I’ve seen quite a few people online saying the director of Cat for Cash, P'Au, is one of us because he ships FirstKhao, and honestly I have some issues with it.
P'Au is not a fan, he is a director. There is a power imbalance between him and his actors that makes those kind of comments inappropriate coming from him.
Gentle teasing is one thing, but P'Au has proven to be relentless in his remarks regarding First and Khao's relationship. In any other environment, a supervisor making frequent comments/jokes about one's sexual or romantic relationship with another co-worker would be considered harassment, so why is it suddenly acceptable here?
Because they act in BL?
No.
It is a job that they get paid to do, and part of that job is putting themselves in a vulnerable position in front of dozens of crew members and fellow actors. That doesn't mean they should be treated like objects.
I also don’t think embarrassing actors for loving each other in real life is going to help them portray those emotions in their character. It just makes them uncomfortable. Which, brings me to my second point.
Khaotung and First were clearly uncomfortable on set. Go back and watch the BTS for The Eclipse, Moonlight Chicken, Heart Killers and observe their body language during their interactions with the directors. Then compare that to the BTS of Cat for Cash.
The two might be laughing, but their body language whenever the director around is stiff and awkward. They often look down or away instead of at him.
Then, when their acting is stiff and awkward because of this, P'Au berates them, saying their acting is too poor for being some of the top actors of GMMTV.
Unfortunately, passive aggressive comments like this seem like a pretty normal thing for him.
During the Meowment event, P'Au repeatedly complains about how Khaotung told fans that the show had so much drama. Khaotung appears a bit stressed as he clearly feels the need to explain himself. Then, If the translation is accurate, P'Au straight up accuses Khaotung of being manipulative. Khaotung then attempts to explain himself yet again when First physically stands up to put a stop to it.
The clip of what Director P'Au said is interestingly cut from the only other upload of this event.
The last thing I'll share is that during an interview where the actors were asked about fun times on set, every single one of them froze and looked at each-other. The interviewer asks them why they look so stressed about about a simple question.
Yeahhh, I think I know the reason.
I'm not a fan of this man, ya'll. Let's not encourage his unprofessional behavior.