Ton Hon Chon Tee (2020)

First love never dies

First that catch my attention is opening of this series, in my opinion is the BL version of Stephen Chow's Royal Tramp part2 there is scene when Brigette Lin character poisoning by her enemy and the cure is she must having sex with a men. The opening also lead me to another hint, this series could be related with Chinese.
Thonhon is the only male child in his family and he is Chinese Descents. Like most Chinese and Chinese descents, having male child means continuing family name.
Thonhon is very masculine men. There is no hint that he is gay. Many people thought that Thonhon is homophobic but in my opinion he is not homophobia and he confused with his situation. With his look, I guess a lot of gay men seducing him. When Thon eat noodle with Chon, there is gay men willing to pay them to have 3 way sex. Thon mindset all gay men is feminine and seducing other men even though he doesn't know very well about the person for having sex. But on the other side, his mind is raging because he like Chon. It mean he is gay. But gay on Thonhon mind portray as feminine and (apologize) slut.
The final episode scene of Chon mom scold Thon father remain me another Stephen Chow movie, Hail The Judge and Flirting Scholar
It is clear that Chonlatee is like Thonhon. But my biggest question mark for me is, what makes Thon brave enough to broke all detention to be with Chon. He get jealous when Na start to moved with Chon but for me that isn't reason to sacrifice everything to be with Chon. Also I didn't see any Chon action to prove that he love Thon. It was Thon all the time to protect Chon while Chon almost doesn't do anything except he wash all Thon cloth including Thon underwear.
For me, Thon and Amp kissing scene is not cheat. Thon here proving that he doesn't have a heart again to Amp and kiss is doesn't matter for him. He dump Amp because she is not good for him not because he broken heart and make him traumatic in relationship again with women. This kiss was in public place with a lot of their friends can confirm that there is nothing between them. In my opinion, that not cheat at all. Chon is too rush to make conclusion and move from Thon. But...yeah, this is drama. And when this scene make you angry it mean their acting and the director are successful to deliver that scene.
One character that stealing our attention at this series is Miriam. I am glad not found any comments mention GMM romanticizing prostitution. At first they met Miriam, she stand out than other girls. Miriam was lucky enough Ai and Ni helping her out from call-house. And she prove that she is good person despite her job.
So, it is clear enough why Miriam accept the offer become surrogate mother for Thon and Chon. She need money. We don't have any solid background about Miriam but one thing for sure she became call girl because she need money. Is Miriam clever? Yes, Miriam is smart and clever, she still virgin and she is call girl meaning she use her brain to trick client so the client not touch her but the client not complain about it.
Don't confuse with surrogacy storyline. According to Thailand law, surrogate mother can be the legal guardian for the baby. That why, Chon say he chose become godfather for the baby, it has same level as parent but not strong as father or mother. I guess Chon still not comfortable to call as mom or Thon and Chon need to have discussion about who is the father and the mother on birth certificate. This is the first series that come to talk about surrogacy and adoption for gay couple after Thailand house of representatives pass the law to allow same sex couple register their union. With that law, same sex couple be able to adopt children, claim inheritance rights and jointly manage assets such as property.
This series is not perfect or great, even this series is not my favorite. Some aspects aren't developing well. There is scenes is new at BL series like the opening scenes also storyline like Miriam, surrogacy and adoption. While Thon action is questionable and Amp storyline is boring for me. This series is not perfect nor bad either.

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I tried, i really did.

I tried to watch this drama, i really did. I must've started Episode 1 at least 5 times and watched all the way through to episode 3. While my review is not based on the drama as a whole since it's still airing, i'm gonna go based on what i've seen and honestly, I'm not crazy about it. I...was never interested in this drama from the get-go. Based on the trailers it seemed like a very generic and basic storyline. I really only started because of TopTap.

Like I stated earlier, I really only started this drama because I love TopTap <3 I thought their couple did a good job, the comedy aspect was definitely there. I laughed so much but I don't know whether it was the show itself, the premise or how ridiculous I thought all of it was. I like Khao and Plod too but they had 0 chemistry, plus I'm a huge SunMork bias and i'm hoping they get another drama together, so maybe that affected my view of this drama? Plus, i've seen so many other great dramas this year that this one fell waaaaay below the line.

Already from the first 3 episodes I could tell I wasn't gonna finish this. I really don't know where they went wrong, how about how homophobic I felt Ton was? That alone really turned me off. Maybe they might develop his character and he'll somehow have a 'a-ha' moment of him 'discovering himself' and falling in love with Chon but I really, don't care.

I'm sorry if my review is all over the place but that's how i felt about the drama too. Maybe down the line, I could eventually get myself to finish it, but I'm gonna sit this one out for now.

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This series is just like any other boy love series. If you're in for the cliché, go for it.

Do not read any other review. They are spoilers and put things in a negative light and are contradicted if you pay attention to the story. You'll need to watch the full thing to understand better. Watch the series yourself and you'll get your own opinions.

I honestly loved this story. The love between the two main characters and the way their personal backstories tie everything together. I just can't get enough of it. All the missing holes gets filled in the last two episodes and it will seriously take most of the negative thoughts you had away. I wish I could say more without spoiling.

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Watch it for the side characters and comedy........ Story can go to hell and burn.......

*This review will have a lot of spoilers, cause imma rant, share my experience while watching the show, and talk about the good parts of the show as well.*

I'm going to start with the story, cause...boooyyyyy did it have some major issues with writing, directing and pacing. The issues taken up by the show in the earlier episodes were very interesting and got me all hyped up cause, we had a gay protagonist who had a crush on his childhood friend who is homophobic (seems more of internalized homophobia), who was living with a closeted gay couple......I mean coommmmeeee onnnnn *some serious eyerolling* IT COULD HAVE BEEN AN AMAZING SHOW. See the thing is I don't usually expect shows to talk about social issues, but if u want to take up such topics like internalized homophobia, coming out to friends, discovering your sexuality, then just brush upon those plot like most of the BL shows do, you can't rely your plot around such topic and fuck up majorly with writing these scenes, cause if not written and directed well they completely fall flat on their face and the viewers end up not feeling SHIT when these scenes appear on the screen. The show's plot majorly focused on some of these issues and the show was really unsuccessful in conveying those emotions in the viewers, hence the bad reviews we are seeing. I'm not saying don't touch such subjects, I'm just saying with such an amazing concept for plot mixed with the comedy (which was quite good), this had so much potential but was a let down because of the writing......I mean HHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA cause some parts of the story were such a let down. I'll list the let downs for you -

Ai and Ni - just don't get me started on the plot of Ai and Ni, sooooo much potential storyline wasted, cause there was so much build up, with many conversations about it and even bring Miriam into the picture to hide it. I was looking forward to the coming out to be funny and effectively deliver a closure at the same time, but the whole scene was a let down and the whole scene had no depth to it, it just felt like some random filler scene. Another big complaint I have is WHY .WERE .THE .KISSING .SCENES .NOT .INCLUDED, I don't know what the problem was, if you cannot show the kissing scenes, don't include it in the script and awkwardly point the camera in a different or just awkwardly cut the scene.

Ton - I'm pretty sure assessing Ton's character from the show, it seems like most of the homophobia he had was internalized because we found out in the final episode that he liked chon since his childhood and his parents moved away so that their son forgets chon. So, having a such a homophobic father and being told that being gay is wrong, would have caused a lot of confusion in ton, as he had feeling for a boy. They tried to show hints about it using, scenes where Ton was watching SOTUS, 2gether etc.. They could have shown the development of Ton in a much better way rather than using Na as a fake rival to kinda forcefully make ton accept his feelings for chon which did not work by the way, I think the convo he had with Na about liking a guy had a much deeper effect on Ton than the stupid making ton jealous plot. Moreover this realization of feelings plot was soooooo fast.....

Toxic characters - Amp, Neung and Ton's dad, If I could I would have drowned all the three characters.......I'm so tired of the ex-girlfriend plot, I'm ready to YEET any other show with plot from my watchlist and there are many, it is such a cliched plot, it needs to buried forever cause it has been used too much to create problems for the main couple in BL shows. Neung was just an unneeded character, he literally had no role, neither was the attempted rape necessary cause lemme tell u it didn't do shit to alter the story in anyway, feels like it was he was there to just piss me off to another level......Now coming to the major ass of the show the dad, he shouldn't have been allowed to have kids, he thinks of them as baby making machines. See I don't mind a homophobic dad plot, it is getting to the overuse point too.......keeping that aside, considering it was a comedy show I was expecting a lot, but definitely not what they gave us. The moral of the whole dad plot was "Give your parents a kid then you can date whoever the freak you want", like seriously, I banged my head against the wall after that scene, that was literally the worst thing in the whole show for me.

Now, coming to the next problem with the story - the pace, it was all over the place, the episodes in the start were very well paced and the story moved at a steady pace.....but all the major chunk of the story was then crammed into the last 3 or 4 or so episodes.....It went from a steady pace of 30 to 100. It would have been much better if they had stuck to the pace and increased the episodes or you know had a slightly quicker pace from the start cause nothing much happened in the first few episode ( they were funny as hell, but the story didn't progress much.

Now that I'm finally satisfied with my rant, let's talk about the GOOD PARTS of the show.....

Chon - I liked Chon's character a lot, he is an absolute QUEEN, I like the way he doesn't take shit from amp or anyone for that matter. I feel like someone should award him for his skill of throwing water at people XDXD. He knew what he wanted from a relationship. He also knew what he could achieve and what he can't. I also like the way he made things between him and Na very clear from the beginning. (It was sad to see Na being turned down but it was the right thing to do). He did commit the crime of being a part of the making Ton jealous plot.

Na, Pang and Chon's mom - These three have become my most favorite side characters in the BL universe.
Na is a very very very good boy....*Pats Na**Hugs Na*, He was I think one of the most well written characters of the show, in the sense that we could relate to him and understand him and his actions well. He was so sincere with his feeling for Chon and even helped Ton realize about his feeling which was so much better than the jealousy plot *slaps forehead*. He stood up for chon, protected and him and cared for his happiness. Na deserves all the happiness there is <3<3<3.
Pang was such a good friend, being there for Chon, whenever he needed help or a shoulder. Being a confidant, cheerleader and guardian for chon.
Chon's mom, she currently is on top of all the mom's I loved in BL shows. She was so mature. She understood her son, gave him some kickass advice. She corrected him when he was wrong (when Chon kissed Ton without his consent). And consoled him when he was sad. She even fought for his relationship and respect. She is a SUPER MOM and I stan her......<3<3. One issue she was involved was the whole baby thing in the last episode....I'm gonna pretend that didn't happen cause I'll get the urge to slam my head against the wall again.....BAAMMMM.

Ton and Chon moments - Ton and Chon's cute moments once they started dating was very very cute and satisfying to watch. Ton caring for Chon was tooooo cuteeeeeee....<3<3. Ton's confessing on the foot bridge in the sea was very romantic...<3<3

Actors - I personally think the actors did a wonderful job. From the Protagonists, side characters to Amp *rolls eyes*(can't help it I just hate her). I love the cast, the casting team did an amazing job all the actors fit their characters well. Since, it was a comedy a little overacting was expected and it was delivered perfectly by the actors. Honestly the actors deserved a better script.

Comedy - The comedy in the show was bang on, I laughed a lot throughout the show, especially in the earlier episodes.....The comedy made the the show bearable. I absolutely enjoyed the dialogues and timing of the comedy.

So, finally overall it was a hmmmmmmmm ok kinda show, it had some fun part and some sucky part.
Will I rewatch the show, probably not.
Do I recommend the show, Yes, for the cute moments between Ton and Chon, comedy and the side characters. It had the potential to be a gem, but alas.......

*catching breath* Sorry that I rambled on for too long ToT.......If u read till the end...Thank you so much for reading :-) Do share your opinions.
Lots of Love......Byeeeee.......

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Episode 9

The story was really good for the first 8 episodes but then shit hit the fan really hard at episode 9 when it began taking short cuts while holding onto a string of what made the series great.

Thon kissing Amp was a terrible decision since it was cheating. And I honestly liked how Thon was trying everything to apologize, and it was going amazing with Chon pointing out his hypermasculine bullshit. But then it went downhill when Thon was talking about having always like Chon and then being taken back over the anchor tattoo.

Like no!!!!!

I personally wouldn't have Chon never forgive Thon. If the kiss meant something, HELL YEAH! But it didn't. The real problem was how Thon was raised by his homophobic sexist father.

If the writers had mixed in the plot of the parents figuring out and Thon still apologizing, it could've set up a great story of Thon truly realizing his errors, fighting for his love by improving himself through like listing all the things he's done in the past, add what he now knows is correct, and display his understanding before Chon. And his friends could've helped him along the way by setting up camps at Chon's backyard, watch hypermasculine movies out there, have Thon making food for Chon to eat upstairs.

Also Nam could've addressed about how being cheated on was like for her, how it was different compared to Chon's because those men never bothered to show true change, but Thon was trying his absolute best. Its difficult to trust again, and Chon didnt need to all the way at first. Just give a little opportunity for Thon to prove himself.

Something like this.

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Muy buen drama

No entiendo mucho las otras reseñas, pareciera que no entienden la trama. Para comprenderlo hay que hablar que en Asia, y Tailandia no es la excepción, la homofobia es muy grande y además se le pone un peso muy grande a los hijos quienes deben ser de tal forma para no deshonrrar a los padres. La homofobia real es la del padre de Torhon, lo de este es una forma de lidiar con sus verdaderos sentimientos y lo que su familia le carga sobre sus hombros. Por lo que he leído de Tailandia me animaría a decir que es bastante real esta situación, como así el hecho de que muchas parejas se arman por comodidad (o conveniencia) y no por amor real. De lo que si peca (al igual que todos los BL Tailandeses) es de poner un universo gay muy amplio en familiares/amigos/compañeros cercanos, de los protagonistas. La serie hasta ahora (Capítulo 6) está bien tratada, con humor y actuaciones creibles (cuando se entiende el contexto social de donde viene, muy diferente del de occidente).

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Mixed Emotions

I just finished watching the last episode. When the trailer of this series came out I was so excited to watch it because it kinda gave the impression that it's a cute-sweet-romantic vibe plus the fact that I love and adore all the actors in this series. Now don't get me wrong, I still think that it is a cute-sweet-romantic vibe, it's just lacking something. I felt it was rushed to the point that the episodes were not seamless at all. Let me get down to why I rated this series as such.

STORY: So I rated this 7/10. I think the storyline was promising. Only if there weren't that many awkward cuts. It wasn't seamless. It's like grabbing bits and pieces from different storylines and putting them all together just to create a series. It would have been nice if they had a clear definition between a homophobe and someone who's not sure of his/her sexuality. It was my impression that Tonhon was a homophobe but in actuality, he wasn't. It just came out like he was. There were a lot of twists in this series some of which were in the last episode.

ACTING/CAST: Rated this 10/10. I loved all the actors in this series. I've seen them in different BL series that I have watched. I'm glad that Khaotung was given the main lead role. I first saw his acting in 2gether and I really thought that he deserved a main role so when I saw the trailer I was so excited for him. Pod's acting in Dark Blue Kiss was far better than in this series. The jealousy kind-a-thing doesn't work for him in this episode because it came out as though he's a homophobe, when in fact he was just jealous. My favorite BL couple Mike and Toptap are still adorable. I wish that they would have their own BL series. Their acting is very much at par being the supportive, naughty, mischievous kind of friend.

MUSIC: I love the OST that's why I rated it 10/10.

REWATCH VALUE: I was at a loss for this one but I rated it 5 because I think for some people it'll be rewatchable. We all have different opinions, different personalities, and different likes. For my taste though, I'd probably rewatch it when I'm bored or if I want to see Mike and Toptap's cuteness again. So it's 50/50.

OVERALL: I'd give this series 8/10 because there were lessons learned. Lessons intended not specifically just for the BL community but for all of us. Learning that whether you were just dared to do it or forced to do it. Cheating is still cheating. If you are in a relationship don't put yourself in a situation where you may be labeled as a cheater even if you had no intentions of doing so. Apologize, don't makeup excuses even if you were forced to do something. Man up to it and just apologize. We make our own choices. Regardless of the situation, know and understand that you made a mistake and apologize, it's not hard to do. As parents, we can't force our children to become who they're not. Parents should be their guide, yes, but it doesn't necessarily mean that parents are always right. Nowadays, producing an heir can be done in so many ways. Why are there some people who are so adamant about it?

This series has a lot of good things and a lot of not so good things as well. It could have been executed nicely. The story could have been refined even more. Overall, with the cast that this series had, the storyline could have been better.

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Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, but I'm not sure that it means that it was good, either.

Things I loved: Na and Miriam.

Miriam was a joy and lit up the screen every single time she was in a scene. She made me laugh a lot. This is the second thing I've seen Jan in and the second thing she's been a highlight of.

And Na was hands down my favorite character in the entire drama. He stole the show from his very first scene. I have to say that I have not given Neo enough credit even though I have seen him in several things by this point. But after watching this I am a fan. Na was a general blast and also an unexpected sweetheart, and I shipped him with Chon to an insane degree. Now I want a Khaotung/Neo pair up because their chemistry is very good and I think it would be fun. Maybe they can have angry makeouts in Only Friends? As a treat to me specifically.

Things I liked: Chon, Prang, Ai & Ni, Chon's mom

This was a fairly decent friend group. I liked that Ai and Ni understood and stuck by Ton even when he didn't especially deserve it, and I love how fierce Chon's mom was in defending her son, and how little she cared that he was gay. Petition to keep casting Khao in roles where he has a great relationship with his mom, please.

One thing I was a fan of was that Chon had a spine in him. So often when you get these pining romances the piner lets themselves be pushed around for love, and it always annoys me. I like that Chon didn't let himself get walked all over. Good.

Although…to be honest, I felt like both Ton and Chon were kind of nothing characters. Oh, both actors did what they could with what they were given (I have never seen Pod in anything else, but Khaotung I know is excellent so I blame neither of them for this), but they just…weren't given all that much. Despite the story being about them, I honestly felt that characters like Miriam and Na got way more development. Hell, even Ton's sis and her hubby got more than I felt Chon and Ton had. It was especially annoying in Ton's case, because there was a lot to work with there and I do think, based on what I was given, that the actor could have handled a more nuanced character. I feel like the main problem with this drama is that it didn't know how to walk the line between comedic an serious, and a lot of potentially good story was lost in the process.

Things I did not like at all: the attempted SA plot and the way that it happened and then was never brought up again (and also the way that Amp was somehow made out to be worse than the dude who actually tried to SA Chon, like he gets a free pass on that because oh hey, she really is a homophobe after all. No, sorry, both of them were vile) and the whole dad and babies thing. I also kind of hated that the second dad gets his way he's suddenly all remorse and solicitude.

The last thing that really rubbed me the wrong way was Ton kissing Amp as some sort of proof that he's still a man or something? What? Not only was it completely inconsiderate of Chon and his feelings (and good on Chon for directly calling him out on that part because what the hell, my dude?), it's also completely nonsensical. I get that it all tied back to Ton's ideas of what makes a man and the way he was raised by daddy-o, but again, the show did nothing with it. It felt like in the end it was just there to cause some drama and give Ton a reason for his big "I've loved you all along" confession, and honestly there are other ways we could have gotten there. As it was it just made Ton look like a meathead who would go around cheating whenever someone challenged his precious manhood with no regard for what it might do to his relationship.

I can't say I regret watching it, but I can see why so many people really don't love this show, ha. For me it was middling, and the problems outweigh the good points, so I probably will never find myself with the urge to rewatch. I am not what I would call a connoisseur of the best BL - I have been known to adore trash and I make no apologies for it - but this one just didn't manage to hit enough correct notes for me to remember it with fondness, nor enough bad ones to make me mad enough to remember it for that reason.

In summation, this is a show that exists, and I'll probably forget it in an hour or two.

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Serious social commentary wrapped in comedy wrapped in lakorn

Did all the reviewers panning this for depictions of bad behaviour fail to realise how many of them were called out, whether in the dialogue, reactions, context or consequences? Sometimes the call outs were gentle, like Chon's maa telling him something he did was wrong, sometimes they were bold, like Chon's maa in the last episode. Always appropriate to the context.

It's a clear critique of toxic masculinity in several forms, including misogyny, objectification, peer pressure, outdated attitudes and of course homophobia. It's full of good messages and positive examples too.

This deserves to be watched with more attention than most here seem to have given it, including those who see it only as light-hearted fluff. It's laugh out loud funny, with the warm, open-hearted generosity of Thailand's best comedy, but it's also delivering some important messages.

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Character opinions

Most of the characters were bland, especially Amp.
(Don’t get me wrong, the acting and cast were amazing, it’s just how the characters were portrayed.)
(This is just my opinion.)

Ton:
During the scenes where Na is “hitting” on chon, they try to make it as look as if Ton is jealous, and just wants to push Na away from Chon. But really, Ton just sounds angry, like he isn’t fond the the queer people.
He isn’t willing to learn, he sounds and acts very narcissistic and kinda brainless. from what I’ve seen in his character, the way he says homophobic things, assumes, etc.
The last episodes he FINALLY realizes he likes men, wow. WHAT A SHOCKER. it’s like only portrayed in that span of minutes he finally realizes he likes Chon, isn’t that annoying? Like of course, we all knew Ton like pd Chon, but Ton didn’t realize until the LAST episode. Which is like WTH???

Chon:
he’s okay, I liked his character in the first few episodes until he got a little annoying.
The way he kinda forced Ton into his sexuality is… ehhhh… ya’ know..
Overall, he started off good, but kind of eh at the end, he isn’t bad, but he’s aight.

Nai & Ai:
Don’t even get me started on these two, the fact that they have been standing there, listening and watching Ton say these homophobic things, not saying anything to stop him.
They literally don’t do crap when their friend (keep in mind, CLOSE friend,) are saying all these homophobic things.
Therefore, toxic.

Amp:
She sucks and no one can rlly tell me other wise,
Very bland, she’s like almost all girl antagonist.

Na: he’s the only character I liked, honestly. Although at first impression he was overconfident, may self centered, etc. and of course, he was planning on flirting/hitting on Chon. but as we go along with Na, he isn’t a bad person he even encouraged Ton.

Miriam:
I’m so sorry, but I honestly forgot about her character, I mean she definitely game some plot, but personally for me she was forgettable. And don’t even get me started with that end twist, not cool.
Overall, she’s a mediocre character, i eh-like her.


Overall, most of the characters were sucky. The plots, plot twist, story etc were handled poorly.
Would not recommend at all.
I literally got bored after 4 episodes. I can’t believe I powered through all 10 episodes.

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