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| KCL Awards 2026 Winners Full List: LYKN, 4EVE, Bow Maylada and Mad Unicorn Dominate Thailand’s Biggest Night. (Credits: Instagram/Facebook) |
KCL Awards 2026 turned Bangkok into a full-scale celebrity traffic jam on 27 May as Thailand’s biggest stars, rising actors, T-POP idols and streaming favourites packed the venue for one of the country’s most talked-about entertainment nights. Fans screamed themselves hoarse outside the red carpet barriers, security guards looked permanently stressed, and nearly every major Thai entertainment label seemed determined to outdress each other under flashing cameras. Somewhere between the glamour, the tears and the aggressively dramatic stage lighting, the awards ceremony backed by Thailand’s Ministry of Culture managed to crown the biggest names currently shaping Thai music, film and drama culture.
The red carpet alone felt like its own separate event. Ken Theeradej, Bow Maylada, Hugo Chulachak, and Pinky Savika immediately became trending topics after their arrivals, while T-POP groups including LYKN, 4EVE, ATLAS, and DREAMGALS turned the entrance area into something resembling a mini concert venue. Fans arrived hours early carrying banners, LED signs, flowers, and enough phone batteries to survive a small apocalypse. One exhausted attendee online joked that attending KCL Awards “requires cardio training now”.
In the Thailand Pop Music categories, the biggest conversation of the night centred around Tilly Birds x POLYCAT, whose collaboration Only You Can won Best Group. The win was widely praised online, with many calling it one of the strongest crossover tracks released in Thailand over the past year.
Meanwhile, Keng Harit took Best New Artist for Mantra, the soundtrack for Khemjira The Series, further confirming that the actor-singer pipeline remains very alive in Thai entertainment. Fans online celebrated the result, though several joked that Keng now officially has “zero excuse to rest” with how fast his career is moving.
Best Female Solo Artist went to Prang Prangthip for Duang Jai, while YOUNGOHM secured Best Male Solo Artist with Jai Chan Tam Ter Pai. Social media reactions to YOUNGOHM’s victory were especially loud, largely because many viewers felt the category was already decided months ago.
His track dominated streaming charts and TikTok trends to the point where some fans sarcastically referred to the award as “his reserved parking space”.
The T-POP categories produced some of the loudest cheers inside the venue. LYKN and ATLAS shared the award for Best Male T-POP Artist, proving once again that fanbases are now operating with military-level organisation online.
4EVE claimed Best Female T-POP Artist for Snooze, continuing the group’s streak as one of Thailand’s most commercially dominant girl groups.
Online reactions were mostly celebratory, although some viewers immediately started arguing about who was “robbed,” because no awards show is complete without at least three fandom wars before midnight.
For Thailand’s film categories, The Stone emerged as the biggest critical winner of the night. The film collected Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture, cementing its reputation as one of the year’s most respected productions.
Industry insiders have spent months praising the project for balancing commercial appeal with artistic ambition, which is entertainment-journalism code for “a film people actually watched and critics also liked”.
Veteran actress Um Apasiri Nitibhon earned Best Supporting Actress for A Useful Ghost, while Hugo Chulachak Chakrabongse won Best Supporting Actor for Netflix’s Everybody Loves Me When I’m Dead.
Hugo’s victory sparked especially strong reactions online, with many viewers calling it long overdue recognition for one of Thailand’s most underrated performers. One viral comment simply read: “Finally, somebody in awards season opened their eyes.”
Best Actress went to Earnearn Fatima for Flat Girls, while Weir Sukollawat secured Best Actor for 4 Tigers. Weir’s win generated huge applause inside the venue, although fans online also joked that his intense screen presence now officially makes him “Thailand’s king of permanently stressed characters”.
In television and streaming categories, Netflix series Mad Unicorn completely dominated the night. The drama won Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor for Ice Natara, and ultimately Best Drama/Series.
The series has steadily built momentum over recent months, especially among younger viewers who praised its darker themes and cinematic storytelling. Several netizens described the show as “the series everybody claimed they would watch casually before accidentally finishing all episodes in one weekend”.
One of the night’s most emotional moments arrived when Keng Harit and Namping Naphatsakorn won Best New Couple for Khemjira The Series.
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Their fandom erupted online immediately after the announcement, flooding platforms with reaction clips, edits and emotional posts in multiple languages within minutes. Meanwhile, Son Yuke picked up Best Supporting Actor for Shine The Series, while Donut Manatsanun won Best Supporting Actress for The Believers 2.
Bow Maylada winning Best Actress for Good Heavens! I’m a Goose Not a Swan became another major talking point. Fans praised her versatility and comedic timing, while clips of her emotional acceptance speech quickly spread online.
Many viewers noted how Bow continues managing the difficult balance between mainstream popularity and genuine acting credibility, which sounds simple until one remembers the internet changes opinions every six minutes.
The popularity voting categories leaned heavily into fan-driven chaos in the best possible way. Nook Thanadon, Amphoe Kosum Phisai, DEXX, Firstone Wannakorn, Ginny Natnicha, and Pavel Naret all secured major fan-voted victories, proving once again that dedicated fandoms can apparently mobilise faster than emergency services.
The BL and GL couple categories predictably caused some of the loudest audience reactions of the night. Zee-NuNew won Popular BL Couple, while Ginny-Jayna secured Popular GL Couple.
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Following the win, Jayna gave one of the evening’s most talked-about speeches, thanking fans for supporting stories centred on emotional honesty and representation. “We never expected this level of love,” she said on stage.
“Thank you for believing in us, supporting us, and growing together with us. Please continue supporting stories that let people feel seen.” The crowd reaction was immediate and deafening, with fans online later describing the moment as “healing”, “chaotic”, and “the reason waterproof mascara was invented”.
The Ministry of Culture’s special awards also drew attention. KT KRATAE (Kratae R-siam) received recognition for preserving and promoting Thai identity internationally, while The Infinite Love won for its creative presentation of Thai culture through drama storytelling.
The ministry’s involvement added a more prestigious edge to the event, although online audiences still found time to argue about outfits, camera angles and acceptance speech lengths because balance is important.
Reactions across social media have been wildly mixed in the usual entertaining fashion. Many viewers praised the event for celebrating a wide mix of mainstream stars, streaming hits, T-POP acts and rising performers.
Others criticised certain category results, particularly around fan-voted awards, where debates quickly became intense enough to require digital survival instincts. Still, most agreed the ceremony reflected how much Thailand’s entertainment industry has expanded internationally over the past few years.
By the end of the night, one thing became very clear: Thai entertainment is no longer operating quietly inside regional borders. Between globally trending BL series, Netflix domination, rapidly growing T-POP fandoms and increasingly ambitious film productions, the KCL Awards 2026 felt less like a local industry gathering and more like a statement about where Thai entertainment is heading next.
Which winners deserved it most though? And which result already has fandom group chats preparing essays at 3am? The internet clearly still has plenty to say.