F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers
For fans of South Korean drama Boys Over Flowers (Netflix, Viki, Tubi, Hulu) or the Taiwanese Meteor Garden (Netflix) or indeed the original, Japanese Hana Yori Dango, there’s now a new version of the classic story on streaming channels straight from Thailand.
If you’ve watched Meteor Garden 2018 (Netflix – see mini-review here) early indications show F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers to have a similarly modern vibe attached to the classic manga story. To get closer to the source material, you can catch the anime version of Japanese Hana Yori Dango (translation: Boys Over Flowers) on Crunchyroll.
The story of F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers, centres around a school for the elite reigned by four guys with an overabundance of privilege, money and good looks. So much so that they’re both feared and revered by those around them.
A girl who isn’t from within upsets their applecart, clueless about the rules and not interested in knowing them. She’s just there to go to school. Until she clashes with the leader of F4 which begins a series of battles that eventually shows glimmers of romance.
Directed by Patha Thongpan for Thailand’s GMMTV, he’s noted an interest in honouring the classic storyline, adding a ‘now’ freshness and displaying a unique Thai aesthetic that meets the original.
What does that mean for us? Thai drama is known for its way-over-the-top ‘da-da-da!’ portrayal of stories but has more recently, particularly at GMM, gotten closer to a familiar highly dramatized reality in contemporary series like The Gifted or Kiss the Series. It’s delivered in a more believable, less day-time-TV fashion that’s way more watchable than some of the old-skool offerings.
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Cast
If you watch Thai TV, you may have spotted the same faces cropping up regularly on the same channel. Many actors are signed directly to a station with long-lasting contracts. Notably, GMM, which has a dedicated BL (Boys Love) drama following, has previously paired two of the F4 leads in BL series 2gether. So, it will be interesting to see how they fare in a drama where chemistry is crucial in living up to the brand.
Vachirawit ‘Bright’ Chivaaree plays lead character Thyme (Tsukasa Domyoji/Joon Pyo/Dao Ming Si). His counterpart in 2gether, Metawin ‘Win’ Opas-iamkajorn is the playboy Kavin (Sojiro Nishikado/Yi-Jung/Ximen). Is it a miss that they’re not after the same girl?
It’s actually newcomer Jirawat ‘Dew’ Sutivanichsak, who plays Ren (Rui Hanazawa/Ji-hoo/Huaze Lei) in the love triangle. But content to date seems to throw more emphasis on the Kavin character than Ren, possibly indicating a slightly different balance in the storyline.
Hirunkit ‘Nani’ Changkham as MJ (Akira Mimasaka/Woo-bin/Meizuo) rounds out the Flower Boys, but in this version, he’s both playful and a fighter. And Tontawan ‘Tu’ Tantivejakul plays ordinary-but-forthright girl turned love interest, Gorya (Tsukushi Makino/Jan-di/Shancai).
According to the director, all of these actors exude their characters, so please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Where Can I Watch F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers?
This new series airs on GMM 25 on Saturdays for 16 episodes. It will simultaneously stream internationally through GMMTV’s official YouTube channel and on streaming platform Viu.
Episode 12 Release Info
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers are in the swing of a regular weekly schedule, so we expect Episode 12 to open on Saturday, March 12th at 8.45pm (Bangkok Time) – 8.45am (ET) and 1.45pm (GMT). The simultaneous international release on YouTube will come ready with English subtitles, so you’ll be viewing right along with audiences in Thailand.
Episode 12 Preview
More of the Secret Story of IRIS is voiced-over with MJ now a regular at the basketball court. And more snacking, of course. Some girls from his school pass by and Aum notes how she hates that place, but he keeps schtum. A bunch of players approach with a challenge. Of course, MJ is sure they can win, but notes in voiceover that he didn’t realise how many changes that game would bring.
The real F4 Thailand Preview has Thyme worrying because Lita hasn’t responded to his messages. The guys offer help and Kavin talks about the delicacy of love triangles. Gorya appears in a maid’s uniform at Thyme’s house. And after Lita catches Thyme and Gorya together, she says that he’s forcing her to make a move. Uh-oh.
Catch the official preview video (without subs) here:
Watch Tips
If you happen to start watching a few moments late, be sure you’ve backed up to the beginning of each segment, so you don’t miss anything. YouTube automatically sticks you at the live moment, so you could be missing a scene or two.
As we shift from one bit of story to the next, the link to the following chunk zips by super-fast. If you’re watching via YouTube, you can back it up a second to catch the link and save yourself the trouble of having to search for it.
If you’ve got further tips, please add them in the comments section. Here’s to a smooth view for all😊.
Is There a Trailer for F4 Thailand?
If you haven’t caught it yet, there is a trailer for the series:
In addition to the trailer, the team have released an official soundtrack featuring the main cast. It’s certainly channelling the vibe and seems to be right on target to deliver everything Director Thongpan has promised:
Opening song, Who Am I?
And the more energetic tune Shooting Star.
What Happened in Episode 11?
See the recap and review here: F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 11 Recap & Review. Watch for recap and review stories each week after airing.
Read More:
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 10 Recap & Review
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 9 Recap & Review
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 8 Recap & Review
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 7 Recap & Review
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 6 Recap & Review
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 5 Recap & Review
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 4 Recap & Review.
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 3 Recap & Review
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 2 Recap & Review
F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers Episode 1 Recap & Review
Episode 11 Random Thoughts: Credit Due
What’s a girl gotta do to get some credit? We likely all scoffed a little at the terribly well-informed Talay as he accused Gorya of not defending herself against F4. Rewind – he obviously missed the first several episodes. Our girl couldn’t even get some validation for going up against the school bullies and taming them into lovely guys who changed their ways. All of them.
How did she manage to contain her response?
For more stories from this writer on all sorts of content, see the link here: Kristen Lazur.
We’ll continue to cover the series episode-by-episode, so watch along with us and tell us what you think. Any observations on the details that you’d like to share? Scribble ‘em below – we’d love to hear about it.
Hi Lys,
You can catch ‘F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers’ on YouTube. It’s a weekly drop with English subtitles on the GMMTV YT channel and previous episodes are available there so you can catch up. For more information on next lives dates and times/time zone, see the F4 Thailand Preview story (Ep 13 Preview to post shortly) with weekly updates on the following instalment, watch notes and random thoughts. Hope it’s helpful to you. For a quick catch up, you can follow a weekly recap and review starting here: Episode 1.
Enjoy the series and let us know what you think.
-Kristen
Hi Nidha,
And thank you so much for commenting – I’m so pleased you enjoyed the story. Next one on its way and every week thru to the final. Please do let us know if there are any other series you’d like us to cover. We’d be happy to write about whatever takes your fancy.
– Kristen
Thank you so much I kinda needed that preview of ep 12. You helped me a lot, i’m looking forward to watch the preview of episode 13 F4 Thailand- Boys Over Flowers Here on this website! Anyways thank you so much and ill be sure to visit this sight again.
Where can I watch this, please? Thank you.