Boys’ Love: Not My Cup of Milk Tea

Boys’ Love: Not My Cup of Milk Tea

Summary
After encountering Thai "Boys’ Love" (BL) scenes on social media and hearing a BBC radio feature on the genre, I dug deeper. With help from ChatGPT, I explored what these massively popular dramas are — and, more tellingly, what they’re not. What I found was a global genre fuelled by beauty and longing, but often devoid of substance, sex, or soul. Not LGBTQ+ storytelling, not real lives — but glossy, monetised fantasy for an audience far from the one it pretends to represent.

The Reel That Rolled In
It wasn’t a moment of discovery so much as a genre on loop. On Facebook, a Reel rolled past: two sculpted young men in matching school uniforms. One pins the other against a wall. They lock eyes. Cut to the pair drinking milk tea with the label clearly visible, gazing meaningfully into the middle distance. I wasn’t sure if it was an advert, a music video, or some kind of drama parody. Then I caught a segment on the BBC’s Arts Hour introducing a term I hadn’t heard before: Thai BL dramas.

What Is BL?
"BL" stands for Boys’ Love, a genre of television dramas featuring romantic relationships between two young men, typically set in high schools or universities. Originating from Japanese manga and anime fandom, the genre has been embraced — and monetised — by Thailand in particular. These dramas are:

• Typically 10–16 episodes, released weekly
• Streamed on platforms like YouTube, iQIYI, LINE TV, or Netflix
• Produced by companies like GMMTV, which also manage the actors and their public personas

Who Watches It?
Here’s where things get interesting. These shows are not aimed at queer men. The core fanbase consists of:

• Primarily young and middle-aged women
• Many are also fans of K-pop, drawn to emotional tension, stylised beauty, and "soft masculinity"
• Viewers span Thailand, Japan, Korea, Latin America, and just about everywhere with an internet connection

This overlap with K-pop fandoms helps explain the genre’s popularity — and its aesthetics. It also makes clear that representation isn’t the point — fantasy is.

What’s Missing?

Real Queer Life
Despite the optics, this is not LGBTQ+ storytelling. There are almost no serious coming-outs, no references to queer history or rights, no political content, and certainly no systemic reflection on what it means to live as a gay person in Thailand or anywhere else. Even family rejection or emotional trauma — common in queer lives — are rare, sanitised, or prettily aestheticised.

Three-Dimensional Characters
Most characters seem to exist only within the love story. They are not musicians, artists, gamers, or readers. We don’t see them creating, exploring, protesting, or struggling — just pining, staring, and sipping branded beverages. There are few subplots beyond the central couple. No rich social lives, no hobbies, no world beyond the coupledom. As a result, the characters feel like props for the romance, not people in their own right.

Sexual Intimacy
The genre also avoids explicit or realistic portrayals of sex, even when it’s clear the characters are in bed together. Most series offer:

• A few kisses (sometimes censored depending on the country)
• Occasional shirtless scenes
• Fade-to-black moments that imply intimacy, but rarely show it

Compare this to shows like It’s a Sin, Please Like Me, or even Heartstopper, and the contrast is stark. BL shows equate gay love with yearning, not flesh.

Product Placement Over Protest
Thai BL has become a money machine.

• Episodes are loaded with product placement — milk tea, snacks, smartphones, café chains.
• Actors double as brand ambassadors, often trained to behave like K-pop idols.
• Viewers are sold an image of romance that is as curated as the lighting, and as consumable as the tea.

As one Reddit user aptly joked: “They can’t come out yet — they haven’t finished drinking the sponsor’s milk tea.”
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So Why Does It Matter?
Because millions are watching. Because even shallow visibility can shift norms.
Because the BL industry has global cultural reach and functions as a kind of soft power export for Thailand (source). But what I’ve learned doesn’t entice me to watch — and that’s fine. These shows aren’t made for me. But in recognising their reach, it’s worth asking: what else could they be doing?

Final Thought
BL is visibility without struggle, intimacy without sexuality, romance without reality. What began as curiosity — sparked by a looping Reel and a BBC segment — became a long and informative conversation with ChatGPT. I asked dozens of questions, both factual and loaded, about the genre’s history, audience, themes, limits, and potential. What you’re reading now is the result of that exchange — an AI-assisted summary of a conversation I’m glad to have had, so I don’t have to watch the shows themselves.

What I’ve learned doesn’t entice me to watch — and that’s fine. These dramas aren’t made for me. But understanding what they are — and what they aren't — is enough.