Thai Boy Love marks territory in Mainland China - Thai PBS World Tonight [14th June 2021]

A decade ago Boy Love novels were considered taboo, a fictional story that involved 2 male characters in a romantic relationship. These novels were sold in niche bookstores and were not on display. They had to be secretly passed around in white covers

But in 2021 the subculture has grown immensely popular in Thailand and all over the globe, it’s hitting big markets like China where this genre is still considered illegal

It’s a totally different story now with Boy Love novels taking over the shelves in major bookstores in Thailand, leaving only a few rows for other love novels.

Boy Love series is not popular only in Thailand but it’s been well received all over the globe, especially in countries that pretty much take up a large market share of the films and series like mainland China, a country where fans have an insatiable appetite for Boy Love content while the government runs a tight ship on LGBTQ+ censorship, leaving this a huge market wide open for the Thai Boy Love scene.

Chinese fandoms and their infatuation go above and beyond, according to Global Times, Thailand’s 2gether: The Series, has exploded in popularity on Chinese social media, further improving cultural communication between China and Thailand alongside other Boy Love dramas including TharnType: The Series.

While ‘The Untamed’ a popular Action Fantasy Chinese TV series swept the hearts of Thai fans and was so popular that there was a fan meet held in Thailand in September 2019.

Tencent revealed that since streaming ‘The Untamed’ on WeTV in Thailand they’ve seen the number of users go up to 250% and an average monthly download of up to a million indicating that Thai Boy Love fans are also supporting this ship couple from China.

These series are not just for entertainment but it’s another way to increase cultural understanding between China and Thailand along with other series such as TharnType: The Series.