Last year, when the smash-hit soap opera Samee Tee Thra was about to reach its season climax, fans were buzzing online about what would happen to the show’s female villain Phueng.
The pretty, envious, conniving 20-something was competing against sweet, girl next door Karat for the affections of the handsome hero Pisut.
As the suspense built, Phueng was lured into a bedroom by a rough-looking man before the episode ended with the cliff-hanger “to be continued”.
The soap fans took to their mobile devices with relish to discuss what should happen when the next episode was broadcast. One viewer emotionally said, “She deserves it!” Another agreed, “Phueng should be raped, considering what she has done to Karat.”
The following episode revealed that Phueng narrowly escaped what could have been a rape. The series ended with Pisut and the heroine Karat living happily together.
But let’s rewind to the messages fans exchanged when Phueng was about to be sexually assaulted. Some were emotionally invested in the plot which depicted Phueng as an evil love rival.
But can the depiction of rape, even in soap operas, ever be justified?
Absolutely not, said Panjit Kaewsawang, Woman’s Rights Programme Coordinator at the Foundation for Women.
“Sometimes, a jealous competitor was sexually assaulted at the end of the lakorn [Thai drama series] to show that what goes around, comes around,” Ms Panjit told Spectrum.
“That message has influenced the audience’s attitude towards sexual violence.”
A number of lakorn TV shows incorporate rape into the plot. In Dao Prasook (Venus) the heroine was forced to have sex with the leading man before they fell in love.
Female rivals of the heroines are often raped for “poetic justice”.
A few years ago, activists protested against a teaser for another hit series, Dao Peuan Din (Dirt-stained Star), which featured the female villain being gang-raped.
The producers eventually decided to delete the graphic scene and replaced it with shots of a group of men entering her bedroom and sounds of screaming. Although the scene was cut, little was left to the imagination about the woman’s fate.
“Even without the actual scene, the plot sent the wrong message to humiliate the rape victim,” said Ms Panjit, adding that the repetition of the message can affect the audience’s perceptions, especially those not watching with an analytical mind.
The victim-blaming attitudes depicted on TV, such as the false notion of a woman “inviting” rape by the choice of her clothes, can make real world victims hesitant about seeking justice. Some are afraid they will be criticised as being immoral.
“When the rape victims make a claim to law officers, they are often asked what they wore or why they went out with the perpetrator,” said Ms Panjit. “Some decide to drop the claim because they don’t not want to go through the humiliation.”
BLURRED LINES
A high-profile murder and gang rape in Phatthalung’s Si Nakharin district last month again put the way sexual consent is shown in lakorn under the spotlight. The police said the crime was premediated as the attackers killed the husband and sexually assaulted his wife in order to humiliate the victim because of a personal feud. Many of the rapists were teenagers.
Following the incident, netizen Nattaya Ratornkul posted an image on Facebook to campaign against sexual violence in TV dramas. The widely shared post showed sex scenes from 10 popular dramas which feature the leading man forcing the female leads to have sex.
The series included Khu Kam (Sunset at Chao Praya) in which Kobori forces his new wife Angsumalin to have sex with him and Sawan Bieng (Missing Heaven) which depicts the lead actor Kavee raping Narin for family revenge. Despite the physical abuse, they all fall in love at the end of the series.
Change.org picked up on the campaign urging producers of the dramas to stop disseminating the idea that rape is normal. It has received almost 60,000 signatures.
But TV scriptwriter Thanavadee Stityuthakarn argues the dramas are not solely to blame for sexual violence.
“Perpetrators have a combination of factors, namely their moral standards and upbringing,” she said. “Every time news like this happens, lakorn has to defend itself against society. There are many good messages in lakorn. Normally, a drama series has around 1,000 scenes and a rape scene may be one of the 1,000. It is like you are looking at one dark spot on a white canvas.
“I have never written a script showing a leading man raping someone. It’s impossible to make him a gentleman.”
Thanavadee said lakorn often showed characters being antagonistic to each other before they break up to build tension and excitement and keep audiences enthralled.
“When the plot continues with no action, the audience switches off. They think the lakorn is not fun,” she said.
“I think lakorn features more slapping scenes than any other drama series in the world. These scenes are like spices in our dish.
“There is a thin line between those scenes and sexual violence because many of those scenes often come with sex-related content.”
OUTDATED VALUES
Most of the drama series featuring forced sex are based on popular novels from the 1950s and 1960s, and reflect the male-dominated period.
Nuntawan Rungwongpanich, the scriptwriter for Channel 3’s popular series Padivarada, or Beloved, Loyal Spouse, said, “housewives were the major audience of these melodramas".
Mimicking American popular culture of that period, the leading women would not show their sexual desire as the “ideal woman” was demure and innocent.
The leading man would forcefully seduce the woman to advance the plot towards
a “happy conclusion”.
“Fiction with erotic scenes provided an escape for some readers,” she said.
“Many popular dramas have been reproduced from the fiction and novels written during that period.”
The sexual scenes and messages, however, are broadcast during prime time from 8.30-10.30pm while youngsters are still watching television with their parents, which could give them the wrong idea.
Some producers like to remake the old popular novels, despite their outdated themes, because “drama viewers prefer to watch something that they are familiar with”, she said.
Nuntawan said in the past, debate over the impact of the drama series on audience behaviour was more intense as scriptwriters slavishly followed the original plot.
“Society has changed now. Depicting women always as the victims does not go down well with modern viewers,” she said.
Laws have also changed to reflect evolving social values and it is now illegal for a husband to force his wife to have sex against her will. The concept of a “sugar daddy”, once acceptable in society and soap operas, now has negative connotations.
The TV ratings system has also forced producers to be more cautious: they will aim to be given a general rating rather than a restricted one, which would put limits on when the shows can be aired.
In particular, this applies to the producers of dramas screened on terrestrial TV who have watered down sex scenes to prevent their shows being limited to the late-night “adult” programming slot.
Nuntawan said last year she had to remove a rape scene from the drama Thang Phan Kammathep, or Cupid’s Path, based on a novel.
“I talked to the author and adjusted the script to become more family-friendly so the series would qualify to air during prime time,” she said.
The popularity of lakorn on terrestrial television is also coming under threat from programmes on the internet and cable TV.
Nuntawan said in the past TV dramas usually scored about 30 prime-time rating points, equating to about 18 million viewers per night. Nowadays, lakorn attract only six million viewers a night.
“I would be more concerned with the video clips, online media or the content of some drama aired on certain cable television that may avoid the supervision of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission [NBTC],” she added.
PUBLIC DESIRES
Pirongrong Ramasoota, assistant professor at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Communication Arts, said lakorn repeatedly portrayed sexual violence, even though “rape is a crime”.
“Such a theme is a dominant value that has become sellable,” said Ms Pirongrong, who is also on the NBTC’s advisory committee on TV content.
She said she once raised the issue at an NBTC meeting, and a producer told her in an agitated voice “why bother, it’s human nature”.
“Why do the producers have to reproduce dramas from the old fiction with the same old themes to reinforce the ancient male patriarchy?” asked Ms Pirongrong, citing drama series Dao Prasook and Mai Sin Rai Fai Sawad (Never-ending Fire of Desire).
Dao Prasook shows the leading man buying a young girl of the same name from a brothel and forcing her to have sex. He later discovers that Dao Prasook was a virgin when he raped her, but she ends up falling in love with him.
In Mai Sen Rai Fai Sawad, the leading man forces the heroine to become his sexual partner to repay a family debt. They fall in love at the end, but not before the leading lady becomes pregnant and threatens to perform an abortion on herself.
Ms Pirongrong said at an NBTC meeting one producer told her that audience research showed the lakorn plots attracted a “Grade B” audience who have purchasing power. They are classified as affluent, urban, well-educated working women who are not socially oppressed.
“Themes like this may be part of their fantasy. It is self-fulfilling for some audiences,” she added.
Ms Pirongrong said when the plot lines of old novels are made over and over again in lakorn, “cultural reproduction” happens and outdated values are transmitted to a different era.
“It can result in a different interpretation when it comes to sexual relations,” she said. “Some may view that a woman means ‘yes’ when she says ‘no’ to invite sexual aggression from her partner, even though the woman means ‘no.’ ”
She said there was no academic research to show lakorn was a direct cause of rape. “It is difficult to say. I believe there are also other intervening variables,” she said.
SHE DOESN’T NEED HIM
But there are signs that the way sex is portrayed in lakorn has been changing in recent years. An increasing number of woman viewers do not feel comfortable seeing the heroine always being victimised and submissive.
Thanavadee said in Rak Rae (Wandering Love), a recently concluded Channel 7 drama she wrote the script for, was successful even though the heroine went against the stereotype. She was a single mother who did not wait for anyone to rescue her from difficulty.
Wayoon is a strong woman raised in an orphanage who falls in love with Ramil, a promising diplomat with a high-society upbringing. But after she becomes pregnant, she is dumped by Ramil who suggests she have an abortion. Wayoon decides to keep the baby and works in a library to save money for her child.
“She refuses to give up,” said Thanavadee. “Her battle against life’s obstacles drives the plot. The audience loves the series because it shows the inspiring story of a single mum.”
At the end of the drama, Ramil, who later becomes a representative to the United Nations, finds out he has a child and they reconcile and live happily ever after.
But Thanavadee was surprised by how the audience reacted to the “happy ending”.
“Most of the audience thought the heroine should not go back to her leading man,” she said. “He does not deserve her.”
Perhaps, the audiences of the new generation have had enough. “They are looking for something inspiring.”
Popular but controversial: Rape scenes are often used to drive the plot in Thai ‘lakorn’.
Widely watched: Ratings show ‘lakorn’ are seen by six million people, and experts are worried about the messages being sent in prime time.
Off script: ‘Padivarada’ scriptwriter Nuntawan Rungwongpanich says audience tastes are evolving.
Right of reply: Scriptwriter Thanavadee Stityuthakarn says ‘lakorn’ have many good messages.
Another repeat: Scenes of sexual violence are often used in series that are based on old works of fiction, when attitudes towards women were different.
Acting out of anger: Netizen Nattaya Ratornkul circulated a list of 10 rape scenes on Facebook.
‘Same old themes’: Assistant professor Pirongrong Ramasoota from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Communication Arts is worried about the proliferation of sexual violence on TV.