#suankularb

[jarurat-blog]

July15,2024

[firstkanaphans]

Wait. Re: tayfirst does that mean First went to a fancy rich person school? I've always assumed (profit sharing w bestie etc) that he didn't come from a super rich background.

They both went to Suankularb Wittayalai School which, according to Wikipedia, is an all-boys public secondary school in Bangkok. I honestly have no idea about either of their financial situations prior to becoming famous, but that school is government-funded. And please just look at this list of alumni:

The fact that First went to an all-boys school explains so much, though. I can’t believe I didn’t realize that before.

I’ll end this post with a couple of high school era photos of First because why not?

[virtualtadpole]

Thailand's "cute boy" craze: an explainer

Here's another repost from Reddit, originally from 2022. Since Perfect 10 Liners is currently airing with the "cute boy" page as a key plot point, this seems as good a time as any to re-share (remember that the original novel was first released in 2018). Sorry this one is a wall of text, I wasn't sure it'd be a good idea to include example photos involving people who weren't really public figures at the time.

Those of you following Thai BL will probably have come across this concept of "cute boy" social media fan pages, and might have wondered whether they're an actual thing. Or you may have heard of actors being one of their university's cute boys before joining the industry, and wondered what exactly that meant. Here's my attempt at an explanation.

The roots of the phenomenon go back at least to the popular Thai web forums of the 2000s, especially the youth-oriented Dek-D.com, one of Thailand's biggest and oldest web communities (also known as the web fiction platform which launched many BL novels). Dek-D's forums had a picture-sharing section, with a subsection dedicated to photos of cute guys and girls. It was still the early days of digital cameras and camera phones, and these posts were popular among the site's teen users. A few (mostly girls) who became noticed from these posts became Thailand's first "net idols", many of whom went on to join the entertainment industry.

The arrival of social networking sites around 2007 (first Hi5, then Facebook a few years later) helped facilitate these posts, as publicly posted photos became more easily accessible. The issue of privacy wasn't really on most people's minds then, and most of it was done in a light-hearted spirit. Being featured in these posts meant a boost in followers and online popularity, enabling more teens to become recognized as net idols, but it would be a few more years before this really meant anything. On the other hand, the social networking sites themselves would eventually bypass the traditional forums as a central venue for such posts, and an increasing number of Facebook pages (followed by dedicated Instagram and Twitter accounts) would be created to offer a curated experience instead.

The actual trend of "cute boy" pages took off in 2012, around the same time as the explosive growth of Instagram. Teens flocking to the platform (escaping Facebook, which was now full of parents) filled their public profiles with selfies and portraits of themselves, generating a steady stream of material that these pages could pick up to post and promote. This in turn gave the kids likes and followers, a mutually beneficial arrangement for most thanks to the platform's like-seeking culture.

Of course, not all of these proliferating pages featured teen boys. "Cute girl" pages have their share of followers, though they don't seem to be as visible or talked about, perhaps due to a combination of factors including the way society doesn't consider it as creepy for girls to openly ogle after boys compared to the opposite.

As competition grew, these pages diversified into several niches, including those covering specific schools and universities. Most of the school ones aren't that unusual, given that it's quite natural for students to talk about the popular boys and girls at school, and this had been a trend in school forums long before then. Most of them didn't last long though, as page administrators soon graduated and moved on.

However, things were different for certain high-profile schools, particularly the country's four oldest boys' schools, which participate in the biennial Jaturamitr football competition: Suankularb (SK), Debsirin (DS), Assumption (AC) and Bangkok Christian (BCC). The schools had always been well known, but the Instagram era launched an unprecedented wave of interest in their good-looking students, many of whom attracted huge numbers of followers just by being on Instagram. AC especially stands out in this regard, as Instagram allowed outsiders to glimpse into this exclusive boys' world that served as the basis of Love Sick, the source novel of which was begun in 2008.

Not only were cute boy pages created dedicated to these schools (some by outsiders), some of the boys became minor celebrities in their own right, with fans (mostly sao Y (the Thai term for fujoshi), and also some queer folk) meeting up with and photographing them in real life, especially at school events such as AC's Christmas fair and the Jaturamitr competition. And they were serious about it, coming equipped with professional DLSR cameras and huge telephoto lenses. The schools' student bodies leaned into this popularity, having the popular boys promote fundraising events and selling merchandise to their fans.

The relationship between the boys and their fans seemed to be mostly good, the boys appreciating the positive attention and the fans getting to stan someone much more accessible than the mainstream celebrity. And if they later became famous, then there's the pride of having known them before everyone else. These being sao Y, there sometimes is a bit of shipping, though mostly jokingly. Of course, this was not limited to boys from AC and the other Jaturamitr schools, but they were much more prominent.

This was the backdrop against which Love Sick launched its casting calls in 2014, which generated a huge amount of online buzz throughout the cute boy pages and fan Twitter. There's a reason the series featured such a huge cast with so many minor roles - to provide ample opportunity for fans to latch onto the actors and the show.

In some ways, the cute boy label served as a distancing from the previous term net idol, which by 2014 had begun to develop into a negative stereotype of people using their online fame to sell beauty products for easy profit, especially those livestreaming on emerging platforms such as Socialcam and Bigo Live and whose followers tended to be less sophisticated as opposed to the urban middle-class. Which is why most people appearing on cute boy pages tended to come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, and much more attention was given to those focusing on elite schools and universities.

At the university level, cute boy (or other similarly named) pages associated with the country's top universities became very prominent online and also offline, often collaborating with the universities' student bodies to promote events and sometimes also assisting in the universities' PR for prospective students. Many universities already had a pageant culture in one form or another, with which these pages tied in well. Most prominent among the pages were Chula Cute Boy and TU Sexy Boy of Chulalongkorn and Thammasat, the country's two oldest universities. The two universities have an annual traditional football match, which the Cute Boy and Sexy Boy pages played large parts promoting in recent years, and is another event that attracts many fangirls.

Some have argued that the net idol phenomenon serves as a democratization of the entertainment industry, opening up opportunities for aspirants to directly connect to audiences as opposed to the traditional model where everything depended on one being picked up by an agency. But it benefits the traditional model as well. While in the old days talent scouts would look for teens hanging out at Siam Square, today they only have to scan the cute boy pages. Many BL actors were discovered this way. Inn Sarin was a long-time favourite of Chula Cute Boy, and Up and Mix first became widely known from there as well. Many others have likewise previously been featured in various cute boy pages, and practically all of the younger actors who joined the industry more recently probably had strong followings before their debut.

But the craze might be coming to an end. While there have long been concerns over today's youth's obsession with looks, and the university cute boy pages have from the beginning been criticized for promoting shallow images of their universities at the expense of academic aspects, they didn't really have any effect on the trend. But this began to change in 2020, when a widespread youth protest movement swept through school and university campuses and liberal progressive ideas rose to the fore. The issue of "beauty privilege" became one of many perpetual topics of discussion, and many began calling for an end to university cute boy pages. Thammasat, long regarded as the university with the strongest student activism, saw the TU Sexy Boy page shutting down (though the admin cited personal reasons and it was never confirmed whether this was in response to the criticism). Many people seem to have stopped tweeting cute boy pictures since then.

On top of the political mood, the pandemic's disruption of normal school life also interrupted the cute boy momentum, as many photo opportunities dried up. Long-time page admins and fans outgrowing the topic and losing interest might also be a factor. The Chula Cute Boy page has also been inactive since late 2020, for undisclosed reasons.

The future seems at best unclear for now. There are still many active pages out there, but on the whole, from what I've seen, there does seem to be a loss of interest. If younger netizens are indeed disinclined to craze after them the same way, the era of cute boy pages might very well soon be over.

Or maybe they've just moved onto TikTok, and I haven't found out how.

----

In the above original post, I neglected to go into the phenomenon of real-people shipping, so I'm attaching this comment from later as an addendum:

Regarding real-people shipping, there are probably two lines of origin that influenced the practice. First is the rise of K-pop and the shipping culture that came with it, which led to a proliferation of online fanfiction in dedicated Thai web communities and a shipping culture forming around the reality singing competitions which were the talk-of-the-town entertainment programs in the 2000s. One of the first really famous shipped pairs was Nat and Tol from Academy Fantasia season 4 in 2007. (That is Nat Sakdatorn, whom you may recognize as the uncle from Never Let Me Go, among many other roles.)

The other origin is the rise of "net idols", which followed the arrival of social media sites (in Thailand this was led by Hi5 in 2006). I covered this in more detail in my post on Thailand's "cute boy" craze, but didn't really touch upon the shipping aspect. Indeed, a significant shipping culture did form (a few years later) around net idols/cute boys. At first this focused more on (people who were believed to be) real-life couples, like Both and Newyear, who became famous in 2012. From there, manufactured/imaginary couples naturally followed in hopes of cashing in on the popularity of such shipped pairs.

I'm a bit hazy on when the shipping of actors as couples actually became a regular thing in the BL industry. While the practice of fanservice moments on the promotion circuit go back at least to The Love of Siam, I don't think there was significant shipping of the actors' real-life persona, and the same seemed to be the case with Love Sick, especially after the series ended. The first actor pair to become shipped as such was probably Krist and Singto from SOTUS, and the practice quite definitely became a thing after that.

----

Postscript: Thanks for reading, and sorry the writing in this one isn't as good as the other posts I've shared. If you're interested in further reading on the topic, I can recommend the article The Yaoi Phenomenon in Thailand and Fan/Industry Interaction. (2019). Plaridel, 16(2), 63–89 by Assoc. Prof. Natthanai Prasannam, one of the leading Thai academics on BL/Y culture in Thailand.

[khaoala]

Do we know what's the osk 135 🩷 💙 in First's bio?

osk 135 is related to the all-boys secondary school first went to, suankularb wittayalai school, aka suankularb college, aka s.k, which according to wikipedia, translates to rose garden college.

osk stands for old suankularb, so osk 135 is very likely his graduating class? for reference, boom tharatorn is also part of the osk 135 bubble:

and gulf kanawut is osk 134:

some other former students include godji tachakorn (121), tay tawan (128), bright vachirawit (128), sky wongravee (134), satang kittiphop (138), barcode tinnasit (141), among many others.

[wongrravee]

SKY WONGRAVEE NATEETORN

Personal Information

Full Name: Wongravee Nateetorn (วงศ์รวี นทีธร)

Nickname: S

Birthdate: June 25, 1998

Birthplace: Bangkok, Thailand; raised in Ranong

Nationality: Thai

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Southeast Asian Studies from Thammasat University

Occupation: Actor, Model

Agency: GMMTV (since 2023)

Early Life and Education

Sky was born in Bangkok and raised in Ranong, Thailand. He completed his secondary education at Suankularb Wittayalai School and later pursued a bachelor's degree in Southeast Asian Studies at Thammasat University. His academic background provided him with a deep understanding of the region's culture and history.

Career Journey

Entry into Entertainment: Sky's journey in the entertainment industry began when he participated in the competition "Hormones: The Next Gen," which aimed to discover new acting talents. His performance in the competition led to his acting debut in "Hormones: Season 3" in 2015, where he portrayed the character Pala.

Rise to Prominence: After his debut, Sky continued to take on diverse roles:

2016: Played Jo in "I Hate You, I Love You," showcasing his ability to handle complex characters.

2017: Starred as Dong in "Project S: Side by Side," a series focusing on sports and personal growth.

2019: Gained significant attention for his role as Chalarm in "My Ambulance," a romantic fantasy drama that was well-received by audiences.

Transition to GMMTV: Initially signed with Nadao Bangkok, Sky remained with the company until its closure in 2022. In 2023, he signed with GMMTV, a leading entertainment company in Thailand, opening new avenues in his acting career.

Filmography

Television Series:

2014: "ThirTEEN Terrors" as Gap (Episode 4)

2015: "Hormones: Season 3" as Pala

2016: "I Hate You, I Love You" as Jo

2017: "Project S: Side by Side" as Dong

2019: "My Ambulance" as Chalarm

2024: "High School Frenemy" as Thamnithit "Saint" Nitiroj

Upcoming: "Mu-Te-Luv" as Phayap Trisiriwimol (2025)

Upcoming: "Wu" as Niran (2025)

Films:

2022: "OMG! Oh My Girl" as Guy

2022: "The Lost Lotteries" as Tay

Awards and Nominations

Sky's talent has been recognized through various nominations:

2020: Nominated for the Maya Awards in the category of Best Actor for his role in "My Ambulance."

2024: Nominated for the Thailand Box Office Award in the category of Actor Series of the Year for "High School Frenemy."

Upcoming Projects

Sky continues to expand his repertoire with upcoming projects:

2025: Set to star in "Mu-Te-Luv" as Phayap Trisiriwimol, a series anticipated to blend elements of drama and romance.

2025: Will portray Niran in "Wu," a project currently in pre-production, details of which are eagerly awaited by fans.

Personal Interests and Trivia

Personality: Describes himself as talkative and friendly.

Alternative Career: Has expressed an interest in archaeology, stating he would have pursued it if not acting.

Favorite Shows: Enjoys watching "Itaewon Class."

Favorite Movies: Lists "Fan Chan," "Finding Nemo," and "The Terminal" among his favorites.

Entrepreneurship: Involved with the sandwich shop BURNT.

Fanbase: Affectionately refers to his fans as "The Clouds to My Sky."

Sky Wongravee Nateetorn's journey in the entertainment industry reflects his dedication to his craft and his versatility as an actor. With a growing list of accolades and a strong fanbase, he continues to be a prominent figure in Thai entertainment.

[harveykinkles]

will n'dong be p’yims doubles partner? 

[potatomarble]

BL BOYFRIEND POV! ♥️

Name: Singto Prachaya (Prachaya Ruangroj) ปราชญา เรืองโรจน์

Birthday: July 28, 1994

Education: Suankularb Wittayalai School Kasetsart University (Faculty of Economics) Bangkok University (School of Communication Arts)

Height: 177 cm

Shoe size: 41

Shirt size: S/M

Favorite Color/s: Black, Gold, White and Gray

Favorite sport: Basketball

Favorite food: Omelet and Hawaiian Pizza

Sending you cute selfies

With his dad

Date out

At home with you

Out-of-town

[eljardinbydekbansuan]

ด้วยรูปทรงน่ารักๆ และเล็กกะทัดรัด ช้างทรงเล็กๆ น่ารักๆ 🐘🐘🐘 ทั้ง 3 แบบ จึงเป็นที่นิยมอย่งแพร่หล่ย ให้ท่านได้เก็บไว้สะสม หรือ ตกแต่งบ้าน หรือจะให้คนที่ท่านรัก ท่านสามารถติดต่อเราได้ที่เพจของเรา: El Jardin by Dek Ban Suan หรือที่ร้านของเราในเชียงรายไนท์บาร์ซ่า สำหรับช้างไม้ขนาดต่างๆ จากไม้จามจุรี ขายปลีก-ขายส่ง จัดส่งทั่วประเทศและทั่วโลก 3 styles 🐘🐘🐘 of your little cute wooden elephants. ❤❤❤ Wooden elephants from raintree wood are available from our Facebook Page: El Jardin by Dek Ban Suan or at our shop in Chiang Rai Night Bazaar. Retail and wholesale Nationwide and worldwide delivery #woodworking #woodcarving #homedecor #elephant #งานไม้ #ไม้ฉำฉา #ช้างแกะสลัก #ช้างไม้ #ตกแต่งบ้าน #chiangrainightbazaar #เชียงรายไนท์บาร์ซ่า #eljardinbydekbansuan #paintedelephant #ช้างไม้เพ้นท์ #เชียงราย #paintedelephant #woodelephant #elefantedemadera #elefante #elefantepintado #象 #코끼리 #ช้างเพ้นท์ #éléphant #象 #heart #love #gift #giftideas #osk #suankularb #สวนกุหลาบ (at El Jardin by Dek Ban Suan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCBf-SvAkWQ/?igshid=41cenngiowgy

[iboate]

ในวันที่ท้อแท้ กลับมาหาที่พึ่ง ทางใจ ... #Suankularb (at Suankularb Wittayalai School)

[eominee]

BOOM OSK106 #suankularb #boom #leader #cheer #wedding #bangkok (at Al Meroz Hotel Bangkok)

[rethinker]

กำไล #bracelet #bangle #osk #osk113 #suankularb #bangkok #thailand #thaistagram #instathai

[vintagerolexmania]

Election Day, I Choose AP 😘😘😘 #ap #offshore #audemarspiguet #royaloak #racingdial #panda #vintagerolexmania #womw #watches #wristwatch #steel #siamnaliga #watchesoftheday #watchesofinstagram #vintagerolexforum #vintagerolexasylum #wristshot #nofilter (at Suankularb Wittayalai School) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvYBpCFBk-c/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1aep2zhw4kanx

[lilnondy]

Pinklao one-day trip

Pinklao one-day trip

Say Hello to all of my lovely readers! Does anyone live in the neighborhood around Pinklao? If you are living around here or you have a plan to travel around here, My trip might be another option for you to consider.

September 3, 2022, was the day that I started my journey. I wake up early in the morning because today's goal this morning is going everywhere! It's good for yourself sometimes if you just let it be like the song from The Beatles, right?

Traveling without a plan can sometimes lead you to other memorable experiences too. But first I will need some energy to go out this day. I started my journey by taking bus route 203 and getting off and PATA and I decided to walk in "BenTen" located in soi somdet phra pinklao 19, walk along about 100 meters and then "BenTen" will be at the left side of your hand.

"BenTen" is a small restaurant with a home-cook style and various menus both Thai and European food. This place is run by a very lovely owner which is very friendly to customers and sometimes if they have popcorn they will serve it to you while you wait for your orders, Yummy!! And the owners also use unique pink-blue wallpaper decorating all around the place because they used to study at Suankularb Wittayalai, No wonder why the pink-blue bloodline is super concentrated. 

Because "BenTen" is located nearby "PATA Pinklao" the first place that comes right through my mind is "PATA ZOO".

"PATA Pinklao" is an antique department store that has been with Thai people for a long time since 1982 and still opens up these days. Despite being quiet and sluggish because of the economic recession, but the zoo is still open. the officer at the zoo department give me a discount so the price of the ticket is just only 50 baht.

but I was so wrong about this because the environment was so terrible, the hallway was quite a bit dark, and a stinky smell flowed through the air every time I walked in and it gives me some kind of sad feeling because when I walk inside, instead of seeing cheerful crowded people and various creatures as I thought in my mind, I saw only just lifeless creatures living inside a dirty cell waiting for the death to take them away from this concrete jungle.

And don't forget to visit one of the most iconic creatures in this zoo "Bua Noi" she is a female gorilla brought to Thailand from Germany when she was just 3 years old. It has been exhibited at Pata Zoo since 1992 in a cage measuring 20x10 meters and has a monthly maintenance budget is 10,000 baht per month.

"Bua Noi" is the last gorilla in Thailand. After joining the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), gorillas can no longer be brought into Thailand.

 The time passed by and this young, cheerful and cute little gorilla has gone with the period of time. the only thing left that I see in her eyes is loneliness. she doesn't walk around much just sitting there inside this glasses wall and sitting with her favorite rubber swing which was once amazed a lot of Thai people a long time ago.

Anyway, I don't really impress much with this trip because I feel so sorry for every kind of animal inside the PATA Zoo. but hopefully that those animals will get some help sooner otherwise this place won't be remembered as a place that was fulfilled with laughter in the air once ago but it will be remembered as a concrete animals prison that was filled with sorrow, loneliness, and but you don't have to believe what I write! try it yourself and maybe you might find other new aspects about this place. 

if anyone has been visiting PATA Zoo before. feel free to leave a comment down below and let me know what you think about it, see you next time! 

[paworn]

Tuek Yao - Suankularb Wittayalai School (at ตึกยาว รร.สวนกุหลาบวิทยาลัย) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGz9BEuHXme/?igshid=n9wogkn8o78a

[billigan-blog]

The canteen at Suankularb

[zaenggii]

English Camp 5-7 Sep 2019 Suankularb Wittayalai School (ที่ โรงแรมชวาลัน รีสอร์ท นครปฐม Chawalun Resort) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2EB3ojno0s8xdEHnebnWqtpyHYWl0RgOHbNEk0/?igshid=qvcxagq4nw4h