Featuring a group of gay friends, travel show Tei Tiew Thai on Bang Channel is a big hit on cable TV and Youtube. BK catches up with two of the hosts Niti “Pompam” Chaichitathorn (left), 30, and Tachakorn “Got” Boonlupyanun, 26.

BK: How were your respective childhoods?
Pompam:
I grew up without friends in my neighborhood because everyone hated our family. My dad would kick the neighbor’s dogs because they would shit in front of our house. So I spent most of my time watching TV at home. I loved game shows more than cartoons. Doraemon was the only cartoon that I could watch because I didn’t get the humor in other cartoons.
Got: I am the only child of my family. So my dad really loved to spend time with me and nurture me. But when he noticed that I behaved like a girl, he tried to bring me to play football and other sports but it was too late! [laughs].

BK: What are your day jobs?
Pompam:
I am a creative group head at Bang Channel, GMM. I have worked there for 10 years.
Got: I am a creative at Five Live at GMM. I used to be a secretary for a Chinese company but I got bored so Pompam, who was my senior at Chulalongkorn University, asked me to apply as a creative here, and I got the job.

BK: How did Tei Tiaw Thai get started?
Pompam:
It actually came from an idea I proposed for Bang Channel’s 2012 year-plan. They wanted to create a travel show with only one concept: fun. So I asked myself a lot of questions. What’s made other travel shows boring? The hosts go alone. Why do I always have fun when I travel? Because I go with my friends. And all my friends are toot [gay]. So I proposed the idea that I would go travel with my toot friends and my bosses totally loved it. They wanted to do it immediately and not wait. So I asked my uni friends Got and Golf [another host] to join.

BK: How does it feel, now that the show has become such an massive hit?
Pompam:
It’s great and really terrible at the same time. When I posted the Tei Tiew Thai teaser on my Facebook, it was shared so fast and everyone was waiting to see it. I thought, “Shit!” It was more stressful than joyful, because I worried they would be disappointed when the episode officially came out. Our video editor even got gastritis because of this stress. But our first episode got more than 100,000 views in five days. That’s very cool.
Got: I am surprised that many of our fans are straight. At first I thought, “Who’s going to want to see us? We are just toots who travel.” But now I am just overjoyed that everyone loves it.

BK: Where is your favorite travel destination?
Pompam:
I love Switzerland and all the nature. But it doesn’t need to be abroad. It can be our rural areas, too. Life goes fast in the city, but when I see green fields, I feel calm, like time has stopped.
Got: I don’t really have a favorite destination. Anywhere can be special if I go withfriends who make trouble and make me laugh.

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