Raeng Prathana (Powerful Desires) aired its first episode today amidst the turmoil going on behind the scenes of Nuer Mek 2, the very first lakorn that has been cancelled prior to completing its course on TV. Perhaps it will go back on air, after the controversy and political chastising has simmered down. It is unfortunate but it is clear that the government controls the media. Being so far removed from the goings on, one can only speculate at the unfairness of it all.
But it is important to breathe, take a step back and remove the frustrations from the new lakorn that happened to be in line behind Nuer Mek 2: Raeng Prathana, and give it its due diligence.
From the production team LakornThai, Raeng Prathana, starring the beloved Nadech Kugimiya and rising female phenom Kimberley Woltemas, opens the lakorn with a faceoff between Sudapa (Kimberley) and Pittiya (Nadech.) Their first encounter (for us anyway) is character revealing and sets up the premise of the drama.
Sudapa or Thae is a spoiled rich girl and very demanding to Pittiya who works at her father’s company. He also happens to be an adopted son, therefore lowly status in Thae’s eyes and worthy of bullying. She feels she can tell him to do anything and he must obey. Pitt on the other hand, despite inevitably obeying her orders, he doesn’t do so without a fight. He never gives in to her emotional, flighty ways, which pisses her off to no end. Thae doesn’t come from a broken home, although she is motherless, she has an adoring father and an older brother and sister who love her. One has to question, why the hostility towards Pitt?
They have a history together. Pitt was brought to the household at a young age, upon the death of his mother. Thae’s father, a kind and generous man, welcomed Pitt with open arms. The older brother (P’Yai) and sister (P’Tai) consider Pitt as one of their own as well. Thae has been known to shadow Pitt and worships the ground he walks on. Somewhere along their growing up phase, they had a falling out. Thae starts to treat him like crap and now he can’t stand to be in the same room as her. The suspense in this drama is to uncover what caused the falling out and ultimately, the goal is righting the relationship- bringing Pitt and Thae back to where they were at.
And solving this problem will be an interesting one, especially when Thae promises to give Pitt a taste of his own medicine. It happened after a scene on her father’s birthday. Thae’s dad turned 60 and discovered that he has a heart disease. He starts to worry about who will take care of his baby (Thae) and upon the surprise birthday party, he drops a bomb on Pitt: he asks Pitt to marry Thae and take care of her in his stead. This request came out of the left field for Pitt, he would do anything, could do anything for this man, but to marry Thae? The two older brother and sister practically jumped out of their seats in surprise. Pitt explained to the older man that he has to deny this request because he is already in love with someone else (Ravee, played by Mint Natwara.) Not taking the rejection easily, Thae tells Pitt to step outside with her.
It is clear that Pitt’s rejection hurt her. She disguises the hurt with anger and lashes out at him. Pitt declares that he will never love a person like her. Seriously Thae, haven’t you taken a good look at your behavior? Pitt walks back to the house and offers respect to Thae’s father. Realizing his tackiness and lack of consideration for his kids, Thae’s father apologizes to the younger man. But he explains that he merely wanted someone he loves the most to be taken care by the person he trusts the most. What the older man fails to see (according to his two older children) is that Pitt is a very proud person. He will refuse to marry Thae because he doesn’t want to be known as a gold digger. Growing up and being adopted was a hard enough, negative connotation that trying to reach for a swan would be devastating to him. Nadech, shedding tears of sorrow (of letting his “father” down) is a sad scene. But even though Thae’s father asked out of fear for his declining health, he’s still a respectful and lovely man, and is not afraid to apologize.
Heartbroken more than she could admit, Thae vows to make Pitt realize what it is like to be rejected (to be left.) She puts her plan into action: she will break up the relationship between Pitt and Ravee. Little did she know that Pitt and Ravee have their own obstacles already. Due to his status, Ravee’s mother disapproves of their relationship. She believes her daughter deserves someone with high status and money. She picks out a man named Puwadon (Alex Rendell) as her daughter’s prospective husband and tells Ravee to break up with Pitt. Puwadon is the proverbial playboy, Mr. Casanova, and his tie into the plot is quite interesting. His parents are still alive, but they do not get along. His father had been with a woman named Pim but was forced to break up with her and marry Puwadon’s mother. It just so happens that Pitt’s mother who passed away is also named Pim.. before taking her last breath, she had Thae’s father promise her that he won’t reveal Pitt’s real father to him. Will we have two brothers fighting for a girl?
There’s so many hard feelings involved, and inclinations of twisted subplots, one have to wonder, how will they fall in love as adults? Are you ready to watch the rounds between Thae versus Pitt?
So far, as with LakornThai productions, they have managed to make me laugh. I adore Thae’s family and their willingness to tease her. It doesn’t appear to be any love lacking there, but she just has a personal vendetta towards Pitt. I should probably dislike her behavior (Thae’s) but Kimberley’s spoiled girl version is actually fun to watch. It helps when the interaction with her own family makes it enjoyable. Nadech as Pitt is really quite handsome. The scene with Thae’s father was performed well, such a tear jerker. Despite the advertisement of excess drama in this lakorn, I find it to be easy to watch and makes me smile, a lot. As for the chemistry between Nadech and Kimberley, it’s not instantaneous for me. I have to watch a few more episodes to see if it’s going to be there. I do hope to spazz over them. Separately, Nadech and Kimberly are doing a great job. And if you are looking for the falling on each other, looking deeply into each other’s eyes- LakornThai’s signature essentially- you’ll get them and more. It is more than enough to keep me tuned in and see how Pitt and Thae reconcile their differences.
Tagged: Kimberly Voltemas, Nadech Kugimiya, Raeng Prathana
Thank you, Fia. I’m completely hooked. I like, no wait, I adore & love Nadech. I’ve always liked Kimberely & I find her quite cute. Alex is deceiving. I see that he has a baby face, but he has some facial expressions that I find to make him look the part. Kind of along the lines of, don’t let that face fool you. Just from the teasers & the opening theme, I’m hoping this keeps it’s pace & I continue to enjoy it.
Indeed, Dal, this is a great cast, hopefully they will all be as charismatic together as they are separately.
I’m really enjoying this one haha. Kim is superb as the wild khunnu Tae, and I kind of adore her–maybe it’s partly the subconscious knowing that she is n’ek who will change for the better, and partly her character is just cute, especially when with her family. I’m so anxious to discover what made the two go from the adoring sibling relationship to the hateful relationship.
I love a good suspense too! Hopefully she will revert back to the narak sister that she once was 🙂
Are you going to recap/review the entire lakorn ? Don’t have much lakorn watching time right now but if you are going to review this on an ongoing basis, I will definitely drop in to read. Love your writing and analysis.
BTW, just caught up with your review of the Accident. Loved the way you wrote. I don’t think I would have been able to watch the lakorn. Wouldn’t it have lasted it out. But could stop reading your reviews. Really well done.
Hi Astra!
Aww thank you so much for your kind words. It makes blogging more inspiring when there are people who are actually reading it! I probably won’t be recapping Raeng Prathana because firstly, someone else is recapping it thus far, and secondly, I find that readers get more out of my analysis article than the recapping themselves. I find myself enjoying the breakdown of characters and plots, and understanding why the characters are the way that they are- and also uncovering what makes the lakorn so great. I’m still figuring out everything as I go- your thoughts? Do you prefer those in depth reports or the recaps themselves?
I will def recap Maya Tawan, if anything because I adore Aum Atichart. Now I’m thinking about adding Dao Reurng to the queue because I’m head over heels for Por Thrisadee. People must think I’m going gaga over Yaya but in actuality, she’s just paired up with my fave pr’eks!
Re: Accident, count yourself lucky you didn’t watch it. The amount of sweet scenes they have doesn’t amount to the headaches I got. Thanks again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read my thoughts on lakorns 🙂
Oh Fia! You shouldn’t have asked me that question. I am greedy for your writing so I would say both re-caps and reviews. But this is your blog and I am happy to consume whatever you have to offer :). So, if it is reviews for you, then that’s what it shall be. Anyway, I enjoy the back and forth analysis with you so I can’t complain about the reviews. 🙂
Did ep 2 and 3 keep you engaged ?
I spent 1.5 hours shoveling snow. The exercise was great and I might just allow myself the treat of watching this lakorn for today in return. i.e. only if you tell me that ep 2 and 3 kept you engaged.
I was out shopping all day so didn’t get to watch ep 3, ep2 was so-so. I’ll have a better idea later 🙂 heeh, if I’m spazzing enough over a pairing, I tend to do both recaps and reviews.
Stay warm my dear! Shoveling snow is a tough job. Thankfully, no snow here yet, but that may change in the next week or so. I just hope it has the decency to wait until I’ve moved!
Thank you Fia for your first analysis of RP. I hope you will have more recaps and reviews on RP. For me I already fell in love with this lakorn. After Punyachon Kim showed me once again that she is very talented. Her spoiled character is not annoying and really fun to watch. Kratae is still in a phase of growing up and still needs to learn a lot. Nadech is very handsome in here, but as I am Nadech bias I always find him a good and handsome actor 🙂
Starting the year with a promising lakorn like this is more than I expected. Now I’m prepared for a good lakorn year. Hopefully also a lot of reviews/recaps and reflections from your side, Fia 🙂
Hi Tuyah, I share your in bias with Nadech! Kimberley is growing as an actress in all of her roles, I’m enjoying her snobby yet adorable hi so character. I will indulge in more analysis for Raeng Prathana, but probably not in the way of a recap. But do stay tune for more articles to come- would love your two cents on them as well. Thanks again for your continued support na ka!
Hi Fia, how are you? hope everything is well & Happy New Year 🙂 Been so busy with the holiday I haven’t been visiting your blog til today & to only find out Raeng Rathana has air? so soo but I’m glad because I been waiting for this lakorn for a long time but thank you for recapping & sharing your thoughts with us. I know Kim character is a spoil rich girl who seems to only think about herself but I don’t know but I like her character it’s sassy, something different for Kim. Can’t wait for more because I really like the plot of this lakorn 🙂
Sophorn ja! I hope RP turns out to be what you’ve waited for ☺ It’s very enjoyable as of now and I look forward to continue spazzing (a hem.. writing some thoughtout article I mean..) for the relationship development (or unraveling) to come!
I didn’t like punyachon, too much screaming gave me headache, but this one looks exciting 🙂 plus I like Alex and his character looks interesting. I Will check it
Lol about the screaming. Less of that, but the same measure of laughing and smiling for us, I hope? Enjoy!
Hello my dears! You’ve made the beginning of my blogging year and lakorn watching such a pleasure. I can’t imagine a better way to start the new year off than by chatting with you lovely ladies. Hopefully Raeng Prathana will continue on its promising route (and hopefully no unnecessary, heartbreaking detour!) [I just wanted to give a big shout out to those who took the time to comment, then I have separate replies to each of you.]
I just finished first episode.
Pros :
– God Kim is just beautiful here 😮 ! Her best look so far. She is just glowing. But her skirts/dresses are just tooo short I fear one Will see her undies :p. Does she wear lenses here -in her first scene it seems she does? Mint friend is pretty too
– I like Kim family here
– drama looks beautiful
– Nek character is not nam nao
Cons :
– so far Kim and Nadesh lacks chemistry. They have a lot of scenes together and “accidently” romantics encounter but it didn’t spark
– Kim acting baddie brat flirty girl is not so natural. She tries a little hard and her crying scene on her father shoulder was not so good. But I like the character even though sometimes I wants her to stop screaming 🙂
– Nadesh does nothing to me so far and same to Mint -her character is too dull.
– Alex doesn’t look convincing for this role. Blame it on his baby face
So far okay, Kim is very pretty here I can’t deny it 😀
Happy New Year… and for some reason ever since the Neur Mek 2 ccancellation I didnt feel like watching this lakorn.. I think NM2’s couple Mint C & Mark stole my attention… i feel bad for the NM2 team and the actors!! Oh well, thanak you so much fia for everything and conitnue what you are doing
Sorry my eng is not good
My condolences. It is a travesty for the fans.. and I can understand how upset you are. Hang in there, I heard they will be together again in their fourth drama. Su su na ka! (Fighting!)
After watching ep3, I have to say that Barry and Kim really do a good job. I love their scene even without words, maybe eyes is enough to them. Their acting skills improve much! Like this dramatic lakorn very much!!!
Hi there Yolanda! I’m glad you are finding enjoyment in this drama. I’ve seen episode 3 and I must say that it’s not doing anything for me in terms of storyline so far. There are so many plot holes! But ah well, maybe the whole point is just to enjoy the two together? I’ll wait to see if the storytelling improves..
I really like reading your comments Fia and it’s nice to hear different opinions and interpretations on one lakorn. For me, I have mixed feelings about Raeng Pradtana. Let me just say that since this is Lakorn Thai production and the infamous Nadech, I kind of had some expectations (a wow factor? lol, can’t blame me when all their previous works have been both enjoyable and successful). — Firstly, I feel like Kim’s acting is very inconsistent. For someone who is suppose to be spoiled, bratty and somewhat harsh, she appears too ‘rai’ in some scenes and overacts with her eye movements. She’s a brat but she’s not evil. Perhaps that’s how the director wants the character to be delivered but to me personally, I don’t see the connection between some of Krathae’s actions from one scene to another. For instance, in the scene where she cries about Pittiya rejecting her, I thought that was strange. Being such a strong character and considering it’s only the beginning of the story, for her to cry like a child like that didn’t feel right. It’s obvious that we’re suppose to get the idea that Krathae has loved Pittiya for a while but without any real story or better insights on their relationship, I think it’s out of context for her to act that way. Maybe if we were to get a better flashback where it shows little Krathae admiring him in more than a brotherly way then I can justify that. Also, she didnt really care that she was topless during the party and to be blunt, she’s shameless but yet she cares about feeling rejected from someone who already has a GF? Sorry but again, I have a big question mark in my head. Just with that, I don’t even buy her acting all mighty and tough most of the time. I see her as being a person who is emotionally weak but acts tough as a barrier to protect her pride. To already see such weakness from the nang aek so early in the story kinda ruins it for me. I’d prefer to have the character develop and unfold as the story progresses. Just by watching the Opening and reading some translations, I can already predict everything that will happen and I see no fun in watching that. So far, I don’t like her character much. She doesn’t annoy me and I’m quite happy that she isn’t your typical weak and defensive-less n’ek but she’s so unreasonable. She’s mad that Pittiya rejected her because she’s mad that again, he chooses someone else and places more importance on another girl instead of her. Okay. So she decides to revenge and play a game on him. So when they break up, she expects that everything will be candy and rainbows because she got what she want? I wouldn’t feel any remorse for her character when it’s time for Ravee to turn evil and play the same game back at her. Krathee basically asked for it, asked to get hurt and then she’ll just get her karma. Now onto the praek, it’s EP3 and I see nothing different from Nadech. His portrayal of Pittiya to me is like a slightly more aggressive version of Arthit with a mixture of Saichon. He really needs to work on his facial expressions because he only has a few. He needs to stop flaring his nose so much when he’s angry, kinda unattractive and not so natural looking when that’s all you see from one part to the next. Iunno. I’ll wait to watch further and see if my judgement on Nadech’s acting will change since this is still the beginning. Do I like this character? Heck no. Pit is so weak and very indecisive, two qualities of an annoying main lead. Again, it’s clear that the viewers are suppose to know that Pit also had feelings for Krathae but because he feels unworthy because of their different status, he stays away and dates another girl. My question is, what’s the difference between Krathae and Ravee? Both are girls from rich families and he should already know that he’ll have some problem dating Ravee because her parents wouldn’t easily accept him. The difference is, Krathae’s father is his savior. And so? So just because he has gratitude towards him, he doesn’t want to ruin Krathae’s reputation for her to be with a poor guy? But it’s okay with Ravee because he doesn’t have that connection with her parents? WTH. He avoids Krathae but dates another rich girl where her family doesn’t like him, funny. My biggest concern is that he’s unfaithful. He didnt cheat on Ravee but the fact that his whole heart isnt with her but yet he’s dating her already shows so much disrespect on his part. If he has feelings for Krathae, he shouldn’t date another girl to have her being add to the whole mess. He’s also asking for trouble. Both Pit and Thae are the biggest causes to everything in here. Ravee may feel insecure since so many people are against her relationship but nothing is as bad as actually seeing your BF showing affections for another girl. So my thoughts, Kim is doing a decent job minus the overacting here and there. I never liked her acting or her previous lakorns but here, I like that I get to see her in a new light. Nadech is still the same until I see more of him. I don’t see a whole lot of chemistry but it’s there and they’re definitely not awkward on screen. But for goodness sakes, stop with the falling and starring moments. There are some moments where I’m not even convinced where Pit is astonished with Thae’s beauty. As for the supporting, I like most of them and it’s nice that Thae’s family gives a warm feeling to add to the mixture of emotions that are to be displayed in this lakorn. Mint is pretty much the same like when she was in GRGR as Chompooprae. I think I’m most impressed by Alex which is very unexpected. I didn’t think he would do well in his role since he has such a baby face and he’s never ever played this type of character but boy I was wrong. He’s the most natural of all the essential characters. He has the right tone, facial expressions and while I’m watching, I forget that he’s that child actor that i’ve seen in so many past lakorns. Thumbs up to him. He’s one of those actors who is convincing in her role and proves that just because you don’t look the role, doesn’t mean you automatically fail. Generally, I dont like the storyline, don’t like many characters but I will stick around to see how everything develops. I’d say, this lakorn isn’t too bad but doesn’t live up to the hype that everyone creates for it. Sorry for the very long post ** This is my opinion and interpretation only. Feel free to disagree.
I finished episode 3 too. Did I say Kim is pretty ? But yeah she overacts when she acts all mighty and arrogant. She always does this weird movement with her mouth. For example in the scenes when she has bad plans in her mind against ravee and when they zoom on her face : her facial expressions are a little funny. But she does good at family-related scenes. And she was funny when she couldn’t use the print. Alex doesn’t look the part. Too bad because he has the best acting out of the leads here.
Thae family members are the best thing here. Her brother makes me laugh too. I like his acting -he was in Rak Prakasit and 3NNT
@Sky I love how lakorns can inspire us to spazz or critique. I’m pleased that you have taken the time to share your thoughts here, you are always welcome to offer your two cents. I find that many people blog for different, varying reasons, but at the end of the day, they want their work to be read, otherwise why post it online? For me, I enjoy that but most importantly, I like exchanging thoughts with fellow lakorn fans. I prefer a more personal take on blogging and lead/continue the conversations. Other bloggers may just prefer to write and be done with it, and let the community duke it out 🙂
I’ve come to be, how should I say this, removed from this lakorn now. I’m going to spend my energy on going back in time to visit other Por T’s lakorns, or perhaps doing other summaries for upcoming dramas, we’ll see. There are times one has to decide that setting up too high of an expectation tend to disappoint, and the opposite is some times true, that the unexpected ones are rather surprisingly endearing. I may watch RP occasionally but not too devotedly. Hope it improves to your liking!
The one I like the most right now, I terms of acting, is Alex. Dude, this boy has got talent. His voice & tone is very rai, not to mention his facial expressions. I’ll keep it up because it’s something to look forward to for the weekends. I do set my expectations low like always.
I’ve watched through episode 7. I do not detect ANY chemistry between the pra’ek and nang’ek– is it only me? Is the yadech chemistry so strong that it colors the way I see other pairings? Kimberley overacts, they need to develop her character to make her more sympathetic. Alex: what an odd looking fellow, he needs to fix his teeth, especially the upper layer. Nadech: I would love to see him in a lakorn as the poo lai, I think he’d make a great baddy and it would stretch him out of these good guy roles.
I’ve caught up and I honestly don’t know if I should even bother to continue. Considering that I’ve already watched more than half way, I should just stick till the end but I’m really not liking this lakorn. There’s just too many flaws here and there whether it be the acting or plot. Pittkwai is on my last nerves and is definitely not worth Ravee’s transformation into a n’rai. He’s married to Thae yet he almost kissed Ravee and allowed her to sleep on Thae’s bed, wearing her clothes. He needs to man up and differentiate between love and sympathy. Like I predicted, Thae’s tough act didn’t last for long and now she’s being your typical stupid n’ek who falls for Ravee’s lies. Lakorn or not, reality is a girl can never ever become friends with her BF/husband’s ex. If you can, that just proves that the girl was never really in love with the guy in the first place. Ugh All the characters in here literally make me cringe. I haven’t watched such a frustrating lakorn in a long time. My biggest disappointment is that I simply don’t see chemistry between Nadech and Kim. All they do is stare at each other. Sorry but staring doesn’t = chemistry. It requires more than just dead eyes looking at like you’re in love with someone. I would have thought that since Thae and Pit loved each other from the start, that would be somewhat easier for Nadech/Kim to develop some chemistry since they don’t have to start from zero like many other pranangs where they don’t have a past together. I was wrong. To me, I have to rely on the past to tell myself that they love each other even though I don’t feel that way when I see them on screen. I don’t even buy that Pit likes Ravee either. When he started crying when she left him, I really couldn’t understand his character due to Nadech’s acting. Either Pit is suppose to not like Ravee or Nadech’s portrayal is really off.
Hey Sky, I undoubtedly agreed with you. I first thought I was the only one who got the idea of not liking this lakorn based on the way Nadech acts in his role. Despite admiring his features and etc for so long but I personally think that he is still not dramatic enough to seek the attention from audience. Truly love your chemistry interpretation- bonding session. 🙂
Plus, like you have stated earlier the story line is a bit too draggy, it drags all the way long. At initial I find it very interesting, as in- wow it’s pretty nice to see that a handsome guy like Nadech would be together with such glamorous girl, kim. Then ever since I watched episode 8, something triggered my mind, thought that it would some how end at episode 10 but in reality it’s not. IT’S 15!!!! Damn it, then at the spur of the moment,i knew it’s gonna be boring. I really don’t understand why can’t they just kiss mouth to mouth instead of just a slight kiss at the face, i mean worst come to worse not even touching Kim’s face. Well, perhaps just a slight blow. Sigh.* This is incredibly ridiculous, it just make my heart pounded very fast in the first place and then the rate just fell tremendously. What are love if they are only for good times then they don’t?