Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

The 2026 Thai drama Payback is a revenge story about Sun, a vicious enforcer for a loan shark whose ex-boyfriend Bank runs away with his money, leaving Sun unable to pay his mother’s medical bills, which results in her death. To make matters worse, one of Sun’s debtor victims murders his younger brother. Devastated, Sun initially resigns himself to the loss, but a chance encounter leads him to overhear Bank gloating over his family’s deaths. That’s enough for Sun to vow to teach his ex a brutal lesson.

Directed by Woodie Pongchaiphat Sethanand, Payback stars Min Thanakorn Wichanukhor as primary protagonist Sun, who decides to enter the same entertainment company as his ex-boyfriend Bank, AKA Sunny (Fuaiz Thanawat Shinawatra), to exact his revenge. He is helped in this endeavor by mysterious stranger Jay (Toptap Jarukit Kaewmoonrueang), a powerful executive who becomes instantly enamored with Sun.

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Jay and Sun first meet on a terrace, where Sun spots the mysterious executive smoking and asks if he can bum a cigarette. Rather than simply handing him one, the arrogant Jay tosses the cigarette he’s already smoking in Sun’s direction. Instead of taking offense, Sun picks it up, takes it, and tosses two baht worth of coins back at Jay as payment, a neat little return insult that immediately catches Jay’s attention.

The exchange also gives Payback one of its running gags, with an amused Jay nicknaming Sun “Sawng-Baht,” meaning “Two-Baht.” Soon, some of Jay’s associates begin referring to him by the same name. While Sun isn’t sure of Jay’s identity, he doesn’t resist his help, which quickly lands him a safe spot as a trainee at Dream Entertainment, the same company as Sunny. Khunnote Jirapat Uttamanan plays Sun’s happy-go-lucky manager, Kajorn Piyawanichkul, interestingly also Sunny’s former manager before the two became estranged.

Sun’s obsession with ruining Sunny makes sense from the POV of a jilted ex, but as a viewer, it’s difficult to entirely root for him. Sunny may have been the catalyst for his mother’s and brother’s deaths, but ultimately, both tragedies primarily occur because of Sun’s own criminal activities as a muscleman for a loan shark.

In fact, during one pivotal confrontation in Payback, Sunny points out exactly that, and Sun has no real comeback. Instead, the series gives him a monologue later in which he chastises Sunny for having zero remorse over his actions and showing no inclination to change. None of it hits particularly hard emotionally, mostly because Sunny simply doesn’t get the kind of space an antagonist like him needs. When Sun enters the same company, Sunny targets him, but initially only because he has a problem with Sun’s manager and has no clue that the new trainee is actually his ex.

The series also explores the murky ugliness of the entertainment industry, showing how clout and money play a major role in landing parts, meaning aspiring actors need powerful “backers” to get ahead. Since the romance between Jay and Sun is another major Payback plot, and perhaps to better align their agendas, it turns out Jay has an axe to grind with the people backing Sunny. Claude Athaseri plays one of Payback’s antagonists and is entertainingly revolting as a wealthy predator involved in multiple shady businesses.

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The chemistry between Min Thanakorn Wichanukhor and Toptap Jarukit Kaewmoonrueang wasn’t entirely convincing, largely because Min’s Sun is portrayed as such a one-track-minded guy, with no feelings for Jay. He has almost nothing on his agenda besides revenge and walks around much of the show like a sentient zombie. That lifelessness works for the revenge-driven character, especially during the first half. However, as Sun gradually begins to change in the second half, Min doesn’t quite bring out that shift in his personality.

Sun’s interest in Jay is purely transactional at first; he’s willing to do almost anything as long as someone helps him get his revenge against Sunny. But the plot eventually inserts a contrived incident from their past, one that Sun doesn’t even remember, and plays it like an “Oh, these two were always meant to be together” revelation. It’s just a bizarre, wacky twist, which makes little sense if you start to unpack it.

Toptap Jarukit Kaewmoonrueang playing an influential executive who apparently has enough free time to stalk and help a completely random stranger also felt a little off, but well, I guess if you’ve got enough money and power, you’ll find the time to pursue your latest obsession. Toptap pulls off the role with ease, playing Jay almost like a predator having fun with his prey.

A lot of the online hype around Payback has been driven by its explicit scenes and steamy kisses between the leads, which, to be fair, are well shot and could give Heated Rivalry a run for its money. Unfortunately, the rest of Payback’s plot is simply too fragmented, with some threads not getting enough attention.

For instance, a major subplot revolves around Sky (an adorable Shogun Paramee Thesdaroon), a trainee at Dream Entertainment who is terrified of cameras because of past trauma. So why exactly does he want to work in an industry where walking into a room without encountering a camera is practically Mission: Impossible? It feels less like pursuing a dream and more like blatant self-sabotage.

Several other subplots also begin to overshadow Payback’s central vengeance storyline, including one involving a creepy and powerful producer’s sickening sexual abuse of struggling young actors. By the final few episodes, I found myself wishing the series had focused on being a thriller-mystery about Sun’s brother dying mysteriously at a bar, with Sun investigating what really happened, only to uncover a nefarious sex racket and fight against it. Yes, that would’ve been a completely different story, but it also could’ve made for a much grittier and more focused one.

Instead, the climactic moments of Payback are wrapped up rather hurriedly, with Sun finally going head-to-head against the villains and getting his big moment in the sun. A convenient coincidence saves him from almost certain death, and the primary leads eventually get a satisfactory ending.

By the second half, though, I wasn’t particularly invested in the plot anymore and ended up watching the final few episodes after taking a bit of a break. Payback is a well-made show on a technical level, but its script needed considerably more work.

Overall, Payback is a messy revenge drama that desperately needed more structure and focus. Still, BL fans looking for something slightly darker, with a seedy entertainment-industry backdrop, morally dubious characters, might find enough here to enjoy.

You can stream ‘Payback’ on IQiyi.

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