As homegrown platforms compete more heavily for Thai viewers, local audiences still have to come first. And at the same time, no one is giving up on the idea that a good story travels. TrueVisions Now’s content strategy and production specialist, Nitipat (Earn) Uahwatanasakul, talks about the Thai platform’s booming originals slate.

Thai platform TrueVisions Now is well into an ambitious premium drama slate for 2026/7, adding 34 titles commissioned from about 20 production houses. Against an industry backdrop that prioritises international sales, the domestic platform is sensitive to its obligations at home at the same time as hoping for broader exposure.

“My honest answer to the question about what originality means when your first priority is the audience on your doorstep is that local-first isn’t a ceiling on how far a story can travel. It’s the condition of travelling at all,” says TrueVisions Now’s Nitipat Uahwatanasakul. “The Thai titles that have resonated across the region were never engineered for export. They were the ones most confident in being themselves. That’s the bet we’re making at TrueVisions Now: We don’t make Thai stories for the world. We make Thai stories at world standard.”  

This is TrueVisions’ biggest original slate ever, with everything from erotic horror and religion to medical drama and a webtoon-based period rom-com. Let’s start with “Hell Home”... Audiences love melodrama, family problems, mother-in-law versus daughter-in-law, the wife versus the mistress... For “Hell Home”, we put this together in one house, one home. And we added elements that free-TV rarely touches – religion – and the culture shock that emerges when a woman changes her religion to marry. 

How risky is making religion a central theme? It’s too sensitive for free-TV, but global streaming platforms talk about religion, so I thought why not. This is a story we face in many families, among many friends. 

“Cycle of Sin”, which you describe as erotic horror, is also not anything that would be seen on free-TV... For streaming, we can push the boundaries a little because it’s individual – not family – viewing. 

“The Loveless Heroine” (วันทองไร้ใจ) is more mass market... “The Loveless Heroine” comes from a popular Line webtoon based on Thai folklore. The series is a romantic-fantasy, time-travel drama that reimagines the Thai legend and asks “what if...?” The original story is about Wan Thong, who is executed for failing to choose between two powerful men. “The Loveless Heroine” was a really easy decision because it’s based on a famous IP, with a well-known cast.

Can Thailand’s production eco-system execute on 34 original series right now? Easily. At Thailand’s peak we were producing more than 200 titles, including film and series. The media industry is disrupted, but that talent is still there. We now have 20 partners. Next year we plan to have more. 

What are you anticipating for 2027, when I understand some of the local broadcasters are increasing original productions? That’s going to be challenging but it’s a happy fight. If other channels, other platforms, come back and we have more competition and more content, it’s the best case scenario for the audience and for the content industry. 

A few weeks ago you announced an alliance with regional streaming platform Viu. Are your shows made to travel? We produce for the local market first, absolutely. International is about the infrastructure, not the creative direction. The local market is not big enough. If we want higher budgets and better production values, we have to find bigger markets. 

You mention Thai producers as the “sandwich generation”... For Thai producers, it’s like in the sandwich generation, living between the world’s expectations and limited budgets. Because now we can watch world-class content every day. If you don’t want to watch local content, you can just switch to other platforms, to watch very high standards. For example, Thai rock guitarist and singer Nene Royal recently won Season 21 of “America’s Got Talent”. She has set the standard for 16-year-old girls who play the guitar. So standards rise a little every day. But for producers, we still have limited budgets and resources. I think that’s the challenge – but also the advantage and the opportunity for us to prove that we can be better than others. 

Do you ever think about Korean drama and the way costs soared, creating what many see as a crisis for Korean producers? It’s on my mind. I come from a production background. I know what budgets were maybe 15 years ago and what they are now. For me now, on the platform side, I try to find a healthy balance and budget. 

Are you looking for IP and/or co-production partners from any other Asian markets? In the coming year we will be expanding the search for Japanese IP, or other Asian IP. Co-productions are part of our plan, but we have to focus on local production first... we have great quality and the capability and the capacity to produce at high standards. So my main focus is on local production first, but we are planning broader cooperation soon.

Edited for length from the original conversation during the ContentAsia LIVE 2026 event in Bangkok. 

Published in ContentAsia's Oct/Nov 2026 Magazine