I love period lakorns because there are so many cultural references embedded right inside the scenes.
Take the garland-throwing scene in The Edge of Horizon. It’s not just a romantic moment; it perfectly summarizes the entire narrative.
In episode 2, Phob tells his mom: “Love doesn’t have high or low status, Mom. It only has hearts.” He vows that if nobility, status, or heaven and earth stand in the way, he will destroy those barriers. While it sounds intense, it perfectly mirrors episode 1.
In that first episode, the Prince already chose him without caring about outward appearance or social status. This entire dynamic directly parallels one of Thailand's most beloved folk epics: Sang Thong (The Prince of the Golden Conch).
Specifically, it mirrors the classic "garland throwing" scene where a princess chooses a disguised prince based on his merit rather than his status. It’s brilliant how the show utilizes this traditional folklore to give the romance such deep historical weight.
To understand that scene, here is the full context. (Note: This is a retold overview, not a word-for-word translation).
The Story of Sang Thong (สังข์ทอง)
Long ago, there was a king with two queens. The older queen was kind and respected throughout the kingdom, while the younger queen grew jealous because she wanted her own son to inherit the throne.
After many years, the older queen finally became pregnant, and everyone expected the birth of a royal prince.
But when the child was born, she gave birth to a golden conch shell.
Seeing an opportunity, the jealous queen convinced the king that the older queen had brought shame upon the kingdom. Believing her, the king banished his first queen. She left the palace with nothing except the strange golden shell.
The exiled queen eventually found shelter in a poor village and worked every day to survive. Yet whenever she returned home, she found that food had already been cooked and the household chores mysteriously completed.
Curious, she pretended to leave one day and secretly watched.
To her amazement, a beautiful golden boy climbed out of the conch shell.
She named him Sang Thong (“Golden Conch”) and broke the shell so he could live openly. At last, mother and son were able to live together in peace.
However, word eventually reached the palace. Fearing that the prince might one day return to claim his birthright, the jealous queen plotted against him. Through deception and danger, Sang Thong became separated from his mother and was forced to wander far from home.
Eventually, he arrived at the home of a powerful giant woman.
Different versions tell this part of the story differently, but in Thai retellings she is often remembered as Phanthurat, an ogress who raised Sang Thong as her own son and cared deeply for him.
One day, she warned him never to open her treasure room.
Naturally, Sang Thong became curious.
Inside, he discovered magical treasures: enchanted clothing, magical weapons, flying objects, and a miraculous golden pool.
When he touched the water, his entire body turned radiant gold and he became extraordinarily handsome. Yet among the treasures was something unexpected—an ugly disguise in the form of Ngo Pa, a wild forest man.
Sang Thong eventually left, taking the treasures with him.
His journey brought him to another kingdom ruled by a king with seven daughters. The king announced that each princess would choose her own husband according to tradition: she would throw a flower garland onto the man she wished to marry.
Princes and noblemen gathered in splendid clothing, but among them stood Sang Thong hidden beneath the ugly Ngo Pa disguise, drawing laughter and ridicule from the crowd.
One by one, the princesses chose handsome and noble-looking men.
Only the youngest princess, Rojana, looked more carefully.
She saw something no one else could see.
Some versions say she recognized his true golden form beneath the disguise, while others say she simply saw his character rather than his appearance.
As everyone watched, she threw her garland.
It landed on the ugly stranger.
The court erupted in outrage.
“How could she choose him?”
But tradition could not be broken, and Rojana married Sang Thong.
The king resented his new son-in-law and repeatedly set impossible challenges—hunting dangerous game, retrieving rare treasures, competing in contests, and completing tasks no ordinary person could achieve.
Again and again, the handsome princes failed.
Again and again, Sang Thong quietly succeeded through wisdom and magic.
People began to wonder who he truly was and why the strange, ugly man always emerged victorious.
At last, Sang Thong removed the Ngo Pa disguise.
The ugly forest man disappeared, revealing a radiant prince with a golden body.
Only then did everyone understand that Rojana had recognized the truth long before anyone else.
The king apologized, Sang Thong revealed his royal birth, and in many versions of the story he is eventually reunited with his mother and justice is restored.
Source: Chulalongkorn University Library, Thai-Journal Online
