Love and Deception (2022)

The best lakorn are the one when you least anticipate

Some things I want to point out first that I have a feeling people are going to have an issue with:

1. Infidelity/polygamy: I wouldn't necessarily says the ML committed a polygamy relationship nor had an affair. Tai had an amnesia and was led on to think that him and Pin are a married couple. Let alone had this beautiful and romantic relationship which all only exist in Pin imagination. Did Tai chose to be in a relationship with Pin willingly? Naaah. I also don't think Tai was actually in love with Pin during the duration he was married to her. He thought he was married so of course he's going to act the part of a husband.

2. Amnesia: the thing about amnesia plot is you either like it or don't. The good thing is that Tai gradually recalled bit and pieces of his memories. With that said, he didn't get his memories back until episode 12. I personally didn't mind the amnesia, I enjoyed the time he had the amnesia and IMO the plot didn't feel like it was dragged due to the amnesia.

3. Please note this drama do include a sexual assault scene. This may be a trigger and sensitive to some. One thing I will say is that this production did a better job at covering SA than their previous one.

Puen and Chippy seriously have the best chemistry together, it is just on fire! I love how Puen portrayed both of his characters as Tai and Trai. You can definitely differentiate the two identities, Tai who is a hot headed person, cold and tough, someone who was betrayed, and want to avenge his father death. Trai who is calm, soft, understanding and loving. Puen really nailed this role, you can see how good of an actor he is just by how his facial expression and tone shift between the two identities. One thing I really appreciate/love about the ML in this lakorn is how much we can see Tai love for Pla through his actions and feelings. The longing of the lost moments, times and separation whenever he embraces Pla.

Chippy play her role really well too. I love the personality she put in her character as Pla in the beginning. However as the plot starts to develop I find her character quite irrational. How much more does Tai need to show and express that she's the only one he loved and care for. Pla only get dumber by each episode.

This is a lakorn that was done right to my liking. I usually have a lot of things to complain about Thai lakorn, but this is the first lakorn where I feel satisfied. The plot include the typical amnesia, revenge, ML and FL married, and a kid. However with that said I don't recalled a specific lakorn that remind me of Ratee Luang. The plot actually move at such a quick paced in the first few episodes. Tai have his amnesia early on. We barely get enough romantic time between Tai and Pla at the farm. But we did got plenty in the later episodes.

An accident led Tai to have amnesia, and this is when he become Trai. Pin and her aunt led Tai to believe that him and Pin are a married couple. Due to the new identity, Pin, the aunt and Ruj moved Tai to an isolated area away from everyone at the farm. Manager Ruj went along with this scheme because he is in love with Pin and cannot bared to see her in misery. I cannot see how Ruj even like Pin to begin with, there's nothing likeable about her character. They all pretty much isolated Tai from anyone who knew him so that he would not recall his memories and leave Pin.

Six years later Pla also have a child and yes the father is Tai. Destiny eventually brought Pla and Tai/Trai to meet each other when Pla took a job at the place Trai and Pin moved to. Trai start to vividly see moments of a woman in his vision but cannot connect who this mysterious woman is. Trai also feel deeply connected to Pla and often questioned her whether they have known each other before.

I really wish Pin character was written better and not such a crazy, obsession and jealous person.
I can't even like her character nor pity her after what she encountered because of her obsession before and after her incident. However, I fully blamed the aunt for how Pin is. The aunt pretty much enabled her and practically raised Pin to be exactly like her. The aunt is super annoying and I cannot even bring myself to like her as well. I feel like I'm supposed to pitied her after being left on her wedding day but naah she's the worst. The aunt is seriously the sick villian in this drama.

Manager Ruj, I will say I hated his weak character and the way he just go with the flow with the aunt and Pin. However there is still goodness in him. I will says he deem himself worthy toward the end.

If there's one thing for improvement is the editing. There were so many abrupt scene, editing was kind of choppy and it wasn't even just one or two episodes. Nonetheless, this is a lakorn I will rewatch. F.Y.I the last two episodes are kind of messy.

Overall let me just say this, when I want to watch something cute and fluffy I stick with kdrama. If I want something dramatic, nonsensical, complicated, and non-logical I know Thai lakorn is the way to go for this. P.S. the after credit scene are such bonuses when I was watching this on air. If you been watching lakorn for a while then you shouldn't have high expectation as you probably already know how lakorn are. Nonetheless, this is the first lakorn I have finished in 2022 and didn't dropped.

Read More

"Ratee Luang" (which also goes by the title "Love and Deception") is a thai lakhorn from 2022 that stars Puen Kanin as the enigmatic and hot-tempered male lead Pitai "Tai" Phitsanukan and Chippy Sirin as the stubborn and tough female lead Pla Chadathan. We get a lot of Cupid references and symbolism in "Love and Deception" where Cupid who is the god of love & desire along with the mystic forces of destiny leads our main-leads on a merry ride. Pla and Tai starts off as friends with Tai falling for her older sister Koong and planning to marry her. But finding out that Koong cheated on him with his own father enrages him into a soul deep bitterness and rage, not only directed at his father and Koong, but also Pla. We watch him race towards the rainy storm in middle of the night, uncaring of his fate.

But Cupid and the forces of destiny have other, more magical plans in store for our heartbroken hero. We see him running away from Pla in one of the flashbacks in ep 1, while hiding he angrily watches Pla from afar, with a statue of Cupid right near him with his raised bow. Ultimately...the deep fixation Tai has for Pla-and in his anger of her...steams of desire will grow until he do force and blackmail her into marrying him. Love bloomed without neither of them really expecting in their course of fighting each other. Pla gives him the kiss that awakens him from his cloud of hatred and vengeance. It is such a intense but highly entertaining journey. They are lovers to be tested in this long sweet journey, but as Cupid wills it, "love conquers all".

Romance in "Love and Deception" really worked out for me because Pla and Tai were both interesting characters and together they fired up the screen. Their relationship developement was done and built very well.All props to the actors Chippy and Puen as well, its my first time watching them on-screen and they gave delightful performances. I totally loved the child-actor playing Tan as well, so cute! What i had most problem with this lakhorn was actually the editing. It was good sometimes, but very bad in some other cases which was very obvious in the start and end of this lakhorn.

Read More