Panthakan Rak (2018)

So I literally binged watch this drama, and I'm so ever grateful to Neko Meow Meow for subbing this. Anyways, I picked up this drama because I literally had nothing to watch and I was waiting for my other dramas to be subbed & I'm glad I did that. Even though it is your typical "revenge; going to get back what belongs to me" type of drama it still has its own cool to it. If you are up for some really cheeky, fluffy stuff then this is for you, the cute stuff isn't overly cringe so you can still watch it.

Story:
Basically the pra'ek comes back from america to take back what he owns and meets nang ek and fall in love. What I love about it is that the nang ek isn't those weak female leads and she fights back and doesn't let the guy bully her. She stands up for herself and she later on stands up for the guy knowing that he is actually nice and not mean. The only thing I will say is that I felt like the ending was a bit rush but with already 14 episodes, it is a normal episodes ending for a thai drama, so no biggie like everything was already falling into places. Oh, and like the guy ends up having a brain tumor but after that one episode they never talk about it again so I feel like they should had cleared that up or unless they did but I wasn't paying attention. lmao.

Acting/Casting:
It was my first time watching the guy in a drama and I am happy with how he acted. Like I'm always scared to watch new actors/actress just in case they don't live up to the other actors but I mean you can't just judge them , like they are trying to build up their career. I've seen the girl act in other dramas so I have nothing to say. Their chemistry was good. Their playfulness and cheekiness complimented each other really well through out the drama.

Music:
To be honest I wasn't really paying attention to the songs, but there was a song that like stuck to my mind.

Rewatch Value:
Maybe yes if I have nothing to watch, but I tend not too.

Overall:
Just watch it. haha

Where to Watch:
Make sure to always thank these subber's hard work to provide for us :)
Neko Meow Meow
https://nekomeowmeow.com/panrak/

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7 episodes in the Main Lead become Good!

This drama overall is not that bad but, the first 7 episodes leave a lot to be desidered. The male lead is annoying and does pretty bad and irrating things in the first 7 episodes. If you can get past the first 7 episodes, you will like the show most likely. Because the Male Lead becomes a better person and stops doing the stupid things he did in the first 7 episodes.

I think to give you the correct opinion of my feeling on the show is how I explained the show to my younger sister who was not watching the show. I told her that each time the FL and ML get into an argument which is a whole lot he drives away with her in the vehicle to someplace where they spend alone time. And this is really quite true. Now, before the 8th episode it was almost always against her will that he dragged her way to someplace. But, after the 8th episode she often came with him to places to spend time with him.

The one time that he kisses her and she slaps him, it is easy to forgive him since the FL sees that he is sincerely sorry after this and he truly did not want to force himself on her, he was just trying to get rid of the other annoying ladies in his life. The classic situation where the media basically forces you into kissing a person to prove that you aren't together with another person. But, he is truly sorry for that and she forgives him and they still take all the way till the end of the series to get together.

The ML in this show realizes he is in the wrong and becomes a better person and he does not do anything that he cannot be redeemed from in the episodes before he starts to change. If the show had only the last 7 episodes and not the first 7 the show would be rated a lot higher in my opinion. So, in essence guys try to endure the first 7 episodes, plow through and get the sweet episodes. It is well worth a rewatch! I would definitely want to rewatch this to truly evalute each character better and to truly understand the full story line.

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Generally I've found that whenever a lakorn has a male lead who's super angry and spiteful at his father, the rest of the show turns out to be a hot mess. This is no exception. While I can't deny the addicting quality the show had on me, I can't say the story and its characters were all that great and at times had me shaking my head.

We have our hero (or should I say anti-hero) Pan, who's angry at his father for having a mistress when his mother was still alive. It doesn't help that after her death, he had his mistress and her son move in with him and work at his dad's company. There is reason for Pan's anger, which gets even more inflamed when the mistress' niece, Pai, comes in to move in with them. Pai herself has been forced to move in after her grandpa's dessert shop is seized due to failure to pay rent.

This is pretty much a family drama with some romance in it. It's centered mainly around Pan and how he deals with his unresolved issues with not only his dad but also his step-family. We do get to see some cute moments between Pan and Pai, as both are hot-headed and bicker with each other a lot. I like how Pai is able to stand up to Pan and see through his anger, and pretty much be the only person who can get through to him. Pan also cares for Pai, and it's sweet to see him grow to love her. Unfortunately the OTP scenes (and Pai's role) get reduced near the last third of the drama in favour of the Pan/Pan's dad issues and conflicts regarding the 2nd leads. It gets even worse in the final episode where they introduce a new conflict between the OTP and it's basically used as filler until the last five minutes where they finally get together. It was pretty dumb tbh.

There were a lot of wtf moments that really made me shake my head and ask why. For example when the villain (which is the 2nd FL's dad) steals Pan's dad's company right under his nose. I thought Pan's dad was stupid for not realizing that he obviously had bad intentions, and he even knew that the villain's company was bankrupt and was in need of money. I felt like that could've been completely avoided and I wonder how Pan's dad could be a competent businessman. Ek's infatuation with Pai was also just weird; they're cousins, so it made no sense that he would love her in that way. Another wtf thing was the 2nd FL; at first I found her to be super annoying bc she was constantly pining for Pan and committed some heinous crimes to make sure no one stood in her way. We later find out that her dad hypnotized her into thinking Pan loved her, and basically used her to save his business. In a way, I did feel bad for her for having such a scum dad but even after she found out she forgives her dad (wayyyyy too easily) and continued being an annoying b*tch. Her end was pretty satisfying, albeit also sad but it made up for the terrible things she did.

I will say that what I enjoyed most about this lakorn was the reconciliation between Pan and his dad. Although his dad may be dumb and hot-headed, he truly has a good heart and raised Pan as his own even though they weren't blood-related (he also treated Pan's mom really well even though he knew she was pregnant with someone else). It was sad to see Pan's mom be a victim until her end, as she was not only r*ped but also misunderstood by Pan's dad. Pan's actor did a really good job crying his heart out and begging for forgiveness when he realized this, and I too cried along with him. 
Overall I did enjoy the show for what it was and above all else it was entertaining. Music was also not bad. I'd recommend you watch if you don't mind the above shenanigans and have the time. Would not re-watch however.

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Now I'll accept that an 8.0 rating is a bit high for a drama like Panthakan Rak but there is good reason for it.
When compared to other Asian dramas that have revenge x romance genre, this series would probably rank very low and would have gotten at most a 5.0 rating for being bearable enough to watch. But when you compare this series to other Thai lakorns, which btw have a tendency to be full of cliches and extremely melodramatic, this one is actually good.
Panthakan Rak still has a very generic storyline (with the ML hell bent on revenge against his Father and his new family and the FL stuck in the crossfires), a lot of asian drama cliches (jealous women mistreating the FL, love triangles, tragic backstories, damsel in distress situations, the uber a-hole ML and the always nice, kind & forgiving FL), unnecessary violence (if someone pisses you off you curse them out or just put some salt in their drink or something, not hire goons to beat the sh*t out of them) and a lot of manhandling of the FL by the ML (seriously I hit a guy during high school just for talking sh*t about me and this FL got legit kidnapped by the ML multiple times and nobody did sh*t, like report him to the police, or send him to therapy or a correctional facility or make him take a sexual harassment seminar or something ughh).
This drama's one saving grace is it's cast. Even though I have watched alot of lakorns, the cast of this drama was mostly unfamiliar to me and I was surprised to find that they all played their roles very well. The lead actress was great.
The characters were also good. With the main leads there wasn't much character development per se but their chemistry definitely improved (this type of slow burn romance is much more realistic than the love at first sight cliche although I like that genre as well).
There were definitely some plot holes that really irritated me. Revenge dramas or movies are usually of 2 types- First is where the main leads infiltrate to take revenge covertly and ruin the wrongdoers lives (mostly happens in stories centered around wealthy & corrupt official/corporation) like Birth of a Beauty or Only side by side with you. Second is dramas with a lot more violence where revenge equals killing the villains like Vagabond or Hua jai sila.
Panthakan Rak was somewhat like the first type but not completely. Like the ML Pan mostly just ruined events and nobody really did anything. In modern day people get fired just for posting something inappropriate on social media and this guy just went around losing the company money and damaging reputations openly and they still let him work there. Also the character of Bunny seemed a bit overdone. Like she refused to work and acted outrageously which btw would in reality be a breach of contract. Her character was super annoying and should have been featured less in the plot (although props to the actress who played her).
Chon's character was quite good. She was a good person that got all twisted up because of her poor mental condition, lack of understanding and excessive pressure from her father. (It's a sad reality that most people with mental issues are either blamed for it or ignored completely)
Anyways, for newcomers to thai lakorn or hardcore lakorn fans this is a must watch.

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I'm giving this such a high rating because I absolutely adore Mookda as an actress and her character overall, she was sweet, caring, wonderful in all aspects of this show. She was truly the superstar of the whole thing. The show had a similar Tra Barb feel except the main male lead in that show was actually cute and Artit isn't very handsome. His chemistry with Mookda kind of sucked and he honestly was just a bad character overall, like he couldn't even smile cute, what's that about? Honestly. All in all, it's a really good show. It's not terrible at all, I wasn't disappointed; it kind of did drag on though, there was moments where I was like is that really necessary? Like the brother that's not a brother loving her and stuff and I wish there was more of a background for the character Mook played or maybe there was but I skipped it over. But between this and Tra Barb, that story was much better. This one was kind of whatever but I still watched it and I don't regret it but like could it have been better? Most definitely. There was too much going on with them liking each other, with the dad, with the grandpa, with the best friend liking her brother and the brother liking her and the random actress like the dude that Artit played and then the arranged marriage and the other business dad; but all in all, I mean, it is a lakorn for sure.

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I picked this drama after got tired watching tons of drama with super nice male leads to the extreme of noble idiots. In the contrary, Panthakan or Pan, the male lead in this drama, is initially portrayed as mean and despicable, that may lead viewers to drop this drama because of this jerk. He hates his dad, stepmom, stepbrother, and stepmom's niece Pai whom all live and work under the same roofs with him. All because of what he saw in this childhood how his dad mistreated his mom while having an affair with his secretary who is now his stepmom.

The romance is hate to love relationship. During the hating phase, I advise you to watch it like watching the classical cartoon Tom and Jerry, or slapstick comedy. Pan and Pai not only bicker with each other, they also fight to the extent of harmful. In this phase I warn you that you will see a sexual assault scene that I saw it as a rape attempt, although FL sends ML to the hospital. Luckily we get to observe Pan's character growth as a tsundere. During the loving phase they are so cute together and have great chemistry. I would love to see the couple pair again in the future drama.

When I read the synopsis I snickered in disbelief on the 'tragically handsome' phrase in which I thought as an advertising gimmick. But when I finished I realized some tragic stuff happen because of ML's handsomeness, that is the melodrama part of this show.

Besides the romance, the drama can be draggy with unnecessary conversations. I skipped mostly the business talk. Some parts of the story are unrealistic. The plot is built towards climax in the last episodes. There are surprises and plot twist.

The acting of the main leads nailed their roles. Artit/Bank who played the ML was able to pull hate and emotional expressions although he is quite new. Mookda who played the FL is an experienced actress, and I would love to see her in the future raising one eyebrow again. Other notable acting of the support characters are Nattasha who played as Chon with all her psycho moments, and Montree who played as Pan's dad especially good when he is in the emotional distress. The rest cast acting are mediocre, and there are some characters who are just fillers of to make up the slapstick comedy scenes.

Lastly, I appreciated nekomeowmeow for subbing this cute romcom, as she picks and chooses which lakorns she wants to sub
https://www.nekomeowmeow.com/panrak/

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I grew up watching lots of thai lakorns from childhood til adulthood. I've mainly watched from channel 3 an 7.. with channel 7 being a hit and miss at times especially their newer releases. I've enjoyed alot of their older ones, especially from early to mid 2000s.

This lakorn was produced from channel 7, but I've noticed a few cast members seen to be freelances(?) as I've seen them on channel 3, trueTCV and ONEHD productions as well.

Overall the larkon is okay.. I probably won't re-watch any time soon and it wouldn't be on my list of re-watch. I'm on the fence about whether I would recommend this lakorn on not. There are some pros and cons.

I saw a few trailers/fanmvs for this between the ML and FL and was intrigue.. it looks like a fun lakorn to watch and I wanted something more modern, light hearted and fun. From the reviews here, most appear to be positive and those that happen to stumble onto the lakorn loved it and really enjoyed it. I didn't have high hopes for this, but at the same time I wasnt left as impressed as others. (Spoilers at the very end)

The leads in this lakorns are ones I am not familar with and was pleasantly surprise.
ML is a jerk, but as the lakorn goes on we see that he is truly just trying to get attention and love from his father, and the relationship he saw of his mom and father growing up really affected him. He's like a teenage boy stuck in the rebellious phase. Through the interactions with FL we see his character soften (deep down he is a softie) and he is less of a jerk. Bank's portrayal of ML was really good, and his acting was excellent. First time I've watch a lakorn with him.
FL's character is wonderful, I really wish we see more of this type of character in lakorns. Her character is like a mediator for majority of the cast.

Overall the casting for the actors and actresses in their roles was really good and they all played their character's well. I think this is one of the best things about this lakorn, the casting and portrayal of characters is spot on!

The main thing that got this lakorn a low rating is the number of times the same type of incident gets repeated again and again.. and then there's not resolution or evolvement from it. Left it feeling really dry, boring and it made the lakorn feel like it was dragging on. It didnt add much to the storyline or plot, could have been cut out.

Edit: Now that I've finish watching the series... I've bumped my rating from an overall 6 to 6.5. The bump in half a star was because of the surprise element of who the father is, both Pan and his dad patch things up and all the misunderstanding gets resolved. I really like how true and honest they are with one another. The hospital seen got me really emotional.
What prevented the show from getting an overall 7 star as I would have like to give it is this: The last hour of the last episode left me with a lot to be desired. I wish that they didn't have the cousin still be jealous over Pan and Prai.. like come on! I thought this was resolved a few episodes ago, there was an understanding between everyone and they've silently moved on. I did not expect him to be like "I'll help you get your revenge and your company back but you need to get out of Prai's life". And with how Pan was being all cutesy and sweet with Prai in the last hour, the romantic atmosphere of the notes and flowers leading the build up to a confession and then go "ya know it's all you, I don't like you". WTH?
And ontop of that when P'Ek helps Prai get to Pan and is now all positive that the couple will be happily together... dude you just played the petty love rival til the end and now you're acting like you've done something awesome for them. And now he's flirty with Fah by holding her hand and not letting it go, giving her linger looks and eyes... felt all this was unnecessary as it looked like Fah had moved on/is moving on from her crush on him. I just hated how his character was written at the end, made him look so fickle.

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Very boring...dropped it

Its a very typical thai lakorn nothing new or interesting except handsome ML nd pretty sassy FL..........
I m really sick of such kinda script where ml is bullshit nd do.extremely disgusting things and torture u but just a minor act of kindness will make u fall in love with him but.a man who is always kind and loving towards u is jst a helping hand for u.boooooo
In.this drama i really really disliked ml
He was just unbearable for me...i personally dont give a damn about handsome cute pretty leads if ur character and acting sucks i will immediately drop.the drama..
This drama is full of cliche...the father son relationship was strange..why not tell him the reason to leave his mother instead of fighting and cursing...
There were many useless characters inthis drama.
I dropped it after 7 episodes.
5 stars jst for leads acting

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