N.B.T.C. Effort To Improve Thailands Notorious Soap Operas: Comment

[marjanjukic]

I would miss these shows .....I get so much entertainment tormenting my girl over them. Just when I see her getting really into the show I'll start reciting for her what the next actions/dialouge will be or alternately telling her the beautiful thai guys she is daydreaming of as she watches are all gay and probably cross-dressers......sends her into a tizzy every time and results in her sending me out for beers alone

dude,you rock!

[jerrysteve]

If N.B.T.C. is thinking about molding the current messages in the soap operas which perfectly describe the country. they will

have an up hill battle of designing MORALISTIC ones.

[paulswebb]

TV is crap in most countries, thailands is poor crap

[JeffreyWitty]

Nothing to worry about here - each year I see more and more exposure to western TV, and the Thais (that I know) eat it up.

When they see the quality and variety coming out of they west, they realize that their programming is far inferior and stray further and further away from it. It's only a matter of time before Thailand comes out with a CSI: Bangkok, where the lead role is a dark skinned woman.

Relax, the winds (remote controls) of change are upon us.

Aside from that, for those who "poo-poo" western TV - there is more to it than reality game shows. Countless intelligent programming is out there, featuring diverse cultures and ethnicities - along with the run-of-the-mill garbage.

Edited August 22, 2012 by JeffreyWitty

[brianP]

All i know is that the utter predictability of situation drama is always preceded by the Wife and female family getting very pissy, and lately at the farang, me! I now hate and loath these stupid hours spent of hostile trepidation. No more cross-hairs on my big white backside. I am outta there the moment they gather to kindle the fires of rage while watching that crap.

[Rob8891]

Every country gets the television it deserves..

Jeezoh! We must all have been bad, bad boys

No denying Thai soaps are dire beyond words, but I can't deny I get a load of laughs out of the OTT acting....As for the UK, we can't be too smug ..... Eastenders....Coronation Street.....Emmerdale....River City...... a diet of 100% cr_p stereotypes with actors apparently rotating through the four programmes as they outlive their "usefulness": these are interspersed with aussie soaps.......and let's not forget that the USA is dredging up Dallas (no doubt we'll get a re-run of that spin-off Dysentry next).

I guess the long and short of it is that soaps are soaps no matter where one goes in the world, but thai soaps take the biscuit.

[bedouin1990]

One definition of Hell would be having to watch Thai soaps all day as a censor.

Soaps in every country I have visited are just pablum for those anesthetized from the neck up.

[luckyman]

Rick you are spot on! Thai soaps are notorious for being silly and not realistic, but they are simply copying some stereotypical western show, but with a Thai viewpoint.

I work in the media (not here), and I am horrified at how bad the shows are, but they do have decent budgets - a freind of mine is a director and has worked on some of the local productions.

The old joke is that after a while here, you will have seen all four story lines, and of course the standard group of around 10 or 12 core actors who do almost everything, are well known to almost every Thai, and recognisable to many long term expats too.

In a country of over 60 million, my question has always been "Why so few principle Thai actors/actresses?" - compared against say the UK with a similar poulation, there are many thousands of talented people in the industry there...

I think the answer lies in the magic word, 'talented'.

For acting you need, amongst other things, emotion, as in being very able to feel which has always been one of strongest points of British actors and actresses, partly due to the fact that it's in your magnificent culture.

But it's not in Thailand's, never has been and never will be .

[Thai at Heart]

Rick you are spot on! Thai soaps are notorious for being silly and not realistic, but they are simply copying some stereotypical western show, but with a Thai viewpoint.

I work in the media (not here), and I am horrified at how bad the shows are, but they do have decent budgets - a freind of mine is a director and has worked on some of the local productions.

The old joke is that after a while here, you will have seen all four story lines, and of course the standard group of around 10 or 12 core actors who do almost everything, are well known to almost every Thai, and recognisable to many long term expats too.

In a country of over 60 million, my question has always been "Why so few principle Thai actors/actresses?" - compared against say the UK with a similar poulation, there are many thousands of talented people in the industry there...

I think the answer lies in the magic word, 'talented'.

For acting you need, amongst other things, emotion, as in being very able to feel which has always been one of strongest points of British actors and actresses, partly due to the fact that it's in your magnificent culture.

But it's not in Thailand's, never has been and never will be .

The issue is that there is very little option, in that they are on every channel at prime time every night. Mum sits down to watch with daughter, dad goes out of his mind and goes out on the piss, and little son goes to play video games.

They are actually the single most destructive element to family life there is. Then add in the fact they are in fact carrying very dodgy social values and stereotypes, suggests to me, their effect on the entire society is actually catastrophic.

[Bagwan]

Every country gets the television it deserves..

A tad OTT I fear. Even I don't think that the US and its citizens are that bad.

[Bagwan]

Replace the actors with professional wrestlers. The standard of acting and dialogue would improve a thousandfold overnight.

Right! Add to that buxom ladies, skimpy bikinis, and a paddling pool of pink jello. I think we've got a winner here...

Don't forget Nong Natt and her latest adventures. A chandelier or two to swing on my improve the action a bit.

[Skywalker69]

Please sort these ridiculous shows out.

Thai TV soap operas, does not beat Thai reality. It´s just to read the news every day and one thinks, my God I am living in a Thai soap.

[Thai at Heart]

Please sort these ridiculous shows out.

Thai TV soap operas, does not beat Thai reality. It´s just to read the news every day and one thinks, my God I am living in a Thai soap.

Well reading the daily headlines of drive by assassinations and pooyais getting away with running people if the road, or senators accidentally shooting their wives, one would have to say the fiction mimics reality, or is that the other way round?

Sorry, long sentence..........

And cut.......

[rijb]

They should do all the soaps in English. Then the whole country will learn English in 6 months!

[baboon]

They should do all the soaps in English. Then the whole country will learn English in 6 months!

...Or just stop watching them. Either way, a great result for both them and us!

[Beetlejuice]

The fact is that it`s all cheap and very nasty and this is why these soap operas are so popular.

There are plenty of good quality Thai programmes about, but of course most of this stuff is on satellite and cable TV networks which are pay by view on a monthly basis, not cheap either and can be well out of reach for many average Thai viewers living on tight budgets.

It`s all gone extremely commercial and these days it`s either pay or watch crap for free every day.

Even my wife has become bored with these soap operas, but she says; there is either that or nothing.

[Rob8891]

The fact is that it`s all cheap and very nasty and this is why these soap operas are so popular.

There are plenty of good quality Thai programmes about, but of course most of this stuff is on satellite and cable TV networks which are pay by view on a monthly basis, not cheap either and can be well out of reach for many average Thai viewers living on tight budgets.

It`s all gone extremely commercial and these days it`s either pay or watch crap for free every day.

Even my wife has become bored with these soap operas, but she says; there is either that or nothing.

The fact is that it`s all cheap and very nasty and this is why these soap operas are so popular.

There are plenty of good quality Thai programmes about, but of course most of this stuff is on satellite and cable TV networks which are pay by view on a monthly basis, not cheap either and can be well out of reach for many average Thai viewers living on tight budgets.

It`s all gone extremely commercial and these days it`s either pay or watch crap for free every day.

Even my wife has become bored with these soap operas, but she says; there is either that or nothing.

Good God, man! That's damned harsh...... How do you feel about this?????...or am I being overly sensitive on your behalf????

[Beetlejuice]

The fact is that it`s all cheap and very nasty and this is why these soap operas are so popular.

There are plenty of good quality Thai programmes about, but of course most of this stuff is on satellite and cable TV networks which are pay by view on a monthly basis, not cheap either and can be well out of reach for many average Thai viewers living on tight budgets.

It`s all gone extremely commercial and these days it`s either pay or watch crap for free every day.

Even my wife has become bored with these soap operas, but she says; there is either that or nothing.

The fact is that it`s all cheap and very nasty and this is why these soap operas are so popular.

There are plenty of good quality Thai programmes about, but of course most of this stuff is on satellite and cable TV networks which are pay by view on a monthly basis, not cheap either and can be well out of reach for many average Thai viewers living on tight budgets.

It`s all gone extremely commercial and these days it`s either pay or watch crap for free every day.

Even my wife has become bored with these soap operas, but she says; there is either that or nothing.

Good God, man! That's damned harsh...... How do you feel about this?????...or am I being overly sensitive on your behalf????

Well, it is.

Most of what`s on the Thai standard TV channels is soap operas, those badly dubed Chinese period dramas, game shows, chat shows, those stupid slap stick comedies where people dress like village idiots desperately trying to make the audience laugh and much of it with canned laughter, magazine programmes, national news, and all with lashings of adverts thrown in that are almost as long as the programmes. This type of stuff is broadcast 7 days a week.

For many years now, I`ve seen nothing new and as I said; my wife has become bored with it and if that offends you, you are quite welcome to come round and beat her up, not my fault that viewers are becoming fed up with this stuff.

[kimamey]

...

The dramas are very silly and tedious, but the notion of going round 'improving' people by raising the quality of the TV they watch seems to have so many things wrong with it that it's hard to know where to begin.

The only sensible thing to improve people would be to encourage them to turn off the danged TV.

Can't be too bad to stop wasting hours upon hours watching idiotic dramas and whitening cream commercials (taking roughly 45/45 of total airtime).

Pfff... never mind... they'll turn off the TV and immediately get zombified by their phones.

As a Brit I'm ashamed to say that the other thing they seem to watch are "talent" shows many of which are British formats.

[kimamey]

Who is this fool Pravit Rojanaphruk? I'm presuming that whilst at Oxbridge quaffing something from his own wine cellar, he missed the lecture on propaganda. Idiot.

And how well I remember calling at a Thai friend's house to see her watching some guff which portrayed two whiter than white protagonists in some Thai soap on the Skyrail surrounded by brown skinned people (obviously 'green screened'). 'Oh look!' says I 'There're some Thai people in this!' to which my friend gave a sidelong sneer.

And yes, I am aware that some Thais have lighter skin than others. However, never seen a Caucasian couple as pallid as those two.

I remember going to the local hospital with my Thai gf and sitting in a large waiting room. There was a tv on showing a soap I think. I asked her to look around and see who most resembled the actors on the tv. Se looked puzzled for a while until I told her "It's me, the only white person amongst over 100 in this room". She couldn't really disagree.

[ALFREDO]

This so called -Soap Operas-, just Ting Tong!

My GF has no problem to look some of them for hours, but difficult to keep er mind and eye at some interesting programm on UBCs, Hstory, Discovery, National Geographic channel, even with Thai commentary!

What can the children learn from that? Just start to do the same, glued to the Ting Tong, if not looking cartoon!