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BL: How to become a millionaire by kissing a boy [1]
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Date: 2025-09-09
Once upon a time, straight actors refused romantic roles in movies and series if the romance was between two guys. Egads, people might assume the actors — not just their characters — were gay! They might be typecast forever after and end up unemployable.
That was before Thailand created a juggernaut in its entertainment industry: the Boys’ Love genre. They not only invented a new multimedia genre, they redefined the socio-economics of acting in male-male romantic roles.
In the past, one might see lonesome tumbleweeds blowing down the street outside the offices of a Thai production company searching for actors in gay romances. Nowadays, one will see a line of handsome guys stretching down the block and around the corner, eager to impress during the casting call.
What changed? How did acting in same-sex romantic roles become the hottest prospect possible for young actors?
Join me below the break and let’s find out!
Our mission statement The Trump regime wants to erase LGBQT people from public life in the US and eliminate access to information, resources, and cultural heritage for our youth. Most LGBQT adolescents never see stories about people like themselves enjoying love and romance. In our current reality, watching a Boys’ Love or Girls’ Love series or movie might be the only means for young people to see models of how their own relationships could start, develop, and successfully grow. It’s also an act of subversion … so watch an episode, share it with others, and resist!
Beautiful gay boys onscreen … or are they?
Tune in to just about any Thai BL series and you’ll be greeted by an array of Adonises, a boodle of beauties, a cornucopia of concupiscence … do I really need to go through the whole alphabet for you to get the picture? One might reasonably assume that every good-looking guy in Thailand is gay.
But that is based on the characters they’re portraying. Their roles don’t necessarily define the actors themselves. Without further information, we should assume that actors occupy a spectrum of sexuality, just like the general public, with a majority falling on the heterosexual side of the range.
So let’s discover why so many presumably straight guys are so eager to kiss another boy on screen.
“The System”
You can read my previous story, BL: The Boys' Love industry of Thailand -- success beyond all expectations, to learn about how the BL industry got started in Thailand and some factors that contributed to its success. Let’s pick up where I left off.
A couple of years after the premiere — and surprising success — of Love Sick: The Series (2014), Thailand’s largest media conglomerate entered the genre. GMM-TV (and its parent company and numerous divisions) had already learned from Japan and South Korea how to package attractive young performers into wildly successful musical groups. T-pop boy bands and girl groups were popular not only in Thailand but throughout East Asia.
GMM Grammy (GMM-TV) headquarters in Bangkok
Could similar formulas work for this new media genre? GMM-TV soon discovered that, like Obi Wan and Darth Vader, the student could surpass the master. They created what I will refer to as “The System”, originally an invention of GMM-TV but now adopted to varying degrees by other Thai production companies.
Like J-pop and K-pop, The System recruits young talented people and shepherds them through programs to turn them into star performers. It manages their careers to maximize their exposure and success. It controls their public image to limit controversy and broaden their appeal.
But The System has the resources, experience, and foresight to go far beyond what K-pop companies do for their performers.
GMM-TV can keep almost all of its activities in-house, because it has so many tentacles — a dozen music labels, four film production companies, nine TV production houses, multiple broadcast and cable TV channels, radio stations, satellite television, print magazines, streaming platforms, talent management, concert and events management, and undoubtedly more activities that I haven’t found yet.
Smaller BL producers — such as Domundi, Mandee Channel, MeMindY, Studio Wabi Sabi, and more — have to negotiate agreements with other companies in the entertainment and communications industries in order to offer a similar breadth of opportunities to their talent.
Either way, let’s look at what these companies do for their bright young stars and stars-to-be. From first contact to full-blown star status, The System fulfills their every professional need.
But first, we need to understand the fundamental objective of The System for its actors.
The ship
Remember, our genre is Boys’ Love. There are two words there, boys and love. Viewers rightfully expect that boys in love (with each other) is going to be the foundation of the movies and series they watch, even if the particular production is not intrinsically romantic (such as a murder mystery).
Joss Wayar
So The System needs to pair up a couple of handsome and personable lads to become an onscreen romantic couple. We call that pairing a “ship” (from the word relationship). I wrote an extensive treatment of shipping and everything related to it in a previous post, along with other jargon and customs.
What you need to know is that the Thai BL industry creates permanent ships (occasionally a ship will break up but it’s infrequent). The two actors will appear together, in various roles, time and time again in movies and series. They will also appear in public together, quite frequently in ways that imply or suggest that they are a romantic couple in real life, not just onscreen. Certainly, a few ships are real both on and off the screen but the majority are simply working partnerships.
This is unique to Thailand. Other BL-producing nations do not ship their couples and actors may co-star with a different partner in every project. But The System is predicated on the proven truth that BL fans get fiercely attached to a pair of co-stars and will clamor for endless series starring them, even as different characters.
Shipping has its downsides but it is also the entire reason that seemingly every cute Thai actor — straight or gay — yearns to become a BL star. You will learn why later in our story.
New talent
Yacht Patsit
Previously, I wrote that the culture of competitive beauty in Thailand gives producers and scouts ready-made pools of attractive potential new stars. As soon as a newbie signs with a studio, The System kicks in.
As you might expect, trainees get plenty of guidance on the basics of their new craft: acting, singing, dancing, makeup, fashion, public speaking, social media use and restrictions, and more. During this time, they participate together as a group in most of the above activities.
That gives their trainers and producers opportunities to evaluate them not only as individuals but also how they relate to their fellow trainees. They’re looking to see if there are any strong potential ships.
When the lads have mastered the basic skills of their profession, it’s time to step up for the next, and most crucial, phase.
Getting shipped
Smaller studios will just pair up trainees according to their instincts about who seems to have the best chemistry with whom. Many beloved ships have been formed this way.
Pond Naravit
The larger studios, with ample resources, have a more elaborate process, one that also pre-sells their new ships to a soon-to-be adoring public. They also have cleverly figured out how to make money off it: make it a reality show.
So we periodically see a new episodic series that seems like a mix of acting exercises, friendship activities, and dating games. The contestant trainees all meet in a mansion somewhere and by the final episode, most or all have paired up in ships.
Along the way, we’ve seen them joking and laughing, doubting themselves, competing in assorted events, and sharing difficult personal stories. Who knows how much is scripted and how much is real? Do they really select the partner they want to ship with or was it all pre-arranged before filming began?
Nobody outside of The System knows but the public laps it up, showing agitation or elation, depending on how they perceive the odds of success are for the pairings they prefer. That involvement in the shipping process means fans are already excited about the new pairs, sold on their first series the moment that filming is announced.
When the ship sails …
In most countries, actors frequently struggle just to get by. With The System, shipped Thai actors don’t need to worry about finding enough acting jobs to keep food on the table. They’re not just random actors who are a dime a dozen to studios; they’re investments at this point and the studios take care of their assets.
Barcode Tinnasit
As a first project or two, new actors (no longer trainees) and new ships are often introduced to the public as side characters. Many BLs have a primary couple plus one or two side couples … and that’s where the newbies get posted. The public has an opportunity to view them as a romantic couple and see if they have that mysterious mojo we call onscreen chemistry. With a bit of luck, the public loves what it sees and demands more.
Next comes a vehicle chosen for the new ship, whether it’s an adaptation of a yaoi novel or an original screenplay. The screenplay is written specifically for the couple, matching it to their strengths and weaknesses and tuned to their particular personalities and chemistry together.
Quite likely, some of their colleagues as trainees will be in the series also; perhaps another new ship as a side couple or a few friends who haven’t yet been shipped with anyone. The System’s wheels keep turning round and round.
The new series airs
When the show is ready to be aired (broadcast, cable, and streaming), The System isn’t finished with the actors by any means. Just as with a new movie or TV series in the US, the actors will make the round of talk shows, lifestyle news shows, and so on. Of course, The System doesn’t leave the invitations to those programs to chance: they either own a network that produces those shows — and thus obviously pumps up the stars of the series — or they have made arrangements with outside companies to the same effect.
Chap Suppacheep
Then there are the contests. There will be heavy promotion — on platforms like Youtube, with BL fansites and influencers, through in-house advertising, etc — for some kind of challenge or lottery and the winners will get to meet the cast and engage in fun activities … and that, of course, will be filmed and broadcast or livestreamed as well.
As soon as the series begins to air, it’s time to release the kraken , er, I mean the OST. I would guess that 90% of the time, the principal actors record at least one song each for the original soundtrack; often they are duets by our new ship. Those songs are released as videos on Youtube and other visual streaming platforms and as audio tracks on Spotify and other music platforms. The videos are rarely just simple “stick a camera in the sound booth and record” pieces; they’re usually expensively staged and filmed stories in their own right.
So it’s time to monetize things even further. The attractive cast is assembled in a cozy room and filmed as they watch each episode. We see them laugh, joke, hug, or cry as the story unfolds.
It makes us feel like we too are part of the series along with the cast. We not only identify with the actors or their characters, they share with us their thoughts and feelings as we watch together. So, if there are ten episodes of the series, ten more episodes of reaction videos draw us further into what feels like a comfy and mutual relationship with the cast.
After the series concludes
Nothing is more terrifying for an actor than being forgotten. Never fear, The System isn’t about to let its assets disappear from memory. It keeps the actors — whether in a ship or as individual performers — in the public eye during the post-viewing period.
Remember all of those divisions and subsidiaries I mentioned previously? The System can whip up new shows faster than you can say “I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille.”
Between series, actors will be hosts, guests, or both on what I will call “variety” shows. These are limited run projects, from three to a dozen episodes or so, and they will keep the fans engaged and hungry for more of their favorite stars.
A few examples of the types of shows and activities:
A popular ship, Tay Tawan and New Thitipoom, invite their friends — other ships, often, but sometimes just a couple of friends — to compete with them in cooking fancy meals
A group of actors go on a fun outing together each week — a water park, a beach cookout and volleyball game, a visit to an animal refuge — with lots of laughter and goofing around
A group has to compete in various physical challenges to win a prize: toss basketballs into a basket using their left hands because their right hands are tied together, or roll and somersault around a floor to reach designated spots, encouraged by their partners, while blindfolded
Rich grandpa has died and his heirs assemble at his mansion. They must complete a series of tasks, such as a scavenger hunt, to win the inheritance
They’re all lighthearted shows that are meant to be fun for the actors themselves. We see them genuinely having an awesome time with friends and that draws us even more into feeling like we know them and there is some kind of personal relationship.
Gemini Norawit (left) and Fourth Nattawat, a very popular ship
They’re also all sponsored by brands. They’re cheap to produce so the brand gets a lot of bang for its bucks, the studio keeps its production crews working, the actors get even more publicity as well as paid for their participation, and the fans enjoy their favorite stars while waiting for their next series to drop.
To give you an idea of just how much “product” (movies, series, variety shows, music videos, etc.) The System generates, GMM-TV’s official Youtube channel has over thirty-two thousand videos.
All of that keeps actors employed and revenue flowing in. A popular actor, Fourth Nattawat, debuted in 2020 and since then has been in 9 series, 2 movies, a dozen specials, and 32 variety shows — several of which he hosted and which had as many as 20 episodes.
The System keeps on keeping on
Many BL stars are professional singers as well as actors. The OSTs, mentioned above, give them more exposure as singers and recording artists to fans who know them only as actors. That cross-promotion helps feed interest in their solo concerts and world tours — events that are also promoted and managed by The System, through another division of the conglomerate.
Neo Trai Nimtawat
Remember how various brands sponsor variety shows for our young actors? Well, many brands go beyond that. They sign up these very attractive lads (and some lasses) as spokesmodels and brand ambassadors. The products or lines can range from potato chips to high-end fashion and jewelry. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that The System has a division that specializes in securing endorsement and branding deals for its actors, as well as product placement fees for inserting items into view in its series.
All of the above has proven lucrative for the studios. It’s also kept the actors working steadily (a rare thing for most actors elsewhere). Both the actors and the studios have benefited from the constant stream of publicity and exposure — it keeps the fans happy and hankering for more.
But our lovely lads aren’t millionaires yet. No worries, The System is opening the bank vault as I type.
Meeting the fans
Specialized entertainment interests have long had meetings of like-minded spirits. It might be fans of heavy metal or Star Wars or silent films. Aficionados of the Boys’ Love genre have come together to share their enthusiasm, beginning even before Love Sick was broadcast in 2014 (fans participated in casting contests during pre-production).
Rossi Nonthakorn
The pandemic wiped out fan meetings and BL conventions for quite some time. The System came up with new plans.
GMM-TV unveiled its Global Live Fan Meetings concept, a series of livestreams that could be virtually attended from all over the word. Fans signed up by the droves, paying to view live appearances by BL stars. Just like in an in-person fanmeet, the stars engaged in banter with their shipmate and other castmates, told some anecdotes, sang a few songs, participated in Q&A sessions with their remote viewers, and so on.
They were a remarkable success. Executives realized that fan meetings and conventions were a market far, far bigger than they had previously known and that there were adoring crowds to be had in many countries.
The System got busy and, as the pandemic tapered down, a new and vastly expanded schedule of in-person fan meetings and conventions was drawn up. Additionally, the livestreaming was kept on as well, making the audiences global and the profits even higher with fans paying to join in, both in person and virtually.
The events coordinators and endorsement agents also increased their promotion of their assets — BL stars — to third parties, for private events like industry conventions, product announcement parties, and so on.
Take a look at the promotional video above for a fan meeting. It’s filmed as if it were an actual BL. It’s a high quality presentation that fans not only notice, they chat it up, spiking its popularity and visibility across the internet. The System puts a lot of effort into fanservice and it pays off handsomely.
Working as regularly employed actors in the BL industry can provide the stars with a nice living. But it’s fanservice — that is, public appearances — that skyrockets their earnings.
Thousands of fans crowd an arena to meet Bright Vachirawit and Win Metawin, the hugely popular ship from the series 2gether
Many of our young actors spend quite a bit of time traveling to fan meetings, conventions, and private events. They are remunerated quite well for their appearances, as much as US $50,000 per person (most often, they appear in pairs as a ship). Not bad for an hour’s worth of work.
Some actors in very popular ships are reported to make between 1.5 and 2 million dollars per year just for appearances. Endorsement deals, acting, record deals, and other activities raise their income even higher.
Unshipped stars too
Some actors never get shipped. It might be that they’re perceived by execs more as character actors for supporting roles; it could be that they concentrate on some other area, such as singing or directing or a non-entertainment career, and don’t want all the obligations that go with becoming a shipped BL actor.
Sammy (Samantha Melanie Coates), loved by the public as the perpetual sister, best friend, classmate, co-worker, or other sidekick in dozens of series and movies … and always a hoot in the variety shows
The System takes care of them too. We see familiar faces again and again as the brother, sister, best friend, co-worker, or classmate of one of the starring couple. They also appear regularly in the “variety” shows discussed above, having fun times with their principal-role friends. They frequently perform OST songs as well.
And they too are popular at fan meets and conventions, albeit usually for somewhat lower fees than the more highly featured stars. Many of the solo actors and actresses do just fine in their careers.
Sammy, pictured above, is adored by fans as well as her castmates (she is fun and funny so everyone likes her). She is a regular denizen of the variety shows. Sammy reminds me a lot of Lucille Ball. Lucy was never afraid of looking foolish or unattractive; if it got a laugh, she would do it. Sammy is very much like that, ready to do anything the boys do and try her best to beat them at it.
Fanservice
BL stars are, first and foremost, actors. Just because one plays a mafioso doesn’t mean he sells heroin in real life; it’s his job to convince us that he’s a bad guy onscreen.
Keng Harit
In a Boys’ Love series, it’s his job to convince us that he’s in love with his co-star. They might really have a romance going on in real life, or be good friends, or even dislike each other. They’re actors so good luck trying to guess about that!
In fan meetings and conventions, the fans want to revel in that fantasy. So BL stars in a ship give them what they want. They flirt with each other, insinuate that there really is a hot, sexy relationship, and are physically affectionate with hugs, kisses on the cheek, and so on. They generally neither explicitly confirm nor deny that they are a real couple, leaving it to the fans to guess and imagine.
Fans eat it up. That’s why it’s called fanservice, serving the fans what they hope and expect to see with their favorite stars. The relationship is parasocial, meaning it gives one party the illusion of a mutual connection but the other party — the star — has no actual personal relationship with the fan.
Toxicity in the BL world
Many BL actors are straight guys so perhaps it’s challenging for them to feign a romantic passion, even if they are actors. More challenging might be maintaining a public life that is also private, in the sense that they don’t want to be caught snogging with their girlfriend lest their fans feel that they are “cheating” on their male onscreen partner.
However, few of them walk away from the job. Fame and fortune aren’t so easy to find for most people and most BL actors realize they’ve hit the life jackpot. Eventually, they will age out of the role (just as in Hollywood, romance stories are almost always about teen and twenty-something protagonists) and can enjoy a more private life in the future … with a big nest egg and some profitable investments.
August Vachiravit
This industry is just eleven years old so we have yet to see what happens as its stars mature. I suspect some will adapt, like actors and actresses everywhere, and begin to play parents, teachers, bosses, and similar roles. Behind-the-camera work may appeal to some, such as directing, producing, or screenwriting. Others may leave show business and take up the careers for which they previously studied. We’ll see!
So I wouldn’t call fanservice toxic. I would say it’s a burden that goes with the job. Most careers have burdens, such as long commutes, high-pressure deadlines, or hostile parents (for teachers), etc. Few are as well paid as is a career as a shipped BL star. Actors make their own choices and if one does feel that the public role is toxic, he leaves the business (it’s happened, but rarely).
The other kind of toxicity sometimes associated with the genre is on-set homophobia. There have been productions in the past where actors — happy to kiss other guys for piles of cash — treated their out gay co-workers badly. That, fortunately, seems to be rare these days.
Producers and directors realize that they need harmonious relationships to keep The System working smoothly for everyone’s benefit; homophobic behavior is pretty much a zero tolerance issue. Actors and crew understand from day one that it may result in the end of their career in the BL industry. If nothing else, they’ve learned from experience that rumors get out and fans react furiously to mistreatment of their beloved stars.
Thailand vs South Korea
Thai culture is far more accepting of same-sex relationships than Korean culture. For example, Thailand has marriage equality. With the explosion in popularity of BLs, Thailand has also become very aware of the economic benefits of being welcoming to gay tourism and exporting its media products … and homophobia would put a damper on those efforts.
Mac Nattapat
So the Thai BL industry can promote its stars using flirty fanservice in a way that would discomfit much of Korean society. Thai actors and singers cross back and forth among BL series, concerts, recording albums, and personal appearances with their supposed “boyfriend” and all of the activities reinforce and cross-promote each other, always gaining new fans.
Korean idols can’t do the same thing; being perceived as gay might limit their careers. Nor do the K-pop companies have the vast networks of services that give their BL stars almost unlimited opportunities to connect more with their fans as well as add to their professional portfolios in diverse areas of the performing arts or entertainment business.
Fanservice, of the Thai variety, would be career damaging rather than lucrative. BL fans yearn for their ship to be in love with each other; K-pop fans yearn for their idol to be in love with them. Appearing with a fantasized romantic partner would crush fans rather than thrill them.
Thus, the South Korean BL industry — currently the world’s second biggest BL producer — is somewhat hamstrung. There are daunting obstacles to it replicating The System and copying the success of the Thai BL industry. South Korea is steadily increasing its BL media exports (25 series so far this year) but Thailand currently holds enormous advantages.
Kissing boys and making bank
Thailand has created a unique ecosystem for its BL industry and actors. Rather than being a career-ending move, being cast in a BL in Thailand can open up incredible opportunities for young actors. For this reason, straight guys scramble for the chance to become one of the new faces of Boys’ Love.
Tay Tawan, at 34 one of the most senior BL stars but still looking like a million bucks
Some people might argue that The System exploits the actors. Having lived decades in LA with many friends in all aspects of the entertainment industry, I can assure you that the conventional Hollywood route — an agent with a zillion clients, the exhausting rounds of fruitless auditions and casting calls, the insecurity of never knowing when another job will come your way, etc — makes The System look like the best thing since sliced bread.
BL stars know that they have a relatively short window to be on top of the BL world. A few, like Tay Tawan, are still major headliners in their 30s but the clock is ticking.
The stars are making the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Their lives are incredibly busy and tiring but youth is for the young, right? They’re having an amazing time and I wish them continued success and happiness in future endeavors when their time in the BL world draws to a close.
In the meantime, many of them have kissed a boy and become millionaires. We should all be so lucky (all I got was this lousy T-shirt)!
So if you’re a hot-looking young guy, you might consider emigrating to Thailand. But first, ask your male friends for some help and try out a few practice smooches with them (mannequin kisses — like two store dummies touching lifeless lips — are not going to land you a BL ship).
Then start planning how you’re going to spend your anticipated fortune. We’ll be looking for you in your first BL series!
Coming up …
Next week, Flying Pig Dog is going to cover some classic stories with major male pairs that people love to turn into romance. Join us next Tuesday at Boys’ Love and Girls’ Love.
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