Keiko Takemiya's manga serial Kaze to Ki no Uta, first published in 1976, was groundbreaking in its depictions of sexual relationships between men ( ) 'I think everyone can accept … Thai society has changed in the last two years since Together With Me started,' he says.
Max Nattapol Diloknawarit, who plays a protagonist in the popular series Together With Me, has also witnessed a change in Thai society since the boy's love sensation took hold. 'Now young gay men can hold their hand in public and don't really need to hide their sexual identity,' he says. He says the steady stream of boys' love television shows and feature films are triggering fundamental changes in Thai society. This seems to be unthinkable 10 years ago,' says Thai political scientist Poowin Bunyavejchewin. 'I think male-male romance or male-male homoerotic relations has now become a new normal in Thai pop culture. In recent years the genre known as 'boys' love' has spread fast across South-East Asia and is reaching cult status in some parts of the West, despite the anxieties of conservative parts of Thai society.
Listen to the interview Why are Thailand's same-sex romantic dramas gaining a global following?
