The Gifted (Thai TV series)

Lore & Background

The series centers on Pawaret 'Pang' Sermrittirong, a tenth-grade student in Ritdha High School's lowest class, Class VIII. After unexpectedly seeing the school's Placement Exam, he is accelerated to the Gifted Program, the highest and most special class. There, he and his classmates discover supernatural abilities tied to their personalities, such as Pang's mind control, Wave's technopathy, and Namtaan's psychometry. The story follows their journey to develop these powers, uncover the program's dark secret, and challenge the school's oppressive hierarchy.

Reader's Guide

The Gifted stands as a landmark Thai teen series, achieving the highest ratings among teenage series in Thailand in 2018. Its sequel, The Gifted: Graduation, premiered in September 2020. The series explores themes of social stratification, personal potential, and systemic abuse through the lens of supernatural abilities. It features a large ensemble cast including Korapat Kirdpan, Wachirawit Ruangwiwat, and others, and was produced by GMMTV and Parbdee Taweesuk. The narrative critiques the school's classification system and the director's belief that the strong should lead the weak, making it a culturally resonant work about education and power.

Did You Know?

• The series is based on a 2015 short film and a novel by Dhammarong Sermrittirong.
• It aired on One31 and Line TV from 5 August 2018 to 4 November 2018.
• The main antagonist, Director Supot Chueamanee, has the same mind control power as the protagonist Pang.
• The sequel, The Gifted: Graduation, premiered in September 2020.

Origins and Production

The Gifted (stylized with the Thai subtitle นักเรียนพลังกิฟต์, translating roughly to 'Students With Special Powers') is a 2018 Thai television series that drew its narrative foundation from two earlier works: a 2015 short film of the same name and a novel penned by Dhammarong Sermrittirong, who writes under the pen name SandOtnim. The adaptation was brought to the screen through a production partnership between GMMTV and Parbdee Taweesuk, two of Thailand's most prominent entertainment companies. The series premiered on the One31 broadcast channel and the Line TV streaming platform, with its first episode hitting screens on 5 August 2018 and its final episode airing on 4 November 2018. The story centers on a student from the lowest academic tier who is unexpectedly fast-tracked into an elite, secretive program where a small group of pupils are trained to uncover and cultivate supernatural abilities. This premise of an ordinary youth thrust into a hidden world of extraordinary power became the backbone of what would go on to dominate Thai youth television that year.

The World of Ritdha and the Gifted Program

At the heart of the series is Ritdha High School, an institution governed by a rigid academic hierarchy. Students are sorted into classes according to their scholastic performance, with Class VIII sitting at the very bottom and Class I at the top. For most pupils in the lower tiers, climbing this ladder seems impossible. The Gifted Program, however, exists above even Class I as the school's most exclusive and enigmatic cohort, accepting only a select handful of students each cycle. A mysterious Placement Exam occasionally offers lower-class students a narrow window to advance, and it is through this mechanism that the protagonist, Pang, a struggling tenth-grader from Class VIII, is pulled into the Program. Once inside, the students begin to experience something unsettling: their latent supernatural abilities start to surface. Each power is intimately tied to the individual's personality and behavioral patterns, meaning the gifts are not random but deeply personal. The Program's true purpose, however, hides a dark secret that has been used to torment students across generations, and the young Gifted must ultimately work to dismantle the system that controls them.

Character Ensemble and Powers

The series features a rich ensemble of Gifted students, each with a distinct supernatural ability rooted in their character. Pang, the protagonist, discovers a mind-control power that lets him compel others through physical contact while sensing their heartbeat. Wave, a Class I student with elite skills in mathematics and programming, manifests technopathy—the ability to manipulate electronic devices through touch. His abrasive, over-competitive demeanor traces back to a traumatic relationship with a former teacher, Ms. Nara, who exploited him by stealing his thesis and framing him for plagiarism. Namtaan, also from Class I, possesses psychometry, reading events attached to objects, though her primary hypertension limits how fully she can use the gift. Ohm, from Class II, wields a form of psychokinesis that lets him make objects and people vanish and reappear, later evolving into invisibility and teleportation, with nosebleeds marking each use. Claire, a Drama Club member, experiences synesthesia as colored auras reflecting others' emotions. Punn, a perfectionist academic, can perfectly imitate any skill he observes but suffers from multiple personalities as a consequence. Korn, who can stay awake for days, harbors an unrequited crush on Claire and channels his passion through photography.

Reception, Cast, and Legacy

The Gifted assembled a notable cast that included Korapat Kirdpan (Nanon) as Pang, Wachirawit Ruangwiwat (Chimon) as Wave, Ladapa Thongkham (Lilly) as Namtaan, Harit Cheewagaroon (Sing) as Ohm, Methika Jiranorraphat (Jane) as Claire, Atthaphan Phunsawat (Gun) as Punn, and Pattadon Janngeon (Fiat) as Korn, alongside supporting performers Napasorn Weerayuttvilai (Puimek), Chatchawit Techarukpong (Victor), and the twin actors Chayapol Jutamas (AJ) and Chayakorn Jutamas (JJ). The series ran from 5 August to 4 November 2018, broadcast on One31 and streamed via Line TV. It went on to claim the highest viewership ratings among all teenage-oriented series in Thailand for that calendar year, a remarkable achievement that cemented its place in the country's pop-culture landscape. The strong audience response paved the way for a direct sequel, The Gifted: Graduation, which premiered in September 2020, continuing the story of Pang and his fellow Gifted students as they navigate the aftermath of their struggle against the Program's entrenched system. The franchise's success demonstrated that Thai youth drama could command both critical attention and mass appeal when it blended supernatural spectacle with sharp social commentary on institutional power.

Gallery