B80,000 first.

Pol Col Wirapong said Nathan had denied trying to flee the law. Police had called him in for questioning twice, but Nathan refused to present himself.

On Dec 18, they obtained an arrest warrant.

He said that when police found him at the fruit plantation, Nathan, who was preparing to go out, was wearing a helmet and had covered his lower face.

When he saw police approaching, he fled inside the farmhouse.

As police executed the arrest, Nathan insisted they had no right to take him, as he had settled the debt with Mrs Saman.

He also asked police not to handcuff him. They did anyway (see picture).

Speaking to the media from the police station, a shaky-voiced Nathan said he had called Mrs Saman just the day before. He had promised to repay the debt, but needed time to raise the money. He asked her to withdraw her complaint.

Mrs Saman said Nathan ahd been calling for three times a day for the past week, saying how much he still loved her, and imploring her to settle the affair away from the eyes of police and journalists.

'I am preparing to go on the interview circuit. The media will pay me B100,000 for every appearance. I'll use that money to repay you,' he said.

'All you have to do is withdraw the complaint.'

Nathan told her variously that he was in Phuket, and Narathiwat.

Mrs Saman, who refused to be taken in by his sweet pleadings, contacted police, who examined the phone network, and found he was actually in Loei.

They met at the police station yesterday. Mrs Saman refuses to withdraw the matter until he has repaid the debt.

She says that when Nathan called her most recently, the day before his arrest, he claimed he was staying in the southern province of Narathiwat.

Yet police were to arrest him just a day later in the northeastern province of Loei, on the banks of the Mekong River.

A television report yesterday afternoon said netizens at the Pantip webboard had also helped police in their search for Nathan.

They posted pictures of Nathan’s car, and a motorbike in which he was seen travelling in Loei province.

If Nathan refuses to settle his debt and is convicted, he faces a potential penalty of up to three years in jail, and/or a fine of up to B6000.

Update: The court approved bail for Nathan, but restricted his place of residence to Loei or Bangkok, and told him to report to the court six times over the next month.

Leaving court, Nathan said he would fight the fraud charges, though he also promised to repay the money he owed.

Mrs Saman, in tears, said she knew nothing about the law and had no money to pursue the case.

Nathan Oman: It's a bust

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:52:00 +0000

Former singer Nathan Oman has been arrested on a charge of fraud in the northeastern province of Loei.

Acting on a complaint laid against Nathan by his former live-in help, police arrested him outside a fruit plantation at 7.40am.

Last week, Nathan’s former live-in housekeeper Saman Sukserm said banks were threatening to foreclose on 16 rai of family land worth almost 500,000 baht which she mortgaged to help Nathan.

She laid a complaint of fraud against Nathan in her home province of Amnat Charoen, in the Northeast.

The Manager newspaper said Nathan was standing outside a farmhouse in the plantation, preparing to go out when police arrived to execute their warrant.

Amnat Charoen police heard that Nathan had taken shelter in Loei, and after liaising with their counterparts there travelled to Loei at 3am to make the arrest. Loei is close to the border with Laos.

They found him at a tamarind plantation in Kaengkukoo, part of Chiang Khan district (see map, here).

He had taken shelter there with the help of his foster mother, Maem Pitsamai Srikrabuth, who earlier introduced him to relatives of hers in Chiang Khan district.

Police obtained a warrant against Nathan on Dec 18, after he failed to respond to summons calling him in for questioning.

Until last week, he was taking shelter in the central province of Chachoengsao, but journalists heard about his whereabouts. They followed him to a small Muslim village, where Nathan had been living sporadically for up to three months.

Nathan learned about their imminent arrival, and hurriedly removed himself.

Late last week he was spotted in Bangkok, at the home of his foster mother.

The Manager says the pair travelled to Loei on Sunday to visit a relative of hers, Uan.

Uan's family held a neighbourhood bar-b-que to welcome Nathan, while a relative took him on a motorcycle tour of the area.

Nathan wore a scarf around his face whenever he was outdoors, to disguise his identity.

However, alert members of the public recognised a tattoo which Nathan keeps on his ankle. They also recognised the registration of his vehicle, and alerted police.

Nathan's foster mother, and the daughter of the Muslim woman who gave him shelter in Chachoengsao, met Nathan at Chang Khan district police station after his arrest.

The Manager says Nathan looked stressed, and cried often. When journalists tried to take his picture, foster mother Maem shielded his body and told police not to allow access to the cameras.

Police took Nathan out a back exit for his journey to Amnat Charoen station, where they have called a press conference for 3pm today to announce his arrest.

Beef/pineapple BBQ disaster, Kong/Phiwit make soppy exit

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:24:00 +0000

A small disaster at Maiyuu's birthday party!

We grilled beef strips on a gas-powered, tabletop hotplate. Maiyuu had prepared the beef in advance by sautéing it in pineapple. Unfortunately, he left the beef in with the pineapple too long...it turned to mush when we tried cooking it.

Maiyuu made another trip to the supermarket and bought more beef to replace the other stuff, which he reckons he can turn into hamburger meat.

He invited as guests his friend Golf, her younger sister Som, and their elder brother Bee. Jumbo the Chihuahua accompanied them as special guest.

They also brought birthday cake, with Maiyuu’s name written in icing on top, along with the number ‘35’.

‘What’s the 35 stand for?’ Maiyuu asked.

‘I didn’t know your age, so I just guessed,’ said Som.

Does Maiyuu, who turned 32 yesterday, really look so old?

-

The romantic gay coupling between Kong and Phiwit has ended happily, viewers will be pleased to hear.

The final episode of Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You aired last night. Kong and Phiwit shared a brief scene at the end, as their story really drew to a close the night before.

As in any good soap opera, the bad people get their deserts, the heroes win out in the end. Kong’s sister Aom, the female lead, survives a jealous rampage by evil witch Pattamat.

Phiwit’s dastardly brother Phipat ends up paralysed, though thankfully for Phiwit, he will have to spend the rest of his days in hospital rather than under his own care.

Phiwit tells Kong that surgeons in the US are sure they can restore Kong’s sight back to normal.

Not bad, given they have never inspected his eyes. ‘But will you still want me in your life once you can see again?’ asks Phiwit jokingly.

Kong, who is blind, trips, and Phiwit arrests his fall. Kong ends up in his arms.

‘You are tripping up all over the place,’ he scolds Kong playfully.

‘So you don't like it...tripping [falling head over heels] in love,’ Kong replies.

Watch their final scene together here. See more stills here.

PS: In an earlier version of this post, I published a party picture of Maiyuu, with his face turned away from the camera. One reader says I am doing him a disservice by publishing the image. Maybe he is right; for the time being, I have decided to take it down.

Kong, Phiwit: Grandma and grandpa forever

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:34:00 +0000

Maiyuu’s red jelly. It refuses to set properly, so it sitting on the kitchen table unloved until he decides what to do with it.

-

Maiyuu’s birthday guests arrive tonight. He has invited Golf, her sister, and special guest Jumbo the Chihuahua.

-

Kong and Phiwit share a kiss – well, almost.

In last night’s episode of Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You, the scene is set for a happy ending, at least between these two.

Kong, who is blind, discovers that the young man who has been caring for him is not in fact hired help Sak, but his own boyfriend Phiwit.

Kong’s mother, who was having a hard time accepting that her son and Phiwit love each other, allowed Phiwit to stay in Kong’s life, as long as he pretended to be Sak – hired help who feeds, dresses the lad, and puts him to bed.

The pair do not talk. Sak, presumably some poor immigrant Burmese, has poor Thai. While Kong chats away to him in Thai, Phiwit (Sak) says nothing - until last night's episode, when Phiwit feels obliged to declare his real identity.

Kong hands Phiwit a phone number. ‘Sak...please help me, but don't tell anyone I mentioned it. Dial this number for me, would you...it is the number of someone I know...I miss him, and just want to know how he is going,’ said Kong.

The number belongs to Phiwit himself.

Declaring his real identity (coming out?), Phiwit tells Kong that he has been by his side all along.

At first, Kong is happy, but then realises that Phiwit and his family have been deceiving him.

Kong doesn’t want to be a burden on his lover, so orders Phiwit out, and takes a swing at him.

Kong’s Mum walks in. ‘Tell Phiwit to leave!’ her son begs.

Mum decides Kong's happiness is more important than her own feelings. ‘I know what you are, and what you mean to each other,’ she tells Kong.

‘If you can be happy with the person you love, than I am happy too - no matter what you are,’ she says, guiding Kong’s hand to Phiwit’s own. The three share a family hug.

Later, in the garden, Phiwit takes Kong for a stroll. ‘I have promised to stay with you no matter what...I’m stubborn, so let me look after you,’ says Phiwit.

He knows a surgeon in the US who could restore Kong’s eyesight. I will take you everywhere, tell you what’s happening, be your eyes,’ vows Phiwit.

In Thai, the word for ‘eye’ and ‘grandfather’ (ta) is the same.

Kong jokes: ‘If you’re my ta...who will be granny?’

‘You mean you really don’t know who granny is?’ replies Phiwit, implying that Kong is the girly half of the relationship, not himself.

Kong walks off in a playful pout. 'Granny, where are you going?'

Phiwit follows. Kong turns at the wrong moment, so his face collides with Phiwit's own. It's almost like a lip embrace, probably their first kiss.

In this safe Thai soap opera, that might be the closest this gay couple gets to locking lips.

The final episode airs tonight.

In the main story, Kong’s sister Aom looks in danger of meeting her maker, as does the dastardly Phipat, as evil witch Pattamat goes on a jealous rampage. For more on that, see the Dirtilaundry blog, here. I’ll post a summary of the action tomorrow.

For last night’s scenes between Kong and Phiwit, see here, and here.

Sweeping out work worries

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:12:00 +0000

When work gets stressful, I like to reach for a broom.

No, not a management broom, the type which executives use to sweep out unwanted staff...but an ordinary household broom which we use to remove dirt.

The Thai-owned company which employs me is embarking on a restructuring and modernising phase. We have been through several of these in my time, but none seem as potentially wide-ranging as this one, which is brought about partly by the recession, and partly by the internet age, which is changing the way many companies do business.

A handful of Thai staff has been shown the door. One staff member dissolved in tears when the company told him he was no longer wanted. Like one or two other names on the list, he drew a wage every fortnight but hadn’t been seen in the office in years.

What goes on over in the Thai corner? Don’t get me started, dear reader. I like my job, so daren’t speak a word.

My company has an internationalist perspective, in that it employs foreigners and values what we do. It has also asked us to contribute to the debate over the company’s direction, which is welcome.

In my industry, it is probably one of the more far-sighted companies in Bangkok, if not the region.

Some of my foreigner colleagues have worked elsewhere in Asia. They say they were treated little better than poor migrant workers.

That said, we do have our problems. One is a lack of staff morale, which is inevitable in times of change. Worse, they axed our mid-year and end-year bonus, which upset my boyfriend as much as it did me.

‘Why don’t they just fold the company altogether, if they can’t afford to pay their staff a miserable two weeks’ extra?’ Maiyuu said bitterly.

In times like these, as I say, I like to clean, starting with the floors. I can work out my frustration on them.

I swept the floor of the main room this morning, and tackled the bathroom. Later today, I am likely to get the bedroom itch.

‘It’s another form of exercise,’ I tell the boyfriend, who looks baffled when I tell him that I want to sweep. It also helps keep my work worries at bay.

’Why bring your work problems home...you’ve finished for the day,’ says Maiyuu.

True, I have. But to be good at my job, I have to think about work most of the time. It is always with me, even when it isn’t.

My foreigner friends are the same; it’s just the way we are. Do Thais think about work even when they are not at the office?

I have never asked, but I bet some do. It occupies a big chunk of our lives after all.

One bag of Mama instant noodles = one New Year's prayer

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:07:00 +0000

Nine monks visited this condo this morning for a New Year’s blessing ceremony. They turned up at 8am, and were gone in half an hour.

Condo staff prepared nine plastic chairs and a table.

Another half dozen chairs were laid out to one side for condo residents who wanted to take part.

Only 20 residents or so joined in, though many left dry-food donated goods in bags for the monks. They were arranged around the fountain in front of where the monks sat.

We are on the ninth floor. Neither Maiyuu nor I bothered going down. We watched from a window on our floor, overlooking the condo entrance where the ceremony was held.

As I write, the monks have given their blessings, taken their bags of donated goods, and left.

Kids are running around the place, and a few adults chatting. Someone has put on a Thai version of the Happy New Year song.

Staff pinned signs on condo noticeboards telling us that it was a dry-goods affair, meaning that if we wanted to donate to the monks, we should take dry food.

For Thais, Mama instant noodles are the convenience-food of choice. I wonder how many of those plastic supermarket bags sitting around the fountain contained Mama instant noodles?

The monks looked dowdy and dusty, like orange tumbleweeds bouncing through the desert. They laid their food bowls on the table. One spoke through a microphone.

A few eager types took the opportunity to ask for a personal blessing. I saw one man kneeling to one side of the monks. He had his hands clasped together in the prayer sign, pressed to his head.

Most people are content to watch, but there are always a few posers who want to take a blessing straight on the chin, so to speak. My, how devout.

I hope the monks made him give many bags of donated goods for the privilege.

-

Boyfriend Maiyuu’s birthday falls on Tuesday. He has asked me for B1000 to put towards the occasion. The money will also go towards groceries over the next few days.

I hope Maiyuu enjoys himself. He was invited to no Christmas gatherings this year, as he does not work.

This is the season to be merry. Gatherings of family and friends are part of what makes us happy, as is the act of giving and sharing.

Maiyuu has invited his friend Golf to celebrate his birthday at our place. Hopefully she will bring her sister and the family pet Chihuahua as well, so the gathering is lively and fun.

Maiyuu made a dish of curry duck for Golf's family yesterday.

Golf, who lives nearby, paid for the roast duck. Maiyuu ladled the curry into bags and delivered it on his bike.

We get to eat what’s left, which is only fair. A day later, the left-over curry is still going.

Strawberry yoghurt ice-cream; Phiwit comes out, goes mute

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:04:00 +0000

Chef Maiyuu’s strawberry yoghurt ice-cream, in the tub, and with pastry sticks.

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Feeble Mum gets a double-dose of bad news in the Channel 5 soap, Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You.

Phiwit has come out to Kong’s Mum, declaring in a double-whammy that he is brother-in-law of the woman who killed her daughter; and that he is gay and loves her son.

Kong’s Mum takes the news poorly, as you can imagine.

‘How can you come here? Even if Kong accepts you, I can’t!’ she says upon hearing the brother-in-law news.

Reason abandons her altogether when Phiwit declares seconds later that he loves Kong and will never leave him.

‘So...you’re...you’re...! she gasps.

Yes, dear. Gay.

Mum gets faint, falls back on chair, starts to scream, and tells Phiwit to clear off. Fat ladyboy helper and her whippersnapper-sidekick try to hustle him away.

That was Wednesday’s episode. By last night’s episode, relations between Mum and Phiwit have improved.

Mum entrusts Phiwit to Kong’s care, but under the guise of a different person. Kong, as we know, has lost his eyesight. He has also banished Phiwit from his presence, as he doesn’t want to burden him with his blindness.

Mum introduces Phiwit to her son as ‘Sak’, a carer she has hired to look after him.

‘He has hardly any Thai,’ she says, meaning that to maintain this pretense, Phiwit will have to be mute.

Later, she explains to Phiwit that she is trying to protect her son from getting hurt.

Phiwit is grateful, and doesn’t seem to mind the fact that he will never be able to talk to his boyfriend again.

Earlier, Phiwit turns up at Kong’s place. The household help tries to stop him getting in.

Meanwhile, Kong, who has lost his eyesight, is grasping around for the telephone but comes across an up-ended knife which some clumsy person has left, just where he can do himself harm.

Mum comes down the stairs, spots the knife, calls out. Phiwit makes a heroic dive to get it out of his boyfriend's way but ends up getting cut himself. Kong hears him exclaim in pain, and demands to know who else is present.

Mum spins a lie, and introduces Phiwit to her son as carer Sak. In the picture, she is guiding Sak’s hand to Kong’s own, so they can meet.

In their final scene, Kong shows Sak his pyjama top. He has done it up the wrong way, because he can’t see. 'I don’t imagine there’s anyone who wants to help me with this,’ he jokes.

Sak – oops, Phiwit – does it up for him again, because he loves him.

Kong grabs his hand and guides it to Phiwit’s face. Moment of danger...will he recognise this face as that of his banished gay lover?

The moment passes without incident. If Kong knows that it's really Phiwit standing in front of him, he doesn't let on.

Phiwit puts Kong to bed, but lingers in the bedroom a while, thinking about what could have been.

A preview of the next episode on Monday shows Kong taking a swing at Phiwit.

By then, the secret is out. Kong knows ‘Sak’ is not his new carer at all, but really his gay lover, whom he had banished. ‘Get away from me! Leave!’ he says.

Watch Wednesday’s coming-out scene here. Last night’s drama unfolds here, and here. The preview for Monday’s episode is here. Mercifully, the series ends next week.

New slum friend aka R the carer; Phiwit makes no headway

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:03:00 +0000

Maiyuu has made his first batch of lavender ice-cream (pictured). Today, he is trying his hand at strawberry ice-cream, made with yoghurt instead of milk. Pictures coming soon.

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Walking home through the slum section opposite our place, I came across two men drinking.

I had seen one of them before, so sat down for a chat.

I was to spend the next three hours in their company, as a small chat turned into a marathon session.

‘R’ sells Thai liquor, made by his mother.

Rice is probably the main ingredient, but his mum also puts in Thai herbs and spices.

It tasted like honey, and probably rivalled in strength the store-bought whisky I pulled out of my bag.

The third man present, apart from R and me, was Uncle, a man in his 50s who sells dried fish.

R and Uncle sell their goods at the end of a quiet street which doubles as a small fresh market during the day. The market sits on the edge of a vacant piece of land (the ‘slum section’) which I cross to get home.

Uncle was drunk, and couldn’t stop kissing, hugging, and massaging me. A former muay Thai boxer, he wanted me to reciprocate his interest by admiring his arm muscles.

He flexed his arms, and asked me to take a free feel.

‘Uncle used to box, but had a motorcycle accident, so was forced to give it up,’ said R.

‘Look...my leg!’ said Uncle, pulling up his shorts leg. Half his calf muscle was missing.

Uncle, who was wearing trader’s apron over his clothes, tried to give me money. R stuffed it back in his pouch.

‘Don’t give it to the farang...he only deals with large currency. He doesn’t know how to use 20 baht notes,’ he joked.

'Actually, I am not paid that much,' I said.

About midnight, as our session wound down, R walked Uncle back home. He lives nearby but needed an escort, as he could barely walk straight.

R was born in the North, is aged in his mid-20s, and has a slight physique, similar to my boyfriend. I reckon R looks Thai-Chinese, but he denies it.

'My grandmother was Chinese, but I am all Thai,' he said.

'I live down there,' he said, pointing down one end of the street.

'...And my mother lives here,' he said, pointing to a place opposite us.

Mother and son live 50m apart.

R also has an elder sister, who runs a foodcart close to my local 7-11, which I had passed moments before.

Two children, aged under 10, emerged from Mum's place to help R pack up shop.

'I have seen you down there. You look so intent on the task at hand,' he said to me, referring to my visits to the 7-11.

'When farang they go about their business, and rarely stop just to look around,' he said.

How true. I have probably passed R many times, but not seen him.

We had chatted here a few days before, when I was taken by his friendly manner and his smile.

My new friend R is a thinker, and a carer. He moves in such an effeminate manner, he could have been a girl.

‘I know you like me, but I am married,’ said R, who likes to tease. ‘Destiny brought us together...but as friends.’

R’s wife turned up just before I left, to help him pack up his stall. A big girl, she sells goods in a department store.

‘Do you want a family with R?’ I asked her.

‘At the moment, we are saving. But if destiny wills it, then we will have kids.’

There was that destiny word again.

As I cut across the vacant plot, I turned to wave goodnight to my new friends. They live just five minutes away; if I want, we can meet every day.

‘As soon as we started talking, we just clicked,’ R remarked.

Destiny may have brought us together, just as he says.

-

Kong has lost his eyesight, and is still trying to drive boyfriend Phiwit out of his life.

In last night’s episode of Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You, Kong’s shaky eyesight finally fails him altogether.

He tells Phiwit to leave, as he doesn’t want to be his burden. Phiwit retreats to his car for a cry.

Kong is in the garden with Toon, a fat ladyboy who acts as the family help.

Later, Phiwit reappears by Kong’s side, but chooses not to tell him he’s there.

At Phiwit’s prompting, Toon starts a conversation with Kong.

‘I hope you can get back together with Phiwit...why can’t things go back the way they were?’ she asks sadly.

Toon does not want to see Kong and Phiwit break up.

‘We can’t be together. It’s just impossible,’ says Kong, who is just as unhappy that their relationship has to end.

Phiwit can’t talk, or Kong would know he’s there, so writes messages to prompt Toon as she is talking to Kong.

‘But what if I want to care for him?’ he asks in one message.

Kong gets sick of talking about it, so the scene ends without a resolution.

Watch the drama here, and here.

See more stills at Bee Boa’s fansite here. The series continues tonight.

Green curry duck, user Thais, Kong gets wet/viewers get bored

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:31:00 +0000

Chef Maiyuu’s duck casserole. He pulled a large duck carcass out of the fridge yesterday, and like a professional butcher started cutting it up.

The meat went into the casserole, as you can see. I thought he was making it for Golf - his friend with the pet Chihuahua – but in fact it was for us.

Golf, who regularly orders dishes from him, pays Maiyuu for the ingredients.

He makes meals and bakery dishes, which she takes home to her family. 'Mum likes duck...can you make duck?'

We pay for the electricity, gas, water, and anything else we haven’t bought the same day to prepare her dish.

Forget the coconut milk? Never mind, we’ll use our own!

Forget to buy wrapping plastic? No worries, we have plenty in spares.

Maiyuu also donates his labour and cooking skills, which I find upsetting. It’s not an ideal arrangement, but they are friends.

Golf does, however, have the good sense not to appear when our money is running short.

She usually visits us around payday, when we are still flush with cash and presumably don’t mind indulging her wishes.

Dear Golf, why don’t you and your Mum cook something, and invite Maiyuu around as your guest some time?

Friendship is a two-way thing. No one likes a leech.

-

Kong looks in danger of losing his eyesight after his road accident in Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You.

His eyesight is fine one moment, fades to blur the next.

In last night’s episode, when he realises he might go blind, he picks a fight with boyfriend Phiwit.

‘Don’t come back here...I don’t want to see you again,’ he says by the front gate.
Phiwit is shocked, as they were getting along so well.

Moments before, they were teasing each other playfully in the kitchen, as Kong whipped up a quick meal.

Kong heats his cooking oil for a weary 10 minutes as he and his boyfriend exchange playful banter. ‘Sssss...’ goes the oil, raising this viewer’s tension levels.

When will Kong stop playing around with his mate, and get on with cooking?

As Kong’s oil bubbles away restlessly, Kong tells Phiwit to get a haircut, as his hair is too long.

‘Shall I cut it all off, and go skinhead?’ asks Phiwit.

‘No...I don’t like that,’ says Kong. He wants his boyfriend looking good, not like some bald-headed bodgie on a bike.

Phiwit leaves the kitchen, Kong’s eyesight fails again. Fade, blur, shaky cam.

Kong stumbles around his cooking space. Scary close-ups of the sautéed chicken and the angry wok follow.

Will he wear the cooking oil, and in a delicious helping of tragedy heaped upon ill-fate, end up facially disfigured as well?

Phiwit re-enters just at the right moment. The spatula has gone on a quick airborne journey across the kitchen, but apart from that, no drama has transpired.

Cooking-oil crisis averted, he asks if Kong is okay.

‘I think we’d better get you back to hospital!

Sitting in the garden, Kong commiserates with his sister and the household help over his likely fate as a blind man.

His Mum overhears them talking; she is shocked to discover that her son reckons he might lose his sight.

Oh piss off, woman. Your family keeps you in the dark, and you are too stupid to figure out what’s going on.

You stopped being credible long ago; now you are just a pain.

Cut to the front gate. Phiwit has bought in food from outside. He gives it to the household help.

Kong presents himself at the gate and tells Phiwit to leave his life.

Unspoken, tragic sub-text: If he does go blind, he doesn’t want Phiwit to have to carry the burden.

Kong picks up a hose and turns it on his boyfriend, trying to shoo him away.

Phiwit wrestles it off him, gets cross, and storms off.

‘When you’re ready to talk sense, call me,’ he says.

‘But you’re all wet. Hurry inside and change, or you’ll get a cold,’ he adds.

Gakkk. Director’s message to increasingly impatient audience: Phiwit and Kong are sweet, caring and protective of each other, no matter how many crises beset their lives.

Where most straight characters in the show have long ago abandoned any decorum as the pressure heaps on, Kong and Phiwit can still be decent to each other, despite the occasional fight or misunderstanding.

It’s this sweet and caring stuff which gets viewer fans of this gay coupling so excited.

Later, Kong and the household help (Toon, a fat ladyboy inserted for comic relief) turn up at the racetrack where Phiwit, a hi-so type, races cars.

As they watch from a distance, Phiwit is talking to a handsome young man who could be mistaken for his next gay wife.

Kong watches Phiwit, but doesn’t let him know he’s there.

‘How could you have found a new wife so fast!’ he’s thinking.

Kong’s eyesight fails again, so Toon hurries him away. I could go on, but by this stage I was sick of the show's melodrama, and was busy with other things.

Boyfriend Maiyuu and I jeered as we watched it.

It airs again tonight. I will carry on writing brief summaries, though to be honest I can’t wait for it to end.

Whatever gay promise that the Kong/Phiwit coupling once held has been dashed against the rocks of credulity.

It’s just another ‘saow Y’ fantasy (girls who like to fantasise over gays). Anyone who tells you differently is a member of the ‘saow Y’ generation herself.

Watch the drama unfold here, here and here. See stills from the show at Bee Boa's fanblog, here.

Here’s a pukish definition of saow Y (เด็ก ตัวน้อยใสซื่อ) supplied by a denizen of the Pantip webboard:

สาว Y = สาวน้อยน่ารักใสซื่อไร้เดียงสาที่ชอบจินตนาการจับคู่ชายหนุ่ม A กับชายหนุ่ม B ให้เป็นแฟนกัน (แม้ที่จริงพวกเขาจะเป็นชายแท้ก็ตาม) ถึงแม้จะจินตนาการอย่างนั้นแต่แท้จริงหัวใจพวกเธอล้วนบริสุทธิ์ดังนางฟ้าตัวน้อยๆ

Melon ice-cream, reluctant mop man

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:17:00 +0000

Chef Maiyuu’s yellow watermelon ice-cream. With the left-over melon, he made yellow melon fruit juice, which lasted all of 12 hours before we had consumed the lot.

Also pictured is an over-exposed old-man croissant, with ham, egg and cheese. Why an old man croissant?

It appears to have a nose and straggly beard (lettuce). It also smiles for no reason.

-

‘I might have to clean the floor today...I can’t bear it anymore,’ said Maiyuu.

Just yesterday, he had told me that the floors would have to wait until the middle of the week, but now even he is starting to notice that the floor feels sticky underfoot.

I sweep every few days, usually when he has stepped outdoors. But it is not enough...those underfoot surfaces also need a regular scrub and polish.

Maiyuu appears to have missed last week's appointment with the mop, rag, or whatever he uses.

During the past week, my floor cleaner has done little but sleep, while I have done little but work, including two 12-hour days (double-shifts) at the office.

I want some extra money over Christmas and New Year, to make up for the end-of-year bonus which, this year, my company says it cannot afford to pay.

I decided to work overtime to make what the company would otherwise pay me as a bonus, so I can buy myself a new pair of prescription glasses.

‘How much can we afford to spend on my glasses?’ I asked.

‘That will depend on how much you make,’ said ever-practical Maiyuu.

The first of my overtime pay cheques comes out tomorrow.

-

Allow me to put in a brief plug for sister blog, TBG.

I have tweaked the format to give it a new, soft-orange background colour. The posts are short, which makes them easy to read. The pictures are supplied by loyal reader Ian, from his extensive private collection.

The blog roll is selective, but fun. None of the blogs on the list has reciprocated with a return link, but never mind; my spirit is unbroken.

Spelt out, TBG has a grotesque, commercially exploitative name, which I would rather not repeat here.

It might be easier if you just click.

Ice-cream inventions, bunny suits, prancing eunuchs

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:02:00 +0000

Chef Maiyuu’s raspberry icecream, and strawberry/cream ice-cream...the strawberry number was made mainly with milk and cream, with a few strawberries thrown in.

Next up, he will turn his hand to making lavender icecream - with real lavender!

‘I’ve figured out how to do it,’ he says.

We will have to wait until pay day early next week before attempting it.

Today, however, he will have a go at creating yellow watermelon ice-cream, which he can make without adding cream or other complicated things. Pictures to come.

-

Maiyuu has bought himself several cotton body suits. They button up at the front, rise to the kneck, and stretch down to the ankle. They look like the full-length underwear outfits which in wintry climes some men wear to bed.

There’s another name for them, but because I have lived in hot places for so long I can’t remember it.

I’d like to add, ‘Pictures to come’, but we might have to wait for Maiyuu to go out first, as he is a reluctant model.

I call them his ‘bunny suits’, because Maiyuu looks like a baby rabbit when he wears them - minus the fluffy tail and twitching ears, of course.

-

They are chaste and harmless, but that’s the way Thais like their gay couples portrayed.

Fans rave over the gay Kong-Phiwit coupling in the Channel 5 series, Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You.

On webboards, enthusiasts have started mini-novels depicting the romance between Kong and Phiwit as they would like to see it end. Others call for sitcoms starring the pair.

In one recent episode, Kong and Phiwit looked as if they might share their first kiss.

'Scream!' Women fans were beside themselves, according to one guy writing at the Pantip webboard, who says his office came to a stand-still.

Yet what we have seen so far is tame - and not just because the pair have yet to go to bed.

Phiwit and Kong show each other puppy love. They bait and tease each other, which is romantic and cute.

Yet it is hardly real. Once they pass the initial courting stage, what next?

Asked what they want from the relationship, most fans at Pantip agree they are happy for the pair to hold hands, hug, and give each other moral support.

Few want to see it go any further, however, as that would take their relationship beyond the realm of ‘innocent love’, into a scary real-life zone.

Like...bad breath in the morning? A lover who sits around all day while his partner goes out to work?

When talking about their roles, the actors playing Kong and Phiwit are careful to say the characters are merely close friends. The dreaded 'G' word never gets a mention, and not just because they want to spare their own feelings as actors.

They want to keep the fantasy alive for mainstream viewers, many of whom are teenage women. The producers have told them that too much real stuff turns people off.

-

As the series enters its final stretch, thinking types are opining on its virtues.

Gay blogger/broadcaster Vitaya S says critics of the series are not so much ‘old-fashioned’ as merely homophobic.

The series gets a brief mention at the start and again at the end of his article, but otherwise it’s just a vehicle for Vitaya the aspiring gay activist to hop on his soapbox. Knock yourself out!

More inspiring is ‘The unbearable lightness of chastity’, a think piece in the Nation newspaper.

Author Paisarn Likhitpreechakul says the relationship between Phiwit and Kong emulates a Thai-style courtship (just Thai?) where the guy goes to great lengths to gain the trust of the woman who has taken his interest.

Here are excerpts, with tiny editing changes (link to the original article follows):

'There's no sex involved. Just caring for the other and his family, staring into each other's eyes, occasional hand-holding and brief consoling embraces.

'Despite the crazy tumult of heterosexual lust, jealousy and rage around them [in the series], or perhaps because of it, Phiwit and Kong's relationship somehow emerges as the moral underpinning of the whole show. And that's what has put the conservatives up in arms.

'One newspaper columnist wrote that the show's portrayal of gay relationships may ''normalise such relationships and mislead Thai youths into believing that they are acceptable''.

'Most fans are average members of the audience who overlook the gender of the protagonists and see the relationship for what it is - an insufferable tenderness for each other that is love.

'However, there's another side to this enthusiasm. Although it is doubtful that we'll see so much as a peck on the cheek between Phiwit and Kong, I wonder how many of these fans would remain faithful if the star-crossed lovers were to be shown spending a night together in bed - something freely allowed to onscreen heterosexual couples.

'It seems the only same-gender relationships palatable to Thai audiences and the public at large will remain - for the time being - hopelessly idealistic relationships between eunuchs.’

Vitaya’s turgid blog piece is here (Thai only). The Nation piece is here.

The series airs again on Monday.

Kong, Phiwit: When being hit by a car is not so bad

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:58:00 +0000

The tumultuous road accident scene in Tomorrow, I'll Still Love You (พรุ่งนี้ก็รักเธอ) has finally arrived.

Phiwit is still being persecuted by his straight elder brother Phiphat.

Dastardly Phiphat turns up at his place, where Phiwit is giving shelter to his boyfriend Kong.

Phiphat can’t accept that his brother is gay – or, as he puts it, a sexual abnormality.

Kong hides upstairs, the encounter passes without incident. However, when they venture outside, Kong and Phiwit find Phiphat waiting for them in his car.

A fight ensures, and Kong and Phiwit run away. Phiphat chases them in his car.
The pair tries to make it across the road, but a car is coming.

Kong sees it, tries to get his lover Phiwit out the way, but ends up getting hit himself.

He bounces off the car onto the road, where after a brief body-roll towards the gutter comes into contact with broken shards of glass. His eyes are bleeding. Phiwit cradles his gay lover in his arms, distraught.

Kong is taken to hospital, where he undergoes surgery.

Phiwit calls Kaew, Kong’s sister, to tell her the news.

Kaew knows they are a couple, and has previously tried to force them apart.

She turns up at the hospital with her boss/lover Por.

They are the male/female leads in the show. It is good to see Por/Kaew, and supporting leads Kong/ Phiwit, connect.

Kaew blames Phiwit for the accident which has befallen her brother. An angry exchange follows.

‘This is why I don’t want you to be together!’

Phiwit begs her forgiveness, while Por tries to restrain her. In his eyes, she’s gone too far.

Teary hospital scenes follow...Phiwit holds his lover's hand as Kong, his eyes bandaged, recovers in his hospital bed.

Kong may have lost his eyesight, as the glass shards penetrated deeply into his eyes, says the doctor.

As they wait for news at hospital, Por and Por talk about the problems they share in common, in what was one of the best moments of last night’s show.

Por loves Kaew, but circumstances are always getting in the way. It’s love one moment, animosity the next.

Phiwit’s dilemma is the same. He loves Kong, but because they are gay, family members are trying to force them apart.

‘Kong has someone who loves him,’ says Phiwit, referring to Kaew, who does not want the gay relationship to continue.

‘But I will never give in... I will never consent to losing him.’

Por commends Phiwit’s strength.

‘To be forced apart when you love someone...just how far can you go?’

He says if he had shown the same courage earlier, he and Kaew could love each other now without problem.

‘Still, it’s never too late,’ says Phiwit, encouraging Por to press on.

It is a sweet scene. I liked seeing Por talking reassuringly to Phiwit, who is worried about his gay lover.

Por is straight, but does not judge him. Phiwit can see Por’s problems in the same dispassionate light.

Cut to the hospital bed, and it’s time for the big unveiling. The doctor peels away Kong’s eye gauze. How is his eyesight?

Kong is a gay boy at heart. In his first remark, he compliments his mother on her choice of dress.

Obviously, he can still see. However, his eyesight keeps going fuzzy...maybe he is not so right after all.

The series continues next Monday.

Watch the action here, here, and here.

In the first clip, Kong and Phiwit share a cute scene over a cup of tea. Phipat arrives, drama ensues. They leave the condo, only to find him lying in wait outside. Phiphat gives chase. Kong gets hit by a car.

In the second clip, Phiwit calls Kaew to tell her about the accident. At the hospital, they argue.

The doctor warns Kong’s family that the patient may not see again. Por and Phiwit talk about the problems they have in common, and Phiwit comforts his lover by his hospital bed.

In the third clip, the doctor removes Kong’s eye gauze. He can see, and his eye wounds have miraculously healed. However, Kong's eyesight still blurs out every few minutes. Is it a permanent condition? Will he tell anyone, or suffer heroically in silence?

Extra: Here's a background video of Kong/Phiwit's road accident scene. Fluke Pachara Thammon (ฟลุค พชร ธรรมมล) plays Kong, and Oh Anuchyd Sapanphong, Phiwit.

Your internet resource of choice for all things Kong/Phiwit must be Bee Boa, who has faithfully provided snapshots and videoclips of all the key scenes since the series began. Visit her Bloggang site here.

Kong, Phiwit: The kiss that wasn't

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:42:00 +0000

It’s the kiss that almost happened, but didn’t.

Kong and Phiwit hole up at Phiwit’s place after Kong leaves his family rather than confront the fact they can’t accept his relationship with Phiwit.

He intends to go back shortly, he says, as his Mum is ailing. He just needed a bolthole to give himself time to think.

Kong gets upset (again), and rushes into Phiwit’s arms (again) for another bone-crunching hug. They gaze soulfully into each other’s eyes, as their heads hover closer together. The camera prepares us for what must be a tender fastening of lips.

‘God, it’s finally going to happen,’ I thought.

And...

Nothing!

The dastardly Phiphat, Phiwit’s elder brother, has arrived at the door.

Knock, knock!

Tender pre-kiss spell broken. Back to real life. Director 'Boy' Takonkiat Weerawan is a terrible tease.

Phiwit flies into a tizzy and sends Kong upstairs to hide.

‘Don’t come down on any account!’ he instructs.

Phipat is appalled by Phiwit’s relationship with Kong, and calls him a sexual freak.

At first Phiwit insists that he and Kong are merely friends, but the truth soon outs.

'You know...so why ask?' says Phiwit.

Upset by his straight brother’s bullying, Phiwit asks him which is worse: his own relationship with Kong, or the fact that Phipat is a serial womaniser who lies and cheats with women to get his way.

Phipat is unamused, and tries to beat some sense into gay Phiwit. He punches him in the stomach, and kicks him in the chest. Courageous stuff.

'If you don't quit this same-sex stuff, you'll get worse than this!' he threatens.

Kong watches from an upstairs bedroom, and as soon as Phipat has gone, races downstairs to comfort his lover Phiwit.

Phiwit, ever the caring elder-brother type, manages to get out: ‘Never mind, Kong,’ as he metaphorically spits out a few bloodied teeth.

Nasty stuff, yet one young guy writing at the Pantip webboard reckons it is good for Thais to see such things.

Which, indeed, is worse – serial womanising by straight men, or an innocent relationship between two men who love each other?

สังคมทำไมมองว่า การรักเพศเดียวกัน แม้จะบิรสุทธิ์ใจ และจริงใจกันแค่ไหน ก็ยังถูกมองว่า "วิปริต" กว่าการไปผิดลูกผิดเมีย ผิดผัวคนอื่น และการโกหกหลอกลวง...โดยเฉพาะ ในหมู่ "ผู้ชาย"...
แล้วทำไมผู้หญิง กลับมักจะยอมรับและเข้าใจเกย์/กะเทย ที่รักเพศเดียวกัน ได้มากกว่า "ผู้ชาย" ทั้งๆที่ เกย์และกะเทย ต่างก็เป็นผู้ชาย โดยพื้นฐาน เหมือนกับตัวเอง ผู้ชายน่าจะเข้าใจหัวอกเกย์และกะเทยได้มากกว่า มิใช่หรือ...(ไม่ได้เหมารวมผู้ชายทุกคนนะครับ คนที่เข้าใจและยอมรับได้ก็มี)

ไม่เข้าใจจริงๆครับ

‘Thai society views same-sex love, no matter how honest or sincere, as more abnormal than a straight man betraying his children and wife by playing around with other women.'

Enough deep stuff. Watch the kissus-interruptus scene, and the tumultuous Phipat-Phiwit scene which follows, here.

-

James Ruangsak, as I mentioned the other day, plays Phiwit’s ratbag elder brother Phipat. He is also an accomplished singer: try Stay The Same, here. Or try a YouTube selection of his MVs, here.

The theme song for the series is by runner-up of the Star 4 singing contest, 'Ruj' Suparuj Techatanon. Watch it here.

An alternate version of the same song is by Seua Thanapol (เสือ ธนพล อินทฤทธิ์).

The most popular English-spelling of his name appears to be Sue Thanapol, but don’t let that put you off. He’s a bloke, and a fine singer, too.

Confusingly, the images accompanying his song come from the same series, even though Ruj performs the song normally. It's probably a fan video. Watch it here.

Kong-Phiwit hugging special, Boy the cleaner, James Ruangsak shines

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:11:00 +0000

My God – not another hug!

I could barely watch gay lovers Kong and Phiwit last night. After a promising start, their one-on-one encounters are now predictable and tedious.

I lost count of how many times Kong rushed into Phiwit’s arms, one rib-crunching embrace after another. Kong’s family have discovered he is gay and that he and Phiwit like each other.

That probably wouldn’t matter so much, except that Phiwit is also brother-in-law to a woman who, six years before, killed Kong’s elder sister.

Kong’s surviving sister, Kaew, is appalled that he has knowingly struck up a relationship with Phiwit, given the family history.

The knowledge must be kept from their mother at all costs, she says, or Mum could take another dramatic star turn (encounter with hospital bed) for the worse.

Improbable secrets fuel this family drama. They keep us watching, though as the secrets unfold one by one, there’s precious little of interest to watch.

Kong and Phiwit are supporting players in the channel 5 drama, Tomorrow, I'll Still Love You, though were given a generous amount of screen time last night.

The highlight of silliness was a scene in the middle of a street where Phiwit has clasped Kong’s hand in a stand of gay unity. ‘He’s with me!’ he’s saying, as family members try to drag them apart.

We end up with a push-me-pull-you style tug-of-war, with Phiwit at one end being pulled by his family, and Kong at the other end being pulled in the opposite direction by his. Come on, people – this is embarrassing to watch!

Kong and Phiwit are separated. Kong sheds tears, as he does often these days. Phiwit turns up at his place to meet him. Kaew tries to force them apart again, and slaps Kong’s face. Mistake!

Tired of family squabbles getting in the way of true love, Kong leaves in Phiwit’s car. Having spurned their families, they are now gay lovers on the run. Back at Phiwit’s place, Kong collapses into his arms for yet another man hug.

In danger of being overlooked in all this Kong/Phiwit drama is the role played by excellent James Ruangsak.

He plays Phipat, the ratbag husband of the woman who killed Kong’s sister, and elder brother to the hapless Phiwit.

When Phiwit grabs Kong’s hand, Phipat looks askance at this appalling display of gay affection between Kong and his brother, as if he can’t believe his straight
blinkered eyes.

It was a classic moment, one of the best in the series so far.

For more of James, see below.

Watch the push-me-pull-you scene, here. James' bug-eyed, 'I can't believe what is happening' look is at the .23 mark. Watch Kong, his sister and Phiwit in their tug of love, here.

-

If the Kong/Phiwit gay scenes look sterile, it’s because they are ‘cleaned’ first by Exact Entertainment head 'Boy' Takonkiat Weerawan, who directs the drama.

They are mere plot devices, designed to draw attention to the female lead.

Nor are they allowed to show gay body language, to mince about, or display socially disrespectful behaviour, as director Boy won't allow it.

In Thai TV dramas, gays are usually portrayed as figures of fun. Were they to start looking too gay, viewers might get turned off. They could also detract from the leads.

In an interview with Matichon newspaper, Boy sheds light on his thinking behind the characters in Tomorrow, I'll Still Love You (พรุ่งนี้ก็รักเธอ). The story is about Por and Kaew, a straight couple who loved each other, but whom circumstances forced apart.

When they are reunited years later, one obstacle after another comes in the way of their love.

Kong and Phiwit are the supporting duo. Director Boy says he could have chosen a straight couple as the second leads, but went for a gay coupling, as they are rarely seen on Thai TV.

Kong falls in love with Phiwit, yes, but is really there to cause problems for female lead Kaew. His relationship with Phiwit, brother-in-law to the woman who killed her sister, causes her headaches.

‘Kong is there to draw sympathy to Kaew,’ he says. 'He also poses another obstacle for her to confront.'

Describing the gay relationship between Phiwit and Kong, the director says they start off as friends. In a playful way, Phiwit tries to show he is interested, while Kong fobs off his advances.

They end up falling for each other, but signs of gay love or affection between the two are kept to a minimum, as is any sign that gay matters might come before family.

Boy notes that in the closing episodes the pair ends up pulling away from the embrace of their families, when their families indicate that they cannot accept their love.

He says he is not trying to send any messages about the way gays are treated by society, but notes that while straight couples swear and curse, and slap each other about, these two treat each other well.

Society dislikes gays, and we will feel sorry for this couple by the end. However, we will also know that their love was the sweetest, he says. The Kong-Phiwit coupling emerges as the ‘cleanest’(seen in the most positive light) of all.

The Matichon piece is here (Thai only).

-

Singer/actor James Ruangsak shines as the bad guy in Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You.

Next up, he plays a ladyboy-mother in the gay stage show, La Cage Aux Folles, opening next year (see picture).

He appeared before the cameras yesterday as he performed in rehearsals the gay anthem, I Am What I Am.

I can barely tell it’s James. Later, he talks about his role as a ladyboy with a teenage child. The director, he says, gives him advice on how to carry himself, and totter about in high-heels. The romantic comedy, in which he plays a stage diva, opens in May.

Tea for two, ice-cream maker rocks, home-baked bread feeler, Kong/Phiwit drama

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:23:00 +0000

Maiyuu has bought a new tea set – two cups, saucers, a strainer, and a teapot. Needless to say, we also have the tea – chrysanthemum, and lavender.

‘Unlike other teas, these will help give you a good sleep if you drink them before bed,’ he said.

At night, Mauyuu makes a pot. He adds honey, and serves.

I had hoped to bring you pictures of his piping-hot tea, but they will have to wait, as I keep forgetting to take the pictures at night when he has made a brew.

-

We also have a new ice-cream maker. As I write, Maiyuu is whipping up a batch of strawberry sherbet ice-cream. I tried his plain strawberry ice-cream this morning, which he makes with milk and cream. It tastes just like the street-bought stuff, only not as oily or greasy. Pictures coming soon.

-

Overseas, my parents have bought a bread-maker on e-Bay. I asked Maiyuu if he would be interested in buying one for us. He has baked his own bread in the past, though we don’t have a machine made for the task.

So far, he is unenthusiastic.

I asked if he had heard of e-Bay; No. I have seen a Thai version of e-Bay on the net, but don’t know anyone who shops on it.

By the looks of it, e-Bay has yet to take off here as it has in the West.

-

Kong and Phiwit, your time is running out!

The Channel 5 drama, Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You airs again tonight.

Writing at the Pantip webboard, one fan says the series has less than two weeks to go. Gay lovers Kong and Phiwit, who play supporting roles, get a few minutes of airtime in each episode, perhaps half an hour in total.

However, the two are involved in the thick of the drama – Kong’s sister sees the pair holding hands, which is their tender coming-out statement to the world.

One lad gets hits by a car, and I'm told they even share a kiss. Stay tuned.

Lady Penelope's teacup beckons; singer Kai Phannipa tries gay anthem

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Boyfriend Maiyuu and I are joining the ranks of the British upper class: we are becoming posh tea drinkers! More on that tomorrow, with pictures of raised pinky fingers poised elegantly over delicate china for tea-sipping.

-

Singer Kai Phannipa has put out an unusual music video of two Thai guys falling for each other. The song is called Loving You With My Life (ไก่พรรณนิภา รักด้วยชีวิต), from the upcoming Remember Five album.

Kai appears to be a pop artist, or maybe 'peua chiwit' (music for life) singer, but in this video is dabbling in the gay thing.

I was reminded of this video when I re-read yesterday’s post about the Channel 5 series, Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You. In coming episodes, Phiwit rushes his boyfriend Kong across the road to avoid getting hit by a car.

Kai’s video is similar. Our gay hero almost gets hit by a bus, but is saved by a stranger who becomes his lover.

Gay hero is about to cross the road but has a cellphone stuck to his ear so is unaware of what is going on.

The man who will be his lover, but is still a stranger to him at this point, springs out from somewhere, and pulls him back from danger.

In the drama of the moment they end up flat on their backs by the side of the road, reflecting on the beauty of the sky, nature, and the universe.

They turn to look at each other, and Bing! They are in love.

The video comprises two parts.

It has yet to be released in full, so these are only teasers. But it shows more of the gay thing than most mainstream MVs would ever allow.

Gay hero and his lover are cute, even if they can’t act. In the second clip, we see three bare-chested guys sharing a couch together (presumably, one partner is unfaithful).

Mr and Mrs Footpath also share a bed scene.

The song sounds like a gay anthem, it's so dramatic. It's here.

Watch the clips are here (part 1), and here (part 2). It's like an MV done up as a mini-drama, split into two parts.

The full video clip comes out on 12/12. I’ll let you know how it looks.

PS: Pictures illustrating this post are unrelated.

Lonely ham and cheese, Phiwit's dash for safety

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:37:00 +0000

Maiyuu went out last night, and is still not back this morning, which is forcing me to fend for myself.

He left a love note - ‘Dearest BF, I’m going out with so-and-so. I love you so much’ – and a dish of pork fried rice.

This morning the fried rice is gone; hunger and restlessness are setting in.

I have made myself a ham and cheese sandwich, with mayonnaise. I can find little else in the fridge worth eating.

Never mind. Today I start work early, so can look forward to the company of my colleagues at work, if not that of my boyfriend at home.

As for food, the change will do me good. Normally Maiyuu keeps me fed all day before I start work, which means I seldom have to rely on myself.

I have often wondered how the other half live. Now is my chance to find out.

-

A teaser trailer from coming episodes of Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You (พรุ่งนี้ก็รักเธอ), shows dramatic promise.

Exact Entertainment, the producers, aired the trailer at a function in Bangkok last night.

The screaming you can hear in the background comes from fans in the audience.

Exact brought together the company’s 200-odd stars for a night of celebrating achievements in the year past, and a preview of its attractions in the year to come.

The cast of Tomorrow, I'll Still Love You including Fluke Pachara Thammon (ฟลุค พชร ธรรมมล), who plays Kong, and his sidekick, Oh Anuchyd Sapanphong, who plays Phiwit (see pictures), was there.

In the trailer shown to the audience, Phiwit gets beaten up by his ratbag brother Phipat; and the male lead, Por, attacks his former girlfriend, Kaew.

In another action moment, ratbag Phipat tries to run down Phiwit (or is it Kong?) in his car.

One of the young men gets hit by the motor. It's not clear which, but web gossip suggests it's Kong.

Will he survive his injuries, or will their love be cut short in its bloom?

At his Hi-5 site, Oh has welcome news for anxious fans, as they contemplate this unwelcome turn of events.

Despite recent signs that the drama is heading for a nasty climax of blood, emotional torment and hi-so family bickering, the ending, he says, is almost too sweet for words.

The show airs again on Monday. Watch the trailer here.

Maiyuu's door-breaker, Jumbo sports new fashion, Sarah falls flat (again), Fluke shines

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:08:00 +0000

Boyfriend Maiyuu locked himself out of his bedroom yesterday, and spent three hours hammering away at the door, trying to break the lock.

His door has a push-button lock which stuck itself in lock mode a few months ago.

He took precautions to make sure the door could not slam shut while he was outside the room, but yesterday they came awry when the scarf he tied around the door to stop it closing properly came free.

A gust of wind came, and Bang! He was locked out.

When I left for work, Maiyuu had been trying to prise open the door with all the household tools he could find. They still weren’t enough, so finally he called someone from the office, who brought a large car-jack type thing for forcing open the door. It worked.

Now the door has a nasty hole in it where the door handle used to be. Being an elegant creature, I want that hole filled again as soon as possible. It is upsetting my sense of room harmony.

-

Jumbo the Chihuahua paid a visit the other day. This is his latest fashion attire: a one-piece jeans and T-shirt suit. A picture of a fox illustrates the back of his T-shirt.

-

At the top of this post is Maiyuu’s beef lasagne, which he made during Jumbo’s visit the other day. Jumbo came with his owner, Golf. We humans ate the lasagne; Jumbo tucked into KFC.

-

A bacon and egg hamburger, which Maiyuu has made for breakfast over the last couple of days.

Also pictured is an apricot sponge which I am calling the Sarah Brightman cake.

Maiyuu watched Sarah make this cake on Martha Stewart’s cooking show, and knocked it out himself the next day.

While it looks good on the outside, it was too moist on the inside, almost under-done. What have you done to us, Sarah?

Years ago, in my old life, I reviewed two of Sarah’s CDs for a local newspaper. We arranged a phone interview. She called in to the newspaper, and we spoke for about 10minutes until I ran out of things to say.

'So, Sarah, how long did you say you'd been a classically trained singer?'

I did not give her a flattering review, as the CDs bored me. Since then I have grown older, and no longer mind listening to her style of bland pop, masquerading as opera. It soothing to my ageing ear.

On that occasion, however, I felt Sarah let me down.

On this occasion, she did too, although the cake is still edible, if too mushy inside.

-

Actor Fluke Pachara Thammon (ฟลุค พชร ธรรมมล) is touchy-feely in real life, just as he is on screen.

Fluke plays Kong in the Channel 5 drama, Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You (พรุ่งนี้ก็รักเธอ). He joined the rest of the cast on variety show Sam Noom Sam Moom last night.

During the interview, he shyly touches, hugs, and handles his co-star Oh Anuchyd Sapanphong, who plays Phiwit.

Watch them here.

Kong wraps up the show with his song, ความรู้สึกดีๆ – ที่ไม่อาจบอกใคร, which loosely translates as ‘Those good feelings which we can't tell anyone about.’

I left a link to the song the other day. Watch his latest version, sung for the variety show, here.

He’s a spirited, passionate singer, who appears to lose himself when he performs, almost as if his audience isn’t there. Terrific!

Sarah dear, please take note.

Kong, Phiwit: Pseudo-intimo shoulder snuggle

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:13:00 +0000

Just kiss him and get it over with, for goodness sake!

Phiwit and his partner Kong share an intimate moment on the beach in the latest episode of the channel 5 drama, Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You.

Kong declares that his life has never been the same since his sister died six years before.

Phiwit reminds him that this is the here and now, and that he will never leave Kong, so he can stop worrying.

‘Now that I have you, I’m even more scared,’ says Kong.

‘Why be scared? I haven’t done anything to you.’

‘I’m scared of losing you,’ says Kong.

Phiwit jumps back into reliable big-brother role, as he has done so many times in the past.

‘I’m like the sand on that beach, which never leaves the shore.

‘If you never leave me, I will never abandon you.’

They look at each other’s lips, gaze into each other’s faces for what seems an age – but the kiss never gets hatched. It’s still at the brooding stage.

Kong leans into Phiwit, who is taken by surprise.

Emotional victim Kong rests his head against Phiwit’s shoulder, and closes his eyes for a moment, as he lets the waves wash his cares away.

And?

Nothing.

We’re still waiting for the kiss which may, or may never arrive.

And it’s all getting a bit much. Fans praise director 'Boy' Takonkiat Weerawan for portraying these two as just another couple, little different from a man and a woman in the first bloom of love.

Yet last night’s episode felt like a blast back to the past. The family drama which propels this story is rocketing along, but has left this pair in its wake.

They appear as mere observers to the main action playing out between an ever-growing number of cast members: Mum, her daughter, her boyfriend, Phiwit’s scheming brother...

When Phiwit and Kong wander off the beach and rejoin everyone else at the holiday home in Rayong, no one cares. Increasingly, neither do we.

If director Boy really is intent on portraying this soap opera couple as like an ordinary pair of gay lovers, then a little more enthusiasm and commitment is required.

In short, get into it! Start nuzzling, kissing, or whatever you hi-so types do!

‘These two understand each other, and are ready to face down obstacles they meet together...that’s already love writ large,’ writes one fan at the Pantip webboard.

เพียงแค่คนสองคนเข้าใจกัน และ พร้อมที่จะฝ่าฟันอุปสรรค์ไปพร้อมๆกัน
นั่นก็คือความรักที่ยิ่งใหญ่มากๆแล้ว

Maybe for you dear, but the rest of us are starting to ask questions.

Is Phiwit there as a potential boyfriend, or really just a caring elder brother?

Does Kong want someone to love him, or just an emotional crutch?

Two figures of fun, a fat ladyboy with a deep voice and a young dark-skinned whipper-snapper whose relation to the family eludes me, spot Kong and Phiwit on the beach.

‘You’ve been with Kong since childhood, how come you never spotted he was gay?’ asks Whipper-Snapper.

'Sometimes it takes a big event such as this one to occur before you really see it,' replies Deep Voice.

Another supporting character, human relations manager to leading man Por, spots them on the beach, and is shocked.

At first he contemplates telling Kaew, elder sister to Kong, that her brother is gay, but fat ladyboy and whippersnapper talk him out of it.

‘Our family has suffered enough. Mum could take another turn for the worse, and Kong could take his own life!' says Deep Voice.

Yes, yes. Blah, blah.

The series airs again tonight. The clip of Phiwit and Kong sharing their intimate moment on the beach together is here.

Kong, Phiwit: Just another ordinary couple/conservative reaction

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:44:00 +0000

Phiwit has slipped into the role of dutiful partner to his boyfriend Kong in the latest episode of the channel 5 drama, Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You.

Kong and his sister have dropped in to visit Kong’s mother in hospital (see pictures). Phiwit folds up a sweater belonging to boyfriend Kong, just as a good partner should.

How sweet is that?

He asks Kong’s Mum if he can get her anything good to eat on his way home – just as a good son-in-law should.

Again, how sweet is that?

Later, Phiwit accompanies Kong’s family on a weekend visit to their old home in Rayong, which they have decided to sell to meet living expenses.

Phiwit lugs both his bag and Kong’s backpack out of the car, which spares his boyfriend Kong from the need to carry anything.

This young lad shows promise as a potential husband – yet the moment is also remarkable for being nothing, in itself, out of the ordinary.

Kong and Phiwit are like any other couple, only they are guys.

Other fan reaction:

'Two people in love often start to imitate each other's mannerisms,' says another fan, pointing to the fact that both Kong and Phiwit like to wear a frown (see picture).

-

Kong-Phiwit fever has taken the town by storm, as even a cursory glance at webboards will tell you.

One fan attributes popular support for this couple to a desire among Thais to unite behind a common ideal.

‘Politics is driving us apart. How nice to find something we can all feel good about,’ she wrote at the Pantip webboard.

Not everyone, however, is happy...

-

The relationship between Kong and Phiwit sets a bad example to Thais, because this couple looks too normal, says one newspaper columnist.

Writing in the Daily News newspaper, ‘Freestyle’ entertainment columnist Wipawadee argues that for most Thais, the relationship between Kong and Phiwit has gone too far.

The author acknowledges that Kong and Phiwit have become the ‘talk of the town’, and that in the eyes of some readers, his own views will seem outmoded and old-fashioned.

The influence of western values on Thai culture is such that gay relationships are almost commonplace these days, he says, even if ‘nature’ determines that a man should love a woman, not another man.

The gay relationship portrayed in Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You is bolder than any presented on Thai public TV before.

The author asks if it will not end up influencing teens into thinking they should copy such behaviour.

‘I admit that in today’s society it is nothing unusual to find this kind of love [everyday love]....but those are usually relationships between ordinary people,’ he says.

Subtext? In portraying Kong and Phiwit as an ordinary couple - little different from a man and woman together - the producers risk upsetting the popular stereotype of gays, that they are crazy over men, can’t hold down a relationship, and should be regarded as figures of fun, or freaks in general.

‘Love is a beautiful thing in all its stripes, and I am not in favour of closing the eyes and ears of our young to love in all its possibilities. By all means, throw in a bit of gay love – but they shouldn’t make it such a dominant part of the show to the point where it drowns out all else,’ says columnist Wipawadee.

In the interests of balance, I’m posting the column here. Below, I’ll bring you a response from a gay Thai man who has been watching the show.

ผมได้ติดตามชมละครเรื่อง "พรุ่งนี้ก็รักเธอ ที่ออกอากาศทุกวันจันทร์-พฤหัสบดี เวลา 20.20น. ทางช่อง 5และกำกับการแสดงโดย "คุณบอย- ถกลเกียรติ วีรวรรณ" มาพักใหญ่แล้วครับ แต่ที่แปลกใจกับละครเรื่องนี้ คือเขากล้าที่จะนำเสนอความรักของชาวสีม่วงอย่างเปิดเผย.......

....กระแสแรงเกินคาดจนกลายเป็นทอล์คออฟเดอะทาวน์ไปแล้วสำหรับความน่ารักกุ๊กกิ๊กของคู่ พี-ก้อง ที่รับบทโดยโอ-อนุชิต และฟลุ๊ค เดอะสตาร์ ถ้าเราจะมองกันตามกระแสนิยมที่คนพูดถึงกันมากที่สุดเราก็ต้องยอมรับว่าละครเรื่องนี้กล้าที่จะนำเสนอในสิ่งที่หลายๆค่ายไม่กล้านำเสนอกับความรักของตัวละครที่เป็นเพศเดียวกัน ทำให้กระแสของละครเรื่องนี้แรงขึ้นมาจริงๆ

แต่ถ้าเราจะมองกันตามวัฒนธรรมประเพณีซึ่งในสมัยนี้บางคนอาจจะบอกว่าผมเชยหรือหัวโบราณก็ได้นะครับ ผมมองว่าการนำเสนอในเรื่องราวแบบนี้มันดูมากเกินไป ซึ่งผมเชื่อว่าหลายๆคนอาจจะรับไม่ได้ด้วยซ้ำ เพราะด้วยธรรมชาติของมนุษย์แล้วคนที่เกิดมาคู่กันคือผู้หญิงและผู้ชายครับ ไม่ใช่คนเพศเดียวกัน

แต่สมัยนี้เราได้รับอิทธิพลจากตะวันตกเข้ามาเยอะทำให้เรื่องราวความรักในเพศเดียวกันเป็นที่ยอมรับมากขึ้นในวงสังคมไทย แต่ผมเชื่อว่ายังมีคนที่ไม่ยอมรับความรักแบบนั้นได้อย่างเปิดเผยร้อยเปอร์เซ็นต์

และผมยอมรับครับว่าในชีวิตจริงของเรานั้นเราได้เห็นความรักแบบนี้กันอยู่มาก แต่นั่นคือการใช้ชีวิตของคนธรรมดาทั่วไป แต่ในการนำเสนอผ่านจอทีวีกับเรื่องราวแบบนี้ถ้าเราจะมองกันอีกมุมหนึ่งมันเท่ากับส่งเสริมหรือเปล่า เยาวชนเข้าใจผิดหรือเปล่า! มองว่ามันเป็นค่านิยมที่ดีหรือเปล่าครับ

ผมเชื่อในความรักนะครับ ว่าความรักเป็นสิ่งที่ดีและสวยงาม ไม่ใช่เราจะปิดหูปิดตาเด็กในเรื่องนี้ แต่เราเลือกที่จะนำเสนอได้นะครับ เอาไปสอดแทรกในละคร แต่ไม่ควรจะทำให้ประเด็นของความรักคู่นี้เด่นออกมาจนกลบเรื่องราวที่น่าสนใจของตัวละครอื่นๆในเรื่อง

อยากจะฝากตรงนี้ไปถึงคุณบอยครับว่าถ้าลดตรงนี้ลงสักนิดผมว่าน่าจะดีกว่านะครับ อย่าลืมนะครับ เยาวชนของชาติกำลังติดตามละครของคุณอยู่ อย่าสักแต่ว่าเอากระแส เอาเรตติ้ง ผมว่าห่วงใยลูกหลานเด็กๆทางบ้านบ้างก็ดีนะครับ."

-

One gay reader has left a moving and eloquent response. Yes, the relationship between Kong and Phiwit challenges the usual gay stereotypes, he says – but then why shouldn’t a gay couple look like anyone else?

I’m posting it in full below, both as an excellent rejoinder to the rubbish spouted by that Daily News columnist, but also as my contribution to World Aids Today today.

ที่ว่า "เพราะด้วยธรรมชาติของมนุษย์แล้วคนที่เกิดมาคู่กันคือผู้หญิงและผู้ชาย"

ผมขอถามว่า แล้วคนที่รักเพศเดียวกันอย่างผมนี้ เกิดมาจากไหนกันครับ

ผมไม่ได้เกิดมาจากธรรมชาติ ตามวิธีการและกฎเกณฑ์ของธรรมชาติหรอกหรือครับ

คนรักเพศเดียวกันอย่างผม ไม่ได้เกิดมาจากการตัดต่อรหัสพันธุกรรมโดยฝีมือมนุษย์หน้าไหนนะครับ

ผมเกิดมาตามกฎเกณฑ์ของธรรมชาติ เติบโตขึ้นมาตามธรรมชาติ

และวันหนึ่ง ผมก็พบว่า ผมรักคนที่เป็นเพศเดียวกันกับผม

ไม่ได้มีใครมาบอกกล่าว ไม่ได้มีใครเป็นตัวอย่างให้ทำตามทั้งนั้น

ผมเชื่อว่า คนที่รักเพศเดียวกันอย่างผมไม่ได้ผิดธรรมชาติครับ ผมเป็นธรรมชาติตามอย่างของผม

เพียงแต่ธรรมชาติของผมมันไม่ได้เหมือนกับคนอื่น ๆ ซึ่งมีจำนวนมากกว่า ก็เท่านั้นเอง

เพราะฉะนั้น เลิกเอาคำว่า ผิดธรรมชาติ ผิดปกติ มาพอกพูนอคติเถอะนะครับ

..........

ที่ว่า "การนำเสนอผ่านจอทีวีกับเรื่องราวแบบนี้ถ้าเราจะมองกันอีกมุมหนึ่งมันเท่ากับส่งเสริมหรือเปล่า"

ใครจะส่งเสริมอะไรให้ใครครับ

การรักเพศเดียวกันเป็นสิ่งที่ส่งเสริมกันได้ด้วยเหรอครับ

ขอถามย้อนกลับบ้าง ผมดูละครและภาพยนต์ที่เป็นเรื่องราวของคู่รักชาย - หญิงมาตั้งมากมาย

ไม่เห็นว่ามันจะส่งเสริมให้ผมอยากมีแฟนเป็นผู้หญิงเหมือนในละครที่ผมดูบ้างเลยครับ

ผมเชื่อว่า การรักเพศเดียวกัน ไม่ได้ "เกิด" จากการเลียนแบบครับ

เพียงแต่อาจถูก "กระตุ้น" ได้ จากพฤติกรรมของบุคคลอื่นที่ได้รู้ได้เห็นมา

นั่นคือ มัน "มี" อยู่ในตัวคนคนนั้นอยู่แล้ว และได้ถูกบางสิ่งบางอย่างหรือหลายอย่างร่วมกัน "กระตุ้น" ให้แสดงความเป็นตัวตนออกมาก

ถ้าจะกล่าวว่า ละครเรื่องนี้ได้ส่งเสริมอะไรเกี่ยวกับประเด็นคนรักเพศเดียวกัน

ก็คงจะเป็นการส่งเสริมให้ คนที่ยังปกปิดตัวเองอยู่ กล้าที่จะเปิดตัวตนของตนเองเพิ่มขึ้น

จุดประกายให้คนที่รักเพศเดียวกันว่า สักวันหนึ่งอาจจะได้เจอคนดี ๆ รักดี ๆ อย่างในละครเรื่องนี้บ้าง

แต่คงไม่ได้เป็นการส่งเสริมให้มีคนที่รักเพศเดียวกันเพิ่มมากขึ้นหรอก

เพราะมันไม่ใช่สิ่งที่จะส่งเสริมกันได้ครับ

..........

ที่ว่า "เยาวชนเข้าใจผิดหรือเปล่า! มองว่ามันเป็นค่านิยมที่ดีหรือเปล่า"

ค่านิยมที่ว่านี่คืออะไรเหรอครับ

ค่านิยมการรักเพศเดียวกันเหรอครับ

ผมขอถามว่า การรักเพศเดียวกัน มันไม่ดีอย่างไรเหรอครับ

ยิ่งเรื่องราวความรักของ ก้อง - พี ในละครเรื่องนี้ยิ่งแล้วใหญ่

มันเป็นค่านิยมความรักที่ควรจะส่งเสริมเสียด้วยซ้ำไป

เพียงแต่เราถอดวางอคติเรื่องเพศออกไป มองข้ามประเด็นที่ว่า ทั้งสองคนเป็นเพศชายเหมือนกัน

เราจะเห็นสิ่งดี ๆ มากมายที่ควรจะเอาเป็นแบบอย่าง

ความรักที่ไม่มีเรื่องเพศสัมพันธ์ เงินตรา ชื่อเสียง ฐานะ มาเป็นประเด็น

ความรักที่ทั้งความจริงจังและจริงใจ แม้มีอุปสรรคก็พยายามฟันฝ่า

ความรักที่มีเข้าอกเข้าใจกัน เป็นกำลังใจให้กัน ห่วงหาอาทร ร่วมทุกข์ร่วมสุขด้วยกัน

นี่ไม่ใช่ค่านิยมความรักที่ควรส่งเสริมให้เยาวชนเอาเป็นแบบอย่างหรอกเหรอครับ

หรือเราควรจะส่งเสริมค่านิยมแบบพฤติกรรมของพระเอกเรื่องนี้กัน

ทั้งใช้กำลัง กลั่นแกล้งนางเอก เอาแต่ใจตัวเอง บางครั้งก็พูดจาไม่คิดถึงใจคนฟัง

พฤติกรรมของตัวละครคู่ไหนจะส่งเสริมค่านิยมที่ดีของเยาวชนได้ดีกว่ากันครับ

..........

ผมคิดว่า ประเด็นคนรักเพศเดียวกันของละครเรื่องนี้ควรจะได้รับการสนับสนุนให้มีแพร่หลายมากขึ้นเสียด้วยซ้ำ

เพื่อจะได้ลดเลือนมายาคติที่คนบางกลุ่มพยายามสร้างขึ้นให้กับกลุ่มคนที่มีความหลากหลายทางเพศ

สังคมจะได้รู้ว่า เราไม่ใช่ตัวตลก ไม่ใช่ตัวประหลาด

ไม่ใช่พวกที่กรี๊ดกร๊าดบ้าผู้ชายไปวัน ๆ เหมือนที่ละครและภาพยนต์หลายเรื่องนำเสนอ

เราก็เป็นคนปกติธรรมดานี่แหล่ะ

คนที่รักเพศเดียวกันหลายคนก็มีบุคลิคไม่ต่างกับผู้ชายคนอื่น ๆ ซึ่งก็เห็นได้จากทั้งบุคลิคของก้องและพี

มีอะไรในเรื่องราวของก้องและพี ที่ไม่ควรได้รับการเผยแพร่หรือส่งเสริมให้คนรับรู้กันในวงกว้างเหรอครับ

..........

ขอทิ้งท้ายไว้สักนิด (นอกประเด็นละคร)

คนรักเพศเดียวกัน อย่างพวกผม ไม่ได้ต้องการความสงสาร หรือความเห็นใจในชะตาชีวิตหรอกนะครับ

มีมากมายหลายคนที่มีความสุขกับชีวิตอย่างที่ตนเองเป็น และหลายคนก็มีคุณภาพชีวิตที่ดีกว่าคนอื่นอีกมากมาย

แต่สิ่งที่ต้องการ จากทุกคน ไม่ว่าจะใครก็ตาม

คือ "ความเข้าใจ" ครับ

ความเข้าใจว่านี่คือธรรมชาติ นี่คือความปกติตามอย่างของเรา

เพียงแค่ "เข้าใจ" และ "ให้เกียรติ" ตามสมควร ก็ชุ่มชื่นใจแล้วครับ

‘...I am now in a world where I have to hide my heart
And what I believe in.
But somehow I will show the world what's inside my heart
And be loved for who I am...’

-

One response comes from a woman reader whose younger brother declared before the family recently that he was gay.

While his father had not talked about the matter with his son directly, he likes to mention at home that the gays on his staff do an excellent job – as if he is really trying to compliment his son.

Mum takes a different approach. ‘She teases him about whether he will run off with her grandsons, whenever she gets some.’

เย้ๆๆ มาให้กำลังใจค่ะ
ดิฉันมีน้องชายเป็นเกย์
ตอนเด็กๆเราเองก็สงสัย ทำไมน้องเรามันนุ่มนิ่มจังวะ
แต่เวลาเดินไปปากซอย น้องเราจะให้เราเดินด้านใน ตัวเขาเดินด้านนอก
แล้วพอเห็นพวกจิ๊กโก๋มันแซวเรา เขาก็เดินมากอดคอเรา
แล้วก็ด่าผู้ชายกักขฬะพวกนั้นซะจนเราต้องห้ามไว้
กลัวพวกนั้นแอบมาดักทำร้ายน้องเราภายหลัง

น้องชายดิฉันน่าจะเป็นตั้งแต่เด็กแล้ว แต่พยายามปกปิดไว้
เพิ่งจะเปิดเผยกับที่บ้านเมื่อตอนเรียนมหาวิทยาลัย
พ่อกับแม่ก็อึ้งค่ะ แต่หลังจากนั้นก็ดำเนินชีวิตปกติ
สองสามปีผ่านมา แม่ทำใจได้ ท่านก็แซวๆว่าอยากอุ้มหลาน ทำไงดีเนี่ย
ลูกชายก็ไม่แต่งงาน ลูกสาวก็มีแววขึ้นคาน (แม่รู้ได้ไงอ่ะ)

แต่พ่อจะไม่พูดถึงเรื่องประมาณนี้ต่อหน้าน้องชายเลย
หลายครั้งท่านต้องติดต่อธุรกิจกับกระเทย/เกย์ที่มีหน้าที่การงานที่ดี
ท่านก็จะออกปากชื่นชมอย่างไม่มีอคติเลยล่ะ
น่าจะสดงให้เห็นว่า จริงๆท่านก็อยากชื่นชมลูกชายของท่านเหมือนกัน
แต่อาจจะไม่ค่อยชิน แต่ท่านก็เคยพูดกับดิฉันว่า
ไม่ว่าน้องจะเป็นแบบไหน ก็เป็นลูกพ่อเหมือนเดิม ท่านก็พูดติดตลกว่า
ไม่มีหลานก็ดี ไม่ต้องมีใครเรียกปู่ พ่อจะได้เป็นหนุ่มตลอดไง

Beef/vegetable soup blues, pining for Kong

bkkdreamer@gmail.com (Bkkdreamer) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:58:00 +0000

It’s the day before pay day, and for the last 24 hours we have been living off Maiyuu’s beef and vegetable soup. ‘It’s filling, and I won’t have to spend any more before the money comes out,’ he said yesterday morning.

Cash ran out early this pay cycle, thanks to the birthday party he put on for me early last week, which already seems like a small age ago.

I bought a meal of fried rice/Chinese sausage at work last night, and Maiyuu has been nibbling on snacks, but other than that, we have lived solidly on his soup.

And yet another full-on soupy day lies ahead.

Roll on pay day!

-

More fan clips of the unfolding gay romance between Kong and Phiwit in the Channel 5 drama, Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You.

One is set to Mai Mi Prasopkan, by Sinto Singrat Janpakdee, winner of The Star 5 talent quest. ‘As soon as our eyes met, we fell in love.’

True...starting from the day Kong ran into Phiwit at hospital, knocking him off his feet. See that video here.

Or try this one, set to Ice Saranyu Winaipanit’s Kon Man Rak...

Or Nop Ponchamni's Kam Phuut Ngai Ngai, here...

The series airs again tomorrow. I’ll bring you an update on Tues morning.