In Netflix’s ‘Mad Unicorn,‘ a young and driven entrepreneur named Santi Saelee finds a big break in life after he moves away from his mining job to embrace the world of express delivery. After developing a solid business plan, he teams up with a wealthy business tycoon named Kanin to realize his dreams together and lift his family out of poverty. However, when betrayed by his business partner, the ambitious protagonist vows revenge against those who wronged him by kickstarting his own express delivery service – Thunder Express. As he builds the venture into a thriving corporation, he must navigate the fierce competition from rival companies such as Easy Express, which the Kanin Group ironically owns. Thus, the two delivery service entities become the central lynchpins of the entire narrative, setting the stage for a battle between giants.
Thunder Express is Seemingly Inspired By a Real-Life Delivery Service
As ‘Mad Unicorn’ is vaguely rooted in the life and experiences of Komsan Saelee, the CEO and founder of Flash Express, the show’s various elements are seemingly sculpted around the real-life exploits of the delivery service entrepreneur. To that end, the company Thunder Express is likely inspired by the aforementioned Flash Express. Fans of the show can see the similarities between the two entities on both a superficial and deeper level, such as the similarities between the logos. On a more profound scale, both companies share similar journeys, which involved a slow ascent to prominence. However, certain aspects of the narrative are exaggerated for a more dramatic tale with higher stakes, such as the obstacles Saelee faced in making his company flourish in a highly cutthroat market.
Like Thunder Express, Flash Express is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, and is a leading E-Commerce logistics service provider and integrated delivery service platform. Saelee started the company with 400 million baht and quickly became Thailand’s first unicorn company in 2018. For the uninitiated, a unicorn company is a privately held startup with a well over $1 billion valuation. As Saelee grew the company’s operations, he had a clear business strategy to help it deliver outcomes effectively. He got the idea from looking into international service providers with more knowledge and experience in the fast delivery market but did not have the know-how to break into the local Thailand scene. To that end, he felt Flash Express would cater to a gap in the market.

Setting up the business was just as hard as depicted in the series. To fund the operation in the initial phase, Saelee looked for investment partners to sponsor his ideas. This plays out in a broadly similar manner in the series. However, in the latter, the protagonist’s determination is fueled by a need for revenge. That part of the narrative is likely a dramatization by the show’s scriptwriters, adding more conflict to the hero’s quest for justice and proving his worth to his detractors. In reality, Flash Express had a less dramatic rise, albeit still impressive nonetheless. It showcases both the overarching parallels between the real-world company and its semi-fictional counterpart in the show. This connection is pivotal in grounding several elements of the show in the intricate details of Saelee’s actual story.
Easy Express is a Fictional Service That Adds to the Central Conflict
Although Thunder Express may be a partly fictionalized company with roots in reality, the same cannot be said for Easy Express, the company owned by Kanin. It is likely crafted by the show’s writers, Nottapon Boonprakob, Tanida Hantaweewatana, Vasudhorn Piyaromna, and Thodsapon Thiptinnakorn, to provide more drama and obstacles for the protagonist to overcome in his ambitious rise to the top. As ‘Mad Unicorn’ embraces a revenge subplot as one of its main driving storylines, Easy Express offers a creative outlet to channel the protagonist’s struggles to lift his own company off the ground. A classic case of David vs Goliath or underdog versus favorite unfolds, bringing the audience closer to the protagonist and showing him in a relatable light.
Intriguingly, the Kanin Group primarily leads Easy Express, and its principal investor is a Chinese-based individual named Peter. It is a heavyweight combination that makes life all the more difficult for Santi Saelee. In the show’s opening, he is actually tipped to become the CEO of the organization because of his close ties with Kanin and the fact that he is the brainchild of the company. However, he is betrayed at the last second by Kanin, who hires his own son to lead the company while diluting Saelee’s shares in the organization. It leads to a huge fallout and serves as the primary inspiration for the protagonist’s desire to start his own company. Thus, while it may be fictional in conception, Easy Express plays a pivotal role in the narrative, often serving as a catalyst for integral moments.
Read More: Mad Unicorn: Is Santi Saelee Based on a Real CEO? Where is He Now?