I’m really not surprised a certain fandom is shitting on Tu and her character Kongkwan in 10 years ticket. Another fandom did the same thing with Tu and her character in F4.
We’ve have seen Kongkwan and her family’s reputation get ruined over a lie for the past 10 years. They have had to move, lose their jobs, switch schools, etc. Not to mention Kongkwan has been getting harassed and bullied by faculty, students, and parents at this new school and trying to force her to leave. People claiming Kongkwan is just a cry baby and acting like none of this things listed above is a reason not to be depressed and cry. Kongkwan isn’t even a cry baby she literally stands up for herself and is stern on people not bullying her out of school this time but no one seems to talk about that for some reason.
What makes this lack of empathy for Kongkwan worse is that people’s dislike for the character is now shifting to Tu herself (just like what happened in f4). People claiming Tu can’t act and that she and her character are bland which is just simply not true and just a made up excuse.
This story is about a murder, the events that led up to it, and how it’s aftermath effected several characters, their families, and their relationships with each other. The core characters are adolescent so it’s obvious their emotions/actions are gonna be more nuanced especially considering their current family dysfunctions and the trauma of a brother/best friend being murdered by another close family friend (which is a lie).
People seem to get this nuance with Phukao’s character by why isn’t this nuance and empathy extending to Kongkwan? We have seen people project their feelings about a murder on a 16 year-old girl like she’s the criminal. Having to move and switch schools constantly for 10 years because people assume you’re gonna murder them and don’t want you in their vicinity. Is that not also trauma?
Of course Phukao is understandably angry, ostracized, lonely, confused, depressed, lost, etc. He has every right to feel the way he does but some of his actions towards Kongkwan are just wrong. Phukao even knows he’s wrong because he feels sorry for how is treats and talks to Kongkwan and tries to apologize after.
Phukao chooses to engage with Kongkwan when he gets into his emotions in the spur of the moment. Like in ep6 going to her house after finding the book or in ep4 snatching brother uncle from her. If Phukao wanted he could simply pretend like Kongkwan doesn’t exist, not engage her, ignore her, not speak, or look at her. Clearly he gets angry when he sees her so why even give her his energy. Kongkwan hasn’t approached Phukao first cause she understands he’s not fond of her presence at school and doesn’t want to further upset him.
It’s obvious Phukao’s anger is misplaced on Kongkwan. She has personally not done anything to hurt him or his brother. Her family was just as blindsided by the murder as was his. Both families have been reaping the repercussions of the murder but is different ways. Phukao is angry Kongkwan’s familial bonds have been less detrimental than his. It’s clear Phukao wishes he and Kongkwan were like they used to but that’s clouded by her connection to his familial trauma. It also doesn’t help Plu and Zo family’s chose not to choose sides and remain friends with both after the murder.
I think most of peoples’s problem with this show is it’s style and genre. 10 Years Ticket is at its core a typical melodramatic Thai soap/lakorn. All the archetypes, tropes, drama, plot devices, etc are relatively standard. What the show has done well so far is portraying the complexities and nuances of a group of adolescent friends with various family dysfunctions cope after a tragedy. None of these four friends are terrible human beings. They’re teenagers still trying to figure out life, school, romance and friendship while simultaneously suffering from shared trauma and familial dysfunction. Their emotions are often times intense and unregulated which leads to poor and unfavorably decisions. These teens aren’t black/white or good/bad. They’re way more complex, deep and interesting than that.
I’ll end this saying that if you’re dogpiling and relentlessly shitting on any of the core teen characters (Phukao, Kongkwan, Plu, or Zo) then I fear you’ve really missed the point of the show. These complex teens are riddled with trauma and dysfunction so they ALL deserve grace and empathy.
P.S.: Some (a lot) of the hate Kongkwan (Tu) and Zo (View) get is just misogyny and unhealthy Parasocial relationships with bl actors
