'We don't come to play': Is Gawdland's RuPaul win Asia's big drag moment?

Days before Gawdland was crowned the first South East Asian winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs the World, she had posted a video of three Filipino boys dancing to her song Firecracker.

"Yaas, nakshie!" Gawdland cheers in the clip, using the Filipino gay slang word for daughter, as the boys - who were selling jasmine flower garlands - attempted jump-splits and somersaults outside a Manila nightclub.

Gawdland, who is from Thailand, hopes that she will be the first of many from the region to conquer the world stage, inspiring youth - like the three young flower sellers - to follow in her footsteps.

"For me to win this crown, to have this victory, it means the world. It means representation, it means taking up space. It means that we can dream big. We can dream an impossible dream," the 24-year-old, whose real name is Tharathep Thaweephon, tells BBC Thai.

"I am the proof of Asian drag excellence. When we do drag in Asia, in South East Asia, we're not here to play. We're here to win."

Winning RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs the World is no easy feat.

Gawdland was up against some firm fan favourites from Drag Race editions in the UK, US, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Sweden and the Philippines.

She was determined to avoid the fate of some other South East Asian queens who crashed out of earlier seasons after impressive runs like Thailand's Pangina Heals in 2022 and the Philippines' Marina Summers in 2024.

Gawdland brought a distinctively Thai aesthetic to her runway looks, often wearing headpieces inspired by the ancient temples that her hometown, Lamphun is famous for.

She also sashayed as a Muay Thai kickboxer, a Siamese fighting fish and a Kinnaree, a Thai mythological character that is half-bird half-woman. The warrior theme in all her looks was inescapable.

When she was preparing for Drag Race, Gawdland says she was first unsure how much Thai culture to display in her outfits. But her stylist-friend, Art Arya, convinced her to go "all-out".

"She told me that this Thai-ness is exactly what would make me stand out. Our culture, this difference that sets us apart from everyone else. She told me, 'once you're standing on that main stage next to the others, you will be outstanding."

But it was Gawdland's performance of her song Firecracker, where she licked the flames blasting out of a fireworks gun, that really set her apart.

That performance went so viral that a random bunch of Filipino boys in Manila burst into the song when they saw her on the street.

"(It is) beyond crazy, the love, the support, the congratulatory words that you guys sent to me from all over Asia. I'm so honoured to be your pride. Like, I'm just a little kid, you know?" Gawdland gushes.

Before Gawdland, Asia was already well represented in the Drag Race universe.

Two Asian Americans have won the main Drag Race franchise in the US - Raja Gemini who has Indonesian roots and Nymphia Wind, originally from Taiwan.

There are also a number of breakout stars from Asia like Filipina Manila Luzon, Laotian queen Jujubee and Vietnam's Plastique Tiara.

But while South East Asian queens enjoy international attention, drag in their home countries is still largely underground - they are mostly restricted to nightclub performances and reality shows like the Drag Race franchise.

South East Asia, home to about 700 million people, is also largely conservative - especially in attutudes towards the LGBT community.

Malaysia has made homosexuality illegal, while in Indonesia's Aceh province, gay sex is punishable by public caning under Islamic law. Even in the relatively progressive Philippines, LGBT couples have no legal protections.

Thailand is the only country in the region that recognises same-sex unions.

And as the audience for drag expands in the region, performers find themselves under increasing scrutiny.

Gawdland, for instance, was criticised online for wearing an outfit with the colours of Thailand's flag. In 2023, Filipina drag queen Pura Luka Vega was arrested for performing in a Jesus Christ costume. She defended her act as art and the charges were dropped but she nonetheless stirred outrage in predominantly Catholic Philippines.

"Drag is political. It has always been," Gawdland says. "It's been that way for a long time. The origins of drag are protest, a refusal to submit to tradition. Society wants us to be men, but no, I'll be a woman."

"What is she doing? Why is she doing this? - That is the very core of drag. It leaves behind a conversation, dialogue, debate," she adds.

Gawdland says she had to put together 1 million baht ($31,000; £23,000) to compete in Drag Race UK - and used her savings and money from show producers and senior drag queens.

"What the (drag) scene in Thailand is really lacking is money. We can't deny that the world revolves around money." Gawdland says.

While Thailand's government supports the arts, it is easier for traditional disciplines like dance to secure funding, not drag performances, says Sakol Sopitachasak, an assistant professor at Thammasat University who wrote a research paper on Thai drag.

"It's a profession that requires you to put everything into one person. You have to do your makeup, your costumes, be creative, and you have to be able to act, be a good speaker, be funny, be sarcastic... You need so much," Prof Sakol says.

Gawdland at least, won a £50,000 prize along with the title "Queen of the Mothertucking World".

She says booking one drag queen means enlisting the services of workers behind the scenes, keeping the industry going.

"Hiring one drag queen goes on and on. It includes the costume designer, nail technician, hairstylist, assistants, choreographer, dancers. Everyone gets paid because we're essentially a money distributor," she says.

And since winning, she has been busy with performances and appearances, including one at this week's Songkran (Thai New Year) festivities. The event, which involves water gun fights on the streets of Bangkok has become a favourite for LGBT tourists in the region.

It was a triumphant homecoming for Thailand's newly-crowned queen as burly bare-chested men carried her on a throne, through a sea of revelers under a train station.

Just a few months ago, as she waited for her flight to the UK at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport, Gawdland said she was worried about how Thai audiences would react to her on the show. But since the show premiered on streaming platforms, she said she had been overwhelmed with support.

"It's beyond the word worth it. Every exhaustion, every effort, every tear and drop of blood, every pain, every heartbreak — it all vanished instantly. It is so, so worth it for everything I have now," she said.