Heated Rivalry Fans: Now Is the Perfect Time to Get into Thai BL (If You Aren’t Already)

If you are looking for something to fill the void as you wait for the next season of Heated Rivalry, I humbly suggest that you consider watching Thai BLs. Here is a primer post for everything you need to know before diving in.

I, like most of the English-speaking world, watched Heated Rivalry. I enjoyed it; it’s a good show, and it was a fun watch. (Thank you, Canadian taxpayers!) But it didn’t pull me in the way it seemed to for many people because, for me, it was one of nine queer romances that I was watching. Honestly, I’m way more invested in figuring out who the killer is in Goddess Bless You From Death (which also airs on Fridays) than I was in Shane and Ilya.

Something I’ve seen continually repeated during the weeks that Heated Rivalry was on the air is that people (in the West) want studios to realize that we want to see more queer romances, particularly shows that drop weekly. Shows where a happy ending is guaranteed. Well, I’m here to tell you that plenty of those shows already exist and are readily available on the internet, provided you’re willing (or able) to read subtitles.

If any of you are longtime readers, you’ll know that I have pretty much only watched Thai BL for the last two and a half years. I have actually been meaning to put together a post like this for quite some time, but I never got around to it. This seems like the perfect opportunity, when I’m seeing posts all over my Tumblr dashboard with people desperate for more queer romance shows to sink their teeth into. And I’ve long been surprised that BLs don’t do bigger numbers on Tumblr, since they seem tailor-made for that userbase.

This is intended as an overview of the entire industry, including production. Things work a bit differently in the Thai TV industry, and it took me some time to get used to it. Now, I am by no means an expert, but I’ll do my best.

What is Thai BL?

For those of you who are completely unfamiliar, BL (boys’ love) is an Asian genre focused on stories about queer men. (I hesitate to use the term “genre” because there is so much variety in BLs, but there actually is some interesting discussion about what qualifies as BL and what should be considered QL, or queer love. It’s not a discussion I’ll get into here but basically there are particular tropes that many people would consider necessary for a show to be a BL.) Anyway, BL shows are produced in many Asian countries, but the main producers are Thailand, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.

For the purposes of this introductory post, I’m going to focus on Thai BL, as that is what I primarily consume. But also, Thai BL is fairly unique in that it operates on a branded pair system. That is, two actors are paired together consistently, and their characters always end up together. I’ve seen a lot of fans of Heated Rivalry talk about how they liked that they knew Shane and Ilya would end up together. That is the guarantee you get with a branded pair. You know they’ll be together; the story is about how they get there.

(To be fair, not all Thai BLs have a happily ever after. Some of them are bittersweet or open-ended. But I’d say the majority of shows have a happy ending.)

Thai BLs all have at least one main pair and usually at least one side pair as well. Some shows have a main and multiple side pairings; some shows will have multiples of both. There are very few shows that don’t have at least two couples. (What constitutes a “main” or “side” pairing is usually judged by screen time – and billing, obviously.)

There is, as I mentioned, a lot of variety in the content. I’ll take my current watchlist as an example. As I said earlier, I’m currently watching nine shows – seven of them are full BLs, one is an anthology series that contains BL and GL (girls’ love) stories, and one was Heated Rivalry. My watchlist gives me emotional whiplash, as I move from series like Me and Thee, which is a more traditional romcom that uses a lot of lakorn (Thai soap opera) references, to Goddess Bless You From Death, which is a supernatural drama about a serial killer, to Fourever You Part 2: Behind the Sky, which is about a young man dealing with his abusive father and the guilt of his sister’s death while also trying to win over his crush.

Something that many fans of Thai BL like about the industry is that a lot of these stories don’t center around homophobia. Many of these shows don’t even feature coming out scenes. They don’t need to; pretty much every character is queer. These are shows with interesting premises and storylines where the characters just happen to be queer.

Thai BLs, like many Asian dramas, are a “one and done” story. There’s a defined arc that lasts only one season. Episode counts range from 6-24, depending on the story. The standard used to be 12, but that seems to be changing. (Many fans consider this a good thing; some shows really start dragging and 12 episodes is too many.) You have a show like Moonlight Chicken, which was only 8 episodes. And then you have a show like Fourever You, which is based on a five-book series and will be 41 episodes total, between parts 1 and 2. (43 if you count the JohanNorth special episodes, which you should.)

With that in mind, it’s fairly rare for Thai BLs to get a second season, and if they do, it’s a shorter one (or a spinoff based on a side pairing). 2gether continued in Still 2gether, which was half as many episodes, being more of a sequel than a second season. Fourever You is one large story that was split into two parts because of the sheer number of books it was adapting. Between Us revolved around the side pairing of WinTeam from Until We Meet Again.

But for the most part, a BL is a complete story. There isn’t a need for it to continue. (Although sometimes you will get a special episode, which is almost always a good time, except when it’s Jack & Joker.)

This is one of the things I love about branded pairs. I get to see them again and again. Yeah, they’re playing different characters, but still. (I’ve often wondered what it would have been like to see Tyler Hoechlin and Dylan O’Brien act in another show together.)

I keep track of the shows that I’m watching using MyDramaList (MDL), but a good overall resource is World of BL.

What is a pilot?

The major players in the Thai BL industry are GMMTV, Domundi, Studio WabiSabi, Change2561, Be On Cloud, and IdolFactory. Every year, each studio puts on a presentation where they reveal their upcoming shows via a series of pilot trailers, designed to gauge interest and gather sponsors to help fund production. You may have seen me react to GMMTV’s presentation the past few years. (Going forward, I’ll use GMMTV as an example a lot, because that’s the company I’m most familiar with.)

Pilots work slightly differently in the BL industry than they do in Western television. In America, a “pilot” is an episode of a potential series, which is produced and filmed before being shown to executives – and occasionally test audiences – to decide whether or not it will be picked up as a full series. If a pilot gets picked up, a studio or network then orders a set number of episodes. Successful pilots are often used as the first episode of the series, which is why you sometimes see people being recast in the next episodes. Unsuccessful pilots are shelved.

In the BL industry, a pilot works similarly, but they are not full episodes. GMMTV films complete trailers as though the show is finished when in fact the only thing that’s set is the cast (and even that can change). Studios like Domundi often put out longer pilots; they still act as trailers, they’re just longer. It’s an overview of what the show is about, rather than an episode. There is usually not even a script at this point. That’s why you’ll find a lot of trailers online for shows you can’t find anything else about – they haven’t even been filmed yet.

Unlike in American TV, it’s pretty rare for a pilot to not be produced. A lot of these studios are also artist management companies, and they need to make sure all of their artists have a job. In the case of GMMTV, I’m only aware of two pilots not becoming series: You Fight and I Love back in 2021, and the more recent Replay, which was one of the shows I was most excited about from the 2026 lineup. Both of these shows were canceled after the pilot stage due to potential backlash concerns.

Since these shows have basically already been greenlit, the pilot trailers are used to obtain sponsors to help fund production. Product placement is a big thing in these shows; it’s worse in some than in others, and we thank those series for their service. (Every Thai BL fan has that one product placement that they still laugh about; KinnPorsche really wanted to sell you bread.) But this is why you’ll often see a lot of scenes where characters are eating instant noodles or taking an iced tea break. (I swear, Oishi Tea sponsors every GMMTV show.)

Production companies also look at fan engagement with the pilots. Unfortunately, a lot of this is still measured using Twitter, which is the only reason I still have an account. Trending on Twitter is very important; more important than actual views (although for the pilots I do believe those are taken into account). Because these production companies also manage their artists, these numbers help them land brand deals and can help in their favor when negotiating work in the future.

What does production look like?

The timeline for shows going into production is based on a variety of factors, usually the availability of the cast and crew. A pilot being featured in that studio’s annual presentation does not mean it will air that year. Case in point, GMMTV’s A Dog and a Plane, which was part of the 2025 lineup and hasn’t even started filming yet. One of the leads is currently filming another show, so A Dog and a Plane will start filming when that one is done.

Since BLs almost never go more than one season, each production company has a roster of talent that they pull from for each series to produce, direct, write the script, and so on. Some of these people stick with one company and some will go wherever. So you don’t need to worry about a show ending and people being out of a job! They will just move on to the next production.

The production process follows a set path. First is the pilot. Next, you usually have the fitting. This is when they bring in all of the cast and figure out their wardrobe. Meanwhile, the scripts are being written. Once a script is written, there are table reads and workshops to develop the characters. At some point in this process there will be a blessing or worship ceremony.

Once the show begins filming, it’s measured in units called Qs. A Q is one day. Most GMMTV shows film in about 25-30 Qs, not necessarily consecutively. For example, Revamp: The Undead Story started filming in March 2025 and was actually still filming when the show premiered in August. A lot of the actors have other work, like brand events, fan meets, etc. Sometimes they are filming more than one show at a time. (Boun Noppanut was filming Revamp and Friendsh*t Forever simultaneously.)

During production, as with American TV shows, social media accounts will release a variety of behind-the-scenes content like stills or clips. Since social media engagement is so important in the industry, a lot of the actors will put out their own photos or videos. Most shows put out a behind-the-scenes clip reel for each episode once it starts airing, and have a special episode that airs before the show premieres, where the actors introduce the story and their characters.

Usually, but not always, production will finish before the show actually airs. (Sometimes production finishes well before a show airs. Only Friends: Dream On finished in September and we’re still waiting for it, though I do believe it’s confirmed to air in January.) An official trailer will be edited together. The trailer is sometimes very different from the pilot, and you may weep for iconic pilot scenes that didn’t make it into the series. An official trailer being released is generally an indicator that the show will be premiering soon. GMMTV usually drops a trailer about a month before the series airs. (GMMTV will also private the pilot once the official trailer is out; not every company does this.)

In short, it’s difficult to judge how long it takes a series to make it from pilot to air. I know at least one of the shows from GMMTV’s 2026 lineup is already in production, whereas Revamp took four years, multiple pilots, and a studio change before it was finally finished.

Once a show starts airing, it’s important for the series to trend. Unfortunately, again, this means Twitter. Each company will live-tweet as the show is airing on TV in Thailand, sometimes with stills or clips from the episode. Fans are encouraged to post using specific hashtags. The next day, the company will reveal how well the series trended. Most BLs are considered doing well if they can break 300k posts, but sometimes you have a crossover breakout like Me and Thee, which is getting over 4 million every week.

Something that Thai BL does that I wish could be brought over to the American industry is that there is often an event for the first and final episodes of a show, to which fans can buy tickets.

What is a branded pair?

The Thai BL industry works primarily on a branded pair system. Two actors are paired together and will always play romantic interests in a series. Occasionally, the company will pair the actors based on chemistry reads, but sometimes the actors can ask to work with someone specific. For example, First Kanaphan and Khaotung Thanawat had various partners before pairing up, but they wanted to work together, so they requested to be paired. They have since been paired in four shows, with two more slated in the next year or so.

Some pairs even move companies together. Boun Noppanut and Prem Warut have been a pairing since around 2018; Boun was originally under Studio WabiSabi, and Prem was independent. When Studio WabiSabi closed down its artist management arm a few years ago, Boun moved to GMMTV, and Prem came with him.

It isn’t just doing a show together, though. Branded pairs often do joint events, ads, appearances, and fan meets. (I’ve been to those! Did I tell you about the time I met OffGun?) Occasionally, they’ll put out a song together (aside from the OSTs for their shows), like this one from JimmySea. They have their own merchandise, like photo books and keychains. Most GMMTV pairs have their own mascots, and the mascots have their own merch. (I know it’s a sign of capitalism, but now the mascots are actual mascots and they’re freaking adorable. Whoever thought of that deserves a raise.)

They’ll do photo shoots together. It’s usually for a brand, but sometimes they do their own photo shoots, like for Halloween or one of their birthdays. Or, you know, just because. William Jakrapatr and Est Supha are starting to be known for their iconic shoots, such as their Spider-Man one on Halloween or the Red, White, and Royal Blue-themed one for Est’s birthday.

Being part of a branded pair also implies a certain amount of “fan service”, which involves each of them posting photos or videos of the other, or being touchy or flirty at events (or in their Instagram comments). We’re not going to delve into what level of “fan service” is considered acceptable, because I don’t know these people, so I don’t know how much of this is staged and how much is genuine. Some pairs don’t lean too hard into it – like GMMTV’s Pond Naravit and Phuwin Tangsakyuen – and their popularity doesn’t suffer at all for it. So I like to think that, for the most part, these guys are just like that.

(I don’t have a link offhand, but Phuwin gave an interview a few months ago where he talked about how unique the relationship is between a branded pair. If I can track it down, I’ll link it. I thought I had it on my Tumblr, but apparently I do not.)

There’s a whole side discussion about fan service, fan expectations, and fans who go too far when it comes to branded pairs. (Some people are horrid.) I’m not going to get into that because there’s a lot that I don’t know about, since I mostly stay out of a lot of fan spaces. But basically, just be respectful to the actors. They’re still people.

(But seriously, considering Tumblr in particular’s obsession with whether or not costars or bandmates are dating, the fact that branded pairs aren’t more well-known is astonishing to me. I was in the 1D fandom, for crying out loud. Oh, so-and-so were cute in an interview together? That is a regular occurrence in Thai BL. These guys do couples’ TikTok trends. They go on vacation together. Look up videos of any of these guys on Songkran. Did you know that during a recent performance of Boun and Prem’s “Under the Moonlight”, which is the OST to Revamp, Boun spontaneously changed the lyrics to mention Prem by name, and I’m just supposed to be normal about that?)

With a branded pair, you know the outcome in advance. Shows like Only Friends may toy with other pairings, but in the end, the branded pair is going to end up together. (Although, occasionally, one member of a pair will show up on a series as an ex, or a rival love interest. We were all gleeful when Book showed up on My Magic Prophecy.) It does take some of the mystery out of a story (there’s a big discussion happening right now with Burnout Syndrome), but personally, I like knowing that a couple is going to be together. I think it’s the anxiety.

There’s a larger discussion among fans about the branded pair system. Some people like them, some people don’t. There’s concern that it stunts an actor’s growth to have them always working with the same onscreen partner. And some fans would just like to see them mix it up a bit. But I also know that some pairs prefer to work together, and I’d rather see them opposite each other in six shows than never see them at all.

Now, you’ll notice that I said Thailand primarily works with branded pairs. Not every BL actor is in a branded pair, and some actors have multiple partners before they settle on one. But in general, it’s more lucrative to be in a pair, so that’s what most actors do.

If anyone is interested, my favorite pairs are OffGun (currently my home and lock screens, as well as my desktop background), BounPrem, YinWar, and more recently MaxkyBas.

What’s with the names?

Thai names can be pretty long, and it’s a fairly common cultural practice to go by an official nickname. Usually it’s chosen by the parents. It’s almost always an English word. Professionally, it alternates; sometimes they use their full Thai name, sometimes they use their nickname as their first name and their Thai name as their surname. (Not everyone uses nicknames, though. For example, Phuwin doesn’t have one.)

In the Thai BL industry, there are quite a few people with the same nickname. In those cases, it’s pretty standard to refer to those actors with some kind of qualifier, the same way everyone in my freshman dorm had nicknames for the six guys named Jeff who lived in our building. It gets a little trickier when they work for the same company; there are three Ohms at GMMTV alone.

What shows should I start with?

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations. I sure rambled a lot about stuff that you probably weren’t that interested in. But now we’ve made it to the recommendations section, which I’d imagine is what most of you cared about.

There is such an extensive catalogue of BL shows, and I have barely scratched the surface of what’s available, so I’m sure someone out there will look at my recommendations and think, “She’s missing such-and-such!” True, I can only really make suggestions from shows that I’ve seen, but I also know what’s popular and what’s considered good even if I haven’t watched it myself. (And a lot of these are going to be GMMTV because that’s mostly what I’ve watched so far.)

For starters, if you enjoyed Heated Rivalry, I’d recommend starting your Thai BL journey with Bad Buddy. A lot of Bad Buddy fans watched Heated Rivalry and were like, “I understood that reference.” (I’m sure it wasn’t deliberate but wow there were a lot of similarities.) I’ve already written a full rec so I won’t say too much, but Bad Buddy hits a lot of the same notes as Heated Rivalry: “enemies” to lovers, secret romance, the same minimal amount of sports (in this case, rugby). There’s even a scene where they sit on the beach together and inch their hands closer to each other. Most importantly, it has what many fans consider to be one of the best first kisses in a BL. However, it doesn’t have the same amount of heat.

If you’re looking for something with a lot of heat, you would probably want to check out something like 4 Minutes, My Stubborn, Playboyy, or Love in the Air. Out of those, I have only seen Love in the Air, which is an OK show with leads who have amazing chemistry. The NC scenes are legendary. As for the other three, I haven’t seen the shows, but I’ve seen the gifsets. Do not watch around family.

If you’re looking for something more along the lines of Heartstopper, I’d recommend watching My School President, Thame-Po: Heart That Skips a Beat, or Only Boo!. All of these are sweet, mainly light-hearted shows that coincidentally center around music. Thame-Po and Only Boo! are actually set in the same universe, though there is virtually no crossover. Thame-Po came out of nowhere and really impressed me, especially because WilliamEst are a new pairing and William had never acted before. That is definitely a giggling while kicking my feet kind of show. And My School President broke containment when it aired. I remember that stars Gemini Norawit and Fourth Nattawat were interviewed by Teen Vogue, which is the only time I can think of that Thai stars made an American publication.

If you’re someone who likes low-stakes, slice-of-life romance, I’d recommend university BLs like We Are, Perfect 10 Liners, or Fourever You. All three of these shows are based on book series and feature multiple pairings that are all among friend groups. For the most part, the drama is pretty minimal, the couples are adorable, and the friendships are fantastic. I actually just watched Fourever You recently and have lost count of the number of re-watches that I’m on, because JohanNorth have me in a chokehold and haven’t let go yet. Likewise, I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen We Are; it’s honestly my comfort series.

If you’re someone who likes a little more drama in your romance, I’d recommend going with something like Love Mechanics or Until We Meet Again. Love Mechanics is a pretty polarizing show – you either love it or hate it – because it revolves around infidelity. I love it mostly because of YinWar. Until We Meet Again is a BL classic and a staple of the genre, but it also has the potential to be very triggering for people, so proceed with caution. The two main pairings are a couple from the past who took their own lives and their reincarnations. It’s pretty heavy and will make you cry.

If you’re someone who wants a really meaty plot, I’d recommend checking out Reset or Khemjira. Both hugely different plots but similar in terms of quality. The acting and writing for both is phenomenal. Reset is about an actor who is murdered at the prime of his career and wakes up 25 years in the past with the chance to change his life and make better choices. Khemjira is about a young man whose family is cursed trying to fight against the karma that will kill him before he turns 21.

If you’d like to watch something ridiculous, may I suggest Pit Babe or Suntiny. I haven’t seen either of these shows, but trust me, I’ve witnessed the crashouts online. Pit Babe was the first omegaverse BL with a suspicious lack of omegas. Suntiny involves a body switch.

Other shows that I’d recommend, which I have already written individual recs for, are Moonlight Chicken, Not Me, A Tale of Thousand Stars, Jack & Joker, and KinnPorsche. Also, any show that I review here on The Geekiary is worth checking out!

What are some of the more common tropes in Thai BL?

It’s a running joke that a lot of us do Bingo cards before a series starts because some of these are so commonplace that it’s rare not to see it. But here are some tried and true tropes you can pin your hopes on:

1. Someone, at some point, is going to bring out a guitar. They may or may not be good at it.
2. Someone is going to get caught in the rain, which will inevitably lead to a fever, which will inevitably lead to a sponge bath.
3. Sniff kisses! I originally thought this was them copping out on giving us actual kisses until I learned that this is a big thing in Thailand.
4. At least one of the characters will have a terrible parent, which may or may not be a plot point.
5. If it’s a university BL, at least one character is going to be an engineering major. Apparently, that’s a very gay industry in Thailand.
6. Random English t-shirts. I have no idea where they even find these shirts. Iconic ones include Pat’s “baseball mom” shirt from Bad Buddy and Mhok’s “fart proudly” from Last Twilight. Yes, those are real.
7. Beach trip! There’s got to be at least one.
8. The 11th episode “curse”. For shows with 12 episodes, episode 11 is generally where everything goes to hell, to then be resolved in the final episode.

Where can I watch Thai BL?

Honestly, if you have a good VPN that you can set to Thailand, most if not all shows can be found on YouTube. Keep in mind that, oftentimes, the version that’s on YouTube has been cut for TV.

If you don’t have a VPN and the show you’re looking for is either not on YouTube or it’s region-locked, the main streaming services where you’ll find Thai BLs are Tencent/WeTV, iQIYI, and Viki. Some shows are also starting to be streamed on Netflix. (I actually just yesterday saw a Tiktok where someone randomly came across Dare You To Death and was so excited about it. We love to welcome newbies to our ranks!)

World of BL and MDL will let you know where a particular show is streaming.

And, most importantly, these shows air weekly! Welcome back to the joy of overanalyzing episode promos for an entire week until the new episode airs and proves all your theories wrong. Come join us in spending days giggling over two guys being utterly smitten with each other, before watching a new episode where they’re even more smitten.

There are some series that I remember seeing all over Tumblr even before I was in the fandom. Like I remember the first kiss in Bad Buddy because it was everywhere. I remember the big twin reveal in Not Me. I wasn’t even watching BLs at all when these were airing. So you can join the rest of us BL girlies as we crash out over the latest episode of Burnout Syndrome or rage in frustration at Head 2 Head (OMG Van, get yourself together).

What about the lesbians?

Fear not! If you’re someone who wants to see more stories about queer ladies, Thai GL is an ever-growing industry. Admittedly, it’s not quite as robust as the BL industry (yet), but more and more series are produced each year, so there are finally multiple shows you can check out. I’m not as familiar with GL as I am with BL, but good shows to start with are Gap, Us, and Clairebell.

Go forth and watch!

In conclusion, the sheer amount and diversity of Thai BLs should be a great reason for people looking for queer romance to start watching. Whatever you like, there’s a BL for it. And that’s just Thai BL. There’s also, as I said, Korean BL, Japanese BL, Taiwanese BL… even China is starting to get in the game (though those are produced by companies outside of China, for obvious reasons).

But also, if Thai BL starts to gain more of an audience in the United States, they’ll start doing more events here! (Maybe not currently, but hopefully in the future.) I went to three fan meets in New York City this year, and I am constantly hoping that more will happen.

Now, does this mean that we don’t deserve more series like Heated Rivalry in the west? No, of course not. I’m all in favor of queer romance, and I would love to see more shows like Heated Rivalry or Heartstopper. I want more shows like Our Flag Means Death. Queer representation in Western media actually seems to be on the decline, with quality shows like Dead Boy Detectives continually being canceled after one season, and I really wish that we had a full catalogue of queer shows to turn to like they do in other countries.

But while we’re waiting for those to happen here, maybe check out some of the shows that are already out there.

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