How to Make Thai Melodramas.

Thai melodramas are unique but very easy to make; I can even teach you the basic principles in a few sentences. First, find your actors. Find popular Thai stars if you have enough money, or just a handsome, tanned-skinned Asian guy with very black, thick eyebrows and big eyes to be your main male character. Find an innocent-looking Asian girl with--most importantly--white skin (Thai people hate tan girls) to be your main female character. Do not forget to find another beautiful but evil-looking sassy Asian girl to be your evil character.

Jum Lei Ruk, one of the most popular Thai dramas in 2008.

Second, adapt Cinderella’s plot with a bit of a twist; you do not have to be very creative, just do not forget to include a “slap scene.” Normally, it should be the scene in which the evil character slaps your fragile female main character. 

Third, find the white light. Thai people hate yellow, soft light. They love to see clear things, not a soft, whimsical one. Fourth, train your actors with an overly-exaggerated acting style, especially the evil character who has to have a noisy, high-pitched voice to speak loudly or even scream all the time; she is the one who has to act like she is jealous of the main female character and angry at her all the time. She makes bigger eyes, clenching her teeth, twisting her mouth, and then, screams!! Do not forget to train your female main characters to cry since she has to cry on demand and also act like the poor unfortunate victim of this corrupted world in almost every scene. The last thing is a sound. You should have some noisy, funny sounds, like “pewww!!” and “whoooopppp!!,” to signal the audiences that “this is a funny scene; you must laugh!” That’s it!