K-netizens comment on The Glory’s influence on Thai BL actor Ohm Pawat's school violence apology

Korean netizens believe that there might soon be a Thai The Glory, as Bad Buddy lead Ohm Pawat recently owned up to his past mistakes and posted an apology for bullying people at school.

Netizens on the popular forum, theqoo, discussed Ohm Pawat’s school violence controversy and apology in a post uploaded on January 8. The anonymous poster also added screenshots of K-netizens’ tweets in which they talked about how Thai fans were raising their voices against Thai celebrities after watching The Glory.

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of bullying and abuse. Reader discretion is advised.

The Glory, starring Song Hye-kyo and Lee Do-hyun, is a revenge thriller drama. It revolves around Moon Dang-eun planning vengeance on her school bullies. The show is both cautious but glaring (and reportedly realistic) in its portrayal of the extreme school bullying cases in South Korea.

A scene depicting gruesome bullying led to increased conversations on the state of actors who got tangled in bullying scandals. Ohm Pawat, who rose to international fame with the 2021 BL (Boys’ Love) series Bad Buddy, is the latest actor to get caught under the radar.

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“Nice to see the good influence”: K-netizens discuss The Glory’s bullying scene being a catalyst to Thai fans outing popular actors

The title of theqoo post reads: "Thanks to The Glory's success, Thailand is also exposing their school violence," and the comments by K-netizens (Images via theqoo and pannchoa)

With The Glory’s popularity taking over the globe, it has significantly influenced Thailand. The series showcased a brutal portrayal of bullying in Part 1, which was condemned and deemed graphic by viewers. But many South Korean netizens shared that the country has seen worse bullying cases than the one portrayed in the show.

The conversations around the scene made Thai fans realize why South Koreans take school bullying accusations seriously. Thai netizens began calling out and holding famous actors in the industry responsible for their past bullying scandals. One of them was Ohm Pawat, the male lead of Bad Buddy, a popular 2021 BL.

On January 8, 2023, Ohm Pawat posted an apology for his actions in school and to everyone he “mocked when I was young.” His school violence rumors included him bullying an autistic kid, mocking girls, and soaking one kid by throwing soda at them.

While they were only rumors at first, as the conversation around bullying grew, netizens started to believe that he was compelled to accept and apologize for his mistakes.

Many also believe that Ohm Pawat’s choice of words was poor, as he called himself a “naughty young boy” and that he was “just a boy being a boy.” Take a look at his apology translated into English by a Twitter user below:

Korean netizens on theqoo also commented on his poor choice of words. A few mentioned how the accusations against him couldn’t be called “pranks,” while one was even surprised to see the Bad Buddy actor under theqoo’s HOT category.

Take a look at the K-netizens' comments below:

Comments on theqoo talking about Ohm Pawat's apology (Image via pannchoa)

Besides the Bad Buddy actor, another popular celebrity, Gulf Kanawut, also came under the radar for getting away with ableist pranks. The 25-year-old featured in two of Thailand’s most popular BLs, the 2019 TharnType and 2020 Why R U?.

Netizens posted clips of Gulf Kanawut mocking people with disabilities to hold him accountable for his actions.

Across the internet, many believe that The Glory’s portrayal of bullying has positively influenced people into demanding an apology from celebrities who were let go all this time.

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The Glory Part 1 consisted of eight episodes and was released on December 31, 2022. Part 2 is scheduled for release sometime in March.