Cecilia, I'm so glad I gave it a chance, too. To think that I could have missed out on such a hidden gem. I'm just sad that I wasn't here to spazz with you girls when it was airing. Some of those scenes were just golden to me. Though I gushed on and on about Ying Ai and Rab, I do love the supporting characters/cast as well. There were many good life lessons hidden within the supporting characters' storylines. One that comes to mind at the moment is when Rab and Roong asked their eldest sister if she can really handle the fact that she will have a hand in reporting her husband to the police. She said something on the lines of that for her, the choice is clear. To chose between an outsider who only takes from her or a father who has helped and has loved her since she was a child. She has no regrets.
SarN, I didn't see the old version. I do agree with you that it's out of character for Rab to have had mistresses in past, but then be such a gentleman and a steadfast romantic to Ai. The only clues we get for this is what is said between him and his friend Nop. I wondered too, if Rab had fell in love with Ai 2 years earlier and it was love at first sight for him, why did he wait so long to pursue her? My only thinking is that he was so busy with the family business to woe her the way he wanted to because since she's "the one", he will treat her differently from previous women. He has money and good looks so he was probably used to women throwing themselves at him so he never felt anything genuine for them, but he enjoyed their company. Then when he saw Ai teaching art at his son's school, it impressed him that a beautiful young noble woman would be kind enough to care and volunteer her time to children. He saw what he had never seen before in women, a selfless woman who didn't care about money. He probably never thought he would find such a woman that would make his heart beat so fast. He had mentioned in the closing scene of the lakorn that he had thought that being a husband meant that he must marry the person he loves. He never thought of marrying any of his mistresses and was honest with them about it by making it clear to each that if they agree to be his mistress, there were rules that they need to accept, that it's just temporary with no strings attached.
For me, this is what I really love about how this character was presented to us. I love how respectful, patient, soft spoken, and romantic he was with her. This is the only woman he had deem his wife....someone whom he will put above all others. In the beginning of the lakorn, he was happy to finally meet her and saw the chance to get close to her when his dad married her mom, but then, when he discovered that she hated his dad and his family name, he mentioned that he didn't want things to start out like that. Then he realized he might not have a chance with her because she is so prideful and stubborn. So like he told Wee, he used his money to buy "an opportunity". The power struggle between them was only in the early episodes. He used his money to get her to be his wife, but felt that he could get her to love him by just him loving her.....the way he had wanted to originally woe her.
Oh, I wish I could, but I'm not Thai.
I'm glad you watched it Sarn. 
