Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [55]
Of all classical Thai literature, however, Ramakian is the most pervasive and influential in Thai culture. The Indian source, Ramayana, came to Thailand with the Khmers 900 years ago, first appearing as stone reliefs on Prasat Hin Phimai and other Angkor temples in the northeast. Eventually the Thais developed their own version of the epic, which was first written down during the reign of Rama I. This version contained 60,000 stanzas and was a quarter longer than the Sanskrit original.
Although the main themes remained the same, the Thais embroidered the Ramayana with more biographical detail on arch-villain Ravana (called Thotsakan, or ‘10-necked’ in the Ramakian) and his wife Montho. Hanuman, the monkey god, differs substantially in the Thai version in his flirtatious nature (in the Hindu version he follows a strict vow of chastity). One of the classic Ramakian reliefs at Bangkok’s Wat Pho depicts Hanuman clasping a maiden’s bared breast as if it were an apple.
Also passed on from Indian tradition are the many jataka (chah·dòk in Thai): life stories of the Buddha. Of the 547 jataka in the Pali Tripitaka (Buddhist canon), each one chronicling a different past life, most appear in Thailand almost word for word as they were first written down in Sri Lanka.
A group of 50 extra stories, based on Thai folk tales of the time, were added by Pali scholars in Chiang Mai about 300 to 400 years ago. The most popular jataka in Thailand is one of the Pali originals known as the Mahajati or Mahavessantara, the story of the Buddha’s penultimate life.
During the Ayuthaya period, Thailand developed a classical poetic tradition based on five types of verse – chn, gàhp, klong, glorn and râi. Each of these forms uses a complex set of strict rules to regulate metre, rhyming patterns and number of syllables. Although all of these poetic systems use the Thai language, chn and gàhp are derived from Sanskrit verse forms from India, while klong, glorn and râi are native forms. The Indian forms have all but disappeared from 21st-century use.
Contemporary
The first Thai-language novel appeared in direct imitation of Western models. Unfortunately much of Thai fiction, both past and present, has not been translated into English. For recommendations on travel literature in English Click here.
Considered the first Thai novel of substance, The Circus of Life (Thai 1929; English 1994), by Arkartdamkeung Rapheephat, follows a young, upper-class Thai as he travels the world. The fact that the author, himself a Thai prince, took his own life at the age of 26 has added to the mystique surrounding this work.
The late and revered Kukrit Pramoj, former ambassador and Thai prime minister, novelised Bangkok court life from the late 19th century through to the 1940s in Four Reigns (Thai 1935; English 1981), the longest novel ever published in Thai. The Story of Jan Darra (Thai 1966; English 1994), by journalist and short-story writer Utsana Phleungtham, traces the sexual obsessions of a Thai aristocrat. Praphatsorn Seiwikun’s well-tuned, rapid-paced Time in a Bottle (Thai 1984; English 1996) turned the life dilemmas of a fictional middle-class Bangkok family into a bestseller. Writing under the pen name – a common conceit with Thai writers – Siburapha, Kulap Saipradit spun many romantic tales, including the novel Behind the Painting (1937), about a student who falls in love with a married aristocrat during the postwar era.
In the later half of the 20th century, Thai fiction took a turn towards the grassroots due in part to writers with humble origins having earned Bangkok University degrees. Instead of privileged aristocrats, their stories looked to their parents and neighbours for inspiration and followed the dramatic turns of ordinary, often working-class, Thais in remote corners of the country. Known as a social critic in narrative form, Chart Korbjitti is a two-time winner of the Southeast Asian Writers Award (SEA Write) for The Judgement (1981), about a