Bangkok Breaking (2021)

A brother and a rookie celebrity beat reporter delved inside the volunteer rescue services in Thailand and the corruption embedded in them. Wanchai would do almost anything to protect his parents and discover what caused the death of his brother but he will need to proceed with caution lest he get burned.

After Wanchai received a desperate message from his brother in Bangkok he grabbed the first bus and headed there. At the same time a reporter, Kat, and her two co-workers were on their way to a gathering for the new CEO of the media company she worked for. At the bus station, worlds collide when a speeding sports car causes a devastating crash there. Due to events that occurred around the crash and at the rescue station, Wanchai suspects foul play. As Kat’s colleague lay in a coma, she determined to follow-up on her senior’s investigation into the volunteer rescue services. Neither had a clue what kind of danger they were walking into and they would have to be careful and lucky to survive.

I was surprised to find that the majority of Bangkok’s rescue services were volunteer based and most workers received very little money. As I watched, it was also apparent they didn’t receive much training either. At a fire, only one person donned turnout gear but with no mask or air tank. No fire truck ever appeared. During a gas leak the rescue teams wore respirators which are of little help in a confined place with high natural gas saturation, there’s not enough oxygen to filter. Plus, many of them weren’t wearing them correctly. With a head wound victim they failed to use a back board, or brace, and they didn’t strap him in so I worried the poor guy was going to slide right off as they carried him. No vitals were taken, no IVs started nor oxygen administered—common tasks for EMTs. About all these volunteers were capable of was CPR, stealing from victims and committing the occasional murder.

The story itself took time to gain any traction as Wanchai and Kat sought out clues separately, not quite trusting each other. As the two spent more time together the romantic music began to swell. Given the number of car accidents, job training and job loss, beatings, and death threats, the romance came across as forced. These two people were in over their heads, romance should have been the last thing on their minds.

If you can’t fight city hall, it’s even harder to fight the wealthy and weird. One of the Big Bads decorated his long beard differently every day and traveled in an updated hippie van. The large cast made it difficult to keep up in the first couple of episodes as the layers of corruption and familial problems were peeled back disjointedly. The acting for the most part was good to serviceable. The good guys, of which there were few, were likeable and the numerous bad guys were easy to hate or even laugh at. There were also several gray characters who were willing to cross the line for their own reasons without understanding the cost of working for villains. I wish that they’d taken the time to give at least two or three characters more backstory instead of just teasing that information.

Bangkok Breaking was mostly entertaining if flawed. The numerous action scenes and rescues helped it move faster when the story bogged down. For me, I found the chaotic rescue squad system fascinating and frightening. If you live with an EMT you are likely to get an earful of all the things they did wrong, if not and you enjoy Thai dramas, this is one to try as it’s a fast watch.

24 Jan 2024

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