With most of its population active on social media, Thailand has seen numerous stories go viral over the past year. But three dramas almost “broke the internet”, keeping Thais glued to their screens for weeks: a family meltdown on a livestream shopping channel, a giant-slaying school football team, and a popular influencer who divided the nation.
Viral stories stir national debate, subtly mirroring and shaping society and its norms. So as 2025 comes to a close, Thai PBS World takes a closer look at what got Thailand clicking this year.
From family drama to Asia’s TikTok sensation
Look thung (country music) singer Ratchanok Suwannaket was doing just fine on TikTok, building a large fanbase under her stage name Janey Dai Mod Ta Sod Chuen (@janeydm). However, her social media exploded when she got into a very public row with her mother or “Mother Kate”.
Mother Kate dropped the bombshell in a tear-stained livestream on October 9, complaining she could barely afford a house and car despite her daughter’s wealth. Worse still, her “ungrateful child” was barring access to her grandchildren.
Janey hit back immediately, saying when she offered a monthly stipend of 100,000 baht, her mother demanded a 10-month advance of 1 million baht. The advance lasted less than a month before her mother was back asking for more, she said. Janey said she then halved the stipend, before reducing it further because she was having to clear debts run up by Mother Kate.
The TikTok star said things came to a head when the mother’s monthly allowance was reduced to 20,000 baht and she was told she could only visit when her son-in-law wasn’t around. Janey explained that visits were curbed to avoid confrontations.
Her livestreamed TikTok rebuttal went viral with over 150 million “likes” – dwarfing what her music videos typically earn.
As her popularity surged, brands and celebrities rushed to share the spotlight. On October 14, her livestream attracted more than 486 million likes, and barely a week after the drama erupted, she had generated more than 800 million baht in sales.
She now finds herself among TikTok’s most influential regional streamers, with the platform awarding her a trophy for attracting a record 1.2 million peak concurrent users in Asia. She now boasts over 20.6 million followers.
“I’m now kind of viral overseas as well … I’m proud,” Ratchanok said recently.
However, her popularity on TikTok now appears to be waning after hitting its peak, reflecting the harsh reality of social media’s fast-changing landscape where today’s viral sensation can be forgotten tomorrow.
Local underdogs win hearts across nation
The Monthong Wittaya School football team’s journey from obscurity to nationwide fame began in a modified songthaew dubbed the “Dream Bus”, as they headed to matches no one expected them to win.
But the team from a small school in Chachoengsao, 70 kilometres from the capital, captured the nation’s imagination by beating the giants of schoolboy football, Debsirin School and Assumption College Sriracha, to earn a place in the 7HD Champions Cup Final 2025, the annual seven-a-side tournament organised by Channel 7.
Suddenly, everyone was rooting for the Monthong boys and their charismatic coach, Sakol Kliengprasert.
Support for the team swelled ahead of the final, which saw Suphachalasai Stadium packed to the rafters with the largest crowd in decades.
Under the glare of the national spotlight, the Monthong Wittaya boys fought a fierce battle before losing 2-1 to Chainat Provincial Administrative Organisation School. But while their story didn’t end in a trophy, it lives on as an example of how underdogs can win huge support and even lift a nation’s spirit.
The prank that backfired
Jaturong “Jack” Papho rose to prominence as a mischievous content creator whose relatable personality and comedic timing earned him a big following among Thai youngsters – 6.4 million on Facebook, 8.6 million on YouTube, and 11.7 million on TikTok.
His fans love him for his approachable personality, unfiltered authentic style and the ability to turn ordinary moments into something extraordinary. He is also known for his generosity. For instance, when the price of durian fell sharply in 2020, he bought a truckload for 100,000 baht and sold them off at 1 baht apiece.
He also creates clips that spotlight environmental problems, inspiring many of his followers to adopt new habits like recycling and voluntary beach-cleaning. Jack also showed up for relief and rescue operations when the southern city of Hat Yai was submerged by severe floods earlier this year.
Yet, despite all this good work, Jack still managed to overstep the boundary in his hunt for laughs and likes. For creators like him, entertainment is currency and pushing the envelope is often the only way to stay relevant. The cutting edge cut back in his “Mount Fuji” short clip.
When Jack climbed onto the roof of a parked car in front of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, took off his shirt, and danced for the camera in November, he probably imagined it as another chaotic, light hearted moment for his followers.
Instead, the clip ignited a wave of criticism in both Thailand and Japan, quickly becoming a symbol of how digital spontaneity can collide head-on with cultural expectations.
According to reports, the video drew more than 12,000 comments within three hours, most of them condemning the act as inappropriate and damaging to Thailand’s image abroad. Japanese and Thai audiences alike saw the stunt not as harmless fun, but as disrespectful — towards the location, the community, and the etiquette expected at a world famous viewpoint.
Some Thai netizens even wrote to the Japanese Embassy to apologise for his actions, urging authorities to ban him from entering Japan.
In the face of the backlash, Jack issued a public apology without removing his controversial clip – which garnered 6.8 million views on TikTok – a modest number compared with hits for his most popular clips.
“This mistake will teach me to improve. I am not going to remove this clip in the hope that people will one day forget about it,” Jack said.
