Introducing Thai Lakorns

As everyone knows, Thai dramas, films and actors are steadily growing in MDL’s database. That’s why we decided to launch a new article series “Thai dramas and films’ recommendations”. You can learn how to apply here or just message me about it.

But before launching the new article series, it would be nice to introduce Thai dramas first. I am sure many people want to get into the world of Thai dramas and films, but they just don’t know where to begin, what to expect or how to start. This is a small attempt to introduce Thai productions which are mainly dramas commonly known as “lakorns”. 

For starters, you need to forget about other Asian countries’ dramas you’re familiar with because Thai lakorns are completely different. Just like Korean, Japanese, HKC and Taiwanese dramas have their specific formulas; Thai lakorns have their own stamp as well. 

1) What to expect in Thai lakorns:

-90% will be some sort of love story with all loose ends tied up

-Honorifics are CRUCIAL!

-Incredibly annoying second leads even more than Korean and Taiwanese dramas' triangles.

-There’s a short amount of episodes and a long running time. It’s generally 13 or 15 episodes with 90 minutes each. However, there are longer lakorns with 20-36 episodes but their running time is usually 40 minutes per episode.

-A Lakorn may have 2/3 subtle plotlines running parallel to main which explains the “why”

-A pretty healthy dose of physical antics (no, it’s not the sexual kind! It’s more like cat-fight kind!)

2) What to not expect in Thai lakorns:

-Do not expect a lot of real kisses, lakorns are surprisingly demure in depicting physical intimacy, kisses are rarely shown (a let-down, I know).

-Lakorns are NOT high-profile dramas so you can’t come here searching for something different, dazzling, perfectly written, acted and directed; that’s almost impossible to find in Thai dramas, their budgets aren’t high enough to deliver great masterpieces.

3) Genres:

Like any other Asian country, Thailand produces many dramas yearly, maybe not as much as Korean and Japan but they do produce a respectable amount of lakorns each year. Their genres and works vary from one channel to another and from one timeslot to the other. However, the most popular genres are basically:

Romance: It exists almost everywhere; any genre in Thai lakorns must be combined with romance even a little. It’s nearly an obligation to have romance in every drama that’s why their productions are more romance oriented.

Slap and Kiss: This is probably the most popular genre out of Thailand; it’s also exclusive to lakorns. It’s usually revenge/hate oriented. Utterly violent and can be considered unethical. This genre is not for the faint of the heart, it can make you repulsive to lakorns because all of them contain rape or attempt to rape.

Action: there are guns and bullets flying in some lakorns. But you have to be warned about something, you’re not going to see well-made action scenes or top-notch fighting sequences. Most of them look so fake and a little repulsive but they can be tolerated.

Comedy: usually mixed with romance and some funny sounds. Like any other country, Thailand produces many romantic comedies yearly. They can be quite amusing if you get used to them.

Horror: Considering the fact that ghosts are a sacred belief in Thai culture, there are many lakorns about a haunted house or a ghost-finding quest. It’s also accompanied by romance so no horror alone.

Historical/Period: These lakorns are usually about the Thai royalty at some point of the history. It’s not only set in the past 100+ year, it can be in the near 5 or 10 years.

Family: Thai lakorns out of this genre are a little different from other countries’ family dramas. They’re usually focusing on a particular family’s descendants, losses and love interests one by one. It can also turn into a multi-generational approach.

Supernatural: They usually feature vampires or psychic powers. Another warning: special effects are usually very lame and obvious.

Series: These are composed of a few short lakorns that are linked by a common thread such as friendship, loyalty, or a specific theme. The mains have their own lakorns, yet they walk into and out of the others' lakorn scenes with their partners. Really interesting! If you watch them all back to back, you can see the same scene from 3 different perspectives.

4) Themes:

Fake relationships: I am sure most of you heard about Full House the Thai version; it’s a good example of this theme and it falls under the “contract marriage” category. There are also arranged marriages, bride for money, and marriage of convenience. There’s also another category that falls under this theme: substitute bride. You didn’t read that wrong; in some lakorns the male leads get married to someone other than who they thought they were going to marry. Oops.

Revenge: This is such a strong theme in Thai lakorn. It’s mostly related to the slap and kiss genre, but it can be present in the action and historical genres as well. Revenge lakorns are pretty popular and never die with time.

Gender Bender: Did you like Hana Kimi, Coffee Prince, and You’re Beautiful? This is another chance to explore the gender bender theme made in Thailand. They produced a respectable amount of those and they’re usually very fun to follow.

Idol: These lakorns are usually centered on celebrities so the male or the female lead should be a model, singer, or actor. These dramas are usually romantic-comedies with a stubborn celebrity as the lead.

Mafia: There are some Thai lakorns here and there centered on the Mafia. The male lead is usually a part of the Mafia. And rarely he’s an undercover cop.

Birth Secret: These are also quite common in Thai lakorns. The two persons are usually switched at birth or a twin is taking over his brother/her sister’s place.

Time Travel: The trend is also alive in Thailand even before South Korea embarked on it

5) Actors:

Thai actors are usually models and they can be idols just like in Korean and Japanese entertainment industries. Actors usually sign with one channel which is also a production label (the most common Thai lakorns’ channels are: Channel 3 and Channel 7, but there’s also Channel 5, Channel 8 and Channel 9) and continue with it until the end of his career unless he decides to switch channels (very rare). The acting department in lakorn isn’t always great but again, it’s the case of many Asian dramas. What’s for sure that you will be able to please your eyesight with many beautiful eye candies and beautiful faces either males or females.

6) Films:

Films, on the other hand, are completely different from lakorns. Thailand film’s industry is pretty famous for its horror films that can be quite chilling. But that doesn’t deny the existence of other genres such as romantic comedies, action and comedy films even if they’re not as famous as horror films.

7) Some used terms and beliefs:

When watching Thai lakorns, you will encounter some terms and relationships that may seem a little odd to you. For example, the husband and wife status isn’t only given to legally married couples. It can be given to a couple living together; a male and female who shared a night together can be called husband and wife too. There are also these commonly used terms:

Pra’ek means the male lead.

Nang’ek means the female lead.

Pra Rong means the second male lead.

That would be the general feel around Thai dramas and films. I hope it was a helpful glimpse into the world of Thai lakorns and films. Stay tuned for upcoming recommendations. If you saw some interesting Thai lakorns or films and you want to write about them, you just need to message me.

Special thanks to afafz who helped out with a few sentences in this article. I will leave you with this fanmade video that introduces some scenes about Thai lakorns, it features some attempt to rape scenes so you can just skip those if you're sensitive to them. All the credits belong to the owner:

Until next time ~ Cheer.