Obdurate patient, Fluke embarks on gay role

A mercy errand for the sick patient might be in order. Maiyuu is still coughing and looking miserable, but won’t do anything to help himself.

Take medicine? Don’t be silly. He eats as much as ever, which is good, but won’t take anything to relieve the symptoms of his cold.

I will buy him some aspirin to relieve joint pain, and perhaps some fruit and chocolate to cheer his spirits.

I barely slept myself last night. ‘You are not getting a good sleep,’ I kept telling myself in my mind...so I didn’t.

In my last fitful dreams before dawn, a silver-haired librarian was chatting me up. She was about 60. Even worse, in the closing scenes of my dream I was chasing her through the library trying to get her attention.
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Oh, left, and Fluke

Scene at the hospital

Actor Fluke Pachara Thammon takes a co-starring role as a young gay in his first soap opera role.

In Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You (พรุ่งนี้ก็รักเธอ), Fluke is paired with actor Oh Anuchyd Sapanphong. 

In the opening episodes, which we saw this week, Oh is Phiwit, a patient with a sore leg, while Fluke (ฟลุค พชร ธรรมมล) is Kong, a therapist, given the unenviable task of caring for him.

Their relationship starts on a bad note, when young Kong accuses Phiwit of pinching his Mum’s purse.

Mum notices her purse is missing, and Kong, who has just seen Phiwit hobbling past with a walking aid, chases after him. He is sure he is the thief.

This being a soap opera, Kong does not merely catch up with Phiwit, but manages to knock him over. Bowled over by love, you might say.

Mum finds her purse in the toilets. She left it there herself. The drama is over, but Phiwit won't let Kong forget it. Phiwit likes to tease and torment Fluke, especially after the theft allegation, but both seem aware that they have sparked.

Boyfriend Maiyuu, who watched the show with me, is sure Phiwit and Kong know they are attracted to each other. The gay word never passes their lips, but the knowledge is there.

In real life, both actors are dogged by persistent rumours that they are gay. But never mind that.

In the soap opera, which I saw over two nights this week, they click as a couple. Oh is always enjoyable to watch no matter what role he takes on. Fluke – third place-getter in this year’s The Star talent quest - performs naturally, as if the cameras aren’t there.

It’s a great watch, and I’m sorry I can get to see it on television only on my nights off.

I might have to buy one of those TV magazine write-ups of the show to find out what happens.

In Bangkok, we can buy pulp fiction-like versions of lakorns (soap operas) on TV. They are like lengthier versions of the script, illustrated by pictures of the stars.

They are fiendishly complicated, with as many twists and turns as the soaps themselves, which puts me off. On the plus side, as befits trash fiction (the kind you find in cheap women’s magazines, for example), they are cheap.

Watch the first episode here.