So here's why Ngao Asoke 1999 was my favorite. Anyone who thinks the plot is stupid hasn't seen the original to value it as a classic story. The story revolves around two families: Mahataweit and Hiranwat. P'ek is Monthai Mahataweit while n'rai is Viyada Hiranwat. The two were engaged as teenagers to establish the tie between two families.
Monthai's father had many wives, which explains why his mother is very strict on Monthai not being a player. She resented his father for having so many mistresses. Meanwhile, the Mahataweit's family had a mother and daughter servant that his mother didn't liked because she was afraid that his father would make her his wife as well. The daughter servant's name was Leakana. She had a crush on Monthai and it didn't help that Mon would constantly be nice to her and tried to talk to her since she was always so shy around him. One day, his mother caught Mon and Leak talking to each other so she harshly cursed at both Leak and her mother for trying to lure Monthai with their charms. She criticized their low status and physically abused Leak as well. Leak was so upset that she committed suicide by stabbing herself in the neck. Monthai was so angry at his mother for being unreasonable that he vowed to never return home and went to study abroad in Australia.
During all this, there was little Bpeeyachat who was n'ek. She came from a regular family. Her father was a veteran who had passed. She only had her mother. One day, during a big storm, a tree fell on their home which resulted in her mother's death. Bpee became homeless and went to live with an elderly lady that took her in. The lady lived by Monthai's mansion so she would sneak to go there and spy on the beautiful rich people who she thought were gods and goddesses from the way they dressed. She met Monthai while seeing him and little Viyada flirting. Being the kind person he is, Monthai eventually befriended Bpee and gave her clothes and money for school because she was poor. The lakorn is called Ngao Asoke because Monthai allowed Bpee to pick leaves from his Asoke trees to eat when they were little. It's a symbol of where their love began and how it blossomed. Bpee grew to admire Mon for his kindness towards her when she was nothing. Bpee would then sneak into his house sometimes to go see the tree. She bumped into his mother and she was kind enough to give her a school bag that she was forever grateful for. As fate would have it, the elderly woman that Bpee was living with got hit by the Hiranwat's car so Bpee became homeless again. She was then adopted by the Hiranwat family because Viyada's father was also a player. He had many mistresses. His wife made a deal with him saying that if he stayed home and stopped going out with other girls, she would let him have Bpee when she gets older as his mistress because she was going to grow into a beautiful girl.
So after Leak committed suicide, Monthai left to Australia. His mother went crazy because she was traumatized by her death. She then lost her husband. The Hiranwat family moved away. All she wanted to see was Viyida, n'rai. She thinks that having Viyada will bring Mon back. So they'd constantly write letters to Viyada to have her come visit and take care of her. However, Viyada has always been a selfish person and rejected to go each time they'd write to them. After Mon left to study in Australia, she would ask Bpee to write letters to Mon for her because her handwriting was prettier. Anyways, Viyada decided that she didn't want to wait for Mon anymore. She dated several men and stopped replying to his letters. Bpee then took over and continuously wrote to him and knit things for him. But Mon never knew it was Bpee. He fell in love with Bpee, the fake Viyada.
Mon remained loyal to Viyada for years. He never laid eyes on any other woman. He then decided to return to Thailand. Meanwhile, Bpee has grown into a beautiful woman. She knew how to do everything well, especially cook and knit. She was a teacher. It was time for her to become Viyada father's mistress. However, with the help of Viyada's little sister Paa, she was able to escape to Monthai's house to be Mon's mother caretaker in place of Viyada. They had to lie to his mother that she was Viyada so she'd be happy and not act up. At this point, Mon's mother hadn't seen Viyada in 7 years. Her mental state wasn't at its best either. When she saw Bpee, she instantly became better. She recognized Bpee's mole and knew it wasn't Viyada but played it off like she didn't know. Bpee went to take care of her to repay her for the school bag that she had given her when she was younger. As a result, Mon's mother's condition continuously got better .
When Mon came back, word was that Viyada had come to take care of his mother. It's because of Viyada that his mother became better. He was so happy that his fiance was such a kind hearted woman who worked miracles. When he met Bpee, he hugged her from behind thinking that she was Viyada. But he apologized when he saw it was Bpee. Something sparked in his heart though. Remember, he never touched any woman for 7 years while he was in Australia, but he broke his loyalty for Viyada once he met Bpee. He was mesmerized by her beauty but played it off like he wasn't. Deep down, his heart probably knew that this was the fake Viyada he had fallen for. His brain just didn't know. He was furious to know that Bpee pretended to be Viyada and thought that she was trying to benefit from pretending to be her. She grew up poor so maybe she was concocting a plan to win his mother's heart so that she can inherit something. He'd constantly try to get close to her and used his "resentment" towards her as an excuse. But he fell for her day by day as he saw her beautiful heart and the type of person she was.
When Viyada heard Mon came back, she immediately rushed to Mon's home to see him and tried to become his mother's caretaker. She'd manipulate Mon into thinking that Bpee was up to something. She said Bpee was making everyone hate her. She told Mon that Bpee dated many men. She was basically describing herself to Mon. Mon would misunderstand Bpee but he was jealous and possessive over her. He'd use threats to get closer to Bpee. Soon enough, he saw Viyada's true nature and became suspicious about whether she was telling lies or not about Bpee. He gravitated more towards Bpee and distanced himself more from Viyada. Then he began to investigate Bpee's history at the Hiranwat family. He was smart. Not at all dumb. How he discovered the truth that Bpee was actually the Viyada he fell for was well written. I loved the old version. Want to go back and rewatch it now after writing this. Lol.