Tonhon Chonlatee (2020)

Offensive to the LGBTQ community & adult children of narcissistic parents

Finally a series with a story that had GREAT potential to discuss many important matters for society (coming out, parenthood, personality disorders, infidelity, surrogacy etc), but instead the producers and writers chose the most heteronormative, safe, poorly executed approach possible, that is actually OFFENSIVE and perpetuates several damaging stereotypes. Let's analyze this one by one (spoilers ahead).

First of all, Chon in the beginning acts like a mentally unhealthy fanboy and stalker and exhibits several disturbing behaviors that are being romanticized as ''star crossed lovers''. Stalking a guy who has been no contact with you for 5 years all the time in social media? Going to his family's empty house to clean it like it's some kind of museum and fantasize? Choosing a university not based on what will give you the best education or what you want to study but because Ton goes there? Are you serious? This behavior is ''cute'' and ''funny''? This is codependency, love addiction and maladaptive daydreaming (feel free to google those terms if you don't know what they mean). Chon doesn't need to date Ton, he needs mental help from a psychiatrist.

Ton's character is an immature loser and has multiple personalities during the series. At first he is very homophobic and I thought that they will use that to discuss how some people who grow up in homophobic families end up suppressing being gay. Nope, after that Ton has said several times that ''he loved only Chon'' meaning he is not gay and just ''happened to be in love with this specific man''. The ''I am straight but became gay for you'' trope is an extremely damaging concept and should not be perpetuated. As if this wasn't enough, he ends up triangulating Chon with his toxic ex gf (episode where she challenges him with her manipulation and he ends up kissing her in the classmate reunion breaking Chon's heart). It is clear that he still hasn't gotten over the infidelity/break up or isn't ready to deal with the challenges that comes from being out as dating another man and he shouldn't be dating anyone until he works on those issues first. He does apologize, but then toxic behaviors continue and nothing gets resolved. He should have gone to the police for his stalker ex gf instead of tolerating her harassment.

Ton's narcissistic father in the show was actually a very well portrayed character and the actor did a good job portraying a self-obsessed old narcissist using everything he has to control his family. His heart condition is weaponized (don't go against me or I will have an episode and end up in hospital), his monetary support is weaponized (stop dating Chon or I will stop paying your rent and kick the gay people out of the rental house) and he feels entitled to dictate the life of his grown up children, not based on their own best interest, but on what serves HIM (I want a grand child and you will stop being gay).

Here is the true disaster that made a series that could have been a 10/10 into a 1/10 in my opinion:

After the narcissist father found out and all hell broke loose, the healthy solution would be to have a civilized (as possible) conversation with him and Ton to assert healthy boundaries as GROWN ADULT MAN. To say to his father ''I love and respect you and I am grateful for what you did for me, but this is who I am and the choice of the partner I have made, if you don't agree with that, I will respect it and we will move out of the rental house and get jobs to not burden you. If in the future we feel ready to be parents, we will examine carefully all the available options. We will give you the time and space to think things through, but we will not put up with abuse/harassment and insults. You will not insult or harass Chon, my friends or anyone else''. Then his father would have to be toxic (because that's how narcissists are, they don't accept your boundaries) and there would have to be a period of no contact.

The surrogacy idea was atrociously executed. Children are not instruments to please a parent with outdated ideas so that you can bypass parental homophobia. It would have been much more proper if they showed Ton and Chon years later, financially independent and choosing a surrogate because THEY want to become parents, not because Ton's out of control narcissistic father acts like an overgrown toddler (I WANT A GRANDCHILD NOW, NOW, NOW GIVE IT TO ME OR ELSE I WILL ABUSE YOU!).

Personally I would have preferred it if they ADOPTED a child or chose to be childfree all together instead of making a random greedy gold digger girl the surrogate because they needed a bio-child, but I respect that some people want bio-kids and surrogacy done ethically is one of the choices. Still, choosing surrogacy should have been something the couple wants, not something done in a ''here is your grand child, we can go have our forbidden gay romance in peace now''.

Overall the show relied on cheap sentimentality and enabled/perpetuated several damaging ideas in society.

Biggest waste of potential. Would not rewatch.

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let's clear some things up

let me start off by saying this series was such a delight! I loved the cast, the story, the comedy. had me hooked right from the start! it's saddening to know that I almost missed out on this because I almost listened to the bad reviews on here. to anyone questioning whether to watch this show or not, let me clear some things up.

First of all, TON is NOT homophobic. it was clear right from the start that he had feelings for chon. no straight man is gonna practically force himself in to his best friends bed and have him sit directly next to him sharing a bowl of noodles. He grew up with a seemingly homophobic father, which I later found he was really just overly concerned with having an heir, and yes parents values and attitudes do influence their children. he felt he had a duty to produce an heir so he did his best to push his feelings for chon down but in the end he couldn't do it. while he didn't quite choose the best words when keeping guys away from chon, he did so out of feelings for chon but still trying to do right by his duty.

I think we can all agree that Amp is trash. she was probably the only one on the show who was homophobic. she 100% deserved the treatment she got at the end and I don't feel bad for her in the slightest. Even though it would've been great for Nueang to receive more of a punishment for what he did to chon, he still got beaten up so I wouldn't say he fully got away with it.

now. the kiss. bit of a complicated situation but it's not what the 2 star reviewers are saying. ton didn't cheat. Amp goaded him on and, instead of walking away or ignoring her, he tried to prove a point by kissing her and showing her that it meant nothing to him. stupid move? yes. cheating? no. he's a 21 year old man with a short temper. he's not gonna think things through. chon did, however, have a good point. if anyone provoked ton like that would he kiss them too? while ton didn't intend to be unfaithful, he went about proving his point the wrong way. just like chon was wrong to kiss ton while he was asleep. they're young and they make bad decisions.

as far as the ending I do think it was a little rushed when chon forgave ton. honestly though I think he was just hoping for a good enough reason to forgive him. the thing with Miriam being a surrogate and the ending in general was pretty corny but hey the whole series was a romantic comedy so I'd say it fits lol

bottom line, there's no reason to judge these series so harshly. they're shows meant for enjoyment. don't like it? don't watch it. if we pick apart every single show and start talking about how things should be then it becomes work. conflicts and weird things are all a part of dramas. I don't watch these series for reality 🤣

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QUESTIONING MY SANITY

I don't know why I watched this series, probably because I love to torture myself. TRIGGER WARNING - If you dare watch this series then be prepared to lose a few brain cells in the process.
LET ME FIRST TELL YOU THE GOOD PART OF THE SERIES
- Khaotung is a very talented actor, and probably the only one in the series whose acting was convincing.
- Pod also did a good job with his character because if his intention was to make the audience hate Thon then he got the results.
- I think that's it

NOW LET'S BREAK DOWN A FEW POINTS AS TO WHY YOU'LL BE LOSING A FEW BRAIN CELLS IF YOU WATCH THIS SERIES.
- The whole story, I seriously couldn't get what they wanted to convey, because halfway through I lost my reasoning power. In the beginning, it felt like a denial story, Thon's definition of being a man is that he should love a woman and not a man. They could've shown it in a better way but then they took the TOXIC approach, too much masculine toxicity to the point that it simply felt annoying.
- Speaking of the annoying - lookout for the two of the most annoying character in the series - THON'S GIRLFRIEND and THON'S DAD.
- Like her ex-boyfriend, Thon's girlfriend is toxic af. I mean is it really necessary to make a female character look bad.
And THON'S DAD, see I get it there is just all kind of people in the world everyone with their own belief and perception, BUT he is simply a nuisance. The characterization of his character was so poorly and lazily done that he seemed more like an animated character than a real person. My eyes and ears literally used to itch whenever he used to appear on the series.
- WHITE TOWEL - Can we speak about this?? Yes, I had been annoyed by an immovable object. That towel has appeared in almost all of the episodes in a poor attempt to make THON look attractive?? by covering his lower half. When you get too much of something you are bound to get sick of it.
- Every cast member except for Khaotung forgot how to act. I mean I have seen the cast members in their previous series and they are such good actors, but then what went wrong with this series?
- There was absolutely no chemistry between the main leads. All I could see is Thon forcing himself on Chon and trying to be the "MAN" in the relationship.

SO basically you are not going to find a good storyline, good acting, good direction, or lovable character. There is just no redeeming point in this series. After writing this review I am basically gonna erase my memory that this series even existed.

P.S - I watched this series as a part of a dare and learned a lesson to first go through the reviews and then watch a series.

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when Humor is controversial

This post ISN'T telling you what you can or can not like, what you should or should not find humorous, or that you should or shouldn't watch this series. also its a long one.

Actually I'm taking a college course in Humor and Laughter right now and just like what y'all pointed out, humor can be used to shame or humiliate someone. But on the other hand, it could also be used as a tool to gain acceptance and agreeance. Say, a speaker says something funny and you laughed, in order words, you subconsciously agree with the speaker even though you don't vocalize it or if asked if you agree, you may not acknowledge it. (give it a sec for that to sink in, it makes sense right?)

Humor can also be used as a tool to gain attention. But what does this show do with the attention we've given it? well nothing meaningful that's for sure. For example, ep1 when Chon was molested, the scene after he had a talk with Ton. About how, NOT ALL GAYS are bad people etc. That is meaningful even though Chon was testing Ton rather than coming from a place that wants to educate him. So i was expecting ep 3 for Ton to apologize or have Chon point out how it wasn't cool to force your friend to do something they have not given consent to. But what did we get? more "humorous" jokes from Ton imitating Chon after creepily eavesdropping. What we don't get is the meaningful conversation that comes after the audience gives them the attention.

i get it's supposed to be funny. I get it's satiric and ironic and what not. But that doesn't mean I have to laugh at it or find it funny. If Ton were to start spewing nonsense like how he thinks rapists and murderers should be praised and his friends look at him like "uhmmm" but smiling as if they agree just as how they do when he spews homophobic and toxic masculinity lines, will you find that funny?

So don't tell us the obvious, we know its "humor and supposed to be funny". But we're just addressing it because it's not funny to us so you don't have to act as if we're stupid that we don't realize its humor and finding the need to point it out. We point it out because, again, there were not any meaningful conversations between the characters. Below are 3 examples, one from each episode I found disturbing and not funny.

Having a feminine gay Molest someone then later saying "IM JUST A GIRL DON'T HURT ME" is NOT funny. That is problematic on multiple layers; first molesting someone is not humorous in any way, 2nd thai BL have a tendency to portray darker skinned folks as the "villain" so to speak, and lastly it feeds into the "gay people are predators" stereotype. This is a issue of misrepresentation. (ep1)

Pushing your friend (chon) into a room with a stranger you (ton) picked out even tho the friend (chon) is EXPLICITLY saying "NO" IS NOT funny. Then later making fun of it by imitating it is NOT funny. This is an issue of consent. (ep2)

finding the need to "BUY" a fake girlfriend just to prove to your over the top masculine friend that you're 100% most definitely straight is NOT funny. That is a toxic relationship. (ep3)

I'll give you your "its satire" when Ton spews his problematic lines and it's supposed to be ironic. But the three that stood out to me (and I'm sure theres more) that I find problematic about this show is not just THAT SIMPLE. BUT the stuff I listed above shouldn't even be humorous, PERIOD.

We have identified that Humor is a tool that is used in writing, BUT it should never overshadow the plot to the point where it hurts the actual story. That is the issue we're pointing out. Not just because we have no sense of humor.

EDIT: also, as we have established, Humor can be used to SHAME. That is the point of this show. This show doesn't aim to EDUCATE but rather to SHAME (at least thats the vibe I'm getting) which is why it's toxic.

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Funny, fresh and professional, Love it!

After several years of BL Dramas I thought nothing could surprise me, but this one has completely blown me away. The first few episodes are absolutely hillarious. The setting of a guy surrounded by gay men who fancy him while he doesn't notice anything would be great for a sitcom.

Acting: Khaotung is phantastic, it's a pleasure to watch the emotions he can show with just his face, especially his eyes. There is a lot of overacting going on with the other actors, but in this series it adds to the fun. What had surprised me was the choice of Pod for the part of the 'straight' man because he looks very gay to me. He does a good job though.

Story: The story starts off great, but in the second half of the series it goes a bit too straight forward and even feels rushed towards the end.

Characters: I like it that the main character is allowed to be slightly feminine. I find it sad in all those series that only the straight acting guys find love whilst the feminine gays are there just for fun or for bitching. And what I really love about Chonlatee is that he is cute but not at all helpless. He even can get very fierce.

Big Plus: The series managed to avoid product placement nearly completely!

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Very cute series.

This was a very cute series! I really liked it. I’m not going to go into others’ reviews, and try and dispute all the problems they had with the series. Honestly, typically the lower the majority of people rate a show, the more I like it. To each their own. I loved the characters, and Podd was very good in “Dark Blue Kiss” also, so I enjoyed seeing him again in this series. I loved the chemistry between Tonhon and Chonlatee. Did their relationship have problems, and at times was problematic? Yes! But isn’t that the backbone requirement for every BL?! Chon’s mother was amazing, and parenting goals! I loved how supportive she was, and fought for her baby’s right to love whomever he wanted! I also loved seeing Toptap (Ai) and Mike (Ni) in this series, too! They are so cute and loving together. Miriam’s story was also fantastic, and I loved her friendship with the guys who saved her! The ending of this series is one of the most wholesome, heartwarming, and beautiful endings I’ve seen in a BL, and I couldn’t stop smiling the entire last episode! I loved it. I say ignore the haters, and watch this series for yourself!

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Once again I'm here because so many people say that isn't good...

I don't see a reason why so many here is saying such a bad things about this series. I think that wasn't the best but I liked it. Na, Ai and Ni were so sweet and my heart was melting... <3 Chon and Ton were so realistic characters especially Ton. They faced the real life issues and went through them quite well. Ton was an idiot time by time but it is like that when we're talking about life. I liked the ending even the story wasn't my favorite. Toptap's smile made my day and Ton's "I'm so in love" -face. I really recommend this series to you, at least if you have nothing better to do <3 Give it a chance and maybe you will like it. There were also some sweet moments these were so cheesy that they made me feel so single. Good watching hours ♡


(I didn't ever mean to start writing reviews, but it seems that I have to do it, bc so much criticism here)

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The reviews are 100% right

I'm the kind of person who rarely drops shows because it truly pains me to. However, this show made me so uncomfortable, and they made one of the main characters so unlikable I didn't give it a second thought before I dropped it. I saw the trailer for this show back before it aired, and I thought it looked like a cute show, but after viewing some of the episodes, it went so downhill with the writing and characters. I feel bad for the actors involved because I know they're good at acting. I loved Pod's character in Dark Blue Kiss and Khaotung's character in 2gether and A Tale of Thousand Stars. I don't typically listen to the reviews too much but trust me, the reviews for this show are accurate, sadly.

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has beed waiting for this long ago but sadly this series pushed me down to the ground

im not going to compare this with any other series so calm down.
looking back to the official trailer, i can see that this series is going to be a romance comedy one, and i really expect that much.
from the first episode, i keep pausing and skipping because of the level of cringy they put in here, really? a gay feminine act out of line bugging people out can make a bad stereotype for lgbt community.
again, silly fujoshi that act nothing but ship the main couple (but im looking forward for her speech/advice for both couple to solve problem.)
for Ton, no solid character, i know this is some kind of romcom comedy but his character is bugging me, he didnt have a clue about this person chon that he called friend or brother, but i think it's just that the writer wants the story goes like.
i keep skipping because somewhat boring, not all, but some. for those who find this series funny, you're lucky. i also hope i can enjoy this series like everyone else, i love the actors but no no, i think this is just dedicated to fujoshi being satisfied seeing two gay couple without even a proper story and explanation nor even solid character. i love bl, but if there is just two guys finally being together without proper story but just bad impression and conflict, its a big no no.

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First love never dies

First that catch my attention is opening of this series, in my opinion is the BL version of Stephen Chow's Royal Tramp part2 there is scene when Brigette Lin character poisoning by her enemy and the cure is she must having sex with a men. The opening also lead me to another hint, this series could be related with Chinese.
Thonhon is the only male child in his family and he is Chinese Descents. Like most Chinese and Chinese descents, having male child means continuing family name.
Thonhon is very masculine men. There is no hint that he is gay. Many people thought that Thonhon is homophobic but in my opinion he is not homophobia and he confused with his situation. With his look, I guess a lot of gay men seducing him. When Thon eat noodle with Chon, there is gay men willing to pay them to have 3 way sex. Thon mindset all gay men is feminine and seducing other men even though he doesn't know very well about the person for having sex. But on the other side, his mind is raging because he like Chon. It mean he is gay. But gay on Thonhon mind portray as feminine and (apologize) slut.
The final episode scene of Chon mom scold Thon father remain me another Stephen Chow movie, Hail The Judge and Flirting Scholar
It is clear that Chonlatee is like Thonhon. But my biggest question mark for me is, what makes Thon brave enough to broke all detention to be with Chon. He get jealous when Na start to moved with Chon but for me that isn't reason to sacrifice everything to be with Chon. Also I didn't see any Chon action to prove that he love Thon. It was Thon all the time to protect Chon while Chon almost doesn't do anything except he wash all Thon cloth including Thon underwear.
For me, Thon and Amp kissing scene is not cheat. Thon here proving that he doesn't have a heart again to Amp and kiss is doesn't matter for him. He dump Amp because she is not good for him not because he broken heart and make him traumatic in relationship again with women. This kiss was in public place with a lot of their friends can confirm that there is nothing between them. In my opinion, that not cheat at all. Chon is too rush to make conclusion and move from Thon. But...yeah, this is drama. And when this scene make you angry it mean their acting and the director are successful to deliver that scene.
One character that stealing our attention at this series is Miriam. I am glad not found any comments mention GMM romanticizing prostitution. At first they met Miriam, she stand out than other girls. Miriam was lucky enough Ai and Ni helping her out from call-house. And she prove that she is good person despite her job.
So, it is clear enough why Miriam accept the offer become surrogate mother for Thon and Chon. She need money. We don't have any solid background about Miriam but one thing for sure she became call girl because she need money. Is Miriam clever? Yes, Miriam is smart and clever, she still virgin and she is call girl meaning she use her brain to trick client so the client not touch her but the client not complain about it.
Don't confuse with surrogacy storyline. According to Thailand law, surrogate mother can be the legal guardian for the baby. That why, Chon say he chose become godfather for the baby, it has same level as parent but not strong as father or mother. I guess Chon still not comfortable to call as mom or Thon and Chon need to have discussion about who is the father and the mother on birth certificate. This is the first series that come to talk about surrogacy and adoption for gay couple after Thailand house of representatives pass the law to allow same sex couple register their union. With that law, same sex couple be able to adopt children, claim inheritance rights and jointly manage assets such as property.
This series is not perfect or great, even this series is not my favorite. Some aspects aren't developing well. There is scenes is new at BL series like the opening scenes also storyline like Miriam, surrogacy and adoption. While Thon action is questionable and Amp storyline is boring for me. This series is not perfect nor bad either.

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I tried, i really did.

I tried to watch this drama, i really did. I must've started Episode 1 at least 5 times and watched all the way through to episode 3. While my review is not based on the drama as a whole since it's still airing, i'm gonna go based on what i've seen and honestly, I'm not crazy about it. I...was never interested in this drama from the get-go. Based on the trailers it seemed like a very generic and basic storyline. I really only started because of TopTap.

Like I stated earlier, I really only started this drama because I love TopTap <3 I thought their couple did a good job, the comedy aspect was definitely there. I laughed so much but I don't know whether it was the show itself, the premise or how ridiculous I thought all of it was. I like Khao and Plod too but they had 0 chemistry, plus I'm a huge SunMork bias and i'm hoping they get another drama together, so maybe that affected my view of this drama? Plus, i've seen so many other great dramas this year that this one fell waaaaay below the line.

Already from the first 3 episodes I could tell I wasn't gonna finish this. I really don't know where they went wrong, how about how homophobic I felt Ton was? That alone really turned me off. Maybe they might develop his character and he'll somehow have a 'a-ha' moment of him 'discovering himself' and falling in love with Chon but I really, don't care.

I'm sorry if my review is all over the place but that's how i felt about the drama too. Maybe down the line, I could eventually get myself to finish it, but I'm gonna sit this one out for now.

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This series is just like any other boy love series. If you're in for the cliché, go for it.

Do not read any other review. They are spoilers and put things in a negative light and are contradicted if you pay attention to the story. You'll need to watch the full thing to understand better. Watch the series yourself and you'll get your own opinions.

I honestly loved this story. The love between the two main characters and the way their personal backstories tie everything together. I just can't get enough of it. All the missing holes gets filled in the last two episodes and it will seriously take most of the negative thoughts you had away. I wish I could say more without spoiling.

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