The Pluralism of Thai Boys Love Industry: Auteur Migration, Fan Showrunners, Labor Vulnerability, and Queer Potentiality

Abstract

This paper explores Boys Love media from Thailand through the lens of screen labor. This trajectory allows an examination of the pluralist landscape and complex relations that invite multiple workers and forms of production cultures, and expands the early focus on young women as audiences or major conglomerates that create idols. Based on interviews with creators from different job roles, budget scales, and genders, the paper highlights how the last decade of Thai BL pulled resources from the theater, film, and television sectors, along with funding from self-funded startups. Engaging with queerness on production sets, the findings further examine the power dynamics between queer auteurs, fan-turned-showrunners, and a new generation of labor-conscious film graduate subcontractors. Micro-practices and the making of intimate scenes reveal normative exploitation of the non-unionized screen industry and moments of disidentification and care intervention.