FANDOM K-BOY
- Tarn Limviphuwat
- May 15, 2019
- 3 min read
Korean pop culture in Thailand has been increasingly accepted and praised in a highly progressive manner, leading to massive fandoms that have emerged as a result of the influential nature of Korean culture. Inter-Asian cultural scholars Ubonrat Siriyuvasak and Shin Hyunjoon introduces the concept of the “Korean wave phenomenon” (2007: 109) in Thailand and its inevitable impact on Thai youth, which led to a significant decline in the importance of Thai culture. Thai adolescents, for example, have already turned to Korean culture as the central determinant of Thai customs, behaviors and preferences. One of the most popular fandoms in Thailand is the K-pop dance group known as K-boy, which duplicates Korean artists as seen throughout their videos, imitating their overall appearance and norms when in public. The escalating consumption of K-pop in Thailand has significantly impacted the ways in which Thai youths have chosen to live their lives as they under the influence of Korean popular culture. I will argue that the dominating nature of K-pop in the music industry in Thailand has the ability to mentally and physically manipulate young fans to neglect their Thai identity and traditions by adopting Korean ones. This not only highlights the hegemonic power of K-pop, but the “cultural hybridity” (Kim, 2017: 2367) that emerges in a global context.
K-Boy proves that a significant portion of Thai culture has been orientating towards imitating Korean pop culture, which is evidently observed on social media platforms such as on K-Boy’s Instagram, where Korean culture elements dominate the fashion and lifestyle. Colorful baggy shirts, super skinny ripped jeans, and overloading amount of jewellery hugely contradicts with fashion trends in Thailand as these groups learn to adopt Korean culture to their sense of style. This demonstrates how their time and devotion put into making K-pop cover dances physically impacts the way they choose to present themselves in the public. This not only highlights the cultural hybridity that arises from the K-pop fandom in Thailand but also the abandonment of Thai customs. Additionally, in these cover videos, members of the K-boy group can be distinctly recognized as mirroring the original Korean artists of the song being performed. This means that the Thai group had to undergo major appearance changes in order to fulfil this mirrored image. However, this goes beyond a dance cover video posted online, as members continue to maintain their appearances publicly outside these videos. By precisely copying the artists’ external features, it may lead to the presumption that they think that they are gradually becoming Korean artists themselves. The deception is further encouraged by the comments being left by fans on Youtube as they continuously praise and perceived them as Korean artists. The K-boy fandom’s reaction to members and their presence emulates how they would reaction to real Korean artists performing in Thailand. The parallel response K-boy got from fans may possibly further inspire them to neglect Thai beliefs and way of life, as these fans are driven behind the dream of becoming Korean.
Ultimately, K-boy evidently proves as to how K-Pop influences Thai fandom, self-identity and self-perception of young fans throughout Asia. These fandoms can be abstractly described as adopting new Korean identities from their natural-born Thai identity. Overall, the hegemonic power of K-Pop does truly intersect with social values in Thailand, as fans continue to be heavily influenced by Korean pop culture, resulting in drastic social and cultural intergenerational change.
References
Siriyuvasak, Ubonrat, and Shin Hyunjoon. "Asianizing K‐pop: Production, Consumption and Identification Patterns among Thai Youth." Inter-Asia Cultural Studies8, no. 1 (2007): 109-136.
Kim, Gooyong. "Korean Wave| Between Hybridity and Hegemony in K-Pop’s Global Popularity: A Case of "Girls’ Generation’s" American Debut." International Journal of Communication, no. 11 (2017): 2537-386
Wearing hardcore looking choker with very heavy makeup in Thailand.
The first comment translates to "R you Ryujin..." implying how they're so alike appearance wise it's almost impossible to tell them apart.
Colorful baggy top with matching shorts. This truly reflects how he's being heavily inspired by Korean fashion.
Thai fans Youtube name contains Korean emphasizing how K-pop has taken over their identities.
All the comments are mostly complementing their appearance, little said about the performance itself.
@Tarn
Your main argument was clear, but I think your two supporting points actually wound up saying the same thing--that Thai youth emulate the visual appearances of their K-pop idols. It would have strengthened your essay to have more than one supporting point.
An academic source can be a powerful tool in strengthening your argument. I think you could have used Siriyuvasak and Shin more to your advantage, especially as they're not necessarily saying that K-pop is threatening to overtake Thai culture and they do say a lot of other things about K-pop fandom among Thai youth.
Lastly, I think there may have been some confusion in the essay and discussion about what exactly "cultural hybridity" is but @DanielC actually…
I personally have very few friends who are into k-pop, so I haven't noticed much of the impact that this wave has in homes. However, I do see posts on social media of friends and their friends performing dance covers and sharing with their friends. I also notice sometimes that there are these "flash mob" type situations where people get together and perform k-pop choreography in crowded areas such as Robson Square or the Art Gallery. I don't see the same crowd interaction that we've seen examples of where the crowd is cheering and excited over the performance as if they were at a concert. What I notice is that the intentions these performers have are more focused on the…
In response to Mari's post. I can ensure that K-pop has gradually taken over the streets on Bangkok from bus posters to big advertisements signs on buildings and such. Even in 7 eleven, K pop stars like Got7 and BTS can be seen featured on Thai snacks as a way of marketing to trick k-pop fans into buying Thai snacks purely because their favourite k-pop idols are being presented on the products. Examples are shown below.
"Tae kae noi" Thailand's #1 seaweed snack brand with GOT7 as their presenter.
Each individual member is being featured on the packaging so people can actually pick their favourite members.
The picture below shows GOT7 members holding "est" which is equivalent to a Thai…
In reply to Mari's question, I noticed that there is a huge fanbase of K-pop fans in Vancouver (as I was one myself in 2014-2016). In my perspective, the influence from kpop did not significantly influence the culture here compared to Thailand or other East Asian countries such as Vietnam.
While traveling in Vietnam, I noticed that young individuals have adopted korean fashion senses. They had the same hair style, makeup, and was very connected with the Korean trends. The dominating influence was overwhelming as I reflect back, while the influence in Vancouver is not heavily reliant on the Korean culture in the physical aspect; but definitely through social media platforms.
K-pop has been used as a vehicle for Korean culture overseas, and has been an effective stepping stone for foreigners to delve into Korean culture. Thailand has thrown itself at public figures in the k-pop scene such as cover groups like K-boy and Thai K-pop idols like Sorn (CLC) and Lisa (BLACKPINK).
I agree with what Tarn said about the concern of youth adopting these Korean identities as they dive deeper into this culture and neglect their own uniquely Thai culture and identities. This is made even more dangerous by Daniel’s idea of hyperreality in the K-pop culture. As K-pop becomes increasingly more appealing to these young fans, their ideas of Korean culture could be completely different than the reality.…