I was supposed to watch this as it premiered, but the past few days have been crazy so I’ve been trying to catch up on all of my shows. Anyways, let’s go dive in to Drag Race Thailand!
Full disclosure: I haven’t watched the first two seasons of Drag Race Thailand, but I have sorta “watched” it via osmosis, thanks to the internet. But since this is sort of a soft reboot of the show with just Pangina being the host, hopefully this is a good place to start for me!
Okay, first off, I didn’t know if the rumors saying that this was filmed in the Philippines is true but judging from the sound design? Probably is true! Anyways, the first queen to enter the Werk Room is Srirasha Hotsauce and…well, the outfit isn’t as impressive as you’d like for an entrance look.
Zepee is up next and while I am not floored by the outfit either that fucking opening line is a killer. If you see me, you can pee on me? I love. And she’s stunning in the confessionals too!
Frankie Wonga finally walks in with an outfit that impresses. I love how it’s an overall look with all the elements tied together. Could it have been more polished? Sure! But this is kinda the “first” season of the show and I’m okay with it!
I don’t know about Kara Might’s outfit. It’s giving theater costume but one that’s already been discarded? AGAIN, I am not a fashion person so I may be speaking out of my ass but it’s the impression the clothes are giving me as a layperson. I could absolutely be wrong!
Gawdland is 22-years-old and girl does she look like it. That body. I used to have that body! Well, maybe not that ass but when I was a scrawny young one I had that body. Now I’m just a tub of lard.
Up next is Benze Diva who is older than I am but goes toe to toe with Gawdland when it comes to body so maybe I’m the one who’s at fault here. Maybe I’m the drama.
Shortgun is up next and I don’t know if it was meant to be shot that way but she appeared while the girls were still talking about Benze? Either way, she could have combed that wig a little bit more. But maybe it was ruffled by that huge mask she had with her. Or maybe it’s just the fact that she’s been doing drag for less than a year.
The next queen to enter the Werk Room is Siam Phusri, who none of the Thai queens know because she worksin San Francisco. I guess that explains why her entrance outfit is a little bit better than the rest. She’s got that coin! Relatively! Compared to the Thai queens!
Nane Sphera is up next and I also like her entrance look! And she isn’t from the USA either! So I’m guessing that maybe it’s just a matter of taste levels rather than money when it comes to the entrance looks this season. She’s followed by Spicy Sunshine who’s giving a little Keta Minaj in the out but honestly, everyone’s attention is still focused on Siam Phusri owing to the fact that she’s the only unfamiliar queen in the group. The final queen to enter is Gigi Ferocious and she doesn’t even get a full-on welcome from the queens or some backstory laid out for before the RuMail? PanMail? arrives. And…let’s just say there are kinks to work out there!
Pangina Heals enters the Werk Room and…well what can I say other than she’s hot? It’s hard to find words when hot fits so perfectly!
Anyways, Pangina shares this season’s prizes, which include a crown and scepter, a year’s worth of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics, and a cash prize of ฿650,000 which is roughly P1,000,000. Fellow Southeast Asians!
The first mini challenge of the season is a photoshoot sponsored by by a Thai tea brand which I actually kinda want to try out! Looks nice! But what really gagged me was the fact that the photographer was all dragged up as a tea set? All the other Drag Race photographers take note!
Gawdland was up first and I gotta say that one Pit Crew member with the center part was outserving her when it came to face. Who’s that diva? I do have to say that all the shots kinda ended up looking overall the same? It had that golden sheen look that for some reason reminded me of that Jake Cuenca cover for GP magazine? YES THAT’S HOW OLD I AM.
Spicy Sunshine wins the mini challenge and quite frankly, she deserved to. She wins ฿12,000! I thought it was going to give her a Maxi Challenge advantage as well but since it’s the talent show, there’s no advantage I can think off that would be useful.
P’Ying, who I assume is the Michelle Visage of Drag Race Thailand, enters the Werk Room as the queens are opening luggage bags from Anastasia Beverly Hills and she gives the queens advice with regards to the talent show. I really like that she told Shortgun that she shouldn’t measure her competences against another’s because they’re good at different things so it’s going to be apples and oranges.
Okay so P’Ying isn’t the Michelle Visage, she’s the Very Special Guest Judge of the episode. Other than Art Arya, I don’t know who the rest of judges are but Pangina seems to know them well and has great banter with them!
First one on the stage for the talent show is Nane Sphera and…well, the crappy sound didn’t help. Also I feel like the outfits weren’t as good as they could have been? I feel like it made her look square-ish.
Srirasha Hotsauce does belly dancing next and I guess I wish it was a little more polished? And I think Srirasha feels the same because she says in the confessionals that when she makes a mistake she can’t control herself.
Gawdland does okay but can I just say that the sound design or whatever it’s called really is not doing the show any favors because it makes the whole proceedings look rocky? Even if it probably wasn’t when it was being shot? At least that’s how I feel as a viewer.
The sound definitely had a negative impact on Benze Diva’s performance because I feel like it would have been more impactful if I actually heard the music much more clearly? Or maybe the sound is just my device problem and not the show’s? Or maybe I’m old? Can somebody tell me if they had the same sound problems?
Frankie Wonga does a performance with multiple noses and really, that’s all I can say about it. It has to be seen! And then Siam Phusri cuts hair on stage and this is the performance that launched all those GIFs I’ve been saying OMG.
Shortgun is up next with a monkey costume and it’s kinda plagued by the same sound effects that really got on my nerves when I was watching the Thai adaptation of My Love Mix–Up. Did it really need all of those sound effects? And the judges didn’t look that impressed either.
Spicy Sunshine follows it up with an okay song and dance performance while Kara Might must be funny if you know the context because the judges seemed to like it! Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about Thai culture to know if the performance was good or not.
Gigi Ferocious and Zepee do song and dance performances and just like I’ve said other franchise’s talent shows, it’s not that it’s bad. It’s that so many queens from all over the world are also good at these song and dance performances. These queens aren’t performing just for their local crowds anymore because other countries are looking in as well.
Now we get to the runway and Gigi Ferocious opens it with body and did she pee? I couldn’t see it well and maybe the judges’ comments were just badly translated but it made it seem like she peed? Or maybe I’m misunderstanding it?
Nane Sphera does okay with her outfit but she’s immediately overshadowed by Shortgun who comes in as an oyster. It’s giving a little Juriji der Klee if I’m being honest!
Zepee comes out and I think the one critique that’s going to keep appearing when the judges start going in is the similarity of materials. Zepee’s outfit is recalling Nane Sphera’s a little too well for me.
Srirasha Hotsauce came out basically a cum-covered outfit and…I don’t know I feel like it could have been done in a more stylish way? Srirasha was followed by Benze Diva and Art at least liked the draping on the dress. Siam Phusri also got compliments — I think? — from the judges.
Spicy Sunshine comes in wearing a Songkran outfit and I don’t know how Thai people feel about it but I was happy someone finally did something related to Thai culture? But then again I am not actually Thai and actual Thais may be over Songkran so I don’t know!
Kara Might…tried to talk herself out of her outfit but I honestly thought it was meh? Especially when Frankie Wonga came out after her playing on the fact that we’re in Southeast Asia and we get typhoons! It’s right there! Use it! Gawdland had on an eye-catching look but I feel like she might get read for it not being wet enough.
Zepee, Benze Diva, Gawdland, Gigi Ferocious, and Nane Sphera are the safe girls this episode, and Shortgun is the first queen up for critique. She gets critiqued for not editing her performance and her outfit, basically.
Srirasha Hotsauce also gets read for her performance and her look, although Pangina does think that Srirasha’s bukkake outfit had a sense of humor about it , which okay. Siam Phusri also gets read — correctly, in my opinion — for her talent show. It wasn’t entertaining! I doze off when I get my hair cut! But then again I am a bald bitch so there’s nothing to worry about because if you get a bald look wrong as a hairdresser you’ve got more serious problems.
Spicy Sunshine gets snaps for her performance from Pangina, but gets read for her runway look and I get Pangina on this one. Yes, I liked that it referenced something from Thai culture but it does look basic.
Pangina says she didn’t know what the hell was going on with Kara Might’s performance but she found it funny so really who the hell cares if it made sense or not? She’s living like Trinity the Tuck!
Pangina does read Kara for her outfit and like I said earlier, it’s meh! Pangina even went harder on it than I did!
Finally, Frankie got props for her nose performance which, like I said, people really need to just watch because I don’t know how to explain it either.
After the judges’ critiques, Spicy Sunshine and Frankie Wonga emerge as the top two with Frankie eventually getting the win and ฿50,000. Shortgun and Srirasha Hotsauce and outside of that I kinda wish that Pangina was delivering her spiels in Thai? BUT AGAIN, I am saying this as an outsider to the culture. Please ignore if it makes sense with that Thai tea fantasy.
The lip sync happens and Shortgun and Srirasha both get to stay! Is this going to be a thing across all franchises now? Well, except maybe Drag Race España because they definitely sent Shani back home.
Ron Does Stuff 
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