"Bangkok Love Stories": Lots of Naked Thai Guys, No Temples

Of course I'm going to watch a tv series in the Thai language, which is not related to Chinese, Vietnamese, or any other of the major languages of East and Southeast Asia.  Even if it has a stupid title: Bangkok Love Stories: Innocence.

My first thought: there's nothing innocent about these twinks falling in and out of lust with each other.

My second thought: where did the rest of the world get the idea that Bangkok was just about sex? Sure, sex is an essential part of any trip, but Bangkok has enough cultural treasures for a month of sightseeing:  the Grand Palace, home to Thai monarchs from 1782 to 1925; the Suam Pakkad Palace: Wat Pho, with its 148-foot long Reclining Buddha.

None of which appear in the first episode.  There are no interesting location shots.

My third thought:

So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A

(I often have no choice but to watch Friends on the treadmill at the gym).

This group of zany friends are:

1. Rachel...um, I mean Claudia (Nida Patcharaveerapong), who has a terrible job at a salad bar, where she has to fend off handsy customers all day.

2. Joey...um, I mean JC (Kawin Manonukul, top photo and left),who has a terrible job at a KFC, but his real passion is parkour (urban acrobatics).  He's into Claudia.

3. Phoebe, aka Mednoon (Tachakorn Boonlupyanun), a flirty, boozy party girl.

4.  Her bff Ross, aka Simon (Tosatid Darnkhuntod, right), who is gay, and presumably will start dating someone (there's a boy-boy kiss in the opening credits).

5. Chandler, aka Eve (Narupornkamol Chaisang), a businesswoman whose job involves going to "hostess clubs" (like brothels without the sex).

6.  I guess that leaves Monica.  Danny (Pond Ponlawit Ketprapakorn), a skateboarding teenager with a crush on Eve.  I couldn't find any beefcake photos, so here's another of JC.

Let's not forget Keaton (Max Nattapol Diloknawarit), whose dream is to open a gym where the patrons perform shirtless.

Gay characters:  There's a gay character, but in the first episode, he doesn't do much.  The straight characters, however, do a lot.  More than I wanted to see.

Beefcake:  Lots of shirts come off.  Two -- two scenes of guys dancing shirtless.

Sexism:  Everywhere.  It's somewhat uncomfortable to watch.

Interesting Location Shots:  None.

Interesting Plot:  No.

I suggest fast-forwarding to the good parts.  Maybe a future episode will involve flirting in front of the Reclining Buddha.

Or watching Friends instead.