Multilicus

About the card Nang sent Joke: I don't think it implies the character is foolish or can be manipulated. Regardless of the tarot meaning of The Fool, in French tarot decks (unlike the earlier Italian decks) this card depicts a man with a jester's hat (a jester was also called a joker or a fool) and usually resembles the Joker card from the standard 52 card deck (even though the Joker card's origins are completely different - it was created in the US). I think that's all there is to that card in "Jack and Joker" - it symbolizes Joke. Same with the fool mentioned in the fortune strip Jack got in ep. 4 - that "fool" was Joke.
BTW: the name "Joker" is quite fitting for War's character, as "back in the olden days" jesters used to entertain people by various means (not limited to telling jokes) - including by magic tricks and other distractions; also by immitating others.
I actually enjoy the "magical" elements of this show - the fortune telling, the predictions, the symbolism of important objects. And I keep reminding myself that Nang isn't the only fortune teller in Supanimit: in ep. 7 Save revealed who Joke is and predicted that he will become a threat to Boss. Waiting for that happen.

Happy ending, but plenty of trouble to navigate around first.

In the official trailer there's a very short clip of Joke crying - and War's wearing the same leopard-patterned shirt in that clip as he is in the teaser for ep. 10, in the scene where Joke says "I'm going to go help the people at the shrine" and then asks Jack "how many times can you forgive a person for their mistakes?". My guess is that early in ep. 10 we'll see Jack and Joker hugging in bed (there's a clip of that in the official trailer), that might even be the opening scene of the episode; later we'll get Joke alone in the bedroom looking at that tarot card Hoy gave him (a clip in the teaser). The first part of the episode could be about Jack and Joke as boyfriends, with all the lovey-dovey stuff we missed so far - and parallel to that we'll see Boss using his newfound power to tighten his grip on Supanimit. Closer to the end of the episode it'll become clear what Boss is doing and Joke will reveal that he gave Boss the ring - and Jack will be disappointed or even angry with Joke breaking his promise not to steal again. Not sure if they'll break up over this or just have an argument, but this is the moment Joke will cry (clip from the trailer I mentioned earlier). If YWPB follow the "BL formula", by the end of ep. 10 the show should be heading for it's lowest point - which will be reached during ep. 11; from there on Jack and Joker should reconcile and team up with the others for a final showdown with Boss. I can be wrong about most/all of the above, as the teaser for ep. 10 actually reveals very little and there's only a handful of scenes in the official trailer which we haven't seen yet (so they'll be in ep. 10-12) - drawing correct conclusions basing on so little is hard.
I'm actually hoping that I'm wrong about aat least one: a break up. Hate those things in BLs and honestly hope YWPB and their writers will spare as this pointless plot device. I always say that BLs are love stories and should be about preserving a relationship and overcoming adversities for love instead of giving in and breaking up (which solves exactly zero problems and goes against everything a BL is).
Sorry for the wall of text.

Can't live on chive dumplings only.

I can imagine that a lot of things looked very different in their original ideas/concepts, then changed in the initial script draft, only to change even more in the final script - and that some additional adjustments were made on set, when the series was being shot. I guess it's much easier to do things for a short film or teaser, but those things become too costly or impossible for other reasons when you try to do them for a movie or series - that sets certain limits of creativity and constraints for the script.
Still, just by considering how many extras there are (e.g. all scenes showing Supanimit bank are packed with customers, bank clerks etc. - it's not just the characters in an empty room pretending to be an office in a bank) and how many locations the show was shot at, not to mention the quality of those locations (the shrine looks like an actual shrine, Rose's house looks like a spacious palace etc.) - it's all very impressive.

I imagined the 4 credited writers of the show sitting at a table, all confused and worried, dozens of pages with various drafts of the script spread all over the table in complete disarray, and Yin, War, Prom, Bonz and Mark standing behind the writers, loudly discussing what to change and what to leave in the final version; I imagined Bonz smiling broadly and saying that since the audience - hungry for some YinWar action - will be expecting Jack and Joker to kiss asap, they need the script to say the opposite; I also imagined War grinning and saying that instead of making Tattoo and Aran a couple they will only keep hinting at it, driving the audience insane.
It's all a joke, of course; I did, however, wonder about how much creative control YWPB had over the series (as co-producers and main cast) and how much the script reflects what they wanted. I started wondering about it after reading multiple comments here that the show is not what people wanted and/or expected, that it's a bromance and not a BL, that it depicts events in an unrealistic way, that there are plot holes, pacing issues, problems with the tone of the show and how the characters are written etc. etc. How much of that resulted from YWPB making a show they wanted and how much comes from writers who actually drafted the script?

Seems that ep. 9 will repeat the macguffin hunt we know from ep. 3 (macguffin: Jack's ring) and ep. 5 (macguffin: Aran's necklace), with the macguffin this time being one of the Four Horsemen's rings (the one that belongs to Rose's father).

I think the 723.000 YouTube views of ep. 1 in less than 48 hours since the episode aired - that's what gives them (GMMTV) the confidence. Also the millions of views "We Are" got might have something to do with it - confirming that the uni-based BL subgenre is alive. TBH: I'm not a ForceBook fan and don't care about the other two ships, but I was a little fascinated by the decision to make a 24 episodes long BL show. Sure, it's seems this'll be more like three shows (8 eps each) stitched together, but still - from a production point of view - it's a big commitment, so it does take a lot of confidence. On the other hand: it's more of an assembly line production style by now, so maybe costs aren't that high (and partly covered by sponsors) and the risk (of the show flopping) is way more manageable than I think.

The official trailer shows Joker kissing Jack as well as both of them shirtless and hugging in Jack's bed. Apparently those two scenes (which presumably will be included in ep 9-12) are not enough to qualify this show as BL. Apparently the show's title consisting of two male names of the two main characters and the words "u steal my heart" doesn't qualify the show as a BL. Other things that don't make this show a BL are: Hope's and Save's relationship (basically a gay couple pre-existing the show's main events) nor Jack's and Joker's tangled mess of a relationship. Nope, it's not a BL cause it's ep. 8 (out of 12) and they didn't kiss yet. Hate to burst anyone's buble, but Earth and Mix didn't kiss in "A Tale of Thousand Stars" until the last moment of the last scene (post-credits scene not inluded) of the last episode - and it was still a BL; btw: even without that kiss "ATOTS" would be a BL.

Rewatched every episode a few times - except of ep. 7. Already rewatched ep. 8. Everything's cool again.

Apologies.

Footage released on IG and X includes one shot of Jack hugging Joker in bed - which does imply that at least on the love front there will be some badly needed development.

Seriously? What's the reason for the geoblock? Is it due to the "crime" aspect of the show? BTW: I'm watching it on YT from Poland, there doesn't seem to be any regional filter here,

It might be easier to steal one of those rings from the four horsemen than to marry into one of their families with a fake adopted son... I'm just saying that Boss should re-evaluate his so-called plan. If only he knew a master thief... Oh, wait.

I can't explain nor understand the views of "Kidnap" on YouTube - they seem very low for a GMMTV-made BL. I know that for most shows airing on YT ep 1 - or it's first section - gets a lot of views and that later eps get less and less views (with the number sometimes rising a little for series finale). This drop in views is one thing, but absolute number of views is another matter - and here's where "Kidnap" looks quite weak. I also know that YT BL shows seem to get less views than they used to, but this usually means that a show gets 3M views on its ep 1 instead of 4M which it would have gotten 1-2 years ago. To properly explain what bothers me below I listed views for the most recent GMMTV BLs that aired on YT; since GMMTV split every ep of those shows into 4 sections and the 1st section is usually the one that gets the most views, I focused on that section. The views are for the 1st, 7th and last ep of each show - I chose ep 1 as basis for comparison and calculating the drop of views, ep. 7 as this is the latest ep of "Kidnap" that aired, and the last ep of each show to see the total loss of views, both percentage-wise and in total numbers; I added airing date of each ep.
“Last Twilight”
ep. 1, 10.11.2023, 3.359.858 views
ep. 7, 22.12.2023, 1.842.199 views (loss of 45%)
ep. 12, 26.01.2024, 1.913.783 views (loss of 43%)
“Cooking Crush”
ep. 1, 26.11.2023, 2.629.004 views
ep. 7, 14.01.2024, 1.099.777 views (loss of 58%)
ep. 12, 18.02.2024, 566.794 views (loss of 78%)
“Only Boo”
ep. 1, 31.03.2024, 2.026.068 views
ep. 7, 19.05.2024, 912.219 views (loss of 55%)
ep. 12, 23.06.2024, 818.606 views (loss of 59%)
“We Are”
ep. 1, 03.04.2024, 4.230.273 views
ep. 7, 15.05.2024, 2.275.950 views (loss of 46%)
ep. 16, 17.07.2024, 1.738.881 views (loss of 59%)
“My Love Mix-Up!”
ep. 1, 07.06.2024, 2.167.892 views
ep. 7, 19.07.2024, 885.918 views (loss of 59%)
ep. 12, 23.08.2024, 519.514 views (loss of 76%)
“Wandee Goodday”
ep. 1, 04.05.2024, 2.686.026 views
ep. 7, 15.06.2024, 1.411.087 views (loss of 47%)
ep. 12, 20.07.2024, 1.021.867 views (loss of 62%)
“The Trainee”
ep. 1, 30.06.2024, 1.115.028 views
ep. 7, 11.08.2024, 539.284 views (loss of 52%)
ep. 12, 15.09.2024, 421.940 views (loss of 62%)
“Summer Night”
ep. 1, 05.08.2024, 558.604 views
ep. 7, 16.09.2024, 198.926 views (loss of 64%)
ep. 10, 07.10.2024, 115.717 views (loss of 79%)
“Kidnap”
ep. 1, 06.09.2024, 528.147 views
ep. 7, 18.10.2024, 205.964 views (loss of 61%)
For reference, here are the numbers for "ON SALE" (aka "Peaceful Property"), a non-BL show with TayNew, which runs simultaneously to "Kidnap".
ep. 1, 28.08.2024, 504.495 views
ep. 7, 09.10.2024, 150.287 views (loss of 70%)
Am I seeing things or is there really something wrong with the views of "Kidnap"? It started low for a BL and its views drop faster than of most BL; when it comes to views, it's more like a non-BL.
What gives?

I enjoyed the "Jack and Joker" reference as well as the "We Are" reference.

Can a Thai-speaking person clarify this for me: is "Alice" (or something that sounds like that) the actual name of Boss? In ep. 5, just before the auction, Nang asks Aran if he's "Alice's child" and comments that he has grown - at least that was in English subs. Since in the West "Alice" is usually a feminine first name, I assumed "Alice" was the first name of Aran's mother (and that "Morakot" was her surname/maiden name or her stage name). However, in ep. 7 Boss is referred to as "Alice" (or something that sounds like that) during the meeting with the four horsemen. What confused me even more, in English subs Boss was referred to (by Rose's father) using the pronoun "her". Was that a translation mistake coming from the name "Alice"? And what's with this name?

I know that they used to sell merch online (through https://shop.line.me/@ywpbstore) but the store doesn't sell anything at the moment.

Yes, it's true - it's co-produced by YWPB (as indicated in the opening credits), a company founded by Yin, War, Prom and Bonz (hence the name of the company). YWPB YouTube channels contain some series-related content: you can find reaction videos (by the cast and crew) on YWPB HOUSE and the OST on YWPB Records. Some earlier YWPB content, related to their MVs (released by YWPB Records) or simply them spending time together, can be found on YWPB HOUSE as well as at Yin's and War's YT channels.

I'd say the rating indicates whether people like a show - not necessarily how good it is in other terms. It's a vote on a piece of entertainment, not an assesment of an artwork based on merit, artistry, cultural or social importance etc. And when the number of people voting goes into thousands and the rating remains high - it just means a lot of people find the show entertaining (for whatever reasons); it doesn't mean the show is "objectively" good nor that everybody should like and enjoy it.