Hi I'm kinda new to Asian dramas and BL. Is there a reason Thai bl has these sets of couples? I don't think I've seen that from any other countries yet.
Are you asking about multiple couples in the same show, or about branded pairs? I'm going to assume the former, but I put some links in (and chat a bit) at the end if you're asking about cobranding (why the same pair of actors will show up again and again).
Why multiple couples in Thai BL?
1 It's the heritage
Thai Y-novels, lakorns (sort of like Thai soaps/telenovelas), and early Thai heritage BL all had multiple couples pretty much ubiquitously.
In terms of shows, the biggest early break out BL within Thailand was 2014's Love Sick. And it had multiple het couples as well as gay ones. One could argue it set a precedent.
SOTUS, the big guns university BL, did the same (although they had a het secondary couple in season 1).
Then 2gether had multiple pairs too (the first BL to break out of Thailand into the International market in a big way) and TharnType and finally into KinnPorsche.
All the most successful Thai BLs (by any popularity metric) had multiple couples. Several of the most popular Y-novel franchises as well, like 2 Moons and Gear & Gown. Therefore, the assumption is that multiple couples is what the market wants.
I have more on the history of Thai BL here.
2 It's the length
Because Thai BL runs consistently the longest in the genre (10-12 episode of 45+ min ea), they have a lot more breathing room for multiple couples.
Because they are weak on story structure, they often use those couples to bolster plot and carry tension and pace.
As a general rule the longer the total run time of any BL, the more likely it is to have multiple couples.
3 It's the industry and cost
Simply put, acting talent is relatively cheap and easy to come by in Thailand as compared to somewhere like Korea, Taiwan, or Japan (and as compared to other aspects of a film crew bottom line).
It's easier to have more couples of greener actors, than to find a good special effects or sound team (for example).
Actually filming is the most expensive part of any production, but post production comes in second (for most production budgets). In Thailand, this is still the case but acting talent is much cheaper than other places and they have solid crew infrastructure (for various reasons) so the filming part is cheaper (on the main) and relatively streamlined. What they lack is background talent infrastructure (wardrobe, makeup, sound) and solid post production teams (digital effects, editing, looping, etc...) so we see them use larger casts and acting pools than places like Japan and Korea.
In other words, multiple couples is an odd form of cost benefit savings.
4 It's for branding
The multiple couple technique allows for new branded pairs to be tested out as side couples first, to see if they could be popular enough to headline their own show.
This brings us around to what you might actually have been asking about, which is Thai cobranding, or branded pairs.
In Thai BL, the same actor pairs will be cast in different stories, as different characters, but always as the same pairing. i.e. These boys don’t mind kissing each other. Pairs will also be used together for product advertisements, as variety show cohosts, in magazine spreads & look-books & modeling campaigns/catwalks, and for OST & fan-meets & concerts. GMMTV piloted the concept with Singto & Krist after SOTUS took off.
Couples have fandoms, special names, and hashtags - almost like K-pop groups. Some actors will pair up prior to getting a series and audition as a couple, others will form as side dishes (bit parts) and then grow so popular they get their own series or advertising campaigns (e.g. TayNew, YinWar, BounPrem).
As of typing this (Sept 2025) there are 9 active pairs who have starred in 4 or more BLs together (and dozens more with fewer shows under their collective belt). One of those multi-hits is OffGun, who have been working as a cobrand for nearly 10 years.
This kind of cobranding of coupledom can become the primary way the 2 actors earn money. However, perforative gayness on talk/variety shows (in particular) smacks of queerbaiting. Pairs often end up dealing with crazy fans, skinship obsession, stalker behavior, mismanaged expectations, and more: e.g. the good (MaxTul), the what? (MewGulf), the ugly (PerthSaint). I suggest avoiding this cesspit if you can. These are actors. They are acting. End of discussion.
Multiple Couple BLs Outside of Thailand
Since Thailand has had an impact on other cultures' BL through shere quantity and dominance of the field, other countries will also do multiple couples.
Taiwan often has multiple couples these days (and has done in the past too), usually in their longer stuff. I would say we can expect this from them henceforth (in anything over 10 eps).
If Taiwan has a form of "cobranding" it's more that pairs from one series will have cameos in other series, or get a second season. But, so far, they haven't done Thai style cobranding where a lead pair gets to lead an entire new series playing new characters. (Although, I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see this happen from Taiwan at some point in the future, I doubt it will become a dominant business model for them or their actors.)
China seems to have now jumped on this wagon train. Since they are back in the game to win it, I think we can expect them to continue with multiples... so long as they are allowed to continue. Cobranded couples outside the release window? Highly unlikely.
The Philippines and Vietnam do it... maybe half the time? But neither has a large back catalogue or very robust film industry.
Japan and Korea have thus far resisted the temptation for multiple couples. That's because neither country cobrands and both prefer shorter length, smaller cast BLs. Also Korea would always rather a love triangle than two (or more) couples. The exception is when they do an adaptation of a BL from another country (or a second in a series). I think we are unlikely to ever see this business model dominate JBL or KBL for social, political, and economic reasons.
There are a few short-form KBLs on YT (their version of pulps) which will use the same actors, even pairs, in multiple roles. And we had one example of pair branding in KBL (now defrocked by Kpop). But it was certainly nothing like Thailand and never will be.
Apart from marketing around the release of the show, cobranding as official work-husbands is quite rare outside of Thailand. (Although a few actual couples have resulted from BLs in Taiwan, and, surprisingly, Korea.)
I have a BL Master Post (overview) that talks about how BL exceptions differ by country.
The History of the Genre Series
Top 10 BLs Out of China + history of the genre
Top 10 BLs Out of Japan + history of the genre
Top 10 BLs Out of Korea + history of the genre
Top 10 BLs Out of Taiwan + history of the genre
Top 10 BLs Out of Thailand + history of the genre
From 2022 the "Top 10 best of lists" are outdated, but the history stuff still stands.
I also have a BL Foundations Syllabus Master Post which is basically a BL 101 Film Course introducing the genre as if I were to teach a semester on BL.
Here is my THAI BL MASTER POST that may answer any additional questions you have.
And finally here is my Meta Post of all My BL Master Posts!
(source)
