MEET P’TO & P’SHARK, THE NSFW MEMES INFURIATING THE THAI NET

 Gay dance videos on the internet are nothing strange, but people have started ask questions after seeing the same two muscled men cropping up online over and over.

The two men – whom Thais have dubbed P’To and P’Lam (lam is shark) – have been dominating the Thai meme factory in recent days. They have appeared in many variations, often in unexpected places. A talk show dedicated to the politics of the day opens with P’To dancing. A theater chain asks netizens which is scarier: the meme or a ghost film.

The growing bewilderment also prompted some news sites to explain – at least partly – who these two well-built men are.

The memes may vary, but there are some common elements. First, there is P’Shark, who earned the nickname for his smile. He smiles at viewers while the obscure 2007 song “Jai Gay Ray” (“Stubborn Heart”) is usually heard in the background.

Much more popular is P’To, a tanned man with a red bandana dancing in a microscopic thong and showing off his muscular build.

Similar to Rick Rolling from Western internet history, entertaining videos are abruptly cutting to show either the half-naked P’Shark or P’To dancing. Another common use is posting images of P’To in response to other threads, like “P’To Likes This.”

Adding to the confusion is the resemblance between P’To and former rock singer Wirachon “To” Satthaying, who was a member of Silly Fools, an alternative rock band from the early 2000s. Naturally, some have seized on this to try and convince the internet the two are the same.

Both memes most likely washed up on the dank shores of the Thai internet some years ago, as references exist from five years ago. Quick research at Google University finds the man Thais call P’Shark is American adult film actor Daniel Freeman, while P’To is Brazilian erotic model Richardo Milos. They first became internet sensations in Japan (where else?) back in 2011.

But their digital fame appears to have been reignited thanks to Chinese chat app TikTok. It also resurfaced in Thai usage last year with trolls pranking fans of girl group BNK48 with videos purporting to show their dance moves interrupted by the pair.