The Bad Buddy fandom, by Rich Paschall
When a BL (boys’ love) or Yaoi series becomes popular, you can usually depend on the management of the lead actors to send them on personal appearances together. Often they are encouraged to act as if they are boyfriends just like in their TV series. Some actors will indeed overdo it to help perpetuate the illusion that they are together. When they are acting like boyfriends in public, many refer to this as “fan service.” They don’t have to hang out together in real life. They just pretend.
Since this adds to an actor’s popularity and therefore earning power, they may be all too willing to try to fool the public. Hugging, teasing, and making suggestive comments may be part of the show. Unfortunately, many fans can not tell if their favorite duo or “ship” are actually a couple or not. Some fans don’t care. It is all great fun, for a while anyway.
NOT ME, “Gun” Atthaphan far left with “Off” Jumpol
When a duo is popular, their management may pair them up in many TV series. GMMTV, the absolute leader in the quantity of Thai BL mini-series in recent years, has several pairs of actors they use together often. For example, from 2017’s Puppy Honey 2 and continuing on to this year Off Jumpol and Gun Atthaphan (#Offgun) have been paired over and over. Are they dating? Are they boyfriends? Does it matter? They have been successful in all their shows and personal appearances at keeping the public guessing.
We could point to many others. If you are a BL fan, you already know them. The GMM Love Out Loud concert every June brings many of the production company’s pairs together for the show celebrating diversity. Are any of the performers members of the LGBT community? They probably are not because they are the creation of directors, producers, and screenwriters.
#BadBuddySeries #PatPran
When the Thai mini-series Bad Buddy exploded onto the scene in late 2021, the main characters and the actors who portrayed them became an international hit. We have already examined the craftsmanship of all involved in the series when we discussed The Art of Bad Buddy Series. Pran (Nanon Korapat) and Pat (Ohm Pawat) were loved by fans, and the series grew in popularity as word spread of this forbidden love.
Our love for Pat and Pran turned into love for Ohm and Nanon. The real-life chemistry of the real-life friends was as strong as that of Pat and Pran. Fans could not get enough and by the time the series had ended, Ohm and Nanon were in demand everywhere. There were appearances on interview shows and reality shows. There were photo shoots and commercials. There were personal appearances and private events. The boys hosted a reality show (Ohm Nanon Upvel). They sang and danced. They had fan meetings and live shows all around Southeast Asia.
Since Ohm and Nanon had worked together before Bad Buddy and were already friends, followers were convinced they were not providing fan service to promote Bad Buddy. Most believed that what we saw was exactly who they were. This changed in early 2023 when some internet trolls were after Ohm for a mistake he made as a child. Did that pull the friends apart, or was GMM just protecting Nanon’s image by limiting his appearances with Ohm? Perhaps it was something else.
That storm has apparently passed but we have seen very little of Ohm and Nanon together. Ohm continues his acting work while Nanon focuses on his music career. GMMTV has even announced a series where Ohm will have a new onscreen partner. Will fans accept this new pairing or will they show disappointment that it is not #Ohmnanon?
Ohm Pawat (L) and Nanon Korapat
The remarkable part of the OhmNanon ship is that it has not died down or died out despite the lack of appearances by the duo. Search social media any day and you will find a lot of posts by the worldwide OhmNanon, #RedGreen fandom. We were treated to nonstop Ohm and Nanon appearances and shows in 2022 and early 2023 and fans still can not get enough. At least there is a massive amount of OhmNanon material available.
If Ohm and Nanon do not get to work together again, no matter the reasons, those shipping the duo will inevitably move on to others. Many do not want to hear that right now, but that is the way of the entertainment business. Fans should continue to support the individual efforts of Ohm Pawat and Nanon Korapat if there is to be no more #OhmNanon.
Episode 10 climax – Pat comforts Pran
However, we will never move on from “Pran” Parakul Siridechawat and “Pat” Napat Jindapat. We understood them. We recognized their struggles. We laughed at the humorous moments and cried with Pran in the dark times. When a tear rolled down Pat’s face as he tried to comfort Pran at the end of Episode 10, a tear rolled down all of our faces too. When we did not know what happened to the guys at the start of Episode 12, we screamed in frustration at our TV sets or computer screens. When the truth was revealed at the end, the fandom exhaled a sigh of relief.
Pat and Pran overcame hate and lies. They fell in love. They found a way to make it work and ultimately to be together. Just as they became family to one another, they became our family too. For us, they will always be the college students of the Bad Buddy Series and the bonus of 4 more episodes of Our Skyy2.
Ohm and Nanon
It is not unusual for viewers to have favorite movies and TV shows. The popularity of “oldies” channels and certain streaming services proves that we will watch our favorites time and again. I watch certain movies and TV series often. I have watched Bad Buddy at least six times and the Bad Buddy and Tale of Thousand Stars’ Our Skyy2 Episodes several times too. I am sure I will watch them again. The love of Pat and Pran will never grow old and I will always enjoy seeing them fight, argue, fall in love, overcome, and succeed.
See also: “The Art of Bad Buddy Series“, Clues, Hints, Irony, and Chemistry, SERENDIPITY, October 16, 2022.
“Giving It Your All,” ON Friend CIty, SERENDIPITY, August 27, 2022.
“Who We Are Now,” ON Friend City finale, SERENDIPITY, August 15, 2022.
“The Bad Buddy Phenomenon,” SERENDIPITY, September 2, 2022.
“The Character of Bad Buddy, “Developing Real People, SERENDIPITY, November 13, 2022.
“The Character of Bad Buddy – Part 2,” The Main Characters, SERENDIPITY, November 20, 2022.
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Categories: Entertainment, Friendship, Music, Rich Paschall, Television, Video
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
I do respect Nanon. I watched his other shows and just finished watching the movie version of My Precious. You can find my review of Dirty Laundry on here. I hope to see him in future projects.
I don’t think this article suggests I like one over the other. I have met them both and I think they are both great performers and gentlemen.
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Calling a troll to a victim that suffer from bullying is wicked. Ohm was young but in a age (13/14 years old) that he should know what he was doing. I believe he changed and want to be a better person. I really do. But do not underestimated the victim and his scars, specially when he is an autistic person. About the end of the CP, if this culture wasn’t so toxic, ppl would respect actors. Because that is what they are, actors. If one of them don’t want to make is career just by being in a CP, two friends had to split up to make toxic fans go away. Unfortunately, in the case of ON, they still being toxic.
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You put Ohm’s age at school older than any of the articles I have seen (10 to 12 depending on where you read it.) Even if it was a year or two older, he certainly paid for it. Bringing up the matter years later hurts the victim as well. Do you think he wants to hear about it again? Ohm said to the press that he once again contacted the person to apologize.
The level of toxicity on some social media platforms, especially X, is excessive. Both Ohm and Nanon are victims of it and the ones I referred to as trolls are attacking both of them. They need to get a life. Just to be clear, I am calling the toxic commentors on X trolls for following around Ohm, they do it to Nanon too. I am not referring to any victims that way.
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I thought with the end of the big studio system, that they weren’t as able to pressure actors as much. I guess I was wrong. They do the same in TV, too. You want to be on that show, you have to present yourself so that people believe you ARE that character.
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Southeast Asian countries have strict rules about the paparazzi but they allow studios to exploit actors instead. In many cases the actors’ management and the studio are the same company.
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being a young child star is very hard on them
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Many of these BL partnership are formed when the boys are in their teens or early twenties.
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I do feel a little sorry for young actors and musicians when they find themselves typecast by their management and fans. They may be willing to portray themselves a certain way for a time but eventually they may want to move on, change their style and show their new relationships. It’s not new, think of married popstars told to pretend they were single, or ordered to play music they didn’t like because it sold,or told ot to change their hair colour or style.
Social media makes it even harder for today’s stars. Whatever these young men do in the future I hope they will be allowed to be themselves.
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They are often pressured into being something they are not. Boys who appear in popular BL dramas are not allowed to reveal if they have a girlfriend. They must pretend to like their on screen partner whether they do or not. The social media atmosphere can be toxic if anyone suggests their favorites are not together.
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I think that’s sad. They should be able to have a personal life.
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Their management takes away their personal life and replaces it with things that make them money.
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