16-Year-Old Actress’s Romance With 25-Year-Old In Upcoming Drama Series Fuels International Outrage
While many dramas have featured age gaps, an upcoming series has left many uncomfortable and disgusted.
On November 5, BDLMD Entertainment, a Thai company, announced its first GL (girl love) drama series. The series is set to star MINDY‘s MingMing and “Preem” Ranida Techasit as one pairing, while BNK48’s Punn and MINDY’s Ilene were set to be another.
While the ever-growing genre of GL is usually met with positive reactions over new series, additional details have caused the announcement to be met with negativity instead.
Punn is a day away from turning 25, while Ilene is 16, making it a nearly ten-year age gap between an adult and a minor. Additionally, there is a ten-year age gap (19 and 29) between the other pairing, which also contributes to the adverse reactions.
Punn's 24, Ilene is 16. 16. A CHILD
They want to normalize pedophilia in queer context. They're pretending inappropriate, harmful, violent power dynamics do not exist among women. These are actors engaging in intimacy during acting, and in fanservice etc. This is absolutely sick. https://t.co/nT7ceFZ22Q— Swooner (@SwoonerOfficial) November 5, 2025
Y'all this is why it's important to criticize gl series with questionable age gap or a teenager because wdym someone said one of the actresses here is still 16 while the other one is 25 are we even serious rn? After this you will find an infant on your screen. https://t.co/DTJBssl1I2
— f ⋆.˚ 𓃠 (@hifrom_flo) November 5, 2025
she’s 16? holy shit this trend in gls to debut younger and younger girls and pair them with adults needs to be burned to the ground. there is absolutely 0 justification no matter how much they want to “the girl agreed” or “parents approved” out of this https://t.co/Ge9lFJtiQU pic.twitter.com/uTO1TyuU4O
— namtanfilm’s prenup lawyer (@pianistsooyeon) November 5, 2025
In response to the backlash, the company released a statement claiming that the relationship depicted between the two was that of sisters, and that the two “couples” were actually part of a new original series.
ประกาศจาก BDLMD ENTERTRAINMENT
ชี้แจงเกี่ยวกับกระแสในสื่อสังคมออนไลน์ เรื่อง Girl Love SeriesOfficial Statement from BDLMD ENTERTRAINMENT Clarification regarding the current discussions on social media about the Girl Love Series#BDLMD #BDLMDSERIES pic.twitter.com/k3uhqGyKHe
— BDLMD_OFFICIAL (@Bdlmd_official) November 6, 2025
However, fans pointed out that the company’s original post used the hashtag #PUNNILENE, a combination of their names that indicates a set pairing. Additionally, the series that was believed to be previewed, Le Lom Huan, features a romantic relationship growing between two adoptive sisters.
This you? https://t.co/Pf8uYk862U pic.twitter.com/CJiM42zdHx
— GL SAVIOR (@Nagini56547717) November 6, 2025
sister-relationship my ass. you were the one using hashtags, visuals, and captions that clearly framed the pair as a romantic couple. fans didn’t imagine that it was part of the official promo. (+) https://t.co/2cMVF73fEH pic.twitter.com/eYESbECJxQ
— K•εїз• (@_kaleerr) November 6, 2025
1. False; the post, promotion & *couple* hashtags suggest otherwise. Also, Punn HERSELF spoke on it, confirming the pairing!; https://t.co/AfnA4pO2L9
2. Og post deleted…
3. 16 y old is still part of casting, but no clarity on whether she will still be paired up with an adult?? https://t.co/tExBiIT6LW pic.twitter.com/2W0CIZRRJz— Swooner (@SwoonerOfficial) November 6, 2025
Only time will tell what the actual truth behind Ilene’s role is.
