Times Academic

Most of the Thai friends I’ve made have not been Hi-So Thais. They have been from rural backgrounds in Isan in the north or from the southern province of Nakhon si Thammarat. These people learned to speak English through communicating with foreigners, working with foreigners and having relationships with foreigners. I never saw any of them read anything more than a newspaper or magazine.

The Thai language is not an easy one. It is tonal like Chinese and has a complicated writing system. Interestingly enough Thai and Laotian are close enough for people from these two countries to understand each other easily. Not so with Burmese, and it is illegal Burmese workers who are considered the lowest in the caste system that discrimination throws up even among the poor.

When I lived in India, Indian literature was very evident. The bookstores were full of translations of Indian classics both religious and non-religious. The thoughts of books are interwoven in the conversation of the people. The Indians have a strong respect for literature. The Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize. Gandhi was an excellent writer. All the great figures also seemed to be great men and women of letters.

It is no surprise that Thailand that received its religion from India should also be heavily influenced in its literature by India. The most famous book in Thailand is called the Ramakien. It is a re-working of the Indian religious classic, the Ramayana which relates how Vishnu’s incarnation, Rama the Prince rescued the Princess Sita from the evil Ravana with the help of the monkey god, Hanuman. The original of the Ramakien has been subject to considerable changes due to fire and royal editing by King Rama I. This story is one of great fights, loyalty, bravery and romance. It is the favorite narrative of Indians and as well as Thais.

The second best known text in Thai is Phra Aphai Mani by Sunthorn Phu. I read part of this 30,000 line poem while killing some time in a cheap bungalow in Haad Rin in Koh Phangan. It is a fantasy about two Princes that were banished by their father for learning magical arts instead of focusing on their Confucian administrative studies. One Prince ended up having 4 wives among which were a giant and a mermaid. The atmosphere of the epic poem seemed a bit like the massive and rambling Indian Mahabharata. The supernatural aspects made me think of the Arabian nights.

The introduction to the tattered paperback told the story of the UNESCO recognized poet Sunthorn Phu. This made fascinating reading. He was married several times, became an alcoholic and wound up in prison. While incarcerated he wrote the Phra Aphai Mani. This changed his fortunes. The King made him a royal poet and all was going well until Phu had the temerity to correct some lines of royal verse. He was stripped of his title and position.

It seems the poet’s life was a long and winding odyssey that reflected the flawed genius of the man. There’s something romantic and irrational in the story too that makes me think of my male Thai friends who could be charming and kind as well as drunken and self destructive.