A single word of “regret” cannot bring forgiveness. The violence and arrogance of Thai entertainment company GMMTV towards Chinese fans have escalated into a large-scale joint “cease funding” action.
According to statistics, as of July 28th, over 50 fan sites of artists under GMMTV have issued a joint statement to protect their rights. They announced a full suspension of cheerleading and material delivery, and will boycott all activities in China indefinitely until the issues are properly resolved.
It all started with a book exhibition held in Bangkok, Thailand on July 25th: due to a queue dispute, a Chinese fan was violently removed by the staff present at the event.
According to the video footage and statements from the parties involved, several staff members of GMMTV forcibly removed the girl. The actions included stealing her phone, pressing her neck, pulling her hair, and dragging her into a chokehold. The girl's clothing was torn loose, and her bracelet broke. The entire process was surrounded by multiple people who intervened.
And the protagonist of this event, the popular CP pair “Junior and Mark,” who has gained significant popularity in the Thai entertainment fan community in recent years, witnessed the conflict from a distance. They neither tried to intervene nor inquire about the situation. After the conflict ended, they continued interacting with other fans as usual. Later, their agent Yui even posted a statement criticizing them, saying that those who don’t follow rules should stay at home. Although she deleted her post afterward, she never apologized.
Meanwhile, the artist Mark, who is involved in the controversy, was also found by netizens to have closed his personal Instagram account, adjusted his X account to private mode, and enabled protection for Weibo comments. These actions were interpreted by fans as a cold-hearted 'evasion', rather than a sincere response.
On the evening of the 26th, GMMTV issued a “clarification statement”, admitting that some staff members had “acted with excessive force beyond what was necessary at the time”. They have suspended the employment of this external personnel and denied any intention to sue the victim. However, the statement did not use words like “apology” or “sorry”, only expressing “regret”.
This response completely angered Chinese fans. Many people believe that GMMTV shifted the blame to the outsourcing workers and failed to address the external doubts, demanding that the relevant personnel make a public apology.
As the situation continues to escalate, the Chinese fan pages of the involved artists Junior and Mark announced a collective boycott. They issued a joint statement, making three demands against GMMTV, the involved agents, and the two artists. They also announced a complete suspension of promotional activities.
The fan site announced that until they receive a complete and sincere response, all fan site activities will be completely suspended, including the handling of materials and the cessation of unsubstantiated promotional efforts. Additionally, the site will indefinitely boycott all offline meet-and-greets that the two artists will hold in China in the future.
As of July 28, the joint boycott has expanded to more than 50 artists under GMMTV. The announcement states that until the related issues are properly resolved, all members will not purchase related products, participate in package purchases, drawings, proxy purchases, or offline events. Additionally, posting content such as book signing promotions, requests for spots, and live check-ins is also prohibited within the sub-forum.
This boycott directly targets the Chinese market, which has brought high profits to GMMTV in recent years.
According to the 2025 annual report of The One Enterprise, the parent company of GMMTV, the company's total revenue for the year was 7.267 billion Thai bahts, which is approximately 1.463 billion RMB. Among its two main areas of business, content marketing accounted for 49.45% of the total revenue, while idol marketing (which is GMMTV’s core business) accounted for 48.88%. The latter includes artist management (21.55%), concert and event planning (15.23%), and merchandise sales (12.10%).
Screenshot from OONEE's 2025 annual report
In its international business strategy, China is identified as a key player in international copyright revenue, on par with Japan and South Korea. The company emphasizes in its annual reports the cooperation in copyright distribution and joint productions with leading Chinese platforms such as Tencent Video and Youku.
Behind these numbers, Chinese fans have become invaluable contributors. From the moment tickets for offline meet-ups sold out, to the bulk purchasing of products related to overseas shopping, and the premium pricing for brand commercial events, this "cross-border fan economy" has long been a major source of profit growth for GMMTV.
It has been reported that GMMTV will hold a offline meet and greet event on August 8th in Macau, China. The ticket prices range from 588-2080 yuan, all tickets have sold out. Customer service of Da Ma responded with "No notice of change has been received yet."
However, the impact is already beginning to show. According to reports from Entertainment Capital Theory, people familiar with the matter revealed that the first signing event for the new CP duo JanJing under GMMTV in China was expected to sell out quickly, based on the market performance of similar CP duos in the past.
JanJing Zhongzhan is one of the earliest fan bases that announced "no more funding" in China.
However, after the fan stations announced a suspension of support efforts and initiated boycotts, the sales pace of the event significantly slowed down. There was still a large surplus of tickets for regular seats and additional benefits packages. The inflated prices of tickets sold by scalpers also dropped back to their original prices, indicating a significant gap between market enthusiasm and expectations.
Obviously, fans’ love can transcend mountains and seas, but it never becomes an unregulated ATM.
As the situation continues to escalate, Thai officials have also begun to break their silence.
After the apology statement issued by the National Tourism Authority of Thailand, on July 28, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sitsa stated that he had ordered relevant departments to conduct an investigation into the matter. He emphasized that the results of the investigation would be used as a basis for ensuring fairness towards all parties.
On the same day, GMMTV issued a supplementary statement stating that a settlement had been reached with the parties involved, and the staff involved had been reinstated. However, the female party later responded by saying she "couldn't understand GMMTV's actions," and emphasized that she never requested any compensation related to money or fans' rights during negotiations with GMMTV.
