The Thai Drama Awards celebrate one of the most exciting forces in entertainment today: the Thai drama industry. From the long tradition of lakorn to the Boys' Love series that Thailand now leads the world in, these are the shows and the stars that have built passionate fandoms far beyond Thailand's borders. This is a genuinely global phenomenon, and the Thai Drama Awards exist to honor it as one.
This is not a nationality contest. It is an industry celebration. The Thai Drama Awards recognize the series, the actors, and the actresses who define Thai drama, judged by an international fan base rather than only by viewers at home, because the love for Thai storytelling now stretches across the whole world.
What the awards honor
The Thai Drama Awards are part of the iFANN Drama Awards, a themed annual campaign celebrating the drama industries fans love most. This edition covers three awards in one campaign: Best Thai Drama for the series, Best Thai Actor, and Best Thai Actress. Together they capture what makes a Thai show unforgettable, the story that pulls you in and the performances that make you stay.
The focus is on the industry and its craft, from the sweeping romance of a classic lakorn to the tenderness and chemistry that made Thai BL a global standard. Whether a series aired on national television or streamed to millions abroad, what counts here is the work and the devotion it earned.
An industry, not a nationality
iFANN was built on a simple belief: you should be able to champion the entertainment you love, no matter where you happen to live. The Thai Drama Awards honor an industry, not a passport. A fan in Manila, in Lima, in Paris, or in Bangkok all have the same standing here, because Thai drama belongs to everyone who loves it.
That is why winners are chosen by an international fan base rather than only Thai viewers. Thai series and their stars have become a shared language for fandoms on several continents, and this award reflects that reality. The question is never where you are watching from. It is which Thai drama, actor, or actress moved you the most.
A global phenomenon and its fandom
Thai drama, and Thai BL in particular, has grown into one of the most organized and passionate fan movements in the world. Fandoms across the rest of Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Americas trend hashtags in their millions, translate episodes overnight, and turn a single scene into a worldwide conversation within hours. Thai series are watched in well over a hundred countries.
It goes far beyond the screen. Thai stars sell out fan meetings and concerts overseas, draw huge crowds at events abroad, and headline campaigns for global brands. Celebrating an industry with worldwide reach and worldwide fans is exactly what iFANN stands for, and the Thai Drama Awards give that global love a stage of its own.
Our selection philosophy
The process begins with fans submitting the people and works they believe deserve recognition. iFANN's internal editorial team reviews every nomination for category fit, eligibility, identity, duplication, and abuse. Accepted nominees join the public ballot. After public voting closes, the iFANN International Editorial Board independently ranks the five finalists.
Winners are then decided the way every iFANN Award is decided. Fan votes account for 60% of the final score and the editorial board accounts for the remaining 40%. Fans stay at the center. The panel adds an expert eye, but it can never outweigh the international fandom that watches these shows and loves them.
What a win includes
Winners are celebrated and actively promoted across the iFANN social media platform, given proper coverage, and featured on the iFANN Pop Show, which reaches entertainment and pop culture fans around the world. For a Thai series or a Thai star, that spotlight lands with fandoms on every continent at once.
Each winner is also recognized with a physical engraved iFANN trophy, shipped directly to them or kept safe in the iFANN library until they are ready to receive it, along with a permanent place in the iFANN awards archive.
Best Thai Drama
Best Thai Drama honors the standout Thai series of the year, from the primetime lakorn that have entertained Thai households for generations to the Boys' Love dramas that turned Thai television into a worldwide phenomenon. It is a category defined by range, taking in romance, comedy, horror and hard-edged social drama, and by some of the most devoted fandoms anywhere in entertainment.
Nominations are open to every genre and platform, from broadcast lakorn to the streaming hits followed episode by episode from Bangkok to Latin America. Fans put forward the shows their communities rallied around, and this award marks the series that best captured the energy of Thai drama's global moment.
Best Thai Actor
Best Thai Actor recognizes the men driving Thailand's television boom. Thai drama has produced a new generation of stars with enormous international followings, from the on-screen pairings that became global sensations to the dramatic leads carrying serious primetime storytelling.
This category celebrates the male performance that stood out across the year, whether in a beloved series romance or a demanding dramatic role. Fans nominate the actors whose work they could not stop watching, in an industry now followed far beyond Thailand's borders.
Best Thai Actress
Best Thai Actress honors the women of Thai television, the actresses whose work spans tender lakorn romance, sharp comedy and weighty drama. As Thai series reach ever larger audiences abroad, their leading women are becoming international stars in their own right.
The award recognizes the year's finest female performance in Thai drama, across leading and supporting roles. Fans put forward the actresses who defined their favorite series, celebrating both established names and the rising talents shaping the industry's future.