Khu Kam: Ill Fated Lovers

            “When I die, I will take this heart filled with love with me and know that I have loved someone like you.” Each time I watch “Koo Kum: Sunset at Chaophraya,” I am overcome with sadness and a deep longing of hurt that lingers long after the film is done. It is based on the novel Khu Kam written by Thommayanti that has been made into a lakorn quite a few times. The latest lakorn that aired in 2013 on Channel 5 starred Bie Sukrit Wisedkaew and Noona Neungthida Sopon and was directed by Sant Srikaewlaw.

            Bie slipped on the shoes of Kobori, a young Japanese lieutenant, who comes to reside on the land of Thailand and meets Angsumalin, a prejudice Thai girl who is waiting for her lover to return from war. Upon their first meeting by the river, Kobori falls in love with her purity, her beauty, and her strength. She, however, despises him with all of her being because he is Japanese, an enemy and will always remain an enemy. While learning the Thai language, Kobori finally discovers her name Angsumalin, which means the sun, and so he renames her “Hideko,” in his native tongue.

            The two begin a love/hate relationship and soon are forced to wed to bring peace to their land. Kobori makes Hideko a promise that he will not touch her and when her lover, Vanut, returns, he will have her untouched. As they journey on their marriage life, Kobori soon discovers that if he thought he couldn’t love her more, he was wrong. His love consumes every part of him, makes him long for her, and overcomes him with such power that he finds it hard to be close to her without touching her. As time goes on, Hideko discovers that the hatred she has reserved for Kobori is slowly beginning to thaw and that she enjoys his presence, his smile, and his warmth.

            But as she promised herself to another, she can’t go against her word and continues to love him in silence while he continues to suffer that she hates him. His promise of not touching her is soon broken when he returns home from a dance party drunk and ends up making love to her. The following morning, he begs her for forgiveness, but she refuses to grant it and tells him that she will carry the hatred with her everywhere. Little will she know that this small moment together would create a bond between them.

            The two ill-fated lovers continue on a journey of silent loving and each day as Kobori confesses his love and holds her in his arms, Hideko begins to soften until she becomes used to his arms, feeling peace and safety in a time of war. When she starts to realize that she is in love deeply with him, she frightens herself that although they would love one another, they may not get the chance to be together.

            Kobori and Hideko, the two ill-fated lovers in a time of war, has tugged at my heart and won over and over again. This lakorn has 24 episodes and is filled with a timeless love that can make any stubborn person fall and cry as these two lovers wither in their love and passion not knowing what tomorrow would bring.