If you thought LingOrm’s sold-out Her & Hers fancon at Impact Arena with 12,000 fans chanting their names was peak fame, think again. Lingling Sirilak Kwong and Orm Kornnaphat Sethratanapong are the hot GL Thai pair from ‘The Secret of Us’ and ‘Only You’, with global ripple effects that rival some K-pop idols.
But how popular are they really? Are they at par with mainstream household names in Thailand or Asia or do they cater to a niche but devoted market whose tweets, likes, watches, buys 100 times the same thing to support their favorite?
Here is an honest and objective look at their popularity.
How Watched Was ‘The Secret of Us’?
Channel 3’s The Secret of Us (TSOU) was Thailand’s first prime-time GL drama on a major free-to-air network — a high-risk gamble in a conservative programming slot traditionally reserved for family melodramas and news. The show averaged a 0.67 TV rating, peaking at 0.92 according to Channel 3 Nielsen data — small compared with top lakorns [(ละคร) is the Thai term for a television drama series] that exceed 2.0, but historically high for a queer-centric series on mainstream television.
On Netflix, the series fared far better: it hit #1 in Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam within its first week and ranked in the Top 10 for over 12 countries including South Korea and Mexico. VPN data spikes from Latin America and Europe reflected a growing non-SEA audience, echoing the international traction once seen with the BL series KinnPorsche — though that series reached a broader global scale through worldwide streaming and touring. The Secret of Us, by contrast, achieved something different: mainstream domestic integration and representation on national television, marking a milestone for GL visibility rather than just export popularity.
Thai media analysts credited it with proving that “female-female romance can hold mainstream appeal,” prompting Channel 3 to greenlight a sequel, ‘Only You’, within six months.
In other words, not the highest-rated Thai drama, but a milestone in broadcast diversity and a streaming juggernaut that turned a niche genre into appointment viewing.
Brand Power
Lefty’s 2025 Paris Fashion Week report placed the pair at $45 million in EMV (earned media value) across 50 Instagram posts — outpacing several established luxury ambassadors. Their fandom’s activity is measurable: each campaign sees spikes in retail and digital engagement within hours.
- Endorsements: Over 100 brand collaborations across luxury (Dior, Gucci, Bvlgari, OMEGA), beauty (Pantene, Smooth E), retail (Watsons, Caltex — where they became the first female ambassadors), and finance (M Bank).
- Network impact: Channel 3’s Q4 2024 profits reportedly jumped 21 percent year-over-year, with analysts citing LingOrm-related ad inventory and licensing fees as a key driver.
- Fan spending: LingOrm’s fandom community, known for “collective purchasing,” routinely buys out limited-edition product lines within hours, mirroring K-pop’s fandom commerce model.
For comparison, LingOrm’s EMV places them in the same visibility bracket as mid-tier K-pop soloists like NewJeans’ Danielle or aespa’s Karina — impressive for actresses emerging from a domestic Thai drama.
However, their total EMV or MIV may appear higher than global heavyweights such as BTS’s Jimin or V largely because of posting volume and brand account amplification. LingOrm shared multiple posts and were also featured directly on Dior’s official channels, while V posted only twice for Celine and Jimin once for Dior.
In short, the exposure scale is comparable, but the composition of their metrics differs — LingOrm’s numbers are engagement-driven, not star-power-capped, showing how tactical posting can amplify perceived influence.
The “Sabotage” That Amplified Their Fame
Their rise wasn’t smooth. During pre-production for Only You — the follow-up GL series announced in mid-2025 — industry chatter hinted at internal resistance. One executive allegedly pushed to recast or downscale the project, citing “market saturation” and sensitivity around queer female leads. Fans interpreted this as sabotage, flooding Thai Twitter with hashtags like #ProtectLingOrm and #OnlyYouWithLingOrm for several days. Channel 3 later confirmed the pair’s retention, publicly acknowledging the “passion and loyalty of audiences.”
That episode ultimately strengthened their underdog narrative, portraying LingOrm as artists fighting not just for screen time but for representation itself — a perception that translated into stronger viewership and engagement once Only You aired.
According to Thai media tracking, The Secret of Us averaged 0.5 %–0.9 % nationwide on Channel 3, while Only You climbed to around 2.1 % nationwide, a notable increase in the same evening slot.
Digitally, The Secret of Us had the edge in international reach thanks to its availability on Netflix, where it ranked among the platform’s Top 10 titles across several Southeast Asian countries and drew roughly 150,000 live viewers per episode on CH3 Plus locally. Only You, though not carried by Netflix, became a domestic streaming juggernaut on CH3 Plus, trending as the #1 topic in Thailand and #3 worldwide on X (formerly Twitter) after its premiere.
In short, The Secret of Us expanded LingOrm’s fame globally, while Only You confirmed it at home — proof that even controversy can fuel momentum when a fandom decides to turn resistance into rallying power.
Entrepreneurial
Beyond endorsements, LingOrm capitalized on their momentum through co-branded ventures.
In mid-2025, they launched “Her & Hers Studio,” a limited-edition lifestyle brand selling fragrance, tote bags, and jewelry lines inspired by The Secret of Us. The first 10,000 sets sold out in under 48 hours.
Orm also debuted “OK By Orm”, a unisex skincare sub-line under Smooth E’s distribution network, while Lingling collaborated with a Bangkok designer for a capsule clothing collection under her own label, LingLuxe.
These ventures indicate that the pair’s reach extends beyond passive fandom monetization; they’re converting fandom identity into consumer ecosystems, much like top K-pop acts or YouTube-born influencers.
They Aren’t Shy In Selling It
The chemistry is part of it — LingOrm’s on-screen tenderness translates convincingly off-screen. Moments like their unscripted hand-holding at press events routinely hit tens of millions of views on TikTok. But their power also comes from timing and representation: a female-female pairing positioned not as fetishized or comedic but aspirational and emotionally grounded, in a media environment long dominated by BL.
Their storytelling — subtle domestic intimacy, not stylized fantasy — resonated with audiences tired of formulaic tropes. Add a fandom that organizes like ARMY or ONCE, and you have the first GL duo capable of driving both narrative and market change.
LingOrm’s total EMV or MIV may appear higher than global heavyweights such as BTS’s Jimin or V largely because of posting volume (the posted 50 times) and brand account amplification. LingOrm shared multiple posts and were also featured directly on Dior’s official channels, while V posted only twice for Celine and Jimin once for Dior. In short, the exposure scale is comparable, but the composition of their metrics differs — LingOrm’s numbers are engagement-driven, not star-power-capped, showing how tactical posting can amplify perceived influence.
Cultural Impact Or Fandom Superpower?
LingOrm did normalize mainstream GL storytelling in Thailand’s mass-broadcast landscape and opened a profitable model for networks previously hesitant about queer narratives. They’ve demonstrated that queer representation can coexist with commercial success — something few GL productions worldwide have achieved on comparable scale.
However, the cultural movement label should be used carefully. Their fandom-driven virality and brand sales represent fandom capital, not yet a systemic cultural overhaul. They’re trend-defining and barrier-breaking, but the Thai TV industry still rarely invests in multiple GL titles simultaneously.
So far, they remain the exception that proves the potential — not yet the rule.
They’re not yet a cultural revolution on their own. What they’ve achieved is proof of market readiness — the data point networks, advertisers, and global distributors will study when deciding whether queer women’s stories belong at the center of pop culture.
And if they sustain their success beyond Only You, LingOrm could move from being Thailand’s most beloved ship to being its most exportable soft-power duo — a bridge between fandom and genuine cultural transformation.
