Conception The series was conceived shortly after
Nadao Bangkok's previous series
My Ambulance concluded in October 2019. A side couple from that series, played by Putthipong and Krit, had attracted a large fanbase, especially among
shippers, and
My Ambulance director
Naruebet Kuno, in response to audience feedback, briefly considered featuring them in a sequel, but abandoned the idea as it could not be fitted into the earlier story. Instead, he opted to create a new story based on a topic he wanted to explore, that of a relationship between two teenage boys. He presented the idea to Nadao producers and executives
Songyos Sugmakanan and
Kriangkrai Vachiratamporn, who agreed that a simple
coming-of-age story would make a refreshing change of pace from the fantastical
My Ambulance. The project was pitched to
Line TV, who were eager to produce another collaboration with Nadao Bangkok and promptly agreed to finance the project as Nadao's fourth Line TV original series. The series was developed as part of what Nadao termed the "BKPP Project", an integrated promotion plan centred on the two actors and codenamed after their nicknames, Billkin and PP. In addition to the series itself, Nadao planned to release music singles and behind-the-scene documentary series, and hold a fan meeting event. The series was envisioned as a ten-episode story following the development of the characters' relationship from their school days and as they adjust to university life, and Kriangkrai suggested the approach of splitting the series into two self-contained five-episode parts.
Development ''. Development of part 1 began in December 2019, with Naruebet at the helm. He invited Karakade Norasethaporn and Naron Cherdsoongnern, both of whom he had worked with as fellow students at the
Faculty of Communication Arts of
Chulalongkorn University, to develop the screenplay with him. , one of Naruebet's co-writers from
My Ambulance, later joined the team. The project was Karakade and Naron's first screenwriting experience; Karakade primarily worked as a writer and editor, and Naron as a
flight attendant. As is often Nadao's approach, the writers interviewed the lead actors to aid the development of the script, partly basing the characters on their personalities and taking inspiration from their experiences. The characters meeting at tutorial school, for example, was an early plot point based on Putthipong and Krit's introduction in real life. The actors joined in improvisation sessions with the writers in January 2020, and the project was teased via Nadao Bangkok's Twitter account on 14 January. Naruebet envisioned visually rich imagery for the series, and wanted a locale that would serve as an atmospheric backdrop. The writers briefly considered
Ayutthaya, as well as several other provinces, before settling on Phuket, which offered the combination of beaches, hills, and an urban environment. With a rough draft for the story, the team conducted a research trip to the
Southern island province in late January. They took inspiration from Phuket's multicultural heritage,
Sino-Portuguese architecture and
local cuisine, and set the story mainly in
Phuket's Old Town. Several food items are featured in the story, including the
Hokkien noodles sold by Teh's mother and the dessert
o-aew, which inspired the name of Krit's character. The names of the characters Teh and Hoon, meanwhile, are from the
Hokkien words for tea () and
rice vermicelli (), one of many nods to the Hokkien Chinese heritage which forms a large part of Phuket's culture.
Chinese culture is also featured in the story through the language (as
Mandarin), which plays a central role in the university-admissions plot, contributed to by language consultant Suppawat Zhou. Phuket's pluralism is also reflected through language, with several characters speaking in the
Southern Thai dialect and employing code switching during conversation. were featured in the series. The writers saw the series as first and foremost a coming-of-age story, and created a character-driven narrative focusing on the characters' internal conflicts, having them questioning and learning to understand their own feelings through experience. They employed a lot of symbolism to visually enhance the storytelling. The
Chinese hibiscus flower, for example, is commonly used in school textbooks to illustrate the concept of a
perfect flower—one with both male and female structures—and the writers used it in different scenes to alternatively represent male and female characters, while leaving open the possibility for viewers to differently interpret the flower's metaphorical meanings. They originally planned for forty-minute episodes, but with the gradually increasing ambition of the project, ended up at almost twice the length. The project was officially announced by Line TV at its Line Nexplosion 2020 event on 19 February, under the working title
BKPP: The Series. It was originally slated for a July 2020 release. However, production was delayed as the
COVID-19 pandemic spread
through Thailand in March, just as work was entering pre-production. After one of its actors tested positive for the virus, Nadao closed its office from 20 March and advised its staff to self-isolate. The writers, who had until then had almost daily face-to-face meetings, continued working via conference calls, and used the time to further refine the screenplay. A first
read-through was held with lead actors Putthipong and Krit via
Zoom video call on 24 April, after which some further refinements continued, totalling about months of screenplay development. The series entered pre-production under isolation conditions, with the crew holding online meetings where each department presented their work via video conference. Though travel restrictions were in place, one of the crew members lived in Phuket and was able to do location work outside of curfew hours.
Casting As the disease came under control, the country began easing restrictions around mid-May, allowing in-person auditions to take place. With the lead actors already fixed for the project, casting for the supporting roles focused on ensuring good chemistry with Putthipong and Krit. The task was split among the casting directors: A-tis Asanachinda, who had done extensive casting work with Nadao, covered the roles of Bas, Hoon, and young Teh and Oh-aew, while Nantanat Thakadkul, who had also co-written My
Ambulance, was responsible for the others. For the role of Hoon, Nat Kitcharit was among the first choices A-tis considered, having been impressed by his lead appearance in the 2018 film
App War. The roles of Tarn and Bas, in particular, depended on chemistry with the main actors, and Tarn had to speak Southern Thai.
Parada Thitawachira, a TV actress and singer, was invited to audition for the role after the crew came upon a Facebook video of her rapping to a popular song in the dialect, and was promptly chosen. On the other hand, the crew had difficulty filling the role of Bas until Songyos suggested auditioning Pongpol Panyamit, who had earlier been recruited to Nadao Academy, the company's recently launched talent development project. Pongpol had no acting experience and didn't match Naruebet's vision of the character, but his portrayal impressed Naruebet and secured the role. The crew was also particular about the roles of young Teh and Oh-aew, which required resemblance with their older counterparts as well as the ability to convey the characters. Pitchanan Jiemsirikarn and Inthanon Seangsiripaisarn, neither of whom had acting experience, were ultimately deemed the best fit for the roles. Like Pongpol, both had earlier been discovered by Nadao crew when scouting for the Nadao Academy project. The roles of Teh and Oh-aew's friends Kai, Phillip and Mod were filled by teen actors Jirayus Khawbaimai, Theethat Suk-im and Christiaan Churaporn Bos, respectively. Apart from the two leads, Jirayus was the only Nadao-signed actor to appear in the series. A complete read-through with all the actors was held on 2 June. The actors underwent several acting workshops around mid-June, which focused on the lead actors' understanding of their characters as well as interactions between character pairs and groups. The lead actors also worked with their younger counterparts, who learned to imitate their demeanour and mannerisms. Screenwriter Arachaporn and casting director Nantanat also served as acting coaches, together with Romchat Tanalappipat and others. In preparation for the series, Putthipong and Krit took Chinese lessons, practised phrases in the Southern accent, learned to ride the motorcycle, and had lessons in scuba diving. Putthipong also learned to sing
Chinese opera, while Krit lost for the role. Speaking of the experience of their first lead roles, both say they felt tremendous pressure and responsibility, which was compounded by each day's almost continuous shooting. The two are close friends in real life, which they note helped greatly in assuming their roles.
Filming A blessing ceremony, marking the start of production, was held on 4 June.
Principal photography took place in July, with three weeks spent in Phuket and few more scenes shot in
Bangkok. Filming in Phuket commenced on 1 July, and alternated between filming days and break days, during which the camera crew would plan and
block shots for upcoming scenes. Filming was highly subject to weather conditions, as it took place during the rainy season, frequently necessitating impromptu changes to the shooting schedule, managed by line producer Patcharaporn Liewpairoj. The series employed multiple locations in Phuket's Old Town, as well as several places further afield around the island. Filming employed a two-camera setup, overseen by director of photography Tawanwad Wanavit. Tawanwad worked with Naruebet to produce their shared vision of a visually cinematic piece, and used warm lighting to accentuate the tones for the scenes, most of which employed a colour palette highlighting the primaries red, green and blue, which was also factored in the costume and art design. (Teh and Oh-aew are represented in large part by the colours blue and red, respectively, which were expressed through clothing prepared by
costume designer Chayanuch Savekvattana, who was working with Nadao Bangkok for the first time.) As the series entered editing in August, Naruebet found the emotional arc in some scenes to be lacking, and the story hard to follow in places. He discussed the matter with producer Songyos, who decided to have the scenes reshot. Following modification of the screenplay and further workshopping by the actors, the crew spent another two weeks in September reshooting in Phuket, during which music videos for the series' several songs were also filmed. Editing was led by Foolhouse Production's Rachaphun Phisutsinthop, who had worked with Naruebet on
My Ambulance and 2017's
Project S: "Side by Side". The music score was created by Hualampong Riddim and composed by the studio's head
Vichaya Vatanasapt, who had also worked on "Side by Side". Editing continued alongside the release of the series in October.
Part 2 As part 2 entered development when part 1 was still under production, the directorial role was handed over to Tossaphon Riantong, who had worked in several of Nadao Bangkok's and its parent
GDH's projects as a screenwriter. Naruebet moved on to the role of producer, together with Songyos. Karakade continued as screenwriter from part 1, developing the screenplay together with Tossaphon and Vasudhorn Piyaromna (Tossaphon and Vasudhorn had worked as co-writers on
In Family We Trust and
Bad Genius: The Series). Patcharaporn, A-tis and Chayanuch reprised their respective roles as line producer, casting director and costume designer for part 2. Newly introduced cast members include
Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang, part 1 writer Arachaporn, and Naphat Vikairungroj as Teh's fellow students Jai, Khim and Top; and Kamolpipat Bunnag, Sarit Trilertvichien, Taninrat Wadsriwat, and Chayapak Tunprayoon as Oh-aew's friends Plug, Maengpong, Q and Auu. The blessing ceremony for part 2 was held on 7 December 2020, and the main cast met for the read-through session on 8 December. Acting workshops during pre-production were overseen by acting coach Prawee Saeueng, while Warunya Munkaew served the role during filming. Boonyanuch Kraithong served as director of photography for part 2. Production began around mid-December, but was halted in early January 2021 due to renewed outbreaks of the virus. Filming later resumed and concluded in February, with additional shoots in April. As with part 1, editing was done by Foolhouse Production, with a music score by Hualampong Riddim's Vichaya Vatanasapt. ==Release==