BBDO Bangkok reignites a 20-year love story in viral BOYdPOD comeback
BBDO Bangkok, together with its production unit Flare Bangkok, has created a powerful cultural moment in Thailand with I’m OK // Not OK, an experimental short-film music video that reunites two iconic characters from the 2004 film Dear Dakanda.
The campaign didn’t simply go viral — it took over the country’s digital and broadcast landscape.
A Cultural Takeover: 9 Days of Total Social & Broadcast Domination
Upon launch, I’m OK // Not OK sparked a nationwide reaction rarely seen in modern Thai entertainment.
For nine straight days, the music film dominated Thailand’s digital and broadcast landscape — hijacking every major social platform and even becoming a daily topic on national TV news and talk shows.
Reaction videos, duets, tearful responses, recreations, fan art, and nostalgia-filled tributes flooded the country’s feeds. Even as Thailand was consumed by the massively hyped Mad Unicorn series, BOYdPOD’s comeback cut through the noise and captured the nation’s attention.
In an era of fragmented media, a single story unified everyone: Dakanda and Khaiyoi were back.
The idea began with a simple emotional question from BBDO Bangkok: “What if we bring back two long-lost friends… to bring back millions of fans?”
Directed by Thasorn “Pete” Boonyanate, CCO of BBDO Bangkok and Flare Bangkok, and produced by Toungrak Jiravatanarungsri of Flare Bangkok, the film reunites the original actors from Dear Dakanda: Noon Siraphun Wattanajinda (Dakanda) and Sunny Suwanmethanont (Khaiyoi).
In real life, the two actors had not seen each other in 20 years since the release of the original film. Their genuine emotion, surprise, and vulnerability when they finally met again were captured authentically on camera.
The reunion unfolds through a lie detector setup – exposing emotions neither character nor actor could hide. With no scripted dialogue, the entire scene is carried by body language, tension, unspoken feelings, and the song’s lyrics.
Boonyanate said: “Their reunion wasn’t acting – it was real. The two hadn’t seen each other for two decades. We simply created the space for the moment to happen, and the story finished itself. That authenticity is what moved the nation.”
The result is one of the most emotionally resonant sequences in contemporary Thai music-film storytelling.
Massive Cultural Impact
The wave of engagement that followed reflects the scale of the phenomenon:
• #1 Trending on YouTube on launch day
• #1 and #2 Trending hashtags on X (#ImOkNotOk, #BOYdPODxBillkin)
• Over 21 million views (and rapidly climbing)
• 867 million total impressions
• 23.4 million total engagements
• Dear Dakanda returned to Netflix Thailand as the #2 most-watched title nearly 20 years after release
• Boyd Kosiyabong’s Instagram following grew from 100K to 627K
• BOYdPOD’s first concert in 16 years sold out within one day
For more than a week, every corner of Thai media – online, offline, on-air – was talking about the same music film.
It became a rare moment of cultural unity powered by nostalgia and emotional storytelling.
Boyd Kosiyabong added: “We never expected a story from twenty years ago to return with such emotional force. Seeing Dakanda and Khaiyoi together again – and watching fans reconnect – reminded us why we make music in the first place.”
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