Kong, Phiwit: Seize the moment while you can

Fan art from the show

Time for a catch-up with the aspiring gay romance between Kong and Phiwit, played by actors Fluke Pachara Thammon (ฟลุค พชร ธรรมมล) and Oh Anuchyd Sapanphong, in the Channel 5 soap opera, Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You (พรุ่งนี้ก็รักเธอ).

The two young men are drawing closer as the weeks go past, though in the most recent episode Phiwit tells Kong that while he’d like to love him more whole-heartedly, he’s unable to do so.

Phiwit knows his own heart better than Kong, who is younger.

He has been chasing Kong from the start, but knows he can only go so far.

Kong loves Phiwit in spite of himself, but is a long way from finding the courage to express those feelings openly.

He palms off Phiwit’s playful advances. Phiwit takes the rejections with a good heart.

So why can’t Phiwit, despite his greater self-knowledge, push things a little further?

The answer might lie in himself – despite his surface bravado, he cares for Kong’s feelings too much to risk scaring him.

Or it could also lie in a complicated web of family ties which propel this TV drama.

Both are related to the main characters.

Kong is younger brother to Keaw, who has a stormy relationship with her former boyfriend, Por, now her boss.

Since their breakup, Por has been overseas and back, and found a new girlfriend.

He still loves Kaew, but can’t bring himself to admit it.

As her boss, he treats her harshly, as if he is punishing her for his own past mistakes.

Kaew puts up with his brutal treatment, because she remembers what they had together.

Phiwit, meanwhile, is younger brother to Phipat, a poisonous snake of a man whose wife, years before, killed Kaew’s sister.

At first, Kong resents Phiwit because of his brother’s actions.

Phiwit says he and his brother may be related but are they still different people, so he should put his bitterness to one side.

From last night's episode:

Phiwit is a speed car driver, but takes ill before a big race. Kong hears from a third party that Phiwit is unwell.

Fearing bad news, Kong hurries to the track, where he finds a smouldering wreck of a car, and rescue workers at the scene.

He tries to get past the rescue workers to inspect the damage, as he fears Kong has crashed his car.

They hold him back. He implores with them to let him through.

To his relief, Phiwit appears in the crowd.

Fortunately, he had asked someone else to drive for him. It’s his stand-in driver who was involved in the accident, not him.

"Did you think it was me in the car?" asks Phiwit.

Kong won't say.

"It could have been me in that car. I pulled out of the race at the last moment.

"You never know what might happen to any of us. If you want to do something, you should do it while you still have the chance," Phiwit tells Kong animatedly.

Meaning? If you love someone, seize the moment while you can.

He counsels Kong about his sister Kaew, and her troubled relationship with her boss Kong.

"Por and your sister Kaew still love each other, but 'love' and those two can't go together.

"Their story is not much different from ours.

"I am not that different from Por," he says.

Meaning?

We feel for each other ,but while I want to love you, I can’t.

Rescue workers race past, knocking Kong into Phiwit’s arms for a lengthy man hug.

Earlier:

An ageing ladyboy/cook who lives with Kong’s family knows that Kong has formed an attachment with Phiwit.

Kong, however, can’t admit it to himself. "You can run away from many things in this life, but you can’t run away from your heart," she says.

Phiwit visits Kong at his home, but Kong, hearing him approach, hides in the garden. The ladyboy cook meets him at the gate instead.

Phiwit suspects Kong is hiding in the shrubbery, so speaks loudly enough for him to hear.

"I am not one who gives in easily. I am determined to win, no matter what."

Ostensibly, he is talking about his next car race, but really he is talking about his relationship with Kong. He will win over Kong’s heart, no matter what.

Hiding in the bushes, Kong smiles. He knows how Phiwit feels towards him, and admires his courage. He might even hope that Phiwit’s wishes come true.

Preview scene from tonight's episode:

Kong’s mother is admitted to hospital (a recurring event in this soap opera). Kong is crying. Phiwit, who turns up at the hospital, takes him in his arms.
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At the popular Pantip webboard, diehard fans of the budding relationship between Kong and Phiwit have assembled videoclips of their key scenes together. Watch them here [link harvested - it died]

Nothing like this couple’s gay love affair, tame as it may seem to some, has aired on Thai TV before.

Good things can’t last forever. We should make the most of it while we can.

PS: Google's Adsense bot has seen fit to withhold advertising from this page. Message to Google: It's just make-believe, and meant in fun. Get a life!

Kong, Phiwit share a hug

Actors Fluke Pachara Thammon and Oh Anuchyd Sapanphong, who share a hug in an upcoming scene from the Channel 5 soap opera, Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You (พรุ่งนี้ก็รักเธอ).

It’s the closest Fluke's character Kong, and Oh's character Phiwit, have come to acknowledging the feelings they have for each other.

For weeks, they have baited each other, teased at each other’s loyalties, dared each other to say how the other really feels.

Finally, we have it, though their embrace comes about by accident rather than design. This is a Thai soap, after all - anything else would look too gay.

Phiwit is a racing car driver. An accident occurs on track. Rescue men race past, knocking Kong into his arms, the first time they have come into such close contact, after weeks of pushing each other away.

Feisty Kong resists the embrace of Phiwit, but Phiwit refuses to let him go. Kong starts to enjoy the moment despite himself, and rubs Phiwit's shoulder.

They hold the embrace for what seems an age, before finally drawing back. They give each other a searching gaze.

I enjoyed that...did you?

I need you. Do you feel the same way?

Watch the scene here, from the 2.24 mark.

The clip also contains background scenes of producer Boy Takonkiat Weerawan directing the pair, before their big embrace.

Boy Takonkiat Weerawan, in black, directing the hug scene  

Earlier, Oh and Fluke (ฟลุค พชร ธรรมมล) are interviewed about their roles. ‘Boy told me to imagine that Oh is a girl, so the scenes where we have to draw close feel natural,’ said soft-spoken Fluke.

Boyfriend Maiyuu, who watched the clip, stormed out of the room when he heard those words.

Dear Fluke, why not just say: 'Boy told me to use my imagination.' That's what actors are supposed to do, after all.

Fluke is young. The media taunts him about his supposed gay tendencies, which must hurt. Allow the young man some face-saving fake moments.

Maiyuu has a romantic streak. Despite those fake words by Fluke, I am sure he is as excited as I am about the upcoming gay scene.

The soap airs again tonight.

The Kong/Phiwit hug is moving, and takes their relationship forward another step.

Oh, in his interview comments, is encouraging about gay love.

‘Love is the source of life, no matter what form it takes,’ he says.

Builder's brawn

Young builders are working around our place.

One crew is doing up a large home opposite, and another is working on a new condo about 50m to the west.

Several other gangs are working on condos in the general vicinity. This is what happens when you live in the inner-city.

Property values are higher, so people are always building.

In the slum on the other side of my condo, a dilapidated shack of a place went up in smoke while I was overseas recently.

Two or three places adjoining it caught fire, too.

I don't know what happened to the human occupants, but the rabbits being raised at one place survived.

The homes are being rebuilt.

When I go for a run in the car-parking building each day, I look over into the slum section to inspect progress. Strapping young men have poured the cement foundations, and are now erecting a steel structure to hold up the roof and walls.

The rabbits are in their cages, sleeping.

Land of dreams

Maiyuu's couch, from my bedroom door

Maiyuu sleeps the living room, right outside my bedroom door.

'I like to keep an eye on you,' he says, when asked why he likes to sleep on the couch in front of the TV, rather than in the comfort of his own bed.

When I sleep, I leave my bedroom door open a little.

That way, our brain waves can connect as we play in the land of dreams.

Marathon birthday effort

Special guest at last night’s birthday party was Jumbo the Chihuahua.

I had a picture of the little dog here, but lost it when I accidentally destroyed my blog pics, which Google keeps in its album archive.

Boyfriend Maiyuu spent the day cooking, while I relaxed, fitting in two visits to the pool, and an hour-long sleep.

‘Thank you for making it such a special day,’ I told Maiyuu as he served up dessert.

‘That’s okay...it’s not a duty,’ he said, meaning he did it out of love.

First, Maiyuu served up spaghetti with a meat sauce. Then he presided manfully over a Thai-style bar-b-que.

He cooked the beef on a hotplate, placed on top of a gas cooker. Juice gathered around the sides, which we spooned on to our plates.

The cooker sat on the dining room table. We sat around the table, helping ourselves to the beef, and the accompanying side dishes, including crab sticks, roast pork nibbles, and tuna.

Maiyuu invited two friends, sisters Golf and Som.

They brought with them the family pet, Jumbo.

As the name suggests, he is huge, just like me. Okay, I jest.

‘Is he mixed breed?’ I asked.

‘He is pure Chihuahua, but has only one testicle, which has made him fat,’ said Golf, without explaining.

Jumbo is expert at fitting humans around his needs.

‘Jumbo knows Mum wakes at 6am, to make breakfast for the family. He migrates from my bed to hers about 5am, as he knows I get up later.

‘An hour later, he gets up when Mum does, and they go downstairs together. This ensures he gets fed as soon as Mum is up; otherwise he would have to wait.

‘Mum likes to sleep in the middle of the day. About midday, Jumbo will park himself at the bottom of the stairs and howl until Mum joins him. They go upstairs together to take an hour’s rest.

‘I spoil him, giving him food whenever he wants it. Som scolds him when he gets demanding, so they are not that close.

‘When he sleeps, he likes to nestle into armpits, especially if they belong to men,’ said Golf.

Never have I met such a lucky dog.

‘In my next life, I want to come back as a small, cute dog,’ I said.

When seated at the table likes to perch himself on the arm rest, so he can keep an eye on what's going on.

After the bar-b-que, Maiyuu brought out chocolate toffee mousse and served it in glasses.

Maiyuu's chocolate mousse

By special request, he also made an instant pudding.

Golf, who hires Maiyuu to make desserts occasionally, brought along a packet of instant pudding powder. Maiyuu whipped it up, and put it in the fridge.

After that, he brought out a chocolate and strawberry birthday cake, which he made in my honour that afternoon as I slept.



That's the cake below right. He wrote a message in icing on top: Happy birthday to my love. Joop, Joop!'

Joop is the Thai word for kiss.

I was banished to my bedroom while Maiyuu and the girls inserted candles in the cake and lit them.

‘Okay...you can come out now!’ said Som.

I’m running out of puff; it took three blows before I could put all the candles out.

‘We’ll be eating your saliva instead,’ said Maiyuu.

Our guests were worried they would not be able to find a taxi home.

Maiyuu took them downstairs, and asked them to wait while he pedalled off on his bike to the main road. He flagged down a taxi, and asked it to come back to the condo to pick up our guests.

While he was away, I swept the floor, and put on the air con in the living room, where Maiyuu sleeps, to cool it down before we went to bed.

‘Thank you again for a great day,’ I said.

‘You’re now a year older,’ said Maiyuu.

‘Happy birthday!’