Stories Of Siam

Literature from across the Orient

From the earliest Campfires… came the beginnings of stories in practice… from our historical records language then developed and spread around the entire globe… and with that culture grew and turned on itself and empires rose and fell… and still in that time… stories remained.

Acting out these world that come from where?

Around the world woke up those… those that paint pictures with words… convey a story in a way that it engrosses the reader to want to hold on to the message. As with our ancestors, we may retain the urgency of conveying the danger outside the cave or the importance of the hunt, but for whatever the cause literature began the long walk to where we are today and because of act of writing itself, we have these treasures for all time.

My story began in 1986 England… The same year Chernobyl in Russia faced its catastrophe…

I was born to a Thai Mother and Irish Father which has played a very instrumental part in how I’ve grown to see the world around me.  Learning a lot of our close neighbours through our education system… I never really knew or looked back East for a long time…

Now I have theres a lot to come…

But I wanted to present back to you just a peek of what I saw… whilst we work on our own projects

What I hope to continue monthly – Bringing you unknown stories from all around the world… Because… Every good story has great hook.

The international community knows Thailand for its serene beaches, exotic elephants and amazing cuisine but there is more to this jewel of a country than meets the eye. Thailand has a rich history telling amazing stories that inspire one’s imagination, entertain the heart and uplift the human spirit. Many of these stories are unknown to people outside of Asia which is why we are going to try and give a brief overview of Thai literature and its significance to the world.

Many Lives by Kukrit Pramoj

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Mr. Pramoj is the Thomas Jefferson of his country being one of the most important figures in all of Thai history. He grew up as a member of the Thai Royal Family and went on to become a dignified statesman, scholar and the 13th prime minister of his country.

He wrote Many Lives in 1954 which is arguably his best novel. The story begins with a ferry crush in which 11 strangers all lose their lives in a tragic instant. Each of the book’s 11 chapters focuses on the life of each passenger and what led them to this singular moment. Inspired when Mr. Pramoj witnessed a bus accident and as he looked at the unsightly scene of mutilated bodies scattered around he wondered what their lives were like.

The book uses the different characters to try and show how different people in society are affected by circumstances not of their choosing. Social status and gender for example dictate how society treats different characters. A child wishing to live up to her parents’ wishes pushes herself to the point of self destruction.

“Many Lives” shows how unwritten rules and expectations in 50’s era Thailand dominated people’s lives and led them to make tragic choices in an effort to improve their position in life. These choices sometimes led to dangerous and unforeseen outcomes that inevitably failed to bear their intended fruits.

Bangkok Wakes to Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad

This fictional story takes the plot structure of David Mitchel’s Cloud Atlas a fantastic story to its own which was made into a movie a couple years back Staring Tom Hanks and Halle Barry, check it out if you want to see the mind bendy genre on screen. The novel is told in 23 chapters that feel like independent short stories. The characters are separated in both time and space but as the book progresses it becomes clear that they are actually connected to each other.

One plot line follows Mr. Stevens who is an American working in Thailand as a missionary. His story based in the 19th century; harbours a deep suspicion of the Thai people whom he feels do not appreciate the value of western civilisation. He hopes to be recalled back to New England where he can be surrounded by friends and an easier culture.

Another thread in the fabric of the story involves Clyde, an American jazz musician in Bangkok during the Vietnam war. He has been estranged from his band partner and romantic interest and this has created a void he has been unable to fill.

The main story however focuses on two sisters called Nee and Nok whose relationship over the years have grown colder due to Noks’ relationship with a Thai military officer who in turn guilty of brutal crimes during the country’s dictatorship further strained due to the fact Nee’s own lover was killed by the very same government after he protested against their corruption.

These seemingly unrelated stories gradually morph into a coherent orchestra as it becomes clear that each individual player is merely a small part in a much larger performance. This story shows that small choices can have radical ramifications down the line for people that one has never even met. This book is a true gem of creativity and highlights the pinnacle of Thai literature.

Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap

Not many people can boast of having an award winning Novel at age twenty five and so Mr. Lapcharoensap has a right to be proud of this achievement.

This masterful work so eloquently named sightseeing tells six stories moving between tales incorporating young love, financial struggles, cultural change.

The opening story which won the author an award ‘Farangs’ it tells the story of a humble native boy who falls in love with a beautiful foreign tourist. The boy; Son of a simple motel owner and so it becomes a competition between David and Goliath when the girls larger than life American boyfriend finds out about them. While the plot line may seem a little conventional what makes it stand out and become unique is because of the way in which the story is told.  Without ruining the tale for itself,  the description of the beautiful beach scenery and the emotional burden of cultural expectations creates a vivid picture of life in this beautiful slice of heaven.

The story feels sensual and rich plus it carries you emotionally through each characters struggles. For such a young author displaying such a masterly approach to story telling and character development nowhere is this clearer than the chapter on Anek; A twelve year old boy who after loosing his father tries to become closer to his brother only to be driven into a nihilistic world of drugs and depravity.

Jasmine Nights by S.P. Somtow

The 1994 classic is recognised by the international community and not just the Thai people.  Jasmine Nights story is pretty simple. A twelve year boy called little frog by his close family but Justin to everyone else goes through some profound changes in his life.

Going on to live with his three aunts who descend from aristocratic privilege and an uncle who scares him; they are charged with raising him until he is old enough to attend the posh school of Eton where many European aristocratic children go to learn.

Justin finds his aunts to have weird behaviours and he does not appreciate Thai culture which he views as backward and redundant. He even prefers to eat bacon and eggs so he can begin to adapt to European culture quicker. He views the western values of reason and rational equality to be agree with his sensibilities and decides to try and mould himself and others to these ends. Viewing himself as an enlightened pioneer he sets out to begin the radical task of converting his classmates away from their traditional bigotry.

The book is pretty interesting in that it tries to tackle serious cultural issues by using the mind of an intelligent… but still child. The different perspectives displayed shed light on what motivates both the conservative and liberal mind at the time as to get both sides to sympathise with each other so neither one feeling dominates the tale then the other and what remains at heart is a compelling story within another world close to our own.

And if that isn’t enough for you theres more from where they came from.

Until then check out https://www.everythingthai.co.uk

Make a date to step out of the day life into some paradise.

The Day The World Never Ended

Well it’s been almost a  year since I’ve put word to paper, a year gone wasted, a year gone learned.  A year in reflection, a year that was.  2012.  The year the world didn’t end.

Loosing people in reflection effects all in many ways, but we have to keep moving.  I find myself working finally… But it’s time to create that dream job… and prove to someone i’m the only one who can do it.

Well the blog needs a bit of regenerating… So that needs thought.  But hope if you get round to reading this.  You enjoy.

To all a goodnight.

Out on the Blue

3017

I

The fields of Africa are burning blue.  Glistening fields of glass and technology spread kilometres wide across the breadth of an otherwise scorched plain.  Caretakers insuring the safety and power of those still in need of it, a decade at a time, life structured around skills and monotonous motions that keep the globe turning.  Towards the western plain just beyond the valley of the shattered Ethiopian badlands at the end of the 17^th cycle, George Harris climbs SOL2891.

Carelessly positioning himself over the edge of the mostly inaccessible right hand corner of the furthest Sol Panel, facing west, he could claim the best view; he was told by his father as he grew up looking out to the blue.  He was now Twenty, with all the possibilities in front of him, and he found himself with one of the most prestigious careers one could find these days, a techy, officially still known as technician, was something you could only be born into.  From a life time of study within an infrastructure cooled to such perfect climate, to the journey out to the fields, the beginning of the greatest challenge, but ten years were still to come.  The heat glistens off his dark skin and beads of sweat often fall to gravity, light on his feet and small enough to slip through the compression plate that kept the solar panel together he sits effortlessly on the edge retrieving a picture from his pocket. George had a father, mother and a younger sister who was presently holding her fingers in her ears with her tongue out as far as she could reach in the photo. It was a memory shot, a moving image, and he laughed as he had every time he caught Meren pulling her ridiculous pose.  He placed the photo back in his chest pocket close to his heart and carefully zipped it up, it would be ten years before his replacement would be sent for orientation, eleven before he would ever return to the city of glass he called home.

1948hrs exactly, and the sun seemed as would crash into the earth, for the next hour the panels would go into cool down procedure and George would get an hour to admire the spectacular view.  When on the surface, it’s easy to loose sight of the city, and when inside, impossible to understand the beauty, but from this angle, at this time, from the corner of SOL2891, the sun would reflect with the sand and the entire city of Arkansas can be seen, a spire of crystalline glass reaching out to the heavens surrounded by accompanying spires at multiple heights as if each grown from the ground desperate for star light. From the ground you would loose sight, but from here you could make out the neon lights of the habitation spire, the dark blue from the energy core spiralling up into the clouds, and the faint amber glow from the surfaces city deck.  It had taken 98 solar years to grow the structure and go live, the architect who designed the technology for such attempt long dead before George was even DNA and entrusted with the keys to an entire kingdom.

“All it takes is one stone to bring down a city of glass” tales of persecution would agree, George turned and looked down to see “Hook” his trainer.  He looked tired for 30, he was Caucasian, but 10 years in the sun had scarred him brown as anything, he had obviously stopped shaving because of the dry skin but other than his shabby appearance he looked in order.  He tied his cord up to his belt and made the climb up the pronged ladder.

“Why say that?” George asked curiously, he had never thought of it before, but was also silently kicking himself for never thinking it, it made sense in metaphorical terms

“Because… you never thought of it” he replied as he managed to squeeze through the same compression plate. “You’re Harris’s boy right?” he swung out his sweaty scared, dirt covered hands, George returned the gesture and they shared a shake of hands.

“George, you can call me George” he stated, taking back his palm which felt as it had been vice crushed

“Not many techies, now I guess, had to be Harris. Found the sweet spot I see, careful you don’t touch the black” they both turned to face the centre of the panel where a 2m by 2m black panel was attached and spoke at the same time

“Disintegration”, returning the glare Hook smiled showing his teeth

“Get on boy!” he jeered out, giving him a heavy smack on the back knocking him forwards.  “Yeah, I knew Harris, when?  How long now, I must have just turned ten, he taught us when returning. That your old man eh? Done his tour what thirty year ago?”

“Yeah, yeah… Got back, that day started a family with me mum…” George hesitated “You have any plans, I mean when you get home?”

“I don’t remember it… I mean I remember my parents yeah, vaguely remember my brother” grinning and laughing

“He was this chubby porker; Mum was OC so he enlisted in the Police, always was a mommy’s boy… You heard of an OC Hook?”

“Sorry… Place got bigger, right after you left there was the arrival of Europa…”

“You know that was expected when I was 15”

“…And the excavation takes up more resources than ever, the Industrialist took power 6 years ago and have been running things since”

Hook shook his head, laughing, staring at the city.  So close by sight, so far by foot inaccessible by buggy.  In a straight line, in the best of conditions, due to the terrain, a jaggered set of teeth, spread steep and wide within a valley, it would take weeks to traverse to the citadel a task never been succeeded by anyone, but luckily George arrived by pod, an hour flight, one which Hook would take home.

“Industrialists, I heard, on the wireless, yeah, they seem ok.  From what I hear they wanna get back out there in the globe…” he thrust his hands up into the air, representing a sign he repeated their slogan “New jobs! New chances! A new world… and maybe even back up their…” Hooks finger pointing up to the sky

“After the Titan incident? No man, don’t think so.” Turning passing the last of his H20 over “They’re big in the desert, you know the sand collectors, they say they found an ancient air vessel”

“Whaaa, no way, you see it?”

“Yeah, it was amazing, a one man craft, an Airship brought one back from the north, who know what else they left behind, what’s hidden underneath”

“That’s where the trouble started” Hook sighed.

“Yeah, they think” George tuned to Hook, in surprise he had a cool bottle of H20 in his hand waiting, he’d been alone for the last ten years ever since the last technician left to return to the citadel, George struggled to remember who but couldn’t.  He was sure he remembered when he was 11, the commotion at the city gates.  He wondered his own return a decade from now, after training a replacement himself and how the world would have changed then.  The daunting shadow of isolation enveloped him whilst Hook was telling him of what he knew, would he be this kind in a decade, I mean they had just met but George had found him entertaining, and more curiously so, how did he know of such things in the fields. The sun had set, and now like fireflies in the distance, the city darkened, the ever so faint amber lights glowing ever so dim with the occasional pod moving around the spires.

“C’mon kiddo, got a few hours to go before rack time yet”  Hook dropped, grabbing onto the edge and leveraging himself down to a pylon connected to the ladder leading to the ground beneath, George smiled, he supposed he had a lot to learn from the old timer.

II

By the time he made it down, Hook had made it 30 feet in front and he had to sprint to keep up, coming round the corner so quick he felt as though he could of broke an ankle stopping so quick, a Steele bunker stood in front of him, like something from a history book he took his first steps beyond the doors out of the heat.  The power generated had enough spare to produce a cool breeze that matched his memory of his home city, but was a memory more than welcome in such climate.  Hook who had already retrieved a new liquid of some sort was already flicking switches and hunting through a pile of wires.

“The wireless, don’t loose the wireless!!  The last bugger was cuckoo when I got here; this connects you to the world boy.”  Hook held up what appeared to resemble a battered grill with holes in, adjusting dials, sound came out though nothing but static.  “It’s the sound of the world my man, it auto tunes, sometimes you get static…” a melodic tune broke through the fuzz as the older man kicked about wires and knocked a panel over head.  George as if transfixed moved closer and closer

“What is it?” he asked, turning with a tear in his eye to Hook.  Hook smiled, placing his hands down by his side, and then crossing them with an even bigger smile.

“it’s the past George, radio waves, signals, boucin off the earth, into space and back down to us… can even pick up transmissions too!” he said with a jolt making some adjustments voices came through…

“Shhzzzz over…

…Yes Read You… Commence delivery, Require Removal. Over…shzzztttt

…Yes. Artefact removal confirmed…air….vessel….shhtzzz” the signal turned back into the static that greeted them.

Hook watched George come down from his high, he could see all the questions brimming in his mind, and he saw George for what he was, because he was the same. Young, but old at the same time, heavy responsibilities placed on a well educated head, twenty but fifty in his own right.

“Come, sit, drink, we have about twenty minutes left before we have to do our rounds” George looked around the bunker “Don’t worry, ill teach you how to use all this stuff. It’s yours now”

 

Recently edited….

If you want to read more… get in touch…  Hopefully we can get it to print.