@MomRamy .... Thank you so much! Oh my I was just rereading it and dam there a lot of spelling error lol! I'm just glad that you were able to read it without any problem....I was in a rush as I was at work at that time and trying to submit this comment before my boss return back from lunch lol!
I enjoyed your review and agreed with many of your points(I too wanted more Khun Met and Pim sweet moments), as for spelling pfftt don't worry or care too much about that. So many of us have English as a 2nd or 3rd language that it really doesn't matter. In the end as long as your point is made and understood you got it.
It's good they team up together , Kim is really good but James ji need a little improvement in acting.
Love them both, hope they team up again.
Kim is soooooo gooooood.
So pretty! I want them to team up again in something lighthearted and cute. I need cute scenes. But first I want Kim and Nadech to work in a lakorn project! Please channel 3 listen!
... I just wrote my comprehensive review and it's 6 pages long. You have been warned (though it's mostly a rehash of things I've said before so...) if you guys are completely bored, or cannot sleep, this one is for you:
Buang Hong: A Review
The lowdown:
Much like the other lakorns by Paa’Jaew that I’ve seen (i.e. Wanida, Khun Chai Puttipat, Nueng Nai Suang, and Tam Rak Keun Jai) Buang Hong is a light hearted lakorn, with lessons on good morals, a solid screenplay and enough fluff to keep your heart fluttering. I watched this without expecting any hardcore drama, and sure enough there was none. While the show is easy to watch, it is not without flaws as there are some things that other viewers who I had talked to, and I myself, found to be lacking or could have been done better. But overall, it is one of those lakorns I would probably watch again, and again in the coming years.
The Rating: I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
The Story:
If there is one thing I love about Buang Hong, it is the story. At first I thought it was a typical story of a spoiled girl who learns her lesson and becomes a better person – after watching it, I realized indeed, it was that, but so much more! I love how every scene made up parts of a bigger picture and once I’ve watched all of it, I realized indeed it is quite cohesive and so I had the instant urge to watch it all over again.
The central theme of the story is a “Swan” – as the title states, it is a story about a “Lasso for a Swan”.
First we are introduced to the Swan, Kim’s character, “Pimlapat.” Physically, she is the epitome of the swan, beautiful, graceful and polished. No matter how bratty she is, her poise and charm exudes elegance that it’s no wonder that our P’ek instantly falls head over heels in love with her. Of course it also helps that compared to the first part, Tam Rak Keun Jai, Buang Hong has a more glamorous setting which is fitting for our elegant swan. And yet this world is no less dangerous than the rural and “wild” outdoors of Bukao farm, for in Pim’s world, everything may be beautiful and yet superficial. The cliché looks can be deceiving is well laid down in the first part of the series. There are traps set up everywhere in Pim’s magical glamorous world. At the onset, we are already made aware of Pim’s flaws as well as the characters that would make her life hell. Her sweet yet crooked boyfriend, Paul, and of course her ever sophisticated evil ex-stepmother, Matavi. Her father is no better, as although he is presented as the hero of Pim’s life, he, initially is pointed out as the man who spoiled his daughter rotten, and made her who she is. The poor father is buried in debt, but we can only watch helplessly as he ultimately chooses the easy way out and kills himself, but not before he gives the pin, the central object of the story, telling his daughter to be like a swan, no matter what adversities she may face. Thus begins the story of Pim and how she lives up to her father’s wishes and becomes a swan, despite everything.
Second, we are likewise introduced to the lasso, or at least the person who wields it, James's character, Ramet. At the beginning it’s not clear who would make the N’ek’s life hell, will it be the N’Rai or someone else? As it is, our culprit is the P’ek. This is where production team wields their magic as the story shifts from Ramet being the hunted to being the hunter himself. Ramet isn’t your typical P’ek as he is kind and gentle. He can be ruthless, sure, but he fits into the mold of the elegant world that Pim is living in. He is smart, rich, and poised, but with a stronger sense of values, and who was trapped not only by Pim’s beauty, but also held on to the words of his idol, Pim’s father, who said his inspiration to succeed was his daughter. And so when the opportunity presented itself, our reluctant hunter went for it and trapped the swan, perhaps to make her his own muse, and yet, he soon finds out that she will … actually, they would both make each other’s lives hell before they ultimately reach the heavenly happy ending.
What surprised me in the story was how Ramet easily fell in love with Pim and how the romance was brought early on in the story. Initially, I thought it was such a mismatch. Ramet is warm while Pim is cold, like the hydrangea. Yet soon when Pim’s charade comes to an end, we realize that hints of the cold businessman that is Ramet which we saw in the early parts of the lakorn actually makes him as cold as Pim himself. Yet when he is cold, Pim now gets thawed slowly, slowly until she becomes the warm and lovable heroine who we all want to root for. The meaning of the hydrangea is not lost to the viewers as the story progressed. Pim had whispered her wish to it – i.e that she prays Ramet would understand her actions later on, for she was already beginning to fall in love with him but was forced into doing what she had to do or she did not know any better. In the same way, Ramet laments how Pim had not understood that he cared for her and did everything for her, despite everything (well… we couldn’t really blame Pim now can we, after he had blackmailed her for more than half of the series! Haha). Yet our lovers eventually understood each other after they became more mature and all the misunderstandings have been cleared up in the end.
Again, the central theme of the story is the Lasso for Swan. Yet for both our characters, the meaning of the metaphor changes as the story progresses. Initially, our swan Pim is superficially the swan; beautiful and elegant yet fussy and vapid. Yet in the course of the story, she learns to be dignified, poised and pure – much like the true symbolism of the swan which her father wanted her to live out.
On the other hand, our gentle hunter Ramet, who would rather use a lasso than a gun or a spear, went ahead and trapped a swan and held it tightly within his grasp, only to realize later on that a swan cannot be bound for it is too graceful and mild. Towards the end he became insecure with the trap he himself created and failed to realize that the swan would stay and love him, out of her own free will, all he had to do was ask nicely (instead of threatening and blackmailing her all the time!) Good thing Paa’Jaew liked happy endings and so that is what we got! Haha
What is the trap; what is the lasso? The big twist in the story is that while set up made it appear that all of Pim’s troubles started with the villains, Kittichai or even Matavi, ultimately, Pim’s “trap” had been her own doing, and the calculating hunter that is Ramet only pounced on the opportunity to keep her within his grasp. Ostensibly, the trap is actually Pim’s swan pin, for she claimed she would rather do backbreaking work than to sell her precious pin. Some may look at it as her superficiality, for the “old Pim” put great value on appearances but not really what was within. The beautiful hydrangea was pleasant to her eyes, without her knowing its hidden meaning. She was smitten with her ex-boyfriend Paul, not knowing he’s as rotten as they come. She valued the pin her father gave her, not realizing the meaning it symbolized carried more weight. In some ways, Pim was like her deceased father, who was trapped by the scheming yet alluring Matavi and opting to kill himself instead of letting go of worldly possessions – yet at the same time Pim showed later on that she is nothing like her father. She eventually learned to appreciate people for who they are and learned not to judge a book by its cover. And also she was strong in the face of adversity and never gave up. Perhaps this is what made Ramet change her mind about her, after her treachery, in the first place. Initially, Ramet had wanted her to leave and be out of his sight forever, and yet when he saw her determination to pay her debts and keep her pin, it somehow caused a spark to ignite within him and made him think he was right on his gutfeel – that Pim is more than what she seemed, and worthy of his trap, after all.
Ultimately, the lasso was a challenge to Pim’s honor and dignity – the payment of her debt. Ramet’s trap had revolved around keeping Pim’s dignity – by letting her go on to pay for her dues while not destroying her image (completely) by turning her over to the police. It’s the same tactic he had employed against Kittichai, and eventually, the same scenario happened to Sia Samarn and Matavi. (It makes you wonder how many times the police was brought up and yet it was only Kittichai who ultimately goes to jail.) Ramet could have easily written off Pim’s debt yet he chose to use it against her (and indeed, he was able to do so as Pim was honorable and proud enough to pay for her dues).
And yet what reputation does Pim have to begin with? While she was at Chiang Rai (or even before that), Matavi and her lackeys had been destroying her in their circle in Bangkok. She was even mistaken as a mistress, or a victim of loan sharks. After all the blind items that probably could have been written about her, indeed, it was probably the story of her being a waitress at a hotel in the province that was least “demeaning”- and indeed, much like Paa’Jaew’s other lakorns, we get to see the value of goodness and how it transcends social class. Rich or poor, people can be judged and ultimately, the good people survive. As Kanda said, justice may be elusive to those who are poor, but Pim learns later on that goodness is something inherent in a person which no amount of money can buy – and this makes people more precious than any other luxury item or jewel. Yet this doesn’t mean all rich people are evil. Much like Khun Singh, Ramet is a rich kid with a heart of gold and love for nature and his homeland. For all his ruthlessness as a businessman, he wants to do his part for society, thus showing he is a gentleman in the truest sense of the word.
The Characters:
As I earlier mentioned, I had first thought that Ramet and Pim were a mismatch. The beauty of the love story however is that just when you thought the cards had all been laid out, the story shifts and the viewers are given another perspective on both the characters and their love.
At first it seems the suave Ramet fell in love with the vain Pim and that was that. Yet as the story progressed, we see different sides of both Pim and Ramet and they fall in love anew and it is much deeper than before.
In the beginning Ramet is shown as kind, soft, to the point of being gullible yet he is shown as a calculating and manipulative guy as towards his competitors. On the other hand, Pim is wicked and shallow, a true prima donna who everybody loathed. Yet there were hints of her sweetness and vulnerability amidst her strong and resilient character. When the real story starts – and I mean, that point where Pim is suddenly brought down to her high horse and suddenly Ramet is the worst boss on the planet, we are shown how the characters evolve, or rather, show their true selves. Ramet turns seemingly bipolar – he is wallowing in heartbreak, or longingly gazes at Pim from afar one moment then coldly dismissing Pim in the next. Yet this just shows is vulnerability. Indeed, he is a sensitive guy who thinks with his heart, who goes through great lengths to stick to reason just to maintain his values and avoid getting his heart broken once again. The best part is when the hunter becomes trapped in his own lasso – as he could not give Pim the key to her freedom because he is afraid of losing her forever. His vulnerability and possessiveness is both endearing and annoying because you either end up feeling sorry for the guy or wanting him to suffer, suffer and suffer!
Pim on the other hand is so annoying at the beginning and yet when sense is knocked into her head, she becomes this really lovable and charming character, even I want to be best friends with her. She is strong and remains strong even when she becomes more dignified and less of a prima donna. When Pim cries, I want to cry with her (unlike Ramet who I just want to see suffer, hahaha) and despite hating her in the beginning, I truly rooted for her happy ending eventually. Pim was so feisty in the beginning and the way she fought made her lasso tighter as she struggled. When she finally learned her lesson however, she moved gracefully and easily slipped off her trap and had her victory. Her ultimate win was against Matavi, when the world finally realized that she was a swan and her ex-step mother was the cuckoo bird. While both characters were portrayed as beautiful and elegant, Pim’s inherent goodness and strength of character won out in the end. It was satisfying how ever so subtly, without any blood and gore (well… except for Sia Samarn…), it was finally established that Pim won over Matavi in every.single.aspect. Booyah!
As for Matavi, I actually liked her character. I mean, she was a bitch, but she’s my kind of bitch. She was ostensibly smart, but truly stupid, much like the other N’Rai’s in Paa-Jaew’s lakorns. But what set Matavi apart was that she was two-faced. She wasn’t batshit crazy all the time; she was flirty, she was cool, she was fabulous. She cried crocodile tears and had an “artificially sweet” side. She was given her satisfaction at first, yet boy, was she humiliated at the end.
The side characters are also awesome. My favorite of course is Khun Baworntut, the voice of reason and the best wingman ever. He teased our untouchable and immutable hero (He’s the BOSS!) and sympathized with our heroine when everyone else turned their backs against her. He wasn’t overbearing and every scene he had was so precious. I want to huggle him. The people at Jaravee restaurant are also very important. Kanda of course is the no-nonsense buddy of our vain heroine. At first I was wondering why Ramet couldn’t fall in love with such a sweet and hardworking girl as Kanda, only to find out later on she has an identity crisis *sweatdrop*. I really enjoyed her ending with Suriyont and I wished I had seen more of them together. Jin and Chart were also cute, and for a while, when Ramet was being bipolar, a lot of people were cheering Chart and Pim! Khun Pachalee was also a good mother figure and she probably is the most reasonable character out there. Even the chefs of the restaurant were so cute when they got annoyed and later on teased Pim when they got closer.
The sub villains, the two helpers of Matavi are quite funny too and I liked how they were given a chance to reform in the end. Chuntima too, though we’ll never know if she’ll get to use that shade of lipstick once the new lady boss and her probationary best friend becomes in charge.
Paul… well, Paul and Sia Samarn for that matter served their purpose in the story. They are both ‘weak’ characters who were just there to bully our Pim.
The ultimate heroes of our story, Ramet’s Older Sister and his nephew and niece were also so adorable. Khun Roj was so beautiful and “regal” – we get to understand why Ramet fell in love with Pim in the first place. It’s sad that Ramet, Pim and the kids did not have scenes together. I wanted that.
I guess the only characters I didn’t like were Kittichai and his wife. And probably that means they did their job well.
Actors: Heh, admittedly, I watched this for James Ji. Most of the fans that I’ve talked to watched for Kim. Of course the general opinion that I got was that Kim was so good in this lakorn, and indeed she was. It is my first time to watch all episodes of lakorn where Kim is a n’ek and I enjoyed her performance. She was able to portray the fiery yet vulnerable character of Pim quite well.
JamesJi, well… I must admit that I am biased so people would probably take my words with a grain of salt but I think over all James’s acting was really good in Buang Hong. Ramet, despite being a “nice guy” and being calm in contrast to the short tempered P’eks that James played before, had a wider range of emotions. Actually, what makes Ramet “complicated” is that he always had two faces of emotions. He either had to contain or hide what he really feels by invoking a mask of calm or coldness, or he ends up surprising himself by reacting differently from his supposed nature (e.g. his jealous scenes). So in effect, James had a lot of scenes where he was taunting and arrogant, yet either hurt or furious inside. The poor guy looked like in pain (stomach pain? hey, it's close to the heart!) in most of the episodes (and indeed, Ramet was in a lot of pain! Haha) and yet when he turns on his flirty side, then his eyes really sparkle and I can almost hear the screams of fangirls everywhere. Indeed, there are some parts that really need improvement, but as it is, James gave life to the character of Ramet. He was suave and dreamy, while still seeming innocent about love and not a cassanova as Kittichai’s wife would have Pim to believe.
But out of all the performances, it’s Bee’s that I enjoyed the most. She was such a vapid character and Bee played Matavi really well. Of course the fact that she was so naturally beautiful and so in her element while in the runway helped a lot too. But I like how she managed to become hateable and bring out the cuckoo side of Matavi without having to kick and scream like a banshee. She was poised through and through and I really applaud her for keeping the cougar dream alive!
The side characters are also quite well casted, though some really need to work on their acting (read: Chart, I’m sorry.) But overall it was good and I enjoyed their performances a lot.
Music: The songs, taken with the lyrics are really well fitted in the story. The entrance song which is obviously Pim’s theme song is quite touching. Even the incidental music arrangement of the piece is beautiful. It is so powerful when the chorus plays in the key scenes (especially when Pim is crying).
Admittedly, I didn’t like JamesJi and Bowling's song at first, but when it was used in the video montage for when Pim and Ramet were dating, I started loving the song and now I play it on loop on the way to work! Haha! It was wonderful how the lyrics appeal so much to the characters and their story. The arrangement is kind of modern (well, modern, relative to JamesJi’s other songs in his other lakorns) and it’s something I’d totally sing in a karaoke after about three bottles of beer. Uh but anyway, I digress. What I mean to say is that the balance of the cheesiness and the angst of the song makes it relatable.
The Flaws: So after this long winding essay on how Buang Hong is awesome, etc, why did I give it just 7 stars out of 10?
Well, my biggest gripe was that Pim became lovable only in Episode 7! That’s like more than halfway through the lakorn. I understand that the change in her must be clearly seen, but it was almost painful to go through the episodes where Pim was already down but she still could not get it. To make matters worse, in that period of hating Pim, Ramet was elsewhere, supposedly “working” or inadvertently flirting with Matavi. And Kittichai… gaah! Don’t get me started on Kittichai. That guy should go to jail not just for his bad deeds but for bribing anyone with 500,000 baht. I was starting to wonder how much he paid his employees. Did he tell them he’d give a bonus to them too? SO much time was spent in laying the basis that when suddenly when things pick up, it’s over just when we’re enjoying it.
The first few episodes would have been tolerable if there had been more interaction between Pim and Ramet, may it be about them knowing more about each other, or at least showing us viewers more about how they were (flashbacks?) or what they thought of, if they did think of, each other. Ramet spent more time with so many girls (Nong, Noona, Matavi, all the female staff in the hotel, and his sister) it makes me wonder if apart from Singh and the guy who owned a condo, does he have any other guy friends at all?
My other complaint is that while the backdrop was very scenic and really showed the beauty of Chiang Rai, I would have wanted more immersion on the part of Ramet and Pim into other aspects of the culture there. The treatment was a bit superficial, probably because they stuck with the theme of the fashion show and hi-so world of hotels, etc., but I would have wanted to see Ramet and Pim in a local festival (much like what happened in Tam Rak Keun Jai) or in an activity that would make them let down their hair (and get Khun Ramet out of his suit and floral lapel pins, and Pim out of her stilletos and designer clothes) and actually have fun and be more natural and relatable to some extent. Perhaps now that I think about it, what I would have wanted is a part 2 of Ramet and Pim’s date in Chaing Rai! Haha!
But overall it was a nice story and Buang Hong sure did not disappoint.
and as he expected hs beautiful prideful swan couldn't accept what he did she felt deceived again (as she think she was deceived with him marrying noona)
there is a lot of pain in pim's heart that makes her feel insecure , i feel ramet should relly be more persistence in making her feel secure and keep trying to prove his opinion to her and show her the truth by himself with any possible way
that bright pure beautiful face that thought he will give in straight away
but Mr know it all had other plans she is like "doesn't he suppose to hurry and hug me and be excited " and she is like " i guess i had to do some run over first to bring his excitement out "
he didn't like the game that kim and Mr kong made it for hi so he is gonna play his own hard to get game
how he was able to resist her shining breathtaking smile and sparking eyes
she was like " i will use my charm again "
and he was like "hmm i want more "
she *sigh* "guess the game won't end this easily , need to run more "
You know, every time I saw the opening, as much as I love the song that was there already. I couldn't help but imagine this song playing instead. Try it, mute the audio and watch the opening with this song playing haha.
You know, every time I saw the opening, as much as I love the song that was there already. I couldn't help but imagine this song playing instead. Try it, mute the audio and watch the opening with this song playing haha.
hahahaha she pretend she didn't remember his sister told her that he was planing to propose to her with the pin cause she want to hear it from him , and him is like " PIM "
