Union Mall, a major shopping center in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao district, is widely considered one of the city’s most popular hangouts for fans of K-pop and Korean culture, with a nonstop stream of fan-organized events and advertisements celebrating Korean stars. But a visit last Sunday offered a glimpse of something else: the growing influence of Chinese entertainment challenging Korean content’s dominance. LED screens on six towering pillars stretching from the first to the sixth floor were covered with images of one man: Yang Yang, a top Chinese actor known as one of the country’s “Big Four.” To celebrate his birthday on Wednesday, his Thai fan community, known as “Yangmao,” or “wool,” had rented every digital advertising screen in the mall. A birthday pop-up booth was set up in a prime spot next to the escalator. Fans wearing T-shirts bearing Yang Yang’s face took photos of themselves in front of a life-size cutout and wrote birthday cards in fluent Chinese. The event, which ran from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and attracted hundreds of people, was organized entirely by fans
