ATOTS Rewatch Party: Ep. 4 April 30th @ 8:30 PM BKK Time: USING SYNCTUBE FOR GROUP VIEWING.

Hi All!

Here's our discussion thread for the 4th episode, which kpoptrash will set up for joint viewing via Synctube. I believe that people can chat live during the viewing on Synctube but please do share observations and comments in this thread, as well, so that as many people as possible can participate. Please use spoiler tags if you mention anything in your comments referring to 'later' episodes as we may have first time viewers reading these posts. Thanks again to everyone , again, for making this rewatch so enjoyable! =D

Hi everyone.  Here's the latest installment.  Have a nice week!

Chapter 11

After breakfast, Tian and Phupha go to the waterfall to wash their clothes.  Phupha has Tian using the same soap he uses to wash himself.  Tian scoffs at this but Phupha tells him the soap has all natural ingredients and can be used on clothes as well.  Tian accidentally rips his shirt and he blames Phupha and throws the ripped shirt in his face.  Phupha in retaliation attempts to grab Tian so he can spank him.  Tian aware of the danger suddenly jumps in the water.  Phupha runs after him and Tian comes up behind and tries to tickle Phupha who is revealed to be impervious to this tactic.  Phupha tackles Tian but makes sure he cushions his fall with his own body so he doesn’t get hurt on the rocks in the stream. 

Later the two walk back to the village completely soaked and some old men laugh at them.  They go to Khama’s house.  Khama gives Tian some of his son’s clothes and Tian goes back to his hut with Phupha to change into them.  Phupha seeing Tian in these clothes mocks him and calls him a mountain man carrot picker. 

Going back to Khama’s place, Tian is told the villagers are busy making a palanquin for a wedding.  The bride is going to be carried on it from a neighboring village.  Tian being an engineer sees a design flaw in the palanquin and comes up with an idea that will reduce the number of human carriers by half.  He is hesitant to put the plan into action but Khama thanks him for the innovative idea.  He is told by others that Khama is actually quite knowledgeable and had served in the government after receiving a scholarship from the Thai government.  Khama tells him that in the future he should come to him about anyone cheating the villagers rather than taking care of it himself.  Tian grumbles that he doesn’t think they are really doing anything but Khama admonishes him and tells him that he and Phupha definitely know better.  Tian helps check the final preparations of the palanquin and the people cheer when they see it’s been completed, and they all thank Tian.  Tian reflects that the reward of their thanks feels better than any expensive reward.  There is also no need for flattery he thinks to himself, but it is important to acknowledge oneself. 

Dr. Nam brings dinner later.  He remarks to Phupha seeing how much he is taking care of Tian whether it was “love at first sight.”  Phupha diverts and never really answers him.

End of Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Tian is pretty happy seeing all the food Dr. Nam has brought him, all his favorites, and begins to eat like a glutton.  Phupha asks Nam if he brought any stomach medicine because Tian is going to get sick eating like that.  Tian shoots him a murderous glance. 

Dr.Nam tells Tian the young people are going to be up to something tonight, the day before the wedding.  He slyly suggests Tian see what they’re up to.  Wasan explains that on the night before the wedding the groom has to find a widow or detached girl to perform sex with.  Tian wonders if this strange custom is like others where a groom has to satisfy himself before his marriage.  He still doesn’t know what the kids will be doing at night since only the groom is involved.  Nam just tells him to follow the kids with the torches that night. 

Tian realizes he forgot to return the washbasin to Khama.  He goes out to Khama’s house who greets him and tells him the villagers wanted to give him presents to thank him for helping with the palanquin.  Khama gives Tian a bunch of clothes the villagers have made for him.  Tian who is not that happy with the gift at first soon reflects happily that he has been acknowledged by the people in village.  This gives him a boost to his self-esteem. 

Soon afterwards Tian sees some men moving around in the dark and follows them.  They take Tian to a hut set apart from the rest and point him to an opening where he can look inside.  There he sees a live sex show with the young groom having sex with a widow.  Tian is aghast at this, and is suddenly grabbed by someone.  He soon sees that this is Phupha who asks him if he’s seen enough.  Phupha tells him he’ll take him back to his hut.  Phupha notices that Tian has an erection, and makes fun of him, and asks him what he saw just now. 

There are three days of ceremonies before the wedding.  One the first day the bride has to “cleansed” by the elders in the grooms village.  On the second day the bride becomes a field servant and has to feed the village elders.  On the third day the bride cuts down red plantains and collects aromatic roots that are burned for the invited guests.  On the day of the wedding everyone is dressed in traditional garb.  Tian sees the bride and groom exchanging 3 eggs.  Khama says if they drop the eggs the couple will be infertile.  While wandering around the village during the wedding Tian comes across some young men playing with a gyroscope.  They show him how to do the gyro and laugh when his gyro barely spins.  Tian sees that the string is too slick for the gyro, and sees several other fixes to make his gyro work better.  He soon amazes the rest of the villagers spinning his gyro far better than the rest of them.  They all cheer him on and Tian feels very proud of himself. Khama remarks to Phupha that he didn’t think Tian would make it before, but now he feels Tian will actually fulfill his 3 month obligation.  Phupha agrees with this assessment. 

The next day at school Tian wants to teach the children something practical.  He teaches them about the weight scale and how to use it so they could prevent their parents from being cheated again.  When a plane flies overhead the children all get very excited.  Tian teaches them how to make some paper planes but none of them fly very well in the stiff wind.  Tian has an idea to make kites for the kids the next day.  He goes to Khama later in the day to get materials and Khama tells him he will have to request this through Phupha which irritates Tian.  Nonetheless, Khama gets a hold of Phupha who arranges for Dr. Nam to help Tian fetch the materials. 

End of Chapter 12

I was a little shocked about the widow being used to teach the groom about sex, and the kids all watching it.  I see why they took that out of the screenplay, lol

 solipisism5:

I was a little shocked about the widow being used to teach the groom about sex, and the kids all watching it.  I see why they took that out of the screenplay, lol

I agree, i was already a bit uncomfortable with the whole howling night thing lol though it looks like a part of their culture or tradition,  i just wish they showed more of Tian's shocked reaction. But overall it was funny :)

 kpoptrash:

What a weird tradition haha. Considering the last episode I don’t think Phu and Tian need any practice hahaha bruh

hahaha true true

Thanks for joining the rewatch yesterday! It was fun as always :)
And I'm glad that you were also able to join this time, dllmzca. :)

Here are my thoughts on the episode:

- The episode is starting of dramatic with Tians dream of Phu shouting at him lol, also he doesn't seem to be hungover at all
- Look at Longtae smiling with the food in his hand - he is so cute!
- The whole scene between Phu and Dr. Nam was hilarious: Phu asking Dr. Nam what can cause scars on the chest and Dr. Nam looking right through Phu and asking if he's talking about Tian LOL and "Don't tell me you have seen him naked" and Phu leaving hurridly while taking meds with him and Dr. Nam just "That's for menstrual cramps" hahaha it was hilarious.
- Ahhh the motorbike scene T_T Phus "Hold me tight" bruh such a flirt and then Tian almost strangling him and leanining his chin on Phus shoulder wahh swoon. Btw if you don't wear a helmet while driving a scooter or motorbike in Germany you'll get a big fine :D Be safe y'all and wear helmets.
- The cooking scene is just a mess haha but it's funny and Phu ate the burned Omelette so cute.
- After the dinner when Phu and Nam were leaving: Phu/Tian shamelessly flirting with their eyes <3 and the mosquito net gift was kinda romantiv here
- Tian proving his skills with the palanquin is great - he earned some respect from the villagers here I guess
- Tian and Longtae being besties and Phu looking jelly af haha
- The dog-Howling night wth haha Phu sending everyone home from peeping and exposing Tians "lower half" with his flashlight xD This series is pretty classy but these little "naughty" things are also fun to watch
- Phu and Tian competing with that kids game in the most earnest way haha, chillex it's just a game
- Aww Phu dressing himself up so nicely - looks like getting ready for a date hehe Yod, Nam and Rang teasing him about it is the best thing ever. But his Jeans are damn tight ngl
- That scene where Tian tripped and Phu was laughing at him was totally EarthMix, guess it was cute so they kept it in and both played along nicely
- Phu offered a piggyback ride - Tian you missed the chance!! :D
- Imagine having your first date at Pha Pan Dao cliff, so romantic
- The last scene with the story of the hornbills was also really romantic and in the episode where Phu was shot the same story was sooo sad but it was nicely placed there, Iam already looking forward to that

Hope to see you again on next weeks rewatch :)

I love this episode because this is where you see the relationship between Phupha and Tian developing.  There must have been something like love at first sight, or some unconscious attraction that first starts things off between them.  Phupha just naturally creates situations for them to be together, and I like the hidden romance in their small interactions like the bike ride, or when they make the dinner together.  

I like how Dr. Nam is not someone that is used to create some jealousy like in the novel.  P'Aof is getting rid of that trope for us in the series - thank goodness for that because that tired plot device has been done to death.  Nam's interactions add some nice comic touches instead.  

It is nice to see Tian grow in the village - he is gaining the villagers respect and redeeming himself and you have to feel good for him.  The scene with the palanquin is an important one for the respect he's developing for himself as well as with the villagers - he shows that he can have some useful role in a community.  

I like the foreshadowing in this episode of Phupha's suspicions concerning Tian and his relationship with Torfun, first when Tian calls him the Green Giant like Torfun used to, and his asking him on PhaPanDao cliff what Tian's relationship was with her. [Interesting side note on the name of the cliff: Pha=cliff Pan=thousand Dao=stars, I just found this out].  This helps me because when I first saw the episode where Phupha gets enraged at finding Torfun's diary, this helps make that scene make more sense.  

I love the whole scene on the cliff.  Phupha's tragic story of his father was very moving and made Phupha into a much more sympathetic character.  He's sort of opening up here to Tian and you can see their romance developing on their first "date".  The scene with the hornbills comes right afterwards adding to the sense of romance.  I really feel the relationship was developed so well in this episode and I could really feel the connection between Tian and Phupha.  From this point forward I feel like you know they will be together as lovers.

Hi everyone!  Here's the latest.  I really do like seeing the differences between the novel and screenplay because they really are kind of subtle.  P'Aof hardly makes any mistakes, in my opinion, with the screenplay.  He changes key details like the background of Phupha's father, but it never hurts the spirit of the novel at all.  

Chapter 13

Dr. Nam picks up Tian to take him into town to get supplies for the kites.  He drives extremely fast which makes Tian nervous.  At some point Tian asks Dr. Nam shyly whether he and Phupha are a couple.  Dr. Nam is taken aback by this but tells Tian that he has a girlfriend.  When they get to town Wasan says he will wait for Tian while gets his supplies.  Wasan reflects on how Phupha had left Bangkok because of his disapproving parents [whom he had told that he was gay] to die single in the borderlands, and how God had arranged for him to meet this young delicate boy to relieve him from his self-imposed fate. 

Tian wanders the town to find a building with an internet connection so he can find out the materials he needs to make a kite.  He finds a suitable place and when he goes in a young clerk there insults him, seeing Tian wearing the clothes the Akha people gave him, asking him “What mountain did he come down from?”  Tian acts like a tough mountain man and threatens the clerk who soon becomes very docile and helps gets Tian over to a workstation.  Tian plugs his phone and calls his friend Tul.  Tul yells at him asking him why his phone is always off and that’s been two weeks since they’ve talked.  Tul says that he thought he might have been killed.  Tul said he was surprised that Tian had made it past three days in the mountain village.  Tian also wonders aloud why his parents haven’t looked for him yet.  Tul scoffs at this and says that his father would definitely be able to find him if he wanted to.  Tian asks Tul if his father’s men had already arrived to find him, and Tul hurriedly and suspiciously says that they definitely had not.

Tian then asks Tul to help him with his projecting of teaching the kids how to fly kites.  Tul asks if Tian is going to teach them how to masturbate [the Thai idiom for masturbation is to fly a kite]?  Tian admonishes Tul for making such a tasteless joke and hangs up on him.  He just does the research on his own on the internet.  He jots down the materials he needs and then pays for the time he spent on the computer. 

Tian soon purchases the materials in town and that night he struggles to make one.  He had stayed up late making the kite and woke up late so rushed to get to the school.  Phupha is there and Tian suddenly seems depressed – he just suddenly thinks that even if Phupha is not in a relationship with Nam that he might not be gay and might not like him.  Phupha and his men talk amongst each other saying that they think Tian will actually make it there for the term but Phupha says that he is still not meant to stay with them for long because he needs to finish his studies and had a promising future ahead of him – he shouldn’t be stuck in barren place like Phabandao village.  Phupha reflects that the people in the village will miss him.  Phupha asks Tian if he knows what he is doing with the kites, and if Tian has ever flown one himself.  Tian says he hasn’t but watched a youtube video.  This makes Phupha worried that he will embarrass himself.  He later cracks a joke about let’s fly some kites together, meaning masturbating together.  Tian blushes at this and runs away while the other soldiers laugh at him. 

Tian teaches the kids how to make kites.  He tells some of them to use less glue so that it would make the kite lighter.  Phupha asks him the mechanics behind how the kite is able to fly and Tian excitedly explains it to him being interested in talking about things he is knowledgeable about.  Phupha says to Tian it’s a pleasure to see him talk. 

Tian takes the kids out to fly the kites.  The kids struggle with it and some fall down while running.  Phupha tells Tian not to be discouraged.  The kids will learn in time.  Tian tries to fly a kite himself but is soon out of breath while Phupha easily gets one floating. 

End of Chapter 13

Chapter 14

The kids finally get the hang of flying the kites.  A plane approaches the village.  Tian asks Phupha what the plane is and Phupha tells him it’s a plane used for creating rain using calcium chloride,sodium chloride, and urea.  As Tian looks at Phupha he thinks he will be happy just cherishing the memories he is creating with him in the present and he will try not to be disappointed if Phupha never goes any further with him.

Tian has been in the village now for two months.  He is used to the daily routine now and his body is also getting used to his new heart.  Tian only has a month left of his meds and then he will have to go back to Bangkok to get more.  He’s afraid his mother will find him at that point. That night he gets a meal at Khama’s house then goes to bed but is awoken by a fire that is raging at some distance.  He runs to Khama’s house to find out what’s going and Khama tells him there’s a fire on the cliff where the school is. Tian runs over there in a panic and sees the school is completely aflame.  Tian rushes into the burning building and is soon rescued by Phupha.  Phupha holds him fast as he screams till his throat burned with pain.  The villagers that see him cry in sympathy at his distress.  The fire is finally put out by a sudden rain that is started by the same planes that Tian saw before.  There’s a long patriotic section here where everyone praises His Majesty, the Thai King, for his great wisdom and lese majeste, etc.  This part is very propagandish, lol.  Tian goes into the school and gathers some charred notebooks and other materials and hugs them to himself like a madman. 

Soon some border police arrive and they have some prisoners.  Tian rushes at the prisoners and violently attacks one of them. Phupha intervenes quickly and tells Tian he will go to jail if he continues.  Tian soon collapses in exhaustion.  Someone uses a radio to call for the doctor who comes soon after Tian collapses.  Dr. Nam at some point, while taking care of Tian, notices the chest scar on Tian’s body and mentions it to Phupha saying it must be from a heart surgery.  Phupha takes Tian to his home.  He sets him on a bed and takes off his clothes.  Tian wakes up the next morning and asks Phupha in a hoarse voice for some food.  Phupha gets him a drink and some food and checks his temperature.  Tian asks if this is Phupha’s house which Phupha affirms, and then Tian in a daze asks about the school.  Phupha tells him it can’t be salvaged.  Tian then starts blaming himself for the incident because of his confrontation with Sakda.  Phupha tells him that the villagers don’t blame him.  Tian worries about his medicine for a second but soon finds that Phupha has brought his rucksack which had his medicine [inside one of the shirts].  After a while he starts eating but realizes to his great embarrassment that he has no clothes on under the sheets and that Phupha must have taken his clothes off. 

End of Chapter 14