After exploring a sensitive topic of Thai Buddhism and its commercialisation with 'The Believers', or Sathu in Thai, Netflix is about to stir up another taboo in Thai culture with 'Doctor Climax'.
The nostalgic series will take audiences back to Thailand in the 70s when the birds and the bees weren't openly discussed. It seems to be in the good hands of two directors Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, the mind behind Hunger, and Pairach Khumwan, who is one of the directors in both seasons of Girl From Nowhere.
Doctor Nat (too bad his name isn't spelt with a "u"), a dermato-venereologist who once dreamt of writing adventure novels and becoming a published author, ends up as the columnist behind The Climax Question.
Gen Z may need an explainer here. You see, people used to write physical letters and physically send them to newspapers to have their questions answered. Think of it as a very ancient Quora. The best-known real-life sex column in Thailand was Sep Som Bo Mi Som by Doctor Nopporn, which ran on Daily News.
Back to the series. Nat's column is a space for answering questions everyone wants to ask but dares not to. He addresses forbidden subjects (back then) such as masturbation, "arriving too early", foreplay and STDs while keeping the inquirers’ identities anonymous.
Office romance occurs as Doctor Nat grows closer to Linda, the paper’s art department head. The hitch is that the doctor has already been married to Tukta who seems to be a perfect wife and, if exposed, his family, who comes from old money, would be shamed for it.
Chantavit "Ter" Dhanasevi, who's known for starring in several rom-com films, plays the titular character alongside Arachaporn "Goy" Pokinpakorn as Linda, Chermawee "Praew" Suwanpanuchoke as Tukta, Tonhon Tantivejakul as Permpol and hunky Chaiwat "Tob" Thongsang as Thong Tien.
Doctor Climax marks the first time Kongdej has directed a TV series. Crediting creator and producer Ekachai Uekrongtham (Beautiful Boxer) for the origin and setting of the series, Kongdej says, “Ekachai shared with me his idea of turning a sex Q&A column into a series, so I started reading some samples of the published letters from that era. They made for a really great read and also reflected many social issues from that time. That was when I came up with the concept of a doctor who answers questions about sexual issues, as well as the other characters, the column, and the publisher. Through this story, we can examine humanity and society, with nods to real-world events from that period.”
Fellow director Pairach says, “Today’s viewers might wonder why a Q&A column about sex was such a big deal back then, but I feel this could be a refreshing and novel story. Doctor Climax not only entertains but also raises thought-provoking questions."
Pairach added that the series feels like viewing eight short movies with each episode having different style and direction, but they come together to weave one overarching narrative. Doctor Climax premieres on on Netflix on June 13.
