Remakes of Thai soap operas rule on the small screen. One has the opportunity to watch different productions of the same old stories and probably still get hooked as long as each TV drama offers its own hook.
Even without the TV station's rehash, the internet allows addicts to binge on the series at any time and replay as often as they like.
Whether online or from a flat screen, tonight Sai Lohit followers will watch the ending of the 1995 remake starring then 22-year-old Sornram Theappitak and 17-year-old Suvanant Kongying (now Suvanant Punnakanta) as Khoon Krai and Daorueng.
Sornram Theappitak and Suvanant Punnakanta as Peem and Wannaree in the Nam Soh Sai remake. photo:
Set in the late Ayutthaya era when the country was threatened by Burmese invasion, the historical drama conveys patriotism, which makes it suitable for screening during the national mourning period.
Since Nov 14, the epic produced by Dara Video has been Channel 7's prime time series broadcast every night from 8.30pm until 11pm, with high ratings while stirring discussion on social media.
There has already been three TV adaptations, not to mention movies, of Sai Lohit penned by novelist Sopak Suwan, and the fourth is in the making, again by Dara Video, whose casting places Saran Sirilak and Tisanart Sornsuek as the protagonists. This fourth version is expected to air some time next year.
Saran and Tisanart will certainly be compared to Sornram and Suvanant, whose chemistry made them the hottest acting pair in the mid-1990s.
Suvanant, a mother of two kids, paused acting for six years but came back this year in another Dara Video production. Taking the leading role as Wannaree, she is opposed by none other than Sornram, who plays Peem, in the fifth version of Nam Soh Sai, which is now being filmed.
Based on Krissana Asoksin's novel, the melodrama depicts a wife betrayed by her husband and best friend.
All eyes are on this remake of Nam Soh Sai -- whether Sornram and Suvanant still have the couple appeal to make it a hit or not, when aired next year.
