Contract relationships in Thai dramas are generally referred to as two individuals reluctantly being forced into a marriage or a fake one. In any Asian drama, contract relationships generally happen due to parental pressure, public demands, or personal needs, and they are the ones that the audiences usually fawn over. Over the past few years, Thai dramas have adopted this genre of storytelling to a vast extent, thus attracting audiences from worldwide. Let's look at some of the Top 10 contract relationships in Thai dramas.
1. Full House
A Thai adaptation of a Korean drama revolved around an aspiring scriptwriter, Aom, who had been fooled by her broke sister and her boyfriend by selling off her house while she was in Korea. Over there, she met the famous actor/singer, Mike de Angelo, with whom she ended up on bad terms. Coincidentally, he became the new owner of her house, and, in order to get her home back, she entered into a contractual relationship with him. Eventually, their contract relationship grows into a real marriage of love and support.
2. My Husband In Law
This contract marriage drama was released in 2020 and revolved around a young girl, Muey, who was attracted to her childhood friend, Tian, for almost 7 years, and Tian, who was infamously known for being a playboy and would usually tease and bully Muey, entered into a fake marriage. One day, when Tian realized, that the woman he was seeing, was in reality, married to a gangster and this put his life in danger. So, Muey and Tian had to enter into a fake marriage, to save Tian, which eventually bloomed into an adorable and beautiful love story.
3. Praomook
This 2021 drama revolved around two teenagers, Praomook and Chalunthorn, who were married due to a superstitious belief that Praomook was a lucky charm to Chalunthorn. However, Chalunthorn always misunderstood her to be an ugly duckling and an ill-mannered girl. Years later, when Chalaunthorn was suddenly shot, his family compelled them to marry and stay together, in exchange for paying off Praomook’s debts. Initially, Chalunthorn used to insist on being gay but eventually, they cleared their differences and fell in love.
4. My Secret Bride
This rom-com drama revolved around Suma, a notorious girl who had been raised in the slums, and Dhanurut, a police officer who was trying to end the mafia rule in the town. Dhanurut saved Suma from a false accusation which instilled affection in Suma’s heart for him. But, due to a sudden course of events, they get into a fake marriage wherein Suma had been asked to spy on Dhanurut, for an undercover cop who presumed Dhanurut to be connected to the mafia gang. Through the laughs and the bickering, they developed a beautiful relationship and fought against the dominating mafia gang.
5. You Are My Destiny
This drama was an adaptation of the Taiwanese drama ‘Fated To Love You’ that revolved around a rich guy, named Pawut, who was the successor of a large company, and a law firm secretary named Wanida. One day, they ended up on the same cruise, with respective partners and aspirations of, one proposing to his girlfriend and the other losing her virginity. However, both of them were drugged and Wanida, accidentally went into Pawut’s room and they spent the night together. Three months later, she found out about her pregnancy and both of them entered into a funny and cute contract marriage.
6. Mia Jum Pen
This romantic comedy was released in 2021 and is also referred to by the name, ‘Mia Jum Pen’. The story revolves around a maid, Tawan, and a CEO of a rubber company in Phuket, Tamorn. Tamorn was already set up in an arranged marriage with the daughter of his father’s friend, Yardfah, and agreed to marry her out of obligation. However, she was already in love with someone else, so Tawan agreed to replace her and marry him in Yardfah’s disguise. This eventually led to a very romantic and comic love story that was worth a watch.
7. When A Man Loves A Woman
This drama was a mixture of chaos, romance, and drama and it revolved around a doctor named Sattawat, whose mother was addicted to gambling and owed a lot of money to a girl named Anusaniya’s family. Both their mothers come to an agreement of marrying off their children, in exchange for waiving the debts. However, Sattawat was already in a relationship with someone else and Anusaniya was creepily being pursued by her half-uncle. Eventually, they get married, fall in love and sail through different hurdles in their relationship.
8. Bride In Disguise
This 2019 drama revolved around Rawich who returned after graduating overseas and a girl named Rafkah, who was a boxer and burdened by her family's debt. Rawich’s mother would constantly nag and force him to marry a girl named Pimdeuan and in order to stop her from interfering in his love life, he hired Rafkah to be his fake wife in return for paying off her debts. The story later focused on the quirky mother-in-law and daughter-in-law fights which made this drama a beautiful romantic comedy.
9. Sapai Import
This drama revolved around Lisa, a formerly wealthy and spoiled graduate, who returned home from overseas, and finds that her family was in debt, and Don, the grandson of a famous and wealthy farm owner, who was obliged to get married and have a child in order inherit his grandfather’s riches. Don’s mother loved Lisa like a daughter as she had helped his mother overseas, so she faked an illness and forced Don to enter into a contract marriage with Lisa. The story eventually unfolded beautiful layers of romance with a mix of drama and comedy.
10. Princess Hours
This drama was an adaptation of the famous Korean drama, of the same name and revolved around Crown Prince In who was forced to marry Kanning due to an age-old promise made by their families. She agreed to the marriage, to improve her family’s financial situation and so does the Prince, to move on from his past. Eventually, their relationship gradually developed into a strong bond of love that grew through all their bickers and hurdles of life.
