Thai television soap opera

"Lakorn" redirects here. For other uses, see Lakhon.

Lakorn (ละคร pronounced [la.kʰɔːn] related to Javanese ꦭꦏꦺꦴꦤ꧀ lakon from ꦭꦏꦸ laku "behavior"[1][2]) or lakhon is a popular genre of fiction in Thai television known in Thai as ละครโทรทัศน์ RTGS: lakhon thorathat (lit. "television drama"). They are shown generally at prime-time on Thai television channels, starting usually on, before or approximately at 20:25-20:30 hrs local time. An episode of a prime-time drama is between 45 minutes to two hours long including commercials. Each series is a finished story, unlike Western "cliffhanger" dramas, but rather like Hispanic telenovelas.[3]

The first television drama in Thailand was Suriyani Mai Yom Taengngan (สุริยานีไม่ยอมแต่งงาน, lit. "Suriyani sent a mitten") starring Mom Rajawongse Thanadsri Svasti and Chotirot Samosorn with Nuanla-or Thongnuedee from the composition of Nai Ramkarn (Prayad Sor Nakanat) broadcast on January 5, 1956, on Channel 4 Bangkhunphrom (now Channel 9), the first Thai television station. It can be considered the broadcast happened only two months after the establishment of the station.[4]

A series will run for about three months. It may air two or three episodes a week, the pattern being Monday–Tuesday, Wednesday–Thursday Monday-Thursday (weekday slots) or Friday–Sunday (weekend slot). A channel will air three soap operas simultaneously at any given time (each producing their own series by separate production houses). Channels will compete for the most popular stars as they attract the most viewers. Some examples are Channel 3, 5, and 7 as well to a lesser extent on Channel 9.[5]

While the "best" series are shown at night right after the news, the ones with a smaller profiles (and shorter run times) will be shown in the evenings from 17:00–18:00. In some cases, the most popular prime-time series are shown on re-runs a couple of years after their initial release, generally in the afternoon.[6]

A lakorn episode is normally 1 hour or 30 minutes. When broadcasting internationally, the running time is around 45 min. per episode.

Since January 20, 2023, every Friday night after the evening news (second edition), Channel 7 stopped broadcasting the television series as it became familiar. The station has turned to live broadcasts of combat sport matches of the ONE Championship instead, which is one of the great revolutions in the Thai television industry.[7]

And since September 6 of the same year, Channel 7 has been given a new television series broadcast time of 20:30–21:30, a total of only one hour, and there will be only one television series broadcast from Monday to Thursday. As for Saturday–Sunday will broadcast another television series. When after 21:30, the station will broadcast Korean drama starting from Ghost Doctor (2022).[8]

Around mid-2024, Thai television dramas are in crisis due to a dramatic decline in television viewership. Most viewers have turned to watching dramas in the form of "series", including foreign series such as Chinese or Korean, as well as watching on various streaming channels such as Netflix. As a result, advertising on various free TV channels has greatly decreased, many actors are out of work. The Legend of Nang Nak, 2024 version of Mae Nak Phra Khanong on Channel 3 that directed by Taweewat Wantha, the director of the horror films Death Whisperer and Death Whisperer 2, which was originally scheduled to air on July 16, was postponed indefinitely when the time came. The station has been re-running the old dramas. Many channels have slowed down their drama production. Veteran actor and drama producer couple Chatchai and Sinjai Plengpanich have closed down their production company.[9][10][11][12][13]

The Legend of Nang Nak finally aired its first episode on October 14 same year.

  1. ^ The world encyclopedia of contemporary theatre. 5: Asia/Pacific (paperback ed.). London: Routledge. 2001. pp. 438–9. ISBN 0-415-26087-6.
  2. ^ Bagoes P. Wiryomartono (2016). Javanese Culture and the Meanings of Locality: Studies on the Arts, Urbanism, Polity, and Society. Lexington Books. p. 79. ISBN 9781498533089.
  3. ^ Fredrickson, Terry. "Thai Soap's Still The Viewers Favourite". Bangkok Times. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  4. ^ Sine-In (2021-02-09). "ประวัติ ละครโทรทัศน์ไทย ละครไทยเรื่องแรก สุริยานีไม่ยอมแต่งงาน" [History of Thai television soap opera, the first Thai drama Suriyani Mai Yom Taengngan]. Mthai.com (in Thai). Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  5. ^ "รวมละคร-ซีรีส์เด็ด ปี 60 ช่องใหญ่หงายไพ่หวังเรียกเรตติ้ง!!". Thairath (in Thai). 2017-01-02. Archived from the original on 2017-05-06. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
  6. ^ "ละครเย็น...ขุมทรัพย์ใหม่ "วิก3" ขึ้นค่าโฆษณาพรวด". Prachachat (in Thai). 2012-08-24. Retrieved 2017-05-24.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ "เป็นไปได้ "ช่อง 7" ยอมถอดละครหลังข่าว ถ่ายทอดมวย ONE" [It's possible "Ch7" agrees to remove the drama after the news broadcast boxing ONE]. ASTV Manager (in Thai). 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  8. ^ "ช่อง 7 HD ปรับอีกครั้ง จัดผังช่วงไพร์มไทม์หลังข่าวค่ำใหม่ ลดละครไทย เพิ่มซีรีส์เกาหลี". Matichon (in Thai). 2023-08-10. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  9. ^ "'ชาย ชาตโยดม' ใจหายวิกฤตละครไทย แอบคิดหรือต้องเปลี่ยนอาชีพ แต่มั่นใจมีทางออก". Matichon (in Thai). 2024-10-01. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  10. ^ ""ละครทีวี" สุดหืด-สุดโหด การต่อสู้ท่ามกลางสมรภูมิ "สตรีมมิ่ง"". Thai PBS (in Thai). 2024-10-01. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  11. ^ ASTV Manager (2024-10-01). "ทำเอาแฟนละครงงไปตามๆ กันหลังจากที่ช่อง 3 ได้ประกาศเลื่อนการออกอากาศละครเรื่อง "นางนาคพระโขนง"". TikTok (in Thai). Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  12. ^ "นก สินจัย เผย นก ฉัตรชัย ต้องปิดบริษัท หลังวงการละครเข้าสู่ขั้นวิกฤติ". Thairath (in Thai). 2024-09-07. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
  13. ^ "วิกฤต "ละครไทย" จะหนีตายไปทางไหน? (คลิป)". ASTV Manager (in Thai). 2024-10-01. Retrieved 2024-07-27.