Wakey wakey, Thailand. Look at what the winds are bringing in: Thai remakes of American series. How well is any of this is going to go down? So glad you asked, because we did our homework.
First came Ugly Betty Thailand on Thairath TV in March, which produced only a pipsqueak reception, despite it being the world's most reproduced series. But it was airing on a new digital channel, and for that reason Piyarat Kaljaruek, managing director of Kantana Evolution, is not pulling out his hair just yet.
"Considering how it's on a new channel, it's pretty good," says the man behind the grand plan of remaking the show in Thai. And now Piyarat is ready to launch Gossip Girl Thailand, which premieres on Thursday. "People were happy because they felt they were watching something that wasn't normal and the script offered more than Thai lakorn."
"The good point about these farang series is you'll see many characters but you don't know them yet," he adds. "There isn't anyone completely good or bad — that screams all the time — and that's an appeal."
Without a doubt, Western series have long been admired for their unpredictable plot lines and well-rounded characters. Being packed with the kind of freshness and modern vibe that the local scene desperately needs, it is expected that the trend is also one that the "Exact-Scenario" camp has also jumped towards. Sopitnapa Chumpani, co-producer of The O.C. Thailand, reveals that her two-year project is seeing the final episodes being wrapped up and will go on air soon enough on Channel One.
Although the original series about a teenage boy from the bad side of town who gets adopted into a rich Californian family first aired almost a decade ago, Sopitnapa does not think the story will ever get old.
"All these series like 90210 and Gossip Girl have always been watched by Thais, with office women hunting for the DVDs you see on the streets. There's a market that loves it, so we thought why not just do it ourselves?"
She's fully aware that it may not be to everyone's taste: "You serve fancy food to some people and they'll love it. But some won't, so you need to find the middle. Things like slapping and kissing still sell, but it's about making it more modern and packaged in a better way."
Unfortunately, it's likely for Thai audiences we'll see a more sanitised version of The O.C. and Gossip Girl, thanks to the censors omitting the raunchy bits and Channel 3's policy of maintaining its "family channel" image. Not that Sopitnapa was very keen on encouraging the nation to get into a drug-pumping frenzy like the inhabitants of Orange Country.
"We're not focusing on the drugs and booze part because Thais aren't as open about it as farangs," she explains. "We don't want to give ideas about things that are bad, but we are going all out with the hot love scenes and mindlessness of reckless youth."
It might sound like watching the Harry Potter movies without the wizardry, but both showrunners insist there is still a lot of drama and plot to take in. However, on Piyarat's side, the series is accompanied by the launch of the 2nd Screen app, which allows the viewers to watch the full uncensored version, while also playing games, chatting and buying the very outfits the stars are wearing onscreen from their phones.
"The way people watch TV has changed, because it's now whenever and wherever," explains the producer. "They aren't in front of the TV anymore and if the content is truly good, people will find it and follow."
The O.C. Thailand's Ryan and Marissa, Chaiyapol Poupart and Marie Broenner.
After the first teaser of Gossip Girl brought negative reactions on social media, Piyarat even reshot all of the episodes. With Kulp Kaljaruek of Kantana Motion Pictures, newly-appointed at the helm of directing, the completely re-shot GGT is flaunting a more cinematic quality, as opposed to the previously released lakorn-like teaser.
For instance, the first shot when party-girl Serena arrives in Bangkok includes her walking feet, the city's skyline, a side way view of Serena and finally, the front view of her — as opposed to the straight shot of her front in the first version.
How well the culture factor is tweaked in is also something to look forward to, as Sopitnapa says it was one of the most challenging steps.
"It took a long time explaining our manners and way of life to Warner Bros. so they understood the changes we would have to make — like the characters not putting their feet on tables. We had to really interpret what teens would do in the summer, because in Thailand, kids spend much of their time in tutoring schools. In our version of The O.C., it's about the hisos and their life around the Chao Phraya River, with the delinquent hero coming from Pattaya."
On Gossip Girl's side, Piyarat is aware that Christmas carolling is just plain out of place here, while festivals like Thanksgiving have been replaced with the Thai Father's Day. All of the leads may look like farangs too, but he insists that was pure coincidence, due to the fact that the more Thai-looking people that came to cast had no dimension to their acting, with mannerisms fitting to a typical Thai lakorn, compared to their Eurasian counterparts.
"Being perfect means Serena must also be a blue-blood in Thai culture," he adds. "Of course, she can't be a princess because that would make it likay [theatrical], but we're going to star real-life royalty in the debutante scene."
Whether the remake trend will sink or swim, at least Piyarat will get to raise the bar.
"Deep down, I want to trigger people in the industry to know what the world standard is and that we can't just stick to the old format that sells. I see this as a stepping stone towards producing original, premium, HBO-level content in the future." Not without changing what audiences are conditioned to first, of course.
"We need to change the viewing habits of audiences first," he envisions. "The life cycle of lakorn here is very short, meaning it must be quickly made so it can go on air quickly. That usually means the quality and money that goes into it is terrible as we think it's going to only air once anyway. With a longer airing duration, we can have higher productions that can be rewatched again and again."
Parting words from both camps? Pretty please just watch it first, before the shredding begins. The O.C. Thailand will be on screens soon, but the pilot of Gossip Girl Thailand will air on Thursday on Channel 3 at 11.15pm. Whether it's going to turn out good or bad, there will be much to talk about. And you know you love that.
Piyarat Kaljaruek, producer of Gossip Girl Thailand.
Sopitnapa Chumpani and Pimmada Boriruksuppakorn, producers of The O.C. Thailand.
