There are two types of people in this world, people who support themselves and earn a living or people who rely on others to live. In “Red-cheeked Madam,” the social differences between the students studying abroad in London are still evident as you can see struggling college students trying to make ends meet while the richer of their counterparts shop at D&G. Yet, a group of four friends are able to set the differences aside and maintain their close friendship.

They are Ana (Matt Peeranee), May (Woonsen), Art and Pat. Their future rests brightly ahead of them as they wrap up their graduation and prepare for their move back to Thailand. At the end of their final stint however, Pat (the richer of the lot) discovered that his parents has moved forward with his marriage arrangement. Theoretically all of the friends should be happy for him however May had recently admitted to Ana and Art that she crushed on Pat for several years.

This is where the plot kicks in. Ana, being a good friend and the most fearless of the lot, decided that because Pat is unhappy with the situation and May is in love with Pat, then they must come up with a way to break the engagement and finally get Pat to love May back. Unfortunately this was all decided when they were intoxicated with one too many celebratory champagnes.

The only problem or person standing in their way is the scary, highly feared older brother, Nadol (Chakrit Yamnarm.) As the four mustered up enough courage to call home and relay the message, they got caught up in their fabrication. One thing led to another and it was determined that Pat has a pregnant wife. They also decided that Ana would pretend to be his pregnant wife.

Being distrustful in nature, Nadol booked the first flight to London to see if it was true. Hilarity ensued, as he happened to fly in the morning after their drunken stupor. Banging on the door, Nadol watched a stranger open his brother’s door.

He looked irritatingly at her, in her black cocktail dress and messy hair.

“Hi,” she said in English, with the door open wide. “Come back again tomorrow, ok? Bye!” and she shut the door.

Nadol rang the doorbell again. Ana frustratingly yanked it open while muttering to herself in Thai, “how come he’s not saying anything?!”

“Hold on!” Nadol responded in Thai, as he pushed the door open.

Surprised, Ana said, “Oh, you’re Thai?”

He glanced at her.

“What the hell you looking at? I’m raising my voice and you’re still staring at me?!” she exclaimed.

He grabbed his bag and was about to walk in.

“Sales guy eh? What ja gonna sell?” she inquired.

“I’m not selling anything,” he replied. “I’m here to see my younger brother.”

“You’re not selling anything?” she repeated slowly.

“Yes,” Nadol nodded his head.

“You’re here to see your brother?” she repeated again.

“Indeed.”

“Then you must be..”

“Nadol.”

And the realization hit her immediately as she slammed the door and raced upstairs to awaken the gang: Big Bad Brother is here!

The wait for their first encounter was worth it. The first hour of the show felt slow since we’re getting introduced to the cast.. but by the time Ana met Nadol, things began to get interesting. So I would recommend persevering for the first hour ☺

I had thought to myself, this is going to be a disaster featuring Chakrit in two lakorns on the same week, but I find myself enjoying him tremendously in this lakorn. I wasn’t into Mae Yai Tee Rak to be honest and was skeptical with Mam Gam Dang, but both Ana and Nadol’s character makes it intriguing so far. If you love a carefree, smart, sassy female lead, then you’ll like Ana. If you love a mean, tough, I-don’t-give-a-shit type of male lead, then you’ll like Nadol. With Matt’s charisma and Chakrit’s curt words, I’m enjoying “Red-cheeked Madam” thus far.

Unfortunately, there are some bad acting and character in this lakorn. Both May and Pat’s character is a total miss. Woonsen cannot act as the soft-spoken, innocent character. The guy playing Pat is just so lame and the plot device is weird. So get this, Pat was betrothed for awhile, he knew he was going to get married, why in the world did he have to act so surprised when his parents finally said, “well since you’re done with school, you’re finally getting married!” I thought it was a lame plot device. Then for May, she crushed on Pat for awhile, nobody knew (not even her two best friends who lived with her.) Finally, when they find out, she gets overly heart broken and devastated because Pat must marry. But she wasn’t planning on telling him that she liked him to begin with! What the hell?

‘Tis a good thing there’s Matt and Chakrit..

The difference in social status is going to come back full circle. We got some snooty, high-class girls who will try to make our main girl’s life miserable. There will be slappings, screamings and a showdown- otherwise it wouldn’t be a lakorn- but hopefully, the chemistry and love story between our two main characters will only continue to blossom.

I’ll be watching for it, what about you?