iWorld
Disney+ Hotstar to enter Thailand market on 30 June
KOLKATA: Disney+Hostar has been a significant contributor to Walt Disney Co. (Disney)’s biggest OTT bet Disney+. Following its success in India and Indonesia, Disney+Hotstar is now rapidly expanding its footprints in the South East Asian market. Coming 30 June, the service will be operational in Thailand.
As revealed on the official website of Disney+Hotstar Thailand, the service will be available at 799 baht a year or 99 baht per month. It will have close ties with local telecom provider AIS. For AIS customers, the service will be priced at 35 baht per month if pre-subscribed between 8-27 June with an additional one-month free service.
Along with Thai shows, content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic will be available for its users. Disney has entered partnerships with studios like GDH 559, Sahamongkolfilm, Kantana Group, and One 31 for a robust content library. Exclusive shows like God Bless The Trainees Too!, Extraordinary Siamese Story: Eng and Chang, movies such as Pee Mak, Friend Zone, Brother Of The Year, Laddaland, and Tom Yum Goong will be on the service.
Disney+Hotstar entered Malaysia just a week back on 1 June. The platform struck a deal with Astro Malaysia Bhd for distribution. For its Singapore launch last year, it tied up with Starhub.
Hotstar, which grew as an Indian OTT platform under Star India, came under the Disney umbrella after the 21st Century Fox acquisition. After Disney Plus’ launch, the parent company decided to rebrand it as Disney+Hotstar in India to leverage the existing base of consumers. Notably, Hotstar was already regarded as the biggest OTT platform after YouTube in the Indian market. As Disney+Hotstar was launched in India last April, it was soon expanded in Indonesia.
Disney+ paid subscribers already exceeded 100 million at the end of March, Disney+Hotstar was the strongest contributor to net subscriber addition and made approximately a third of the total Disney+ subscriber base.
Recently, the company announced that it will close 100 linear channels this year to push its direct-to-consumer strategy. A large part of the linear TV content will move to Disney+.
iWorld
Why Peaky Blinders is one of television’s biggest hits that still deserves more attention
Six seasons, multiple awards and the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man bring the Shelby saga back into the spotlight
In the crowded universe of streaming content, only a handful of shows manage to leave a lasting cultural footprint. Peaky Blinders is overwhelmingly considered one of the biggest global hits of the past decade. Yet many viewers still haven’t fully explored the dark, gripping world of the Shelby family.
Originally produced for the UK’s BBC and later finding a massive global audience through Netflix, the series quietly grew from a British period drama into a worldwide streaming phenomenon.
Created by Steven Knight, the show follows the rise of the Shelby crime family in post-First World War Birmingham. What begins as a gritty street-gang story gradually expands into a sweeping narrative about ambition, politics, power and survival.
At the centre of the saga is Thomas Shelby, portrayed with extraordinary depth by Cillian Murphy. The casting of Murphy is widely regarded as perfect for the role. With piercing eyes, restrained dialogue and an almost hypnotic screen presence, he transforms Shelby into one of the most unforgettable characters in modern screen storytelling.
Murphy’s brilliance lies in his restraint. He rarely shouts or performs theatrically. Instead, a quiet stare, a calculated pause or a subtle shift in expression conveys the emotional storms within the character. Beneath the ruthless gang leader is a war veteran carrying trauma, guilt and loneliness. Murphy captures this complexity with remarkable precision, making Thomas Shelby both terrifying and deeply human.
Beyond its central performance, Peaky Blinders stands out for its unfiltered portrayal of reality. The show does not romanticise crime. Instead, it exposes the harsh social conditions of early 20th-century Britain, from poverty and class struggle to political extremism and the psychological scars left by war.
The series also presents powerful female characters who hold their own within the Shelby empire. Polly Gray, played by Helen McCrory, is the strategic backbone of the family and one of the most formidable figures in the story. Women in the series shape decisions, influence power structures and challenge the rigid social norms of the time.
Across six seasons, the narrative grows dramatically in scale. What begins in the smoky streets of Birmingham evolves into a story involving political conspiracies, fascism and international criminal networks.
The series has also earned significant critical acclaim. It won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2018 and multiple National Television Awards for Best Drama, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated modern shows.
Another defining feature of the series is its iconic music. The show’s opening theme, Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, became instantly recognisable and widely associated with the Shelby universe. Combined with a powerful soundtrack featuring artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, the music helped shape the show’s dark, stylish identity and became hugely popular among fans.
And the Shelby story is not over yet.
In fact, its legacy is unfolding right now. The long-awaited feature-length continuation, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, was released on March 6, 2026, bringing the Shelby universe from streaming screens to cinemas and giving fans a new chapter in the saga.
For viewers who have not yet stepped into this world, the timing could not be better.
Six gripping seasons are ready to binge on Netflix. A new film has just arrived in theatres. And at the heart of it all stands one of the most magnetic performances in modern drama by Cillian Murphy.
So if Peaky Blinders has been sitting on your watchlist for years, this weekend is your moment.
So, by order of the Peaky fookin’ Blinders, consider this your cue to finally step into the ruthless world of Thomas Shelby. Pour yourself a drink, clear your schedule and press the play button. Because when the Peaky Blinders give an order, you listen.
