Ten years after SOTUS The Series first aired, GMMTV is celebrating the landmark drama across television, live entertainment and a growing collection of commemorative releases.
The anniversary campaign now includes a weekly television rerun, a two-night reunion concert, official concert merchandise and a newly announced DVD box set containing the complete series. Together, those projects offer more than an exercise in nostalgia: they illustrate how much of the modern Thai BL industry was already taking shape around SOTUS a decade ago.
SOTUS returned to GMM25 on August 14, almost exactly ten years after its original August 20, 2016 premiere. The series is currently airing Fridays at 8:30 p.m. in Thailand, giving audiences another opportunity to revisit the beginning of Arthit and Kongpob’s story on television.
International viewers can also find the existing English-subtitled episodes through GMMTV’s official YouTube uploads, although regional availability may vary.
The series that helped define a generation of Thai BL
Thai BL did not begin with SOTUS. Love Sick The Series had already demonstrated the audience for serialized romances between male characters in 2014, while other early productions were helping establish the genre.
SOTUS, however, arrived at a pivotal point in that development. It combined a romance adapted from an established BL novel with mainstream television exposure, online distribution and the promotional reach of a major entertainment company. Its popularity helped demonstrate that a Thai BL could grow beyond one television season into a continuing franchise supported by sequels, fan events, music, merchandise and an enduring actor partnership.
That model is now familiar across the industry, but it was far less established in 2016. SOTUS was followed by SOTUS S in 2017 and another chapter for Arthit and Kongpob in the first season of Our Skyy. GMMTV would continue expanding its investment in BL, eventually building an annual slate in which the genre became one of the company’s most internationally recognizable exports.
The series also reached viewers outside Thailand during a period when simultaneous global distribution was not yet expected for every BL production. English-subtitled uploads and fan-supported translations allowed Arthit and Kongpob’s relationship to travel across languages and borders, introducing many international viewers not only to Krist and Singto but to Thai BL itself.
A cast whose influence extended beyond one series
SOTUS transformed Krist Perawat Sangpotirat and Singto Prachaya Ruangroj into one of GMMTV’s earliest enduring screen partnerships. Their popularity helped establish the idea that audiences could remain invested in an actor pairing beyond a single drama, following the performers through fan meetings, concerts, variety appearances and future projects.
Their reunion as adult romantic leads in the 2025 series The Ex-Morning demonstrated the longevity of that connection. By then, Krist and Singto were no longer simply returning to the dynamic that made them famous. They were able to explore a more mature relationship with an audience that had grown alongside them.
The wider ensemble also became part of the foundation of GMMTV’s subsequent era. Off Jumpol and New Thitipoom went on to anchor major BL pairings and series of their own, while other cast members continued across acting, music, hosting and creative work. Bringing so many of them back together positions the anniversary concert as a reunion not only of fictional classmates but of performers whose careers became intertwined with the growth of GMMTV.
That legacy is not without complications. The series’ depiction of coercive university hazing and strict seniority can feel more uncomfortable when revisited today, particularly as Thai BL has expanded into more varied settings and developed more direct approaches to queer identity and relationships.
Recognizing the impact of SOTUS does not require treating every part of it as timeless or beyond criticism. Its value also comes from what it reveals about a genre in transition: still relying on familiar campus conventions, but beginning to recognize the scale of the audience waiting for stories centered on romantic relationships between men.
The cast reunites for two anniversary concerts
The celebrations will continue with the SOTUS TENIVERSARY CONCERT, scheduled for August 29 and 30 at Union Hall in Bangkok. The second performance was added after the initially announced August 29 date received a strong response and subsequently sold out.
The concert reunites Krist and Singto with several members of the original cast, including Gunsmile Chanagun, Fluke Teerapat, New Thitipoom, Neen Suwanamas, Off Jumpol, Jan Ployshompoo, Wawa Maripha, Ice Ittikorn, Oat Natthawaranthorn and Prince Naradon.
Both performances begin at 5 p.m. ICT and will be available internationally through TTM LIVE. Livestream tickets cost ฿1,500 and include access to the corresponding replay, while replay-only access costs ฿1,200. The replay window runs from September 12 through September 18.
The event also has its own line of official SOTUS TENIVERSARY merchandise, separate from the newly announced DVD collection. GMMTV offered a limited advance-purchase program to holders of concert tickets priced at ฿4,500 and above, with orders scheduled for collection during the August 29 and 30 performances.
That advance-purchase period closed on August 17. GMMTV advised that products which sold out during advance sales would not be restocked for sale at the venue.
The complete series returns to DVD
The newest addition to the campaign is the SOTUS The Series: 10th Anniversary DVD Box Set. Priced at ฿2,090, the collection contains all 15 episodes across six DVDs with English subtitles.
The box set also includes a 60-page photobook, a signature collection book, poster-design photocards, postcards, special photocards, an acrylic keychain, a SOTUS gear keychain, a reproduction of a page from Kongpob’s diary and a love letter from Kongpob to Arthit.
Preorders remain open through September 20, with orders expected to begin shipping sequentially in late November 2026.
A decade later, SOTUS exists as more than a completed television drama. It remains a continuing relationship between a story, its performers and viewers who carried it across countries and generations of Thai BL.
The rerun, reunion concerts, merchandise and collector’s box set are all products of the franchise ecosystem that SOTUS helped make possible. Their arrival ten years later is therefore more than a celebration of the past. It is evidence of how thoroughly the series became part of the foundation on which GMMTV—and much of the modern Thai BL industry—continued to build.