Mon Rak Luk Thung

Klao (Tridsadee Sahawong), a kind-hearted but poor young man, works hard to earn a living so he can redeem the rice field that his mother, Mae Kon (Chudapa Chantakhet), has mortgaged to Jom (Santisuk Promsir), an influential man in the village. Jerd (Warit Fuengarom), Jom’s beloved son, is in love with Thongkwao (Jittapa Jaempatom), the beautiful daughter of the wealthy Khun Kon (Anan Boonnak) and Mae Tubtim (Jintara Sukhapat). Thongkwao is lovely, sweet, well-mannered, and obedient to her parents, but she dislikes Jerd because he is a hooligan and a thug. Thongkwao has a close cousin named Buppha (Nattapatcha Wipantaktrakun), a girl her age who acts as her confidante in matters of the heart. Buppha, meanwhile, likes Pi Waen (Benchapon Cheyaroon), Klao’s close friend. Klao is popular with many girls, but he loves only Thongkwao, even though Saijai, the daughter of the drunkard Ta Ming (Ped Chernyim), keeps pursuing him.
Thongkwao secretly meets Klao all the time. Jerd sees them and reports it to Kon, who punishes Thongkwao by forbidding her to leave the house. When she can no longer meet Klao, he sneaks in by climbing into her house and arranges to meet her at a hut in the middle of the rice fields. But Mae Kon falls ill that night, and Klao has to carry his mother to the health center and stay with her, so he misses the appointment. Thongkwao comes to wait for him, but Saijai happens to pass by and lies that Klao did not come because he had just parted from her at home. Thongkwao believes her. Later, when Jerd comes to pick her up in a new car, she still dislikes him, but she cannot withstand his persistence and her parents’ urging, so she agrees to ride out with him. Klao returns from caring for his mother, accompanied by Saijai, and sees Jerd with Thongkwao. Both sides misunderstand each other. When Buppha finds out what happened, she secretly tells Klao the truth. Klao then goes to see Thongkwao and explains why he missed their appointment.
Kon and Tubtim ask Jom to find an auspicious date so that Jerd can formally ask for Thongkwao’s hand in marriage. When Thongkwao learns of this, she cries in sorrow. Klao, upon hearing the news, takes his mother to ask for Thongkwao’s hand first, hoping to beat Jerd to it. Kon mocks him and demands a dowry of 100,000 baht. Fearing that Thongkwao might run away with Klao, Kon and Tubtim decide to send her to Bangkok to stay with Kon’s older sister, Thongkham, and study dressmaking. They deceive both Thongkwao and Buppha by saying that once she finishes her studies and returns home, Klao may come ask for her hand. Overjoyed, Thongkwao and Buppha tell Klao and Waen to wait for one year. Once in Bangkok, the two girls study diligently and send letters to Klao and Waen, but Kon burns them all.
Meanwhile, in Bangkok, a flirtatious man named Thammarak (Saranyu Prachakrit), Thongkham’s nephew, becomes interested in Thongkwao, even though he secretly already has a singer wife named Ruehtai (Piyada Turonkul). Thammarak’s subordinate, Theera (Phuchong Yothapitak), also courts Buppha. But neither Thongkwao nor Buppha is interested. By chance, Thongkwao meets Boonyuen (Ekachai Srivichai), who has become a singer at Thammarak’s club. After asking him questions, the girls learn that the song he is singing was sent by Waen for the people of Bangkok to hear. Through Boonyuen acting as a go-between, both Thongkwao and Klao begin to receive news of one another.
Because he fears hardship for his daughter and wants her to marry a wealthy man like Thammarak, Kon lies to Thongkwao, telling her that Klao has forgotten her and has already taken Saijai as his wife. On the other side, Boonyuen invites Klao to Bangkok to play music at Ruehtai’s newly opened club. Klao leaves his mother and goes to Bangkok. Phet, Thongkwao’s younger sibling, feels sorry for him and tells him Thongkwao’s address. But on the journey, the boat capsizes, and the paper containing both Boonyuen’s and Thongkwao’s addresses is ruined in the water and becomes unreadable.
Klao and Waen search everywhere for Thongkwao, Buppha, and Boonyuen. Eventually, discouraged, they decide to return home, but luckily they run into Boonyuen by chance. Boonyuen tells them they are too late to perform at the club, since the owner hired another band after Klao failed to show up. However, there is still work performing at the Winter Beauty Queen competition. While waiting to perform, they see both Thongkwao and Buppha entering the pageant. Waen secretly places sheet music for the musicians to play, and Klao goes up onstage and sings on television in the event alongside Thongkwao. The next morning, Klao rows a boat to Thongkham’s house to see her. But he sees Thongkwao walking with Thammarak, misunderstands the situation, and gets into a fight with Thammarak’s group. Thongkwao drives Klao away and tells him it would be better if they broke up. Klao is heartbroken and returns to the countryside. Meanwhile, Thongkham promises Thongkwao to Thammarak and Buppha to Theera. The two girls, brokenhearted, decide to accept the engagements.
When Klao returns home, he learns that Jom has seized both the land and the house by forging documents claiming that Mae Kon borrowed money while Klao was away in Bangkok. When he also hears that Thongkwao has accepted an engagement to a Bangkok man, Klao decides to move away and look for a new place to make a living, with Saijai following him. Kon returns home to prepare for the engagement and wedding. When Jom learns that Thammarak is willing to pay an unlimited dowry for Thongkwao, he plots to rob the dowry and kidnap both Thongkwao and Aunt Thongkham for ransom. On the eve of the wedding, Kon and Tubtim get drunk and accidentally reveal the truth about all the misunderstandings among Thongkwao, Buppha, Klao, and Waen. Phet quickly goes to find Klao and tell him the truth, but along the way sees Jerd’s men robbing the dowry and abducting Thongkwao as well for ransom. Phet rushes to tell Klao that Jerd’s gang has raided the house and kidnapped Thongkwao. Klao hurries after them to rescue her, while sending Phet to inform the police and gather the villagers to help.
Will Klao be able to save Thongkwao? And how will the love stories of Thongkwao and Klao, and of Buppha and Waen, finally end? Follow the drama Mon Rak Luk Thung, airing every Friday at 8:30 PM and Saturday-Sunday at 8:15 PM on Thai TV Channel 3. The first episode aired on Sunday, December 26, 2010.