Those Island Caprice Studio productions are still available online, though looking a bit faded after all this time.

20,000 bht was a huge sum in the early 2000s; I'm not surprised guys were tempted. In those days, the dvds were available at street stalls (I saw them in Silom and Pattaya Beach Road) and so the actors' performances would have been seen and judged by their friends. One guy, of whom I heard, hoped to escape recognition by changing his hair-style for the performance. He was unsuccessful. I'm not surprised.