#patchai pakdeesusuk

PUP PATCHAI PAKDESUSUK as MONK DOL

1.06 — Beelievers

PUP PATCHAI PAKDESUSUK as (MONK) DOL

In a world where faith can be traded and power can be bought, every act of devotion carries a price. Netflix today released the official trailer and key art for The Believers 2, offering a high-stakes glimpse into the next chapter of Thailand’s provocative thriller-drama.

Returning on December 4, the new season plunges viewers back into the moral crossfire faced by three friends who once turned religion into a business, only to find themselves ensnared in a far more dangerous game. As blurred lines between belief and corruption tighten around them, every choice becomes a test of loyalty, survival, and redemption.

After a breakout first season that made history as the first Southeast Asian Netflix Original series to be renewed, The Believers 2 deepens its exploration of how faith and politics intertwine in modern Thailand. Director Wattanapong Wongwan raises the intensity to new heights, crafting a story that’s darker, sharper, and more emotionally charged than ever before.

Faith Meets Power in a Dangerous “Mega Merit Project”

This season, the trio of modern-day merit-makers — Win (James-Teeradon Supapunpinyo), Game (Peach-Pachara Chirathivat), and Dear (Ally-Achiraya Nitibhon) — find themselves drawn back into the world they tried to leave behind. Under the command of Ae (Donut-Manatsanun Phanlerdwongsakul), a powerful local politician whose ambitions straddle the spiritual and the corrupt, they are forced to take part in a new “Mega Merit Project.”

Ae’s scheme transforms Nong Khan Temple into what she calls a “merit bridge,” a massive temple redevelopment designed to attract vast donations, serving as a front for large-scale money laundering. What began as a scheme to dig themselves out of debt becomes a desperate fight for survival.

“The Believers 2 tells the story of a group of people who try to play with the system, but ultimately, the system strikes back,” says Director Wattanapong. “We continue to keep Buddhism as the central theme, but expand the story into local politics. These two worlds — religion and politics — share the same instruments of power used to sway people’s hearts.”

The acclaimed cast returns alongside a roster of new faces. Petch-Paophet Charoensook, Joey-Phuwasit Ananbhornsiri, Neng-Sarun Naraprasertkul, Pearypie Amata Chittasenee, and Farose join the mission, adding even more depth and intrigue to the story’s web of deceit.

Fan-favorite Monk Dol (Pup-Patchai Pakdeesusuk) also makes a striking return, but no longer as a monk. Having left the monastic life, he must navigate life beyond the temple for the first time, confronting his faith and identity in a world driven by temptation and corruption.

The Believers 2 premieres on December 4, only on Netflix.

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About The Believers 2 DIRECTOR: Wattanapong Wongwan PRODUCER: Somprasong Srikrajang WRITERS: Wattanapong Wongwan, Aummaraporn Phandintong, Eakasit Thairaat and Chanathip Amonpiyaphong CAST: Teeradon Supapunpinyo, Pachara Chirathivat, Achiraya Nitibhon, Manatsanun Phanlerdwongsakul, Patchai Pakdeesusuk and Paophet Charoensook CONTENT PARTNER: Deluxe Production Company Limited STREAMING DATE: December 4, 2025

After listening to me, is there anything you want to ask? Me? How about love and Buddhism? Love and Buddhism, how does it work? I mean, if loving causes suffering, does that mean one shouldn't love at all? // The question you asked me. I have an answer to it.

The Believers (2024) dir. Wattanapong Wongwan | 1.04

First: Thank you! I'm delighted that you enjoyed my rambling essay so much! And if it's good, it's only because you asked the right questions and gave me this opportunity to yap! An answer is only as good as its question allows it to be, after all!

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Assuming that the paper receipt Win found in the last episode implied his missing? dead? dad was also caught up in some money laundering shady business at the temple, I think Win will play some kind of double agent character in S2 where he’s forced into both running shady temple business all the while reporting back to the RDJ-looking cop.

YES! I think Win's gonna find himself in a teeth-clench cooperation with Cop RDJ (and the feelings might be mutual until maybe the two of them reach an understanding as S2 progresses)!

That cop seriously has more things going on with him beyond what we glimpsed. He has very personal goals he wants to achieve—whatever means necessary. Could he actually be a personal friend of Win's father? Or someone who used to work with him? Is Win's father the common thread between Win and Cop RDJ?

I'm very interested in his side of the story, man!

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To be honest, they’ve ended Monk Dol’s arc so well, I really don’t want to sacrifice his character’s integrity and beliefs for the sake of the narrative but I also badly need him onscreen again as the only character with a moral compass in this series full of peope without it ಥ_ಥ

Sadhu, you nailed my struggle! I know I shouldn't be attached, but bro, I am. Too late!!! Y'all made him too charismatic and earnest in his practice and conduct, and now you created one of the best religious-affiliated characters I've ever met in my personal list of fiction.

Imagine if Monk Dol was a real person I know!!! Yo, I'll do anything to be his kalyāṇa-mitta ("noble/virtuous friend;" Buddhist friendship characterized by camaraderie in helping each other improve while practicing The Noble Eightfold Path. It includes chastising each other for unskillful conduct, etc).

I like to point out that Monk Dol was also written to be afflicted with the Three Poisons (klesa) through his attachment to Dear, so he's actually flawed despite being the best boy person in the series. He showed delusion (moha) such as thinking Dear could ever be with him and that he should disrobe to be with her. He showed attachment (rāga), most obvious in his dream of Dear and that scene in the bathroom. The only klesa he exhibited the least, even when he had grown attached to Dear, was aversion or hatred (dosa), but it was still present—in his quiet resentment and growing regret over becoming a monk at too tender an age. He was growing averse to his life as a monk.

So I think, one of the many functions Monk Dol provided in สาธุ was also about a Buddhist's valorization of growth from mistakes. Instead of characterizing his lapse with Dear as a sort of fall in morality or failure in his religious duty, the emphasis was placed on how Monk Dol overcame his delusion. In Buddhist ethics, moral progress is extolled—more so than moral duty and moral adherence. It's all about effort, striving, and using your mistakes to learn; Monk Dol's character arc exemplifies that. One of the Buddha's lauded disciples was Aṅgulimāla, a serial killer, after all.

Okay LOOK I REALLY LIKE THIS GUY, OKAY

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Whatever happens in S2, I hope S2 gives me lots of Monk Dol internal struggles, nothing I love more than a tortured gentle, kind soul (@ สาธุ scriptwriters, please don’t use my beloved Monk Dol as a sacrificial martyr though, HE’S SUFFERED ENOUGH) getting a bittersweet, hopeful-ish open ending.

OH SHIT. I... I'm also a sucker for tortured gentle, kind soul!!! Ahhhhhhh!

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I LOVE the scene you chose to make your new gif.

Because this Dhamma talk was probably the hardest-to-understand of all. I'll tell you why...

In this one, Monk Dol was explaining upādāna ("clinging; attachment"). However, he wasn't talking about the usual stuff about attachment like "don't be attached to money" "don't be attached to beauty" or "don't be attached to fame."

He's talking about attachment to things Buddhists think are good. Meditation. Making merits. Offering alms to monks. The rituals. He's saying that one should not even be attached to these good things. "It's easy to be attached to things that feel pleasant. But we should not be attached to them, too."

It's very counterintuitive. Buddhists are taught that all of these stuff are good and moral, so why not be attached to them?

Because if you're so stuck in doing them, it will also start to become a burden to your mind, and then it turns into suffering. But there's also more to it!

The Buddha had an analogy for this (I forgot in which sutta/sutra, though. Bruh yapped way too much and had a shit ton of sutta in the Pali Canon). Paraphrasing from my memory here:

The Dhamma is a boat. When you want to cross the river and reach the other side, you use the Dhamma (and related tools). But once you reach it and are now on land, do you still hold onto the boat? No. You discard it, having no longer need it on land. To cling to anything when it's no longer required causes dukkha.

This is what Monk Dol was also saying in that talk. Samadhi ("wisdom") during meditation is nice and pleasant, but true samadhi is knowing when to be detached from the pleasantry of meditation so that the "bliss" of it doesn't distract you from your real goal (of Enlightenment).

And this, I need to stress, was the Dhamma talk Monk Dol was giving in his first appearance. I was absolutely floored and impressed, man, because this isn't something someone with a more pop culture understanding of Buddhism can come up with. Again, fucking props to the scriptwriters and their advisors; they really know their shit!

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Okay yea I am done rambling ahahhaha. Please, if you cook more The Believers gif set I will EAT THEM SO GOOD. I wish more people are into this shit, goddamn. And I can't wait for Season 2!!!

(You have no idea how happy I am to find a fellow appreciator like you!)

Thank you Lyn for once again blessing me with even more insights into the brilliant writing and details in the characterisation of Monk Dol (i don't deserve this. cries happy tears ಥᴗಥ. months and months of waiting and lurking in the สาธุ tag for fellow สาธุ appreciators has finally come into fruition. i truly have no regrets spending hours screencapping สาธุ. always said they were purely self-indulgent but i must admit i always secretly hope people would come across them and gave the series a chance).

I didn't think I could love Monk Dol more but you have truly proven that Monk Dol is truly in fact best flawed boi monk. In a series with such a sensitive topic, I understand that careless writing could have easily made him a terrible character or cause great controversial or mixed reactions but I do think the writing for Monk Dol was just sophisticated enough and it feels like there's much care in the crafting of his character (my beloved Dol).

Kudos to Pup who plays Monk Dol as well, because I would have never guessed that he isn't a professional actor but the frontman of a rock band (funnily enough i've been listening to Potato (his band) forever but i didn't register that they're the same person until I started watching interviews and they start asking Pup about how does it feel to transform from a rock singer to a monk).

i shall end this ask with a gif encapsulating my exact reaction of Monk Dol's first Dhamma talk/sermon