13 essential Thai BL shows to add to your watch list, from My Golden Blood to Bed Friend
Here are 13 Thai BL shows you need to watch. (Workpoint TV/iQIYI)
Thai BL (Boys’ Love) has gone from niche fandom favourite to a global pop culture force.
What began as low-budget web dramas has evolved into a sophisticated industry producing glossy romances, daring social commentary, and breakout stars with international followings. Whether you’re new to BL or a seasoned viewer chasing your next obsession, Thailand remains one of the genre’s most exciting and influential hubs.
While Western audiences have only recently embraced queer teen and adult romance through series like Heartstopper, Young Royals, and Heated Rivalry, Thai BL was already filling that void offering softness, longing, melodrama, and unapologetic romance at a time when LGBTQ+ stories elsewhere were still dominated by tragedy or restraint.
Over the years, landmark titles such as SOTUS, TharnType, Bad Buddy, Reset and many more have charted the genre’s evolution, shaping everything from campus romance conventions to bolder explorations of desire, consent, and queer identity. Combined with Thailand’s star-driven “shipping” culture where on-screen chemistry often fuels real-world fan devotion, BL grew from online niche to international phenomenon.
This list brings together 13 Thai BL series worth your time from swoony campus romances to mature workplace dramas, genre-bending thrillers, and stories that push beyond familiar tropes. Each pick reflects how far BL has come: higher production values, more nuanced queer storytelling, and a growing willingness to explore identity, power, class, and love in all its messy, complicated forms.
My Golden Blood
A surprise hit from GMMTV pairs fan-favourite ship Joss Way-Ar Sangngern and Gawin Caskey in a darker, more sensual take on BL romance. Moving away from familiar campus settings, the series leans into themes of power, desire, and emotional obsession, supported by slick production values and confident performances. What elevates it beyond genre routine is its willingness to embrace moral ambiguity, allowing its characters to be flawed, impulsive, and occasionally self-destructive. My Golden Blood reflects BL’s growing maturity, proving audiences are ready for stories that are less about innocence and more about complicated, adult intimacy.
Watch My Golden Blood on YouTube.
Last Twilight
One of GMMTV’s most emotionally resonant dramas, Last Twilight centres on vulnerability, disability, and intimacy with rare sensitivity. The story follows a young man losing his sight and the caretaker who gradually becomes his emotional anchor, resulting in a romance defined by patience rather than grand gestures. Jimmy and Sea’s understated performances ground the series, allowing quiet moments to carry real emotional weight. Visually striking and deliberately paced, Last Twilight challenges BL’s tendency toward melodrama, offering instead a tender meditation on trust, dependence, and learning how to love when certainty disappears.
Watch Last Twilight on YouTube.
KinnPorsche
Few series have reshaped BL as dramatically as KinnPorsche. A glossy crime drama steeped in violence, wealth, and moral compromise, it pushed the genre into unapologetically adult territory. Mile Phakphum and Apo Nattawin’s explosive chemistry anchors a story that refuses to sanitise power or desire, presenting romance as dangerous, intoxicating, and deeply flawed. With cinematic production values and a willingness to blur lines between love and control, KinnPorsche shattered international expectations of what BL could be and ushered in a new era of darker, risk-taking storytelling.
Watch KinnPorsche on iQIYI.
Not Me
Bold, political, and confrontational, Not Me stands apart as one of Thai BL’s most socially engaged series. Framed as a thriller, it follows twins entangled in activism, state violence, and corporate corruption, using its romance as a lens rather than the sole focus. Off Jumpol delivers a layered performance that anchors the show’s moral complexity, while Gun Atthaphan brings emotional intensity to a narrative unafraid of anger. Not Me rejects BL escapism in favour of protest, proving queer love stories can exist within and challenge unjust systems.
Watch Not Me on YouTube.
Shine
Set in late 1960s Thailand, Shine pushes BL into prestigious historical drama territory. The series follows Trin, a reform-minded economist, and Tanwa, a free-spirited hippie, whose romance unfolds amid political unrest and social repression. Starring Apo Nattawin and Mile Phakphum, Shine intertwines personal desire with ideological conflict, exploring censorship, conformity, and the quiet radicalism of queer love. Lush, melancholic, and unafraid of complexity, the show refuses to separate romance from politics. In doing so, Shine signals a bold future for BL as culturally engaged queer storytelling.
Watch Shine on WeTV.
Only Friends
Messy, chaotic, and deliberately uncomfortable, Only Friends dismantles the genre’s obsession with “pure” romance. Centred on a tangled group of friends navigating sex, jealousy, and betrayal, the series embraces moral greyness with refreshing honesty. No one is innocent here and that’s the point. By prioritising desire, impulsiveness, and emotional fallout, Only Friends feels closer to adult queer drama than traditional BL. Its willingness to let characters make bad choices without punishment or redemption arcs marks a turning point for BL storytelling aimed squarely at grown-up audiences.
Watch Only Friends on YouTube.
The Boy Next World
Blending speculative fiction with emotional intimacy, The Boy Next World offers a softer, more introspective entry into the BL canon. Playing with parallel realities and alternate lives, the series uses its sci-fi premise to explore longing, fate, and the versions of ourselves shaped by love. Rather than focusing on spectacle, the show prioritises mood and emotional resonance, making it ideal for viewers drawn to quieter storytelling.
Watch The Boy Next World on iQIYI.
My School President
A modern classic of the high-school BL genre, My School President succeeds through sincerity rather than spectacle. Following two students balancing first love with academic pressure and music club dreams, the series captures adolescent awkwardness with genuine warmth. Gemini and Fourth’s natural chemistry transforms a simple premise into something deeply endearing, while the show’s focus on communication and mutual respect sets it apart from older, more problematic tropes. Sweet without being naïve, My School President reminds viewers why youthful queer romance still holds immense emotional power.
Watch My School President on YouTube.
Cutie Pie
While its central premise leans heavily on outdated power dynamics, Cutie Pie remains a fan favourite thanks to undeniable chemistry and high production gloss. Zee Pruk and NuNew Chawarin commit fully to the fantasy, delivering playful tension and emotional payoff that resonated widely with audiences. At its best, the series offers comfort, glamour, and escapism; at its weakest, it highlights BL’s lingering struggles with consent and agency. Cutie Pie is emblematic of the genre’s growing pains, enjoyable, flawed, and culturally revealing.
Watch Cutie Pie iQIYI.
A Tale of a Thousand Stars
Quietly transformative, A Tale of a Thousand Stars redefined what a BL romance could feel like. Set in rural Thailand, the series replaces urban fantasy with emotional realism, following a slow-burn relationship shaped by grief, responsibility, and restraint. Earth Pirapat and Mix Sahaphap’s chemistry unfolds gradually, allowing silences and small gestures to carry weight. By grounding romance in place and purpose, the series expanded BL’s emotional vocabulary and demonstrated the power of intimacy built on patience rather than passion alone.
Watch A Tale of a Thousand YouTube.
Bed Friend
At first glance, Bed Friend appears to be another steamy office romance but beneath its polished surface lies a thoughtful exploration of trauma, boundaries, and consent. The series balances explicit desire with emotional vulnerability, refusing to treat sex as separate from psychological consequence. Net Siraphop and James Supamongkon bring nuance to characters learning how intimacy can heal as much as it can hurt. Bed Friend stands out for acknowledging queer pain without exploitation, offering a rare blend of eroticism and emotional responsibility.
Watch Bed Friend iQIYI.
Theory of Love
Often dubbed BL’s ultimate heartbreak series, Theory of Love leans unapologetically into longing, jealousy, and emotional masochism. Gun Atthaphan delivers a career-defining performance as a man trapped in unrequited love, elevating familiar tropes into something painfully resonant. The show’s endurance lies in its honesty: love isn’t always healthy, mutual, or fair. By allowing its protagonist to suffer without easy resolution, Theory of Love captures a raw emotional truth that continues to haunt viewers long after the final episode.
Watch Theory of Love on Viki.
Love in the Moonlight (สลักรักในแสงจันทร์)
One of 2025’s most elegant additions to Thai BL, blending period romance with political tension and emotional stakes. Set in 1963, the story follows Prince Saenkaew (Peak Peemapol Panichtamrong), sent to Bangkok for an arranged marriage meant to secure his family’s assets but duty soon collides with desire when he grows unexpectedly close to his fiancée’s cousin, Sasin (Pearl Satjakorn Chalard). What begins as sharp words and suspicion gradually deepens into a tender, complicated connection that challenges both men’s sense of obligation and identity. Love in the Moonlight captures forbidden love with historical depth and modern poignancy.
Watch Love in the Moonlight (สลักรักในแสงจันทร์) on YouTube.
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