Couples in formal dress on a red carpet between brass stanchions, cover image for a map of the BL and GL award circuit

The BL and GL Award Circuit: Who Runs Each Ceremony

Among the 93 performer profiles reviewed by Renkaze, the awards named come from 80 distinct bodies, 42 of them Thai, and half the BL and GL performer categories go to a pairing.

A jury award records an assessment. A public vote records mobilisation. Both are real, and the same performer often holds both, but they are not interchangeable evidence.

Among the 93 performer profiles reviewed by Renkaze, the awards listed name 80 distinct award bodies. Forty two of them are Thai. And at the ceremonies that exist specifically to judge BL and GL, half the performer categories, 9 of 18, are given to a pairing rather than to a person.

A profile that lists “Suphannahong National Film Awards, Best Actor, nominated” directly above “Feed X Khaosod Awards 2025, Best Chemistry, won jointly” is telling you two completely different things. One is a national film body. The other is a public vote run by a news publisher. The BL and GL circuit mixes both under the same word, award, so this article sorts out which is which.

Eighty bodies, and where they operate

On 14 September 2026, the awards of 93 performers were read, spread across Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong performers as well as directors, screenwriters and voice actors. Forty one of those 93 had award text. From that text, every named award body and every named category was extracted. An award body here means a named ceremony, prize, festival or published ranking. That rule sweeps in things that are not competitions, including the Forbes China Celebrity List and contests such as Miss Grand Thailand, and they are named here so you can subtract them.

Distinct award bodies named for the sampled performers, by country of the body.
CountryBodies
Thailand42
Japan13
South Korea9
China5
Taiwan3
International or other8
Total80

Six kinds of institution are wearing the same word

Sorted by who actually runs them, the bodies fall into distinct groups, and the differences are large.

Government and national film bodies. The Suphannahong National Film Awards are presented by the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations, and the current series runs from 1992, after an earlier Golden Suphannahong series from 1979 to 1988. Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards, founded in 1965, are administered by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, a division of the Ministry of Culture.

Newspapers and news platforms. The Kom Chad Luek Awards have run since 2004 and are organised by Kom Chad Luek, a news and entertainment platform under Nation Group. The Feed X Khaosod Awards are co-hosted by FEED and Khaosod, both part of Matichon Group; the 2026 edition is the fifth. Korea’s Baeksang Arts Awards, introduced in 1965 by Hankook Ilbo founder Chang Key-young, are organised by JoongAng Group.

Magazines. The Kazz Awards are presented by Kazz Magazine, a Thai monthly published by Haemarit Co., Ltd.; the 2026 ceremony was billed as its 20th anniversary. The Maya Awards are presented by Maya Channel Magazine and first ran on 9 September 2015. GQ Thailand, which gives the Men of the Year honours that appear on several profiles, launched in September 2014 and is published by Serendipity Media Co. under licence from Condé Nast International.

Broadcasters. The Y Entertain Awards are run by MCOT, the Thai state broadcaster behind Channel 9, on its own domain.

Event organisers and industry associations. The Japan Expo Thailand Award comes out of Japan Expo Thailand, organised by G-Yu Creative. The Korea Drama Awards, running since 2007, are managed by the Korea Drama Festival Organizing Committee in Jinju, and the APAN Star Awards, first held on 8 December 2012, by the Korea Entertainment Management Association.

Platforms and campaigns. The Weibo Gala sits under Sina Weibo’s own awards programme. The Bangkok Pride Awards are organised by Naruemit Pride with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and reached their second edition in 2026, with 24 awards across 11 branches.

Jury and public vote are two different claims

Where the method is published, the split is rarely clean. The Kom Chad Luek Awards have expert panels choose nominees across 21 categories, then open nine popular categories to a public vote on the official site. The Maya Awards use a panel of directors, actors and critics alongside phone and coupon voting in certain categories. The Y Entertain Awards publish the division openly: eight jury awards and five public vote awards, with the jury weighing creativity, production quality and diversity, and the public deciding Y Couple of the Year, Prince of Boys’ Love, Princess of Girls’ Love and Rising Star Couple.

Two are stated as pure vote. The Feed X Khaosod popular categories are decided entirely by ballot, a free vote worth 20 per cent of the score and a package vote worth 80 per cent. The Japan Expo Golden Popular Award runs on one person one vote. The Weibo programme starts from the platform’s own Weibo Index to set candidates, then combines user votes with expert opinion. The Golden Bell Awards are decided by a judging panel, with separate popular voting categories introduced in 2022.

What this changes is what a line on a profile actually certifies. A jury award records an assessment. A public vote records mobilisation. Both are real, and the same performer often holds both, but they are not interchangeable evidence. The split also does not track institution type: both the Maya Awards, a magazine, and the Kom Chad Luek Awards, a news platform, run a jury and a public vote in the same ceremony, and Taiwan’s state administered Golden Bell Awards added popular voting categories in 2022. The useful unit is the category, not the ceremony.

Half the BL and GL performer categories nominate a pair

Restrict the categories to the ceremonies that exist specifically to judge BL and GL: the Feed Y Awards, Y Universe Awards, Y Entertain Awards, The Viral Hits Awards, Thailand Y Content Awards, CBLO Awards, Global Empower Awards and the Y categories of the Thailand Digital Awards. Eighteen distinct performer categories appear. Nine of them name a pairing.

Distinct performer categories at BL and GL specific ceremonies.
What the category namesDistinct categories
Pairing (couple, chemistry, joint fandom)9
Individual performer9
Total18

The nine are Most Popular Couple, Best Couple, Y Couple of the Year, Best BL Couple of the Year, Best BL Series Couple of the Year, BL Couple of the Year, Best Viral BL Couple Award, Couple of the Year and Most Supportive BL Fandom. Widen the frame to every screen performance category in the whole sample, including film, drama and international ceremonies, and the figure falls to 13 of 72, close to one in five. The concentration is not general. It sits in the genre specific ceremonies.

That is a structural fact about how the circuit is built. The nominatable unit at these ceremonies is not always a person. It is frequently a two person brand, and the award text records it that way: the Pit Babe leads both carry the same Feed X Khaosod Best Chemistry win, won jointly, and both carry the same Global Empower Best Viral BL Couple Award. One prize, two profiles, one unit.

The pair category is a Thai institution

Of the 121 titles reviewed by Renkaze, 43 carry a named performer pairing, and 42 of those 43 are Thai productions, the single exception being a Thailand and Japan co-production. The award data lines up with it from the other direction, and the clearest test is the cases where a couple prize exists without a pairing brand behind it.

Friendly Rivalry is Korean, and its two leads hold Best Couple Awards at both the APAN Star Awards and the Korea Drama Awards for 2025. The series has no named pairing. Fragrance of the First Flower is Taiwanese and produced a Golden Bell win for Best Leading Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film in 2022, again with no named pairing. The Untamed and Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! have none either.

The Thai titles behave differently. KinnPorsche has two pairings. GAP and The Loyal Pin both feature FreenBecky, whose Kazz Awards Couple of the Year entries run from 2023 to 2025. Pluto the Series features NamtanFilm, credited with a Y Universe Best Couple. The Heart Killers has two. 23.5 the Series and The Secret of Us have one each.

So a Korean Best Couple award and a Thai Couple of the Year award look identical in a list and mean different things underneath. The Korean prize honours two actors in one drama. The Thai prize is given to a unit that has a name, persists across productions, and is marketed as such. Why that naming convention is Thai and stayed Thai is set out in the separate piece on Thai BL couple names.

The main ceremonies at a glance

Award bodies with a confirmed organiser, who runs each and how winners are chosen where that is published.
AwardWho runs itJury or voteCountry
Suphannahong National Film AwardsNational Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents AssociationsThailand
Kom Chad Luek AwardsKom Chad Luek, Nation GroupExpert panel picks nominees; nine popular categories by public voteThailand
Feed X Khaosod AwardsFEED and Khaosod, Matichon GroupPopular categories entirely by public voteThailand
Kazz AwardsKazz Magazine, Haemarit Co., Ltd.Thailand
Maya AwardsMaya Channel MagazinePanel of directors, actors and critics; some categories by phone and coupon voteThailand
GQ Thailand Men of the YearGQ Thailand, Serendipity Media under licence from Condé Nast InternationalThailand
Y Entertain AwardsMCOTEight jury awards, five public vote awardsThailand
Japan Expo Thailand AwardG-Yu CreativeGolden Popular Award by public voteThailand
Bangkok Pride AwardsNaruemit Pride with the Bangkok Metropolitan AdministrationCommittee for Bangkok Pride Value; public vote for Pride PopularThailand
Golden Bell AwardsBureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, Ministry of CultureJudging panel; separate popular voting categories from 2022Taiwan
Weibo GalaSina WeiboWeibo Index sets candidates, then user votes with expert opinion; judges added from 2022China
APAN Star AwardsKorea Entertainment Management AssociationSouth Korea
Korea Drama AwardsKorea Drama Festival Organizing CommitteePanelSouth Korea
Baeksang Arts AwardsJoongAng GroupSouth Korea

Country of an award body is assigned from where the body operates, not from the nationality of the recipient. Several BL and GL specific Thai ceremonies, including the Y Universe Awards, The Viral Hits Awards, Thailand Digital Awards and CBLO Awards, sit outside the table because their organisers are not publicly documented. The awards listed on any performer profile are a selection rather than a full history.

FEATURED COUPLES

Sarocha "Freen" Chankimha - Thai actress, star of GAP and The Loyal Pin
Becky Armstrong - Thai-British actress, star of GAP and The Loyal Pin
Sarocha ChankimhaFreenBeckyRebecca Patricia Armstrong
Since 2022● Current
432

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Tipnaree Weerawatnodom - Namtan - Thai actress, GMMTV, Pluto the Series
Rachanun Mahawan - Film - Thai actress, GMMTV, Pluto the Series
Tipnaree WeerawatnodomNamtanFilmRachanun Mahawan
Since 2023● Current
311

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the BL and GL award circuit?

It is not one institution. Among the 93 performer profiles reviewed by Renkaze the awards named come from 80 distinct bodies. They include a national film federation, a state broadcaster, newspapers and news platforms, entertainment magazines, event organisers, industry associations, a social media platform and a Pride campaign. Forty two of the 80 operate in Thailand.

Are these awards decided by juries or by public vote?

Both, and often inside the same ceremony. The Kom Chad Luek Awards have expert panels choose nominees and then open nine categories to a public vote. The Maya Awards combine a panel of directors, actors and critics with phone and coupon voting. The Y Entertain Awards publish eight jury awards and five public vote awards. The Feed X Khaosod popular categories and the Japan Expo Golden Popular Award are decided by ballot alone.

Why do so many categories go to a couple rather than an actor?

Because at the ceremonies built specifically for BL and GL, the nominatable unit is frequently a pairing. Of the 18 distinct performer categories at those ceremonies, 9 name a pair: Most Popular Couple, Best Couple, Y Couple of the Year, Best BL Couple of the Year, Best BL Series Couple of the Year, BL Couple of the Year, Best Viral BL Couple Award, Couple of the Year and Most Supportive BL Fandom.

Is a Korean Best Couple award the same thing as a Thai Couple of the Year?

Not structurally. Both exist, but the Thai version is given to a unit that carries a name and persists across productions. Friendly Rivalry produced Best Couple wins at the APAN Star Awards and the Korea Drama Awards in 2025, yet the series has no named pairing. The Thai titles GAP, The Loyal Pin, Pluto the Series and KinnPorsche all do.

Which ceremony is the most prestigious?

No ranking is offered. The article describes what each body is, who runs it and how it decides, so a reader can judge what a given line on a profile page means.

How was this counted?

The awards of 93 performers reviewed by Renkaze were read on 14 September 2026, spread across Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong performers. Forty one of the 93 had award text. Every named award body and category was extracted and classified by hand.

Is this a complete list of the awards these performers have won?

No. The awards shown on a performer profile are a selection, and the 80 bodies are not the whole circuit.

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