Thai Boys’ Love TV series have achieved global success over the past few years, with pioneers such as 2gether, a romance between two male students that was broadcast with English subtitles on the official YouTube channel, reaching the top of worldwide trends on X (formerly known as Twitter), especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, KinnPorsche has recently followed this trend. Internationally, many Thai BL series are also gaining popularity because they are both available on certain streaming services and satellite channels. This rising popularity has indeed had significant consequences in the Thai economic and socio-cultural landscape.

I. Definition and Origin of BL (Boys’ Love)

a. Definition

Yaoi, also known as Boys’ Love (BL), is a genre of fiction in Japanese popular culture that focuses on romantic and/or sexual relationships between male characters. This genre primarily encompasses literature as well as the world of manga and anime, but it also appears in video games, television, cinema, and other media to a lesser extent. The female equivalent of Yaoi is Yuri. Although centered on male homosexual relationships, yaoi is a genre primarily intended for a female audience. It coexists with men’s love (ML), another genre that deals with male homosexuality but is aimed at a gay male audience. Despite thematic and stylistic differences, these two genres share commonalities and often influence each other, resulting in a sometimes blurry line between them. Consequently, there is a partial overlap in their audiences, with some gay men reading Yaoi and some women reading men’s love.

b. Origin

In its broadest sense, BL emerged in the 1970s as a subgenre of manga aimed at girls (shōjo manga), initially called shōnen-ai (romances between young boys). These mangas focused on intense emotional and sometimes physical relationships between very young boys. Before this, mangas for girls were mostly drawn by men, but from the mid-1960s, post-war-born female artists began to make a name for themselves. These authors, only slightly older than their readers, wrote the stories they wanted to read. In this context, the motif of romances between young boys emerged. Previously, heroines in girls’ manga were also girls but were constrained by societal roles. Depicting a male protagonist allowed for more independent control over his destiny and more daring love stories, which resonated strongly with readers.

Artists like Hagio Moto and Takemiya Keiko, who pioneered shōnen-ai, were aware they were challenging societal norms. In 1970, Takemiya Keiko published her first shōnen-ai story, “In the Sunroom.” Hagio Moto began her series “The Poe Clan” in 1972, featuring an adolescent vampire, Edgar, and his romantic entanglements. The genre gained widespread popularity with works like “The Heart of Thomas” in 1974, which was serialized in a magazine. Takemiya’s “The Song of Wind and Trees,” serialized in 1976, was another significant work, exploring complex themes such as homosexual love and incest. During this period, the magazine Bessatsu Shōjo Comics sold over a million copies per issue, reflecting a unique cultural shift.

By the late 1980s, a trend of creating parodic, nonsensical versions of popular series like “Captain Tsubasa” emerged. This led to the term “yaoi,” an acronym for “yama-nashi, ochi-nashi, imi-nashi” (no climax, no resolution, no meaning), emphasizing self-irony and absurd situations. Initially, yaoi referred to amateur fan works, but it quickly became a commercial genre, blending elements from both amateur yaoi and existential shōnen-ai.

In the early 1990s, observing the success of Yaoi, commercial publishers launched specialized BL magazines, commissioning original series from popular dōjinshi artists. This period established BL as a standalone commercial genre.

II. BL in Thailand

a. The Beginning of BL in Thailand

The Thai media landscape experienced a significant shift in 2014 with the emergence of a local Boys’ Love (BL) TV series, “Love Sick The Series,” broadcast on MCOT HD. Its debut in July 2014 is widely recognized as the starting point of Thai BL. From 2014 to 2018, there was a steady increase in BL series, with exponential growth observed from 2019. By December 2022, over 172 Thai BL series had been produced and broadcast on various media channels.

While “Love Sick” marked the beginning of Thai BL productions, it was not until 2016 with “SOTUS,” produced by GMMTV and broadcast on their YouTube channel, that Thai BL saw regional success. In 2020, “2gether” achieved unprecedented transnational success, marking a key milestone by popularizing BL fiction and reaching record audiences.

Today, BL is a transnational genre. Thailand has not only adapted to the national culture but has also been redefined and reinvented.

b. Thai BL as a Lucrative New Business

The increasing number of investors and productions, combined with a growing demand from avid fans willing to spend substantial amounts of money, has made BL a lucrative business. The promotion system for Thai BL and its actors is similar to K-pop, focusing on creating fan communities around the actors. Popular BL actors or pairings become marketing products for productions, agencies, and brands. They often enter contractual agreements to appear together in multiple projects over several years to strengthen their fan base.

Although BL series do not generate as much revenue as heterosexual series in Thailand, producers and agencies have found profitable alternatives such as fan meetings, where fans pay to interact with their favorite actors, concerts following the series’ broadcast, and screening of the final episode in cinemas. Merchandise and other related products are also sold during the program’s run.

Beyond showbiz, the new popularity of BL benefits other sectors like tourism.

III. The Impact of BL in Thailand

a. BL as a Soft Power Tool

The growing interest in the BL series has enhanced Thailand’s soft power, with international streaming revenues rising rapidly. In 2021, the Department of International Trade Promotion reported that the streaming rights for the Thai BL series were purchased by other Asian countries, amounting to over 360 million baht. In 2024, the Commerce Minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, announced a plan targeting foreign BL fans with high purchasing power to find new markets for Thai products.

The Commerce Ministry works with Chinese influencers to promote Thai products during live broadcasts. Additionally, a collaboration with “Be On Cloud,” a company known for producing popular BL TV series, aims to integrate Thai products into their series, hoping to generate interest among viewers.

b. LGBTQ+ Rights Advanced by BL

In Thailand, BL culture has had a significant impact on societal acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. BL series acts as a bridge between female fans and real gay communities, fostering a movement for legal recognition of gay couples. In July 2020, a bill for a “civil partnership” was proposed, granting adoption and inheritance rights to homosexual couples. On March 27, 2024, Thai deputies voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, pending Senate approval and royal endorsement. This would make Thailand the first Southeast Asian country to recognize same-sex unions and the third in Asia after Taiwan and Nepal.

The proposed legislation aims to replace gender-specific terms in marriage laws with non-gendered ones, also granting adoption and inheritance rights to same-sex couples.

In conclusion, although BL originated in Japan, Thailand has successfully reinvented and adapted it to its culture. BL is now a mainstream genre in Thailand, and the country is poised to become the global center of the genre in the coming years.

Article written by Sarrah and Ocean from the team BLSECRETS.

Source- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8