Nueng and Palm inhabiting their roles as master and servant
Both characters cling to their decided roles and social classes. They don't want to admit to it—admit that they are the weaver and the cowherd—but they are painfully aware of it. So when things get intense, they retort back to these roles; as excuses and as explanations. Their social and economic roles are something to fall back onto when they are scared. In the first half (before the island) we see how both characters play with their role in a way that very much also fits their place in society (Nueng being rich and powerful and Palm, well, not being those).
Palm doesn't think Nueng likes him, so he focuses on his role as a servant. Because it is an answer to why Nueng might not like him, but also because it is an excuse to stay close despite the fact that Nueng might not like him. He kissed him on the rooftop because it was his ‘duty’ and used this as an empty excuse to cover his true feelings. Nueng focuses on his role as master because he feels he is losing grip on life due to his fathers death and the bullying at school. He falls back on his role in an attempt to gain control again. Everybody seems to be undermining his power, but he doesn't want that, doesn't want to feel powerless. His orders to Palm are rarely mean (when he's drunk he gets a little petty); rather, he uses them to give them both an out. A reason to give into their desire of being close without having to worry about how it is wrong (both being gay and the wealth gap). They play around with and subvert their roles by conforming to them in a way that is playful and engages with the absurdity of their situation.
When they get to the island they get the physical ability to let go of their roles and social classes, since they no longer need to put up a show of conformity, but this goes about as well as you'd expect. They are both still too used to their roles and although Nueng makes the biggest effort for them to ‘start anew’ he is only able to do so because he is accustomed to getting what he wants, and what he wants is a normal life. For Palm, it is a lot more difficult since he never saw a future where he wasn't below Nueng (or people like him); it is easier to become poor than it is to become rich.
So Nueng helps by falling back on his role of master again (this time out of desire rather than fear of losing control) and giving Palm the ‘order’ to be his boyfriend (it wasn't an exact order but the phrasing made it seem like having a boyfriend was important to Neung's well being and since Palm’s task is to assure Neung's wellbeing he felt like he ‘had to’). But this ‘order’ wasn't a case of Nueng using his servant to get a boyfriend (where the wish for a boyfriend would be the main motivation). Rather, he used the title of boyfriend to finally get his servant to admit his feelings to him (the desire for Palm was the motivation). He assigned him a new role, and since that (roles and jobs) are the only stability Palm has had since arriving in Bangkok, it is almost comforting for him. Before Palm even arrives in Bangkok, he expresses the fact that he can't imagine a future where he doesn't do the same manual labor as he does at that moment. He can't imagine change since this is often a rich man's dream. Then his dad drags him to Bangkok, and he is once again tasked with a job that seems to last until Palm dies. Had things not gone as they did in the show Palm would have likely filled a similar role as Mok did in Me and Thee. He would have had to work and grow alongside Nueng only ever committing himself to Nueng's wellbeing. For Palm, roles are something to lean on, to guide his actions, and give him a place in the world where he is unfamiliar. This unfamiliarity he felt in Bangkok is especially visible when we look at how his behavior changes on the island. He isn't just protecting Nueng anymore; he becomes a provider because that was his role in the South. He worked, earned money, and made a living. His acts of service for Nueng were disguised as fulfilling his role as a providing boyfriend.
Nueng ‘ordering’ Palm to be his boyfriend is another way to play around with their status and jobs. Their place in the Kiattrakulmethee house had been oppressive to each of them, and when it still clings to them on the island, the only way out seems to be engaging and indulging. Claiming these titles of master and servant and the dynamics that come with it and changing it to fit them and help their relationship rather than tear it apart. The differences between them that would seemingly be the reason they can't be together now becomes the very explanation for why they ARE together. This is all because Nueng leans into his role of master despite his claims that he wished to be seen as an equal. He can see that Palm does need direction and gives him that (not out of dominance, but rather out of submission to Palms needs). Nueng leading their relationship requires him to understand and read Palm in a way that Palm doesn't have to make any demands that he fears might be overstepping. One can only lead if others are willing to follow. It's a delicate balance and one that they manage extremely well because they are soulmates
Palm's mother dies and again Nueng returns to his role as master in times of intense emotion and/or confusion. He blames himself for her death and fears Palm will get hurt too if they stay together. Instead of expressing that, he lies, knowing that fear and concern will not—and have never before—stop Palm. Nueng tells him at the beach that it was stupid for them to have pretended to be equal and that their love was a lie. Using his position as Palm's master to make Palm his boyfriend was a specific strategy to convince Palm, but has now twisted to also serve as plausible deniability; a reason to give in is also a reason to pull back. Nueng can use the coy way that they play around with their roles and claim that it was never playing, that they really were just always a master and his servant. He lies, saying that the master now no longer wants/needs his servant.
When Nueng pushes Palm away and gives him orders to not go looking for him it seems for a second like that might be it—seems like this will be the reason they split up—but then we are reminded that Palm has tied his soul to Nueng’s about a week after they got to know each other, and that his need to be close to Nueng surpasses his inclination to follow orders. It is why he was willing to give into the order of being his boyfriend and protecting him with his life while staying stubborn and insisting (nagging) he wash Nueng's feets or peel his prawns for him, despite Nueng’s protest that he shouldn’t. Even though Palm had been told no, he will keep trying to care for Nueng.
The last time Nueng returns to his role as an act of cowardice is while he is avoiding Palm. Instead of telling him what he thinks and wants, Nueng writes Palm a letter because he can't look him in the eyes. He has to distance himself from Palm as a person or boyfriend; he has to return him back to a servant, push his emotions aside, and let him go like you could an employee. He leaves the bracelet, the reminder that they are both simply children of the sun; split from the same body. If he wants to leave Palm, he can no longer believe in that tale anymore, as they need to let their differences overpower their love. He starts his letter stating it’s an order, yet gives no concrete orders in the text. He explains his action, wishes Palm respects them and hopes the best for Palm. It's phrasing that we don't see in his previous orders. It seems that he wanted to command but couldn't find anything to demand. He only had actions he had to do and could ask no more from Palm than distance. He tries his hardest to keep the act of master up, hoping that by communicating in 'Palm's language,' he will understand. But Nueng was never a cruel master, and he only ever used that role to express their desperate need for connection. He can't bring himself to fully take on the role of master to hurt Palm.
When Palm leaves from the hospital, he doesn't use his role as a servant as a fake excuse; rather, their roles (or lack thereof) are the EXACT reason Palm can't stay. Even through all their efforts, Palm still clings onto his inferiority complex and taks as a protector. Now that he is no longer fully able bodied and needs assistance, he fears that he won't be able to do what he thinks Tanya and Nueng require of him—that he will be a burden. Tanya tells Palm he doesn't have to take care of Nueng anymore and all that Palm hears is that his task—the thing that he had kept close to him as a safety guard, as a reason to be with Nueng—is being stripped from him. Even after all this fucking time he still doesnt value himself beyond what he can do for others. Whereas when Nueng left he tried to emphasise the fact that Palm, as his servant, should listen to him and that their roles were the reason for their separation; Palm leaves because he is no longer Neung's servant. To him their roles were what kept them together, what justified their close relationship. Even though the relationship went beyond master and servant these roles were the thing they fell back on when the their love felt impossible and to Palm, a poor man unable to imagine a world where he stands on equal ground to someone of Nueng’s status, it feels impossible to be with Nueng if he cant serve him.
Palm needed their roles to feel comfortable in their relationship, and Nueng gave him that. He has to take on his place as master to allow them to indulge in their relationship and thus their desires. On the surface, Palm seems to serve Nuengs every need, but in reality, that exact dynamic is being held up by Nueng serving Palm's needs. It appears conflicting; a submissive dom and dominant sub, but it works. Near the end of the show, it seems that that dynamic is tearing them apart since Palm isn't contractually serving Nueng anymore. But after Palm gains some independence by working at the bar, they rekindle, and I fully believe that if they put in the effort to heal, they can keep their relationship and dynamic working. It's was never bad; they both just needed a bit more emotional stability (and to not be in life-threatening danger). Now that they are okay, their roles won't be necessary to fall back on in times of trouble, and can fully be used for fun and indulgence.
