The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXXIV, Part 1-2, 1986 - Khamkoo

THE SIAM SOCIETY
PATRON
VICE-PATRONS
HON. PRESIDENT
HON. VICE-PR ESIDENTS
HON. MEMBERS
HON. AUDITOR
HON. ARCHITECT
His Maj esty th e King
Her Maj esty th e Quee n
Her Royal Highn ess th e Princess Mother
Her Ro yal Highn ess Princess Ma ha Chakri Si rindhorn
Her Royal Highn ess Princess Galyan i Vad hana
Mr. Alexa nd e r B. G riswold
Mom Kobkaew Abhakara Na Ayudhya
H .S. II. Prince Suhhad radis Diskul
The Vc n. Buddhadasa Bh ikkhu
The Ve n. Phra Rajav;1ramu ni ( Pa yutto)
Mr. Fu a Haripi tak
Dr. Ma ry R. Haas
Dr. Pucy Ungphakorn
Soedjatmok o
Dr. Soot! Sacngvichien
H.S. H. Prince Chand Chiray u Raja ni
Pro fessor Willi am .1 . Gedney
Pro fessor Prawase Wasi M.D .
Mr. Yuk ta na Thalang
Mr. Sirichai Na rumit
COUNCIL OF THE SIAM SOC IETY FOR I986/87
President
Vice-President and Leade r.
Nattmil llistorv Section
Vice-P resident
Vice Prc,idcnt &
llo norary Treasurer
ll unorary Sccre· tary
llonorary Editor
llo nor

JSS
JOURNAL
OF THE
SIAM SOCIETY
1986
VOLUME 74

JSS
THE SIAM SOCIETY
1986
Honorary Editor: Mr. Sulak Sivaraksa
Honorary Associate Editor: M.R. Narisa Chakrabongse
Honorary Assistant Editor: Daw Tint Tint Than
Members of Editorial Board: Dr. Uthai Dulyakasem, Silpakorn University
Dr. Chayarit Wattanapooti, Chiangmai Umversity
Dr. Lerkiat Vongsarnpigoon, King Mongkut Institute of
Technology, Chaokhun Taharn Ladkrabang
Dr. Ananya Dhuchongkul, Thammasat University
Mr. Surichai Wungeo, Chulalongkorn University
Miss. Pan-ngam Gothamasan, Prince of Songkhla University
Contributed manuscripts should be typed double-spaced on quarto paper
(approximately 8 x 11 inches), with generous margins. The top copy should be
submitted. All notes and references should be similarly typed double-spaced.
References should include name of author (s), title, name and volume of periodical
or relevant publication series (where applicable), date and place of publication (or
nature. of reference, if unpublished), and pagination (where appropriate).
Page-proofs of Articles and Review Articles are sent to authors on request only.
Orginals of illustrations will be returned on request. Authors of published
contributions receive extra copies of JSS fr~e of charge. Additional copies will be
supplied at cost price, but must be paid for in advance.
The Siam Society encourages readers to communicate to the Honorary Editor any
differing opinion on, or corrections to, material which appears in JSS. Suitably
documented correspondence will be published under 'Communications', bearing
the writer's name.
Manuscripts, books for review, and all correspondence should be sent to the
Honorary Editor, Journal of the Siam Society, G.P.O. Box 65, Bangkok, Thailand.
Subscription and membership enquiries, and publications orders, should be
addressed to the Administrative Secretary, Siam Society, G.P.O. Box 65, Bangkok
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Exchange copies of periodicals should be sent to the Honorary Librarian, Siam
Society, G.P.O. Box 65, Bangkok, Thailand.
ISSN 0304 - 226X

JOURNAL OF THE SIAM SOCIETY
Contents of Volume 74
1986
POEMS
... ... .:
EJ\Ifn, n~mmv-~\1~
"ll,,~-a-EJ uu'l.Jm
A ft J
~':il

REVIEWS
Teddy Prasetyo
Uthai Dulyakasem
Nicholas Tapp
. Pra Dusadee
Medhangkuro
Toshiyuki Sato
Michael Smithies
Betty Gosling
Kyaw Than
Daw Tint Tint Than
Seri Phongphit
S. Sivaraksa
Ken Jones
Bhikkhu Khantipalo
W.J. Klausner
~1\1.),1'1-l.
"i!Cil"i"il1U\Ifl
A ft • ft
Grant A. Olson
M.A. Sabur
S. & K. Srisang
P. Werapaspong
P.Kullavanijaya
Narisra Chakrabongse
ll. ~11"fi
209
212
215
218
220
222
224
227
229
230
233
235
238
241
243
247
249
251
253
255
257
259
Buddhism and Society in Thailand
Islam and Malay Nationalism: A Case
Study of the Malay-Muslims of Southern
Thailand
Muang Metaphysics: A Study of Northern
Thai Myth and Ritual
The Reconstructive Group: The First
Movement of Thai Young Monk 1933-
1941
Stories on Malaka
Ten Contemporary Thai Artists
The Symbolism of the Stupa
The Royal Orders of Burma: 1598-1885
(Part one to three)
Burmese Manuscripts (Part 2)
Dhammic Socialism
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society
Pilgrim Kamanita: A Legendary Romance
Popular Buddhism in Siam and Other
Essays on Thai Studies
In The Mirror: mw1un~~"iln~~L~VIftEln9'm'fl
Sangha, State and Society: Thai Buddhism
in History
Human Development in Its Social Context
Angkarn Kalyanapong
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5
Journal of The Siam Society
Editorial Note
In our last issue we made a mistake in listing Sao Sai Muang as om
honorary member. In fact he was elected as a corresponding member, so we beg
him to forgive us for this error.
As for this issue, inost articles were collected by Dr. Tej Bunnag, our
former honorary editor, who has done a wonderful work for so many years. We
wish to thank him sincerely for such a task.
Since this year marks the centennial birthday anniversary of our late
President and honorary member - perhaps the most outstanding scholar of our
society - we wish to dedicate this volume to him - Professor George Coedes,
who regarded himself as if he were an adopted son of H.R.H. Prince Damrong
Rajanubhab, our first Vice Patron. Professor Coedes served as foreign secretary to
the National Library and the Royal Academy for 13 years. He contributed much
for the advancement of Thai studies, besides his contributions in Cambodia,
Vietnam and France.

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9
Journal of The Siam Society
LES MOKEN Litterature Orale et Signes de
Reconnaissance Culturelle
Je voudrais par cette rapide etude de Ia tradition orale et de Ia structure
sociale, corriger !'image que nous possedons des Moken, ces naufrages de l'histoire.
II faut s'efforcer de depasser les images, jugements hatifs et cliches colportes par des
auteurs peu soucieux de verite, Le monde Moken ne se limite pas a Phuket et Ies
iles environnantes, leur presence dans ces iles n'est pas un mystere et ils sont
beaucoup plus que des pecheurs de Iangoustes destines a illustrer d'une touche
folklorique les depliants touristiques. Le but de cet article est de faire connaitre ce
peuple oublie, et de presenter leur histoire vue par eux-memes.
Les documents qui me servirent pour mes recherches s' etalent sur une
generation. Films, enregistrements, photog1aphies et etudes personnelles m'ont
permis de degager les grands traits de Ia culture d'une population meconnue. C'est
au modele de Ia societe que je m'attache, leur structure sociale et !'aspect
traditionnel de leur vie s'etant effondres au contact de peuples aux consciences
nationales fortes. La realite actuelle est totalement differente de ce modele puise
dans mes recherches et les documents de mon pere.
PRESENTATION.
II y a plusieurs raisons a la meconnaissance des Moken ainsi qu'au refus de
les considerer comme un peuple a part entiere:
- Ia fermeture du territoire birm~n au·; occidentaux ne permit pas
d'approfondir et de corriger les erreurs commises par les missionnaires 1
I. Les missionnaires_ firent un enorme travail sur Ia langue (transcription et traduction). White est le
plus celebre grace a ses 3 ouvrages:
1911 "An introduction to the Mawken language" (Toungoo).
1913 "St Mark in Mawken" (Rangoon, British and foreign bible society).
1922 "The sea-gypsies of Malaya" (London, Seeley Service and Co, 318 pages).

10
Volume 74 (1986)
du debut siecle et par les chercheurs de l'entre-deux guerres 2 •
- Ia difficulte du terrain de recherche : les Moken sont sans cesse en
mouvement et evitent dans Ia mesure du possible tout contact.
- Leur petit nombre engendre le manque d' interet des hommes de
sciences et des autorites.
a) le nombre:
II est difficile d' evaluer le nombre des Moken vivant encore sur leurs
bateaux. Leur vie meme de nomade ne se prete guere au recensement et
l'impossibilite de penetrer en Birmanie ne facilite guere Ia tache du chercheur. Les
premiers contacts furent etablis par un officiel anglais, en 1826, charge de recenser les
habitants pour l'impot. Cette tache n'eut pas de suite avec les Moken. et leur
recensement ne fut pas termine, Depuis lors, les auteurs s'accordent autour q'un
chiffre proche de 5000 individus.
Pour rna part, j'estime le nombre de Moken nomades marins actuellement a
2000 environ. Pour arriver a ce resultat, j'ai interroge les Moken d'iles differentes
sur le nombre de bateaux presents dans leur sous-groupe. J'etablis ensuite une
moyenne entre les chiffres donn¢s que je multiplie par cinq. Cinq etant le nombre
moyen de personnes vivant sur une embarcation. Le bateau est Ia base de Ia societe
Moken. Chaque couple, pour faire partie du groupe, se doit de posseder une
embarcation. Le regroupement et Ia separation des bateaux nous devoilent le mode
d'organisation de Ia societe Moken. Auparavant, chacun etait capable de construire
un navire a voile aux bordees de coque en stipes. Maintenant les voiles ont
disparu et Ia construction de bateaux aux bordees de coques en planches est
confiee a des specialistes. Cependant l'essentiel demeure: chaque embarcation est
une cellule economique primaire et independante quant a sa subsistance. Sur
chacune se trouve une famille nucleaire (parents plus enfants). Chaque enfant qui se
marie construit un nouveau bateau; lorsque les parents sont seuls et trop ages pour
diriger l'embarcation, ils s'installent sur le bateau de leurs enfants. Autrefois,
dit-on, les vieux etaient abandonnes sur les · plages; toute charge inutile
compromettait Ie fragile equilibre alimentaire des nomades. Sur chaque bateau
done, se trouve une famille nucleaire parfois etendue aux grands-parents. Une
moyenne de cinq personnes parait raisonnable.
2. Bernatzik, par exemple et son ouvrage : "Oie geister der gel ben· Blatter" (Munich 1938).

11
Journal of The Siam Society
Deux mille! Ce petit nombre de nomades semblerait condamner les Moken
a Ia disparition et a leur integration parmi les peuples de l'archipel. Cependant,
depuis de nombreuses generations, ils survivent et demeurent, et ce, malgre les
pressions parfois violentes exercees par les Malais et Birmans aux tendances
esclavagistes. Cette capacite a survivre, constance de Ia societe, est due a Ia
souplesse de }'organisation sociale Moken qui integre le minimum d'influences
externes permettant Ia cohabitation. Leur mode de vie, leur non violence et !'image
de pauvres heres qu'ils ont adoptee, oontribuent a leur donner une certaine liberte
nee du desinteret.
b) situation :
Les Moken soot done les nomades marins de l'archipel des Mergui dont
!'extreme sud se situe en territoire thailandais. Dissemines dans ce chapelet de plus
de 400 iles, ils se divisent en cinq sous-groupes. Chaque sous-groupe prend le nom
de l'ile oil il demeure durant Ia saison des pluies. Du nord au sud, on distingue les
sous-groupes suivants :
1) Dung
2) Dja'it
3) Lebi
4) Niawi
5) Chadiak
(ile de Ross)
(ile d'Owen)
(iles de Sullivan et Lampi)
(ile de Loughborough)
(ile de St Matthew).
Chaque sous-groupe navigue a l'interieur d'un espace determine depuis de
nombreuses generations dans lequel nomadisent des flottilles de six a huit bateaux
sous Ia direction d'un potao ("vieux"). En plus de ces cinq iles de residences
principales, se trouvent une quinzaine d'iles plus petites, satellites des iles meres.
Certaines flottilles s'installent parfois dans ces satellites mais ne forment pas un
sous-groupe. Les iles auxquelles se rattachent les cinq sous-groupes Moken,
possedent plusieurs caracteristiques qui leur donnent le statut d'iles meres. Toutes
ces iles soot montagneuses et les montagnes soot les lieux de residence des ancetres
propicies durant les ceremonies. Ces ancetres soot assimiles aux genies du lieu. lis
s'identifient a l'ile, en soot Ia personnalisation. lis furent les grands ancetres,
premiers debarques sur les iles, fuyant les marchands d'esclaves ou les roitelets
tyranniques. Se refugiant dans les forets aux flarics des montagnes, deu~ lieux
terrifiants pour les nomades, ils durent survivre. lis decouvrirent alors des

12
Volume 74 (1986)
nourritures jusqu'alors inconnues, commirent certains actes dont le souvenir s'est
. perpetue grace aux chamanes.
I - LES MOKEN DE THAILANDE.
a) les nomades marins.
Le sous-groupe de St Matthew, le plus nombreux et Ie plus proche de la
frontiere thailandaise, se divise done enl plusieurs flottilles. L'une ou l'autre de ces
flottilles navigue parfois dans les eaux thailandaises. Les embarcations prennent
alors comme ile de base et parfois de residence, Ko Surin. Les nomades y travaillent
et y demeurent une saison ou deux. Ils elevent alors de petites maisons sur pilotis en
haut des plages. Ces maisons au toit de feuilles et au plancher de Iattes de bambou,
ne sont que de fragiles protections contre les pluies violentes. C'est une periode
d'attente, de difficulte, pour les nomades. A chaque maison correspond un bateau,
mais celle-Ia n'a pas !'importance economique et symbolique de ce dernier. Sitot la
saison des pluies terminee, les maisons disparaissent et les nomades retrouvent leur
errance.
Le sous-groupe de ~t Matthew· est Ie dernier a etre touche par la politique
d'assimilation birmane. L'implantation de ~irmans sur l'ile est recente. C'est ce qui
explique !'afflux de Moken refugies, venus chercher des moyens de survivre, .de
travailler, et une relative securite. Ces refugies viennent du nord de I'archipel,
surtout du sous-groupe de Ross. Mais, suspectes de sorcellerie, ils ne sont pas
toujours bien accueillis.
Cette arrivee de Moken de differents sous-groupes permet, pour une
generation ou deux, Ia survivance de Ia regle d'exogamie qui veut qu'un jeune
homme ame chercher son epouse sur une ile differente de la sienne. La difficulte du
nomadisme, Ia violence des Birmans essentiellement sedentaires, la sedentarisation,
!'exploitation par les commerc;ants, Iimiterent les deplacements, firent eclater la
communaute en groupes cloisonnes empechant l'exogamie. La presence de
plusieurs sous-groupes sur l'ile de St Matthew permet l'exogamie sans imposer Ie
deplacement. Le jeune homme de St Matthew epousera de preference une fille
venue de I'ile de Ross. Le systeme d'alliance et de communication qu'etablissait
I'exogamie des iles a disparu. Pour Ies Moken de Thailande, notons Ia frequence des
mariages interethniques. Nombreuses sont Ies femmes nomades a epouser des
Thailandais, facilitant ainsi !'integration a ce pays. Alors que les mariages
Thai' I Moken sont tres frequents, ils sont inexistants ou presque entre
Birman/Moken. Le probleme des Iangues ne facilite pas Ies rapports entre Ies

13
Journal of The Siam Society
communautes birmanes et Moken. Ce n'est que tres recemment que certains Moken
parlent le birman. Les sous-groupes de Dung et de Djait parlent le birman, et leurs
membres sont presque tous · sedentarises. Les autres sous-groupes eux ne parlent
pas le birman, mais en revanche apprennent, parlent et comprennent le thai1andais
avec une remarquable facilite. Si les Moken sont attaches traditionnellement a leurs
iles de residence birmanes, ils prefl~rent nettement les contacts avec la communaute
thai1andaise. Intermariage et langue, sont les deux signes permettant de
comprendre les rapports entre diverses communautes. Peu de Moken parlent et
comprennent le birman, nombreux sont ceux qui parlent et comprennent Ie
thai1andais, et tous parlent et comprennent le malais (n'oublions pas que la langue
Moken est une langue d'origine malayo-polynesienne). Les contacts entre les
Moken et les populations de l'archipel, sont eclaires par l'etued de la 'langue Moken
et de ses rapports avec les langues peripheriques. Ainsi Blanche Lewis 3 trouve dans
un lexique de 1430 mots Moken, 365 affinites malayo-polynesiennes, 69 affinites
thai', 46 affinites m6n-khmer et 30 affinites birmanes.
b) Ko Surin.
Ko Surin est une petite ile corallienne situee juste en-de~a de la frontiere
birmano-thai' (97°52' longitude nord et 9°25' de latitude est). Elle se trouve dans la
province de Phang Nga. Longtemps delaissee par les Thai1andais, elle fut Ia proie de
toutes les convoitises et violences imaginables. Devenue un pare national il y a peu,
son exploitation s'est stoppee net: plus de peche a Ia bombe et plus d'exploitation
effrenee de la foret. Les Moken y trouvent done une securite inconnue jusque-la. Ils
ne sont plus a la merci de tous les pecheurs thai' ou birmans, bandits de toutes
origines; la presence thai'landaise permet done de sauvegarder une nature splendide
et protege les Moken. Mais les Moken qui faciliterent !'implantation des Thai', furent
rejettes par ceux-ci hors de leur lieu de residence traditionnelle, coupant
definitivement un peuple deja acculture de ses racines.
Ko Surin est une lie connue des Moken depuis des generations. Satellite de
St Matthew, arbitrairement separee de l'ile mere par la frontiere, elle servit parfois
de refuge aux nomades fuyant les Birmans, leur violence, leur implantation. Ces
souvenirs ainsi que les chamanes morts sur l'ile, donnerent de !'importance a Ko
Surin. Cette ile, demeure des "rois singes" pour les Moken, est un microcosme de
l'archipel. Chaque plage, chaque rocher, chaque montagne, possede une histoire,
3. LEWIS Blanche, "Moken Texts and Word List" (Kuala Lumpur, 1960)

14
Volume 74 (1986)
un ancetre. L~ presence de poteau?' aux esprits autour desquels avaient lieu les
ceremonies, prouvent encore !'importance de Ko Surin, "Ia petite ile situee a
l'extremite du monde". Elle est consideree comme Ia limite du territoire Moken, et
elle fut Ia derniere des iles de residence secondaire a subir !'implantation d'un autre
peuple ..
Montagnes, souvenirs, poteaux . aux esprits et ancetre genie du lieu
(chao: genie, mot thai pour maitre), Ko· Surin est bien un lieu de residence
privilegiee. Qui est cet ancetre si puissant de Ko Surin ? II s'agit de "l'ancetre
feminin de Ia boisson", rappel d'un interdit transgresse par un Moken/Malais qui fit
l'amour avec une raie et mourut empoisonne. Transgression d'un interdit (ici
l'interdit de.prendre les animaux pour femmes), decouverte de nourriture, origine
de phenomenes naturels tels Ia mort, sont les conditions necessaires a un homme
pour devenir un ancetre, genie d'une ile que l'on invoquera parfois sous le terme
tida, terme derive du plili dhita et repris a travers le th~i thewada. .
La yisite et !'interet partes par des personnalites thailandaises, dont S.A.R.
Ia Princesse Mere et le gouverneur de Ia province de Phang Nga, permirent de faire
connaitre les Moken et de les aider a penetrer dans Ia nation thailandaise. Premiers
habitants de l'ile, les Moken, jusque-la oublies ou confines dans des r6les
folkloriques, sortaient enfin des oubliettes de l'histoire. Le petit nombre de
nomades, leur mode de vie de collecteurs, ne perturberont jamais l'equilibre nature!
de Ko Surin, Bien que les Moken soient satisfaits de Ia transformation de leur ile,
l'arrivee massive de touristes perturbant Ia vie et Ia nature de l'ile, les inquiete et
obeissant a l'appel de leur tradition, renouant avec leur passe de fuite, ils
disparaissent a !'horizon.
c) les Moken sedentarises.
Les Moken sedentarises sont disperses en petites communautes integrees
dans Ia vie thailandaise des c6tes du sud-ouest. lis se divisent en plusieurs
categories.
Les plus connus se trouvent sur les iles de Phuket, Sireh, Adang, Lanta et
Pha Yam. Les Thailandais les connaissent sous les noms de Chao-le {hommes de Ia
mer), Chao~nam (hommes de l'eau) et parfois Chao-ko (hommes des iles). Les
Moken de Phuket et plus precisement ceux de Rawai, ainsi que les Moken de Pha
Yam, sont issus majoritairement de St Matthew et de Sullivan. Ce sont les derniers
sedentarises a terre. Coupes de leurs peuples; de leurs traditions, dephases dans un
environnement mal compris, ils ont rejete leur errance devenue difficile pour une

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Journal of The Siam Society
vie a terre precatre. La, ils adoptent certaines habitudes du continent: alcool,
mendicite, ... Mais Ia vie a terre, pour Ies Moken d'implantation plus ancienne
(Sireh, Lanta, ...), est egalement difficile et l'alcool y fait des ravages. Cette image
de clochards et de mendiants qu'ils adoptent parfois, est celle que le monde a
retenu. C'est cette image que Ies nomades marins adopterent. Ceci leur permet de
ne pas trop eveiller l'inter~t. Pilles, rancsonnes, vendus comme esclaves, ils ont
adopte une position souple et d'apparente soumission. Cette image de pauvres
heres condamnes a Ia mendicite, leur sert d'ecran protecteur. Les contacts
nombreux, Ia violence, obligerent les Moken a apprendre plusieurs Iangues. Cette
necessite de pluri-Iinguisme est d'abord reservee au potao, le vieux dirigeant Ia
flottille. Parlant plusieurs langues, il se met en avant lors de contacts,endiguant Ia
possible violence engendree par l'arrivee d'etrangers, par sa parole, Cet a:ieul qui
dirigeait Ia flottille grace a sa connaissance des iles et servait de tampon entre son
peuple et les etrangers toujours suspectes de mauvaises intentions, n'existe plus.
L'apparition du moteur ces deux demieres decennies, fit eclater Ia structure
traditionnelle de Ia societe et Ia conception de l'espace. L'individualisme et Ia
soumission a celui qui foumit Ie moteur, ont depossede les vieux de leurs
competences.
Ce soot Ies Moken de Ko Sireh qui soot presents dans les recits. Leur
histoire est conservee par les marins, mais eux-m~mes ne Ia connaissent pas. lis
forment une communaute importante et solidaire, gardant un contact etroit avec
Ia mer par leur travail et leurs ceremonies. Ce soot d'anciens nomades marins
parlant malais et impregnes des traditions du bouddhisme environnant. Leur passe.
et leur environnement firent .eclore une culture originate possedant ses propres
croyances. C'est de leur sein que partirent d'autres marins vers les iles d' Adang et
de Lanta plus au sud.
La seconde categorie de Moken sedentarises est plus connue des
Thailandais et des autorites sous Ie terme de thai" maz, les nouveaux Thai. lis vivent
en petites communautes de quelques dizaines d'individus sur Ies cotes et a
l'interieur des terres. Ceux-ci n'ont plus de rapports _avec Ia mer et beaucoup
cultivent m~me Ie t:iz en essait. Nous Ies trouvons dar:ts Ia region qui s'etend de
Khura Burl a Phuket. Leurs petits villages soot parfois fixes au bord des plages, non
loin de la mangrove, parfois mouvants, se deplacsant au gre des recoltes de riz et du .
travail disponibie; Ils soot une main-d'oeuvre bon marcbe pour les plantations, Ie
caoutchouc. Certains soot des petits pecheurs. Planteurs de riz et p~cheurs, ils se

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Volume 74 (1986)
sont radicalement coupes de leur culture de nomade. En effet, le Moken marin est
oblige d'echanger le produit de sa collecte contre du riz et il ne peche jamais.
Cependant, bien qu'ayant adopte Ia langue thai1andaise, ils parlent encore le
Moken et leurs croyances soot encore impregnees de leur passe de marins. Ils ont
encore des relations economiques et des liens de parente nombreux avec les Moken
des iles. Les intermariages soot nombreux, le conjoint ayant tendance a suivre sa
compagne ou son compagnon dans les terres et par Ia meme a se sedentariser.
Hogan 4 qui a bien su les localiser et trouver leur nom : Moklen (c'est ainsi qu'ils se
nomment), les evalue a quelques centaines. Pour rna part je situerais leur nombre
autour de 3000.
II - L'HISTOIRE ET LES RECITS.
a) Ia tradition orale.
C'est Ia tradition orale recueillie par moo pere ainsi que mes observations
qui me fournissent le materiau necessaire a Ia construction d'un modele de structure
sociale Moken.Il faut savoir ecouter, decouvrir le renseignement cache et important
au detour d'une phrase, d'un chant. La societe Moken s'ecoute et en cela les
enregistrements, aussi vieux soient-ils, soot tres precieux et irrempla

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Journal of The Siam Society
croyances.
La tradition orale se divise en genres:
- les epopees : peu nombreuses, tongues et chantees, sont le recit des
contacts et de l'histoire des Moken conservee par eux. Les Malais, premiers a
sillonner l'archipel, en sont souvent le sujet. En effet, a la difference des autres
genres, le heros de l'epopee est un etranger et de ce fait, agent de bouleversements,
de transformations sociales et d'adaptations culturelles. L'epopee met parfois en
presence deux cultures opposees. Du choc de leur confrontation va naitre la trame
du recit. Les heros repoussent les frontieres et violent les interdits. A cheval sur
deux mondes, passant du mythe ala realite historique, ils nous livrent des donnees
sur le passe. C'est a ce genre que se rattache le resume presente ci-dessous.
- les mythes : courts, recites, souvent obscurs, sont }'explication du
monde, de la creation, de l'origine des hommes .....
- les histoires : elles sont recitees et de longueur variable. Leur
contenu : c'est Ia geste des ancetres qui enseignerent, transgresserent, decouvrirent.
b) resume.
Dans }'autrefois dont nous parle les epopees, avant l'arrivee des Malais, les
Moken vivaient sous la domination d'une reine. Celle-ci demeurait surla montagne
alors que son peuple demeurait dans les champs, en haut des plages. Cette reine aux
cheveux blonds dispensait ses bienfaits a son peuple. C'etait l'age d'or de
l'abondance. C'est alors que surgit un bateau dirige par un jeune musulman.
Celui-ci enseigna aux Moken, le feu, puis le riz, qu'ils adopterent immediatement.
Ce jeune Malais tombe eperdument amoureux de Ia reine. Ils se declarent leur
amour reciproque par des chants alternes et vont passer leur nuit de noces dans le
bateau du pere de la reine.
Sur Ie bateau des parents de Ia reine se trouvaient ses deux jeunes soeurs.
Le jeune marie, au milieu de la nuit, se tourna vers la cadette et fit l'amour avec
elle. La jeune soeur Ken provoqua alors Ia colere de Ia reine qui chassa son peuple
hors de son territoire, le condamnant a travailler pour vivre et a vivre sur leurs
embarcations. Pour marquer cette condamnation, la reine declara que chaque
bateau porterait deux echancrures.
Elle condamna ensuite sa jeune soeur a etre immergee dans l'eau de mer.
Chasses de leur territoire, les Moken partirent apres que le Malais soit revenu vivre
definitivement avec eux. Confrontes a d'autres peuples, ils furent forces de se

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Volume 74 (1986)
sedentariser. Mais refractaires a toute tentative de scolarisation, ils seront "donnes"
a un prince birman qui les conduira, esclaves, vers le sud de Ia Thailande ou il
pensait s'installer. C'est en vue de Phuket, alors que le prince repartait vers la
Birmanie que le groupe de Ken et son mari senfuiront. Ils s'installerent a Ko Sirc.~h.
Au fur et a mesure de Ia remontee du prince, des groupes de Moken s'enfuiront,
peuplant ainsi l'archipel.
c) explications et enseignements.
Les Malais sont les premiers a etre eritres en contact. La langue, les
croyances, attestent de l'anciennete de leurs contacts. Ils jouent le role de heros
civilisateurs, apportant le feu et le riz, faisant penetrer les Moken dans le Monde
"civilise", le monde du riz. Auparavant les Moken n'etaient que ~es collecteurs, le
haut des plages (ou l'on trouve des tubercules) et l'estran etant leur domaine. Voici
la fin de l'autosubsistance et le debut de l'ere du troc. 11 faut desormais trouver une
monnaie d'echange pour le riz. Mais les Malais se transformerent par Ia suite en
chasseurs desclaves, dont les Moken furent les victimes. Le souvenir est encore vif
et contribue a renforcer le caractere fuyant des nomades.
La reine dont nous parle le . recit, vivait a terre. Elle symbolise
l'appartenance terrestre de l'ethnie. Bien que nomades marins, les Moken ne
s'eloignent jamais en haute mer et sont toujours lies a Ia terre. Les cheveux de Ia
reine sont blonds car briiles par le soleil. Cette reine, comme les actuels ancetres
Moken, demeurait dans un lieu presque interdit : Ia montagne.- C'est par sa parole
et ses invocations que Ia reine distribuait ses biens. Elle est Ia puissance magique de
Ia parole qui fait apparaitre, qui ordonne, qui emeut; bref, die symbolise Ia force de
Ia parole agissante.
En allant vivre sur le bateau de ses beaux-parents, le Malais respecte la
regie de Ia matrilocalite, toujours en vigueur, qui veut que le jeune homme aille
vivre chez sa femme. Le Malais qui fait l'amour avec Ia jeune soeur, n'est pas
choque par son action, mais provoque Ia colere de sa femme dont Ia jeune soeur
vient de transgresser le tabou du cadet du conjoint. En chassant les Moken sur Ia
mer, elle coupe ceux-ci de fac;on irremediable de leur attache terrestre. L'opposition
entre royaume, abondance, terre et mer, pauvrete, est reelle depuis ce moment-la.
Les Moken ne se departirent plus de cette image de pauvres heres chasses, a Ia
merci des caprices des elements.
Les marques de Ia condamnation, ce soot les echancrures des bateaux,

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Journal of The Siam Society
toujours existantes de nos jours. Celie de l'avant symbolise Ia bouche et celle de
l'arriere, l'anus. Le bateau est done symboliquement un corps humain condamne au
cycle infernal et eternel, ingestion/digestion.
Ken doit etre immergee dans l'eau, marquant ainsi Ie nouveau mode de vie
nomade marin. Immerger Ken se dit lemo Ken. L'affixe le utilise dans Ies chants et
certains recits est facultatif; nous obtenons alors moken et nous decouvrons I'origine
du nom Moken. Carrapiett 5 Ie premier, avait saisi une partie de !'explication. Pour
lui, Moken provenait de Ia traduction de "immerger dans l'eau de mer", /emo oken.
Supprimant I'affixe /e ainsi que Ie double o, ii obtint moken. L'important demeure:
Ie nom est Ia marque de Ia condition. Le nom et I'echancrure du navire, sont des
signes de reconnaissance culturelle des Moken. lis sont Ia specificite des nomades
leur permettant de s'affirmer comme un peuple.
Les mysterieux etrangers qui, apparaissant soudainement, forcent les
Moken a Ia scolarisation, sont vraisemblablement des Anglais6 • Devant
l'impossibilite de Ies soumettre a l'impot et de les scolariser, les Moken furent
''donnes" comme esclaves.
Enfin, Ken et son mari s'enfuyant a Ko Sireh sont certainement les ancetres
des chao-Le de Ko Sireh actuellement presents. Le mari de Ken etait malais et Ies
chao-le de Ko Sireh parlent Ie malais. Certains comprennent le Moken. Les Moken
s'enfuyant en vue des cotes thailandaises, deviendront Ies Moklen ou les Korat,
comme Ies nomment les nomades marins. lis sont les ancetres des thai' mai' du sud
de Ia Thallande. Ceux qui s'enfuirent sur les iles de residence actuelles Moken,
furent diriges par un ancetre qui souvent deviendra l'ancetre de l'ile. lis donnerent
Ie statut d'ile. de residence principale aux cinq grandes iles correspondant chacune a
un sous-groupe. Ko Surin, par exemple, n'est pas une ile principale, son ancetre
etant posterieur a l'epopee. Car c'est un Mok~n/Malais de l'ile de Sireh qui
transgressa I'interdit de l'acte d'amour avec les animaux. Ko Surin est devenue un
point de rencontre pour les Moken eparpilles par les vicissitudes de l'histoire. Les
Moken sedentarises, les Moken/Malais de Sin!h et Ies Moken nomades marins, s'y
retrouvent. C'est un lieu de culte, de travail et de residence pour les nomades, de
travail et de ceremonies pour Ies sedentarises, de travail pour Ies Malais.
5. CARRAPIEIT W.J.S. "The Salons" (Ethnographical Survey of India, Rangoon, BURMA No 2,
1909)
6. Le Tenasserim fut cede aux Anglais en 1826.

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Volume 74 (1986)
Ainsi Ia tradition orale et une enquete minutieuse permettent. a celui qui
sait ecouter les peuples, de decouvrir une foule de renseignements. Melangeant
mythe et histoire, les epopees soot le recit d'un peuple. Elles permettent de
retrouver l'identite bafouee des Moken. Les enseignements du recit presente ici en
resume, ne pretendent pas affirmer une verite definitive. Le cheminement
complique et etrange qui conduisit les Moken dans leur lieu actuel de residence, a
certainement des origines. plus complexes. Cependant, quiconque veut parler et
ecrire sur un peuple, se doit de connaitre c:e que ce meme peuple pense de
lui-meme. J'ai voulu presenter ici l'histoire des Moken vue par eux-memes; ainsi
que leurs explications sur plusieurs points precis comme: l'origine de leur nom,
l'origine des echancrures et l'origine de l'implantation des Moken dans les terres et
iles du sud de Ia Thai:Iande.
Jacques Ivanoff du C.N.R.S.

21
Journal of The Siam Society
THE EPISODE OF MAIY ARAB
IN THE THAI RAMAKIEN
AND ITS POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP
TO TAMIL FOLKLORE*
The aim of this paper is to throw some light on the possible source (s) for
some of the motifs and details to be found in the Maiyaiiib episode of the Thai
RamakTen on the basis of some data from Tamil folklore relating to the Rama story
in South India.
The problem of tracing the sources of the Maiyarab episode was examined
by H.H. Prince Dhani Nivat in 1942 and H.H. the Prince was of the view that some
details of the episode might have been derived from a South Indian version of the
Rama story. 1
The writer of the present paper has also been keenly interested in the
subject since 1966 when he embarked on the studies of cultural contacts between
Thailand and Southern India. Some of his findings based· on the literary versions of
the Rama story hav.e already been published in a couple of articles in the Journal of
the Siam Society in 1968 and 1982. However, the problem of the Maiyarab episode
has not been examined adequately so far in his articles for the main reason that
there is no such episode in the early literary versions of the Rama story in Tamil or
* A paper presented to the International Conference on Thai Studies, 22-24 August 1984, Bangkok,
Thailand.
1. H.H. Prince Dhani Nivat, "Maiyariib the magician," The Standard, No. 53 (Bangkok, 1942), pp.
15-21; see also The Kh6n,3rd edition, Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department, B.E. 2505, A.D.1962,
pp. 5·6.

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Volume 74 (1986)
in Sanskrit2. The writer, therefore, turned to the folk tradition especially among the
Tamil-speaking people of South India, and it would seem that the Tamil folklore
has a great deal of light to throw on the question of sources for the episodes such as
that of Maiyarab in the Southeast Asian versions of the Rama st"ory. 3
Briefly, the central story of Maiyarab is that he kidnaps Rama and
imprisons him in the nether world with the intention of killing him. Hanuman
pursues Maiyarab there and rescues Rama. Maiyarab is killed. However, if we take
into account the various motifs that cluster around the central story and compare
them with those of the Tamil folk version, it would become evident that the Thai
literary version of the episode has been elaborated with several elements which
were perhaps adopted from the Tamil folk version of the story. Thus, for example,
a comparison of the various motifs relating to the episode as depicted in the two
versions shows that at least fifteen of the motifs are common to the Thai Ramakren
and to the Tamil folk version of the Mayilirava'!an story. 4 They are:
1. Maiyarab in the Tamil RamakTen and Mayiliravanan in the Tamil
folk version are said to be the king of the nether world.
2. When Maiyarab hears of the prediction that his nephew will become
king of the nether world, he imprisons both his sister and her son, who
is his nephew.
3. In order to prevent Maiyarab from kidnapping Rima (Phra Ram in
Thai), Hanuman makes himself into a gigantic fortress and conceals
Rama. Hanuman's mouth is the gate of the fortress. He also places his
tail in a circle around the entire camp.
2. Mention may. however, be made of the fact that the episode similar to that of Maiyariib is to be
found in later versions of the Riima story and these include MahT ravana Caritra in Assamese, MahT
ravanerpala in Bengali, Dak~il!f Ramaym!O in Oriya, and the Jfnanda~amaya'!a in Sanskrit.
3. Besides the Thai KamakTen, the Malay Hikayat Seri Rama also includes an episode similar to that of
Maiyariib with some variants, and in this work Maiyariib is known as Piitiila Mahiiriiyan and he is said
to be one of Riiva'!a's offsprings born in the nether world. See Hikayat Seri Rama, edited by
W.G. Shellabear. Rumi version prepared by Wah\ bin Long. Singapore: Malaysia Publishing House
Ltd., 1964, pp. 173-196 (Romanised Malay text); also Zeiseniss, A. The R7ima Saga in Malaysia,
its origin and developmelll, translated by P.W. Burch. Singapore: Malaysian Sociological Research
Institute Ltd., 1963, pp. 74-86.
4. Mayilirovanan katai. Madras. B.R.N. & Sons., n.d. 88 pp. (Tamil text). The story of Mayiliriivanan
is known to have been a part of Tamil folklore for a long time in South India before it was commitied
to writing and later published. The published text of the story is in the form of dialogues and
narration suitable for dramatic production.

23
Journal of The Siam Society
4. After Rama is kidnapped by .!Vtaiyarab, Hanuman passes through the
hollow stalk of lotus plant to reach the nether world.
5. Before gaining entry into Maiyarab's palace, Hanuman encounters
Macchanu (Maccakarppan in Tamil meaning 'born of fish-womb')5,
duels with him, finds him to be too strong, learns that he is his son
born of a fish, and that Maiyarab is his master.
· 6. Macchanu refuses to betray his master.
7. Hanuman meets Maiyarab's sister when she comes to draw water from
a pool at the command of Maiyarab.
8. Hanuman assures her of his help to install her son as the ruler of the
nether world.
9. Maiyarab's sister helps Hanuman by smuggling him (in the form of a
lotus fibre in the Thai RamakTen and as a beetle hidden under mango
leaves in a pot of water in the Tamil folk version).
10. When Maiyarab's sister is weighed at the gate in order to make sure
that no foreign elements are smuggled into the palace, the weighing
machine breaks down because of Hanuman's weight.
11. After Hanu~an rescues Rama, he carries his master to a distant
mountain where he is entrusted to the care of the gods in the Thai
RamakTen and to the care of the earth-goddess in the Tamil folk
version.
12. Maiyarab cannot be killed until Hanuman finds and crushes the bee
(or five beetles according to the Tamil folk version) containing his
soul.
13. Maiyarab's nephew is installed as the king of the nether world and
Macchanu becomes his deputy.
14. Hanuman returns to the mountain where Rama was placed under
5. According to the Tamil folk version, Maccakarppan reveals to Hanumiin that he is the son of
Hanumiin and a fish-mother named Timiti. He also tells Hanumiin that at the time of Hanumiin's
great leap to Lanka over the sea in search of Sltii, his sweat fell into the mouth of a female fish, that
is, Timiti, who later gave birth to Maccakarppan. Viiyu, the wind~god, who is also the father of
Hanumiin, is said to have conferred a boon of great strength on Maccakarppan. See Mayiliravanan
katai. Madras: B.R.N. & Sons., n.d., pp. 28-29. According to the Thai JramakTen, Macchiinu is
Hanumiin's son, born of a mermaid named Suphanna Maccha. IramakTen, Phrarachaniphon thi I,
Vol. 2, pp. 298·307.

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Volume 74 (1986)
divine protection, and then both Rama and Hanuman return to the
camp.
15. Rama feels immensely grateful to Hanuman for having rescued him
from Maiyarab
The presence of so many similar motifs in the Thai RamakTen and in tne
Tamil folk version does not mean of course that the two versions are the same.
Indeed, there are also divergent motifs in both versions. For example, in the Thai
RamakTen it is Maiyarab's mother (instead of his consort as in the Tamil folk
version) who tries to dissuade him from his evil plan. According to the RamakTen,
Maiyarab has a dream which is interpreted by the astrologers to mean that his
nephew will become the king of the nether world, whereas in the Tamil folk version
the prediction is issued by an anonymous voice from the sky. Again, according to
the RamakTen, only Rama is kidnapped by Maiyarab, whereas in the Tamil folk
version both Rama and Lak~maJ!a are kidnapped ·by Maiyarab.
The differences found in the two versions relate also to name-forms. Thus,
in the RamakTen the name of the demonic character who abducts Rama is given as
Maiyarab, whereas in the Tamil folk version he is indentified. as MayiliravaJ!an. 6
The name· of Maiyarab's sister in the Thai version is Phirakuan and her son is
named Waiyawik, while in the Tamil folk version Mayiliraval!an's sister is called
TtirataJ!!ikai and her son is Niiamekan. Again, according to the Tamil folk version,
Maiyarab's intention behind kidnapping Rama is to offer him sacrificially to the
goddess KaF, whereas in the Thai version Maiyarab is planning to boil Rama as well
as his nephew in hot water in the course of a magic ceremony.
In spite of these variants, the presence of a large number of common motifs
6. The name-forms Mayiliravanan in Tamil, Maiyarab in Thai, and MalzTravana in Assamese, Bengali,
Oriya and other languages do seem to pose a problem. First of all, it may be noted that the name
consists of two parts. The latter part, namely, rai'Ona, of which the Thai -rab is most probably an
abbreviation, seems to have been added to the names of certain demonic characters who came to
complement the chief villain of the story, namely Rava'!a, especially in later versions of the Rima
story. As for the first part of the· qame, perhaps the term Mai, which means in Tamil 'darkness' and
especially 'the black pigment" used in witchcraft', was used in the original folk tradition to
characterise a relative of Ravana notorious for his magic skill. While in the Thai version the original
form has been retained, jn Tamil it has become Mayil which means 'peacock' and which apparently
does not signify the purport of the original term Mai. As regards the form Mahi; which means either
'earth' or 'great' generally in several Indian languages including Sanskrit, is thought to be a
Sanskritised form of Mai. See W.L. Smith. "Mahifiivana and the Woinb Demon", lndologica
Taurinensia, Vol. 10 (1982), pp. 218-219.

25
Journal of The Siam Society
central to the story would seem to indicate that the royal author of the RamakTen
could have adopted such folk elements ·perhaps through Tamil informants in the
Thai kingdom. This possibility is strongly suggested by the fact that certain other
versions of the Rima story, which include a similar episode and which are also
known to have been used as the other possible sources for the composition of the
Thai RamakTen, happen to have different motifs. For example, Krttivasa's poem in
Bengali language entitled Mahuava'!erpa/a, which is also believed to incorporate
several elements of Bengali folklore, depicts the episode of Mahiravana in a somewhat
different manner, 7 and several of its motifs are not the same as in th~ Thai RamakTen
and the Tamil folk version. The Bengali work, for example, does not refer to the
passage of the hollow stalk of the lotus plant used by Hanuman to reach the nether
world; instead it says that Hanuman uses the same subterranean passage which had
opened by itself for Mahii-iva~a to carry away Rama and Lak~am~a. Again there is
no mention in the .Bengali version about Mahrrava~a's sister helping Hanuman to
smuggle him into the· palace. It is also noteworthy that neither the Tamil· folk
version nor the Thai RamakTen refers to the scene where, according to the Bengali
version, Hanuman kills Maiyarab (or Mayilirava~an/Mahrrava~a) in front of the
image of the goddess Kali when he prostrates himself by way of demonstrating to
Rima and Lak~ma~a how to bow before the goddess.
It would, therefore, seem reasonable to conclude that the royal author of
the Thai RamakTen had perhaps a somewhat closer access to the Tamil folk tradition
from which to select elements for the portrayal of the Maiyarab episode in his
classic work.
S. Singaravelu
University of Malaya
7. Dineshchandra Sen, The Bengali Ramayat!as. Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1920, pp. 254-283.

26
Volume 74 (1986)
(a) Texts and Translations
References
RamakTen, Phrarachaniphon ratchakan thi I. 4 vols. Bangkok:· Khrurusaphaa, B.E. 2494, A.D. 1951;
reprint, Bangkok: Samnakphim Klangwithaya, B.E. 2056, A.D. i963. See Vol. 2, pp. 328-447.
(Thai text).
The RamakTen, a prose translation of the Thai version of Rimayina, by R.A. Olsson. Bangkok:
Praepitta:ya Company Ltd., 1968. See pp. 181-192.
Mayi/irava'!an katai. Madras: B.R.N. Sons. n.d.
Hikayat Seri Rama, ed., by W.G. Shellabear. Rumi version prepared by Wahi bin Long. Singapore:
Malaysia Publishing House Ltd., 1964. See pp. 173-196. (Romanised Malay text).
(b) Other works
Dhani Nivat, H.H. Prince., 1942, "Maiyarib the magician•·, The Standard, No. 53 (Bangkok, 1942), pp.
15-21.
Sen, Dineshchandra., 1920, The Bengali Ramayanas. Calcutta: University Of Calcutta, 1920.
Singaravelu, S., 1968. "A comparative study of the Sanskrit, Tamil, Thai and Malay versions of the story
of Rima", Journal of the Siam society, Vol. 56, pt. 2 (July 1968) pp. 137-185.
-------· ., 1982. "The Rima story in the Thai cultural tradition", Journal of the Siam
Society Vol. 70, pts. 1 & 2 (July 1982), pp. 50-70.
Smith, W.L., 1982, "Mahrrivana and the Womb Demon", Indologica Taurinensia, Vol. 10 (Torino,
Italy, 1982), pp. 215-225. ·
Sieseniss, A., 1963. The Rama Saga in Malaysia, its origin and developme/ll. Translated by P.W. Burch.
With a Foreword by C. Hooykaas. Singapore: Malaysian Sociological Research Institute Ltd., 1963. See
pp. 74-86.

27
Journal of The Siam Society
APPENDICES
I
The Story Of Mayiliraval}an In Tamil
Folk Tradition
According to the Tamil folk tradition, the story of Mayilirava~an 1 was
narrated by the sage Narada to the sage Gautama. It begins with the great
disappointment and sorrow of Rava~an (Irava~an in Tamil) over the death of his
generals and relatives including· Kumbhakar~a and Rava~a's son Indrajit in the
early and later stages of the battle for Lanka. It is then that a counsellor (Prahasta)
at the court of Rava~a suggests that the assistance of Mayilirava~an from nether
Lanka (Paiala Ilankai in Tamil) be sought by Rava~a. Mayilira.,anan is'said to be a
yom:~ger brother of Rava~a; he is well versed in magic. Rava~a seeks his help.
Mayilirava~an decides to abduct Rama and Lak~ma~a to nether Lanka and offer
them sacrificially to the goddess Ka~i. Vayu (the wind-god) is informed by Trijata
about the evil design of Mayilirava~an. Vayu in turn conveys the news to VibhiSana,
who is now an ally of Rama: VibhlSana, who is aware of the magic skill of
Mayilirava~an anticipates that the latter would resort to various tricks including that
of assuming the form of Vibh~a~a. On the suggestion of VibhiSana, SugriVa and
Jamtiavan, Hanuman encloses Rama's entire camp with his elongated tail as a fort.
Hanuman's mouth is the entrance to the fort and his ear is its exit. The entire army
is instructed to be vigilant during the whole night.
Meanwhile Mayilirava~an's consort Var~amalikai pleads with her husband
not to undertake the plan of abduction; however, her plea is rejected. At first
Mayilirava~an sends two of his counsellors (Caturan and Cayittiyan) to Rama's
camp to carry out the abduction, but they are unable to enter the fort. Then
Mayilirava~an himself decides to carry out the plan. He assumes the form of
Vibh~a~a and passes through the hollow stem of the lotus plant to travel from his
subterranean kingdom to Rama's camp. Again, in the disguise of Vibh~a~, he
enters Hanumaa's mouth, casts a magic spell over the entire camp, places Rama and
1. Mayilirava'!an katai. Madras: B.R.N. Sons. n.d. 88 pp.

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Volume 74 (19R6)
Lak~ma~a in a closed casket, and carries them away through the ear of Hanuman to
nether Lanka. At this juncture, Mayilirava~an is warned by a voice from the sky
that Hanuman will destroy the fortress of· nether Lanka, install NTiamekan (a
nephew of Mayilirava~am.) as the ruler of nether Lanka, and rescue Rama and
Laksma~a. Mayilirava~am, who is frightened of the prediction, imprisons his sister
Turatantikai and her son Niiamekan.
Meanwhile, Vibh~a~a tells Hanuman that the passage to nether Lanka is to
be found in the lotus stem growing in the middle of the ocean. He also informs him
about a powerful demon named Maccakarppan or Maccavallapan who guards the
fortress of Mayilirava~an and about a pool outside the fortress from which the
women of nether Lanka obtain water in their pots, which are carefully weighed over
a scale at the entrance to the fort to make sure that no alien elements are allowed to
enter the kingdom.
Hanuman first overcomes thousands of demons guarding the lotus plant in
the ocean, and then, after reducing his body to tiny form, he passes through the
stem of the lotus plant. He then encounters Maccakarppan, who battles with him
fiercely. Hanuman, who is impressed with the great strength of Maccakarppan,
enquires about his family background. Maccakarppan reveals that he is the son of
Hanuman and a fish-mother named Timit.i. He further informs Hanuman that at the
time of 1-:lanuman's great leap towards Lanka in search of Sita, his sweat fell into the
mouth of a female fish, who later gave birth to Maccakarppan ('born of
fish-womb'). Vayu, the wind-god, who is also the father of Hanuman, had conferred
a boon of great strength on Maccakarppan. Then, Hanuman in turn reveals his
identity and seeks the help of Maccakarppan to trace the whereabouts of Rama and
Lak~ma~a. Maccakarppan tells Hanuman that his loyalty is to May'ilirava~an, who is
his master and tha· he would never turn a traitor to ·his master even if he is
approached by his own father for his help. Maccakarppan also reveals that his
life-principle is to be found in his chest and that Hanuman can gain entry to the fort
only after overcoming Maccakarppan. Hanuman punches Maccakarppan's chest to
cause him to faint and gains entry into the fortress. Meanwhile, Mayilirava~an
summons his sister Turata~~kai and order her to fetch water from the pool in the
Uttiyanavanam for the ceremony at which Rama and Lak~ma~a are to be sacrificed ·
to the goddess KaJi .
. Hanuman happens to see Turatantikai in the Uttiyanavanam and after
.. '
transforming himself into a tiny being conceals himself behind the leaves of a tree.

29
Journal of The Siam Society
He overhears Turatal).~kai's lamentation about the ceremonial sacrifice of Rama
and Lak~mal}a to be carried out by MayiliraVal).an . At this point, Hanuman reveals
his identity and asks her to explain the reasons for her sadness. Turatal).~kai tells
Hanuman about her husband Kalatattan and her son Nilamekan. She then tells
Hanuman why she and her son have been imprisoned by her brother Mayiliraval).an.
According to her, when Mayiliravanan's daughter Rupavati was betrothed to
Nilamekan, a voice from the sky predicted that Nle::tmekan would soon replace
Mayiliraval}an as the ruler of nether Larika. On hearing this, Mayiliraval).an
cancelled the betrothal, killed Turatal}~kai's husband and imprisoned both
Turatantikai .. and her son Nilamekan. Hanuman then assures Turatantikai .. that he
would not only destroy Mayiliraval).an, but also install Nlamekan as the new ruler of
nether Larika.In return Hanuman asks Turatantikai for information about Rama and
Laksmana.
After informing Hanuman about the whereabouts of Rama and Lak~mal}a,
Turatal}~kai tells him about the weighing machine at the entrance to the fort which
is used to weigh all persons and things passing through the entrance to keep away
the enemies of Mayilirava1!an. Hai1Uman seeks the help of Turatal}~kai to gain entry
into the fort. She agrees to help. Hanuman in the form of a beetle conceals himself
behind a bunch of mango leaves placed over the pot of water which Turatantikai is
carrying for the sacrificial ceremony. When Turatal}~kai steps on the weighing
scale, its needle turns upside down and the demonic soldiers at the entrance suspect
the identity of Turatal).~ikai. When they are about to attack her, Hanuman reveals
his mammoth form and destroys the demons in the course of a great battle.
Hanuman then meets NTiamekan , who points to the temple of the goddess of Ka!i,
where Rama and Lak~mal}a are to be sacrificied. Hanuman breaks open the temple
door and offers praise to Rama so that he will awaken. Rama awakens a little and
enquires of Hanuman how he came to be where he is now. After Hanuman tells
Rama about Mayiliravanan's evil deed, Rama falls asleep again under the influence
of the spell cast by Mayiliraval).an. Hanuman carries the casket containing Rama
and Lak~mal}a to a distant cave and prays to the goddess of earth to protect Rama
and Lak~mal).a until he conquers Mayilirava!!an. The goddess agrees to do so.
Meanwhile, the news about Hanuman's presence in nether Lanka reaches
- .......
Mayiliraval).an, and he also learns that his sister and nephew are no longer under
custody. He orders his troops to capture the two. When they are about to be
caught, they seek Hanuman's help. Hanuman once again assumes his mammoth
form and destroys the demonic troops in a fierce battle. Eventually Mayilirava1!an

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Volume 74 (1986)
himself comes forward to challenge Hanuman.
In the ensuing duel between Hanuman and Mayilirava~an, it is found that,
though Mayilirava~an is killed several times, he rises again from destruction.
Hanuman asks Turatantikai .. about the mysterious power of Mayiliravanan . that
keeps him alive. Turata~tikai reveals to Hanuman that the five elements of
Mayilirava~an are to be found in the form of five beetles living in five caves of a
distant mountain range and that whosoever kills all the five beetles together while
stepping on the body Mayilirava~an will be able to destroy him.
When Hanuman encounters Mayilirava~an again, he runs away and seeks
shelter in a cave, where he begins to perform a magic ceremony. From the sacrificial
fire rises a great fiery demon, who is ordered by Mayilirava~an to destroy
Hanuman. Hanuman appeals to the god of fire to reduce the heat of the fiery
demon and battles with him. He is also told by the goddesses of righteousness that
the fiery demon arose from the sacrificial ceremony conducted by Mayilirava~an
and the demon can only be conquered if the ceremony is disrupted. Hanuman then
proceeds to a spot where there is a great banyan tree which conceals the entrance to
the hall where the ceremony is being held. Hanuman uproots the huge tree, and
after reaching the subterranean cave, disrupts the ceremony. After the fiery demon
is subdued, the demon salutes Hanuman and vanishes. Mayilirava~an escapes from
the cave and turns himself into a silvery mountain covered with trees and mansions.
Turata~tikai points to Hanuman the silvery mountain which is the guise of
Mayilirava~an. Mayilirava~an escapes once again and tries to reach Rava~a's palace
in Lanka. But he finds that all the passages through the lotus stem are blocked by
Vayu (the wind-god). Vayu calls upon Hanuman to verify Mayilirava~an's claim
that Hanuman has already been installed as the new ruler of nether Lanka after
subduing Mayilirava~an. When Hanuman makes his appearance, Mayilirava~an
assumes the form of a mad elephant and tries to escape from the scene. Hanuman
captures him and attacks him. Mayilirava~an abandons the-form of the elephant and
produces a magic chariot from which he begins to shower powerful arrows, which
are neutralized by Hanuman's serpentine arrows. Mayiliravanan then releases the
arrows of Garu~a, to which Hanuman replies with the arrows of fire. Mayilirava~an
releases the arrows of rain. The battle continues with all the ferocity. Finally,
Mayiliravanan tries to slash Hanuman's chest with his sword. Hanuman catches hold
of Mayilirava~an, and with his left leg firmly planted on Mayilirava~an's chest,
Hanuman's right leg reaches the mountain where the five beetles r~presenting the

31
Journal of The Siam Society
five elements of Mayilirava~an are to be found. Hanuman seizes the five beetles
with his right hand and crushes them at the same time killing MayiliravaJ?.an. Before
passing away, Mayilirava~an praises Hanuman's prowess and asks for his
forgiveness. After his funeral ceremonies, Rupavati (Mayilirava~an's daughter) is
married to Nilamekan, who is installed as the ruler of nether Larika. Hanuman also
asks Maccakarppan to assist Nilamekan.
Hanuman then meets the goddess of earth and asks for the casket
containing Rama and Lak~ma~a. Hanuman, together with Rama and Lak~maJ?.a in
the casket, passes through the lotus stem. Maccakarppan wants to join his father to
fight against Rava~a, but Hanuman tells him to stay in nether Larika, for otherwise
Hanuman might be embarrassed if Sugr!va and others were to know that
Maccakarppan is his son.
After Hanuman reaches the camp, the casket by itself vanishes, while Rama
and Lak~maJ?.a awaken from their long sleep. As the gods shower flowers from the
heaven, Rama asks for the reason. Before Jambavan could answer, Hanuman
signals to him not to divulge the story of what happened from the time of
Mayilirava~an's abduction of Rama and Lak~maJ?.a. However, after the fall of
Rava~a, Rama comes to know of the heroic deeds of Hanuman in rescuing him
from Mayilirava~an and feels immensely grateful to Hanuman.

32
Volume 74 (1986)
II
The Episode Of Mahi Raval?-a In The Bengali
Poem Entitled Mahi Ravaner Pala, Composed
By Krttiv~sa 2
The episode occurs after the fall of Indrajit in the battle for Larika. Mah1
Ravaqa is said to be a son of Ravaqa born in the nether world during one of
Rava~a's adventurous exploits there. Rava~a's son is named Mahl Rava~a, meaning
'Ravana, born of the earth below'.
Mah!Ravaqa rules over the subterranean region. He is a devotee of the
goddess Kali and he has obtained a magic spell as a boon from the goddess which no
enemy can overcome.
Mahil Rava~a feels the need to help his father and he hastens to his father's
court. After hearing of his father's need for help in the battle against Rama, he
assures his father that he will cast a magic spell over Rama and Lak~ma~a, who will
be then taken to the nether world to be sacrificed at the altar of his tutelary deity
Kali.
Meanwhile, Vibh~a~a, Ravaqa's younger brother, who is now an ally of
Rama, assumes the form of a bird and flies up to Ravaqa's palace gate and observes
Mah!Ravaqa narrating the details of his evil design to his father. On his return to
Rfuna's camp, Vibhll~a~a informs Rama of Mahl Rava~a's plans. He also advises
all the army chiefs to keep a careful vigilance over Rfuna and Lak~ma~a during the
night. On the suggestion of Hanuman, Rama hurls Vishqu's discus towards the sky
to block the passage of Mahl Ravaqa by air. Nala keeps watch over the passage
from the nether world. Hanuman builds a great fort for Rama and Lak~maqa and
stands guarding over it at its entrance. Vibh~a~a, who is the only person outside the
fort, issues firm instructions to Hanuman not to allow anyone including his father
Vayu (the wind-god) to enter the fort.
2. Dineshchandra Sen, The Bengali Ramayanas. Calcutta, The University of Calcutta, 1920, pp.
254-283.

33
Journal of The Siam Society
Mahl Ravana using his magic powers first assumes the form of King
Dasaratha, then Bharata, Kausalya (Rama's mother) and King Janaka, and tries to
gain entry into the fort. But each time Hanuman refuses him entry unless approved
by Vibh~a~a himself. As soon as Vibh~a~a is called to verify, Mahl Rava~a will
vanish from the scene. Finally, Mahl Rava~a appears in the guise of Vibh~a~a
himself and enters the fort. Making himself invisible, he utters magic syllables in the
name of the goddess Kali and causes all the guards fall asleep. Soon, under Mahl
Rava~a's spell, an underground passage opens of itself, and Rama and Lak~ma~a,
who also fall asleep, are carried away by MahiRava~a into his own subterranean
palace.
It is only later that Hanuman learns that MahiRava~a had deceived him to
gain entry in the guise of Vibh~a~a and that he had abducted Rama and Lak~ma~a .
He resolves to rescue Rama and Lak~ma~a from MahiRava~a's palace, and for t.his
purpose he enters the same subterranean passage used by Mahl Rava~a . He
disguises himself as a tiny monkey and enters the city of MahiRava~a.
Hanuman in the guise of a monkey overhears the conversation of an old
demon who says that the appearance of two men (Rama and Laksmana) and a
monkey (Hanuman) in the nether world is an ominous sign foretelling the
destruction of MahiRava~a, for according to a boon received by MahiRava~a from
the goddess Kali , men and monkeys are not included in the list of enemies who
cannot overcome Mahl Ravana. Hanuman also learns from a maid-servant of the
palace that Rama and Lak~ma~a are to be sacrificed to the goddess Kali on that
day . Hanuman then transforms himself into a fly, enters the palace and discovers
Rama and Lak~ma~a in a well-guarded room . He enters the room through a
window and salutes Rama and Laksmana who are now awake. He informs them of
their abduction by Mahl Rava~a , of which they are still unaware. He transforms
himself into a fly again and enters the shrine of the goddess Kali , who tells him of a
strategem by which Mahl Rava~a can be overcome. The plan is for Rama and
Lak~ma~a to ask MahiRava~a to show them how to bow before the goddess for the
sacrifice and when MahiRava~a prostrates himself before the goddess, Hanuman is
to take the sword from the . image of the goddess and sever Mahl Rava~a 's head.
Hanuman then informs .Rama and Lak~ma~a of the plan, and at the ceremony
Hanuman succeeds in killing MahiRava~a with the sword of the goddess when he
prostrates himself on the ground.
After the fall of Mahl Ravana, his pregnant queen challenges Hanuman,

34
Volume 74 (1986)
who kicks her in the stomach and causes her to give birth to a son named Ahi
Ravaqa, who attacks Hanuman in turn. Finally Hanuman vanquishes Ahi Ravaq.a,
and Rama and Lak~maqa return to the camp safely.

35
Jour·nal of The Siam Society
III
The Epiosde Of Maiyarab In The
Thai Ramakien 3
According to the Thai Ramaklen ,_ Maiyarab is the king of the Underworld
and his help is sought by Thotsakan (Dasaka~!ha) to help him in the war against
Phra Ram (Rama). Maiyarab's mother Chanthaprapha tries to dissuade him from
responding to Thotsakan's request. But Maiyarab ignores her advice and goes to
Larika. Thotsakan tells him to kidnap Phra Ram by hypnotizing his defenders and
then kill him. Maiyarab agrees and then he goes to the Surakan mountain to
perform magic rites. During the ceremony he produces a magic powder by grinding
the hearts of two fierce lions to dust and mixing it with poisonous mushrooms. Then
he goes to his palace in the Underworld, where he has a dream, which is interpreted
by his astrologers to mean that his nephew will become king if he goes to Larika.
Ma~yarab does not understand the significance of the dream, Nevertheless, as a
precautionary measure, he throws his sister Phirakuan and her son Waiyawik in
prison. Then he hurries back to Larika with his magic powder.
Meanwhile, Phra Ram has a dream, which is interpreted by Phiphek
(VibhiSana) as signifying great danger lurking over Phra Ram and his army. All the
monkey soldiers are asked to stay awake during the whole night until the following
morning. Hanuman makes himself into a gigantic fortress and conce~ls Phra Ram,
Phra Lak (Lak~ma~a) and Phiphek in his open mouth. Hanuman's tongue is the
gate. Sukhrlp is the gatekeeper. Hanuman also places his tail in a circle around the
entire camp.
Maiyarab realises that Hanuman has changed himself into a fortress and he
resorts to a strategem in order to gain access to Phra Ram. He goes to the Solot
mountain where he has a magic diamond. He hangs it in the sky . When the monkey
soldiers observe its bright light in the east, they think that it is the morning star .
indicating that it is already dawn. A few monkey soldiers fall asleep. Maiyarab then
uses his diamond blow-pipe to blow the deadly magic powder over the sleeping
soldiers to cause them to sink even deeper in their sleep. Then he enters Hanuman's
mouth, where Phra Lak and Phiphek are sleeping at the feet of Phra Ram. He
3. Ramakfen, Phrarachaniphon thi 1, Vol. 2, pp. 328-447.

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Volume 74 (1986)
sprinkles the rest of the powder on them. Then he picks up Phra Ram and flees to
the Underworld, where he places Phra Ram in an iron cage in a palm orchard. He
plans to boil Phra Ram in magic water the next day.
Meanwhile, Phra Lak wakes up and finds that his brother is missing.
Phiphek consults the horoscope and announces that Phra Ram has been kidnapped
by Maiyarab. Hanuman is sent in pursuit of the demon. He enters through the
hollow stem of a lotus plant in a pond to reach the Underworld. He overcomes
various obstacles and comes to another lotus pond, where he meets Macchanu, who
obstructs Hanuman's mission. Hanuman tries to catch Macchanu, but he is too
strong. Hanuman then asks Macchanui who he is. Macchanu replies that he is the
son of Suphanna Maccha and Hanuman, while Maiyarab is his step-father.
Hanuman then identifies himself as his father. When he is challenged to show the
marks of his identity, Hanuman breathes out stars. Hanuman then asks Macchanu
to help him to find Phra Ram. Macchanu, without wishing to betray his step-father,
answers in a riddle by saying that he should go by the same way he came.
Then, Hanuman jumps into a lotus pond and enters through a hollow stem
of a lotus plant. After reaching Maiyarab's palace grounds, he climbs a tree and
observes Maiyarab's sister Phirakuan coming to draw water from a lake nearby.
Hanuman hears her saying that Phra Ram and her son Waiyawik will be made into
soup in a magic kettle at dawn the next day. Hanuman then meets Phirakuan and
offers her his help to save her son if she will tell him where Phra Ram is to be
found. Phirakuan helps Hanuman to gain access into the heavily guarded palace by
smuggling him in the form of tiny lotus fibre. Hanuman then casts a spell on the
soldiers guarding the iron cage and removes Phra Ram to the Surakan mountain,
where the gods watch over him. Hanuman then goes to kill Maiyarab.
Maiyarab proposes that they each make a club by twisting three palm trees
together and use the club to beat each other into the earth three times. Hanuman
agrees. The force of Maiyarab's three blows drives Hanuman into the ground, but it
does not hurt him in the least. When it comes to his turn to beat Maiyarab,
Hanuman shatters his body and throws the arms and legs in different directions, but
the parts later fly through the air and join together. Phirakuan then reveals to
Hanuman that Maiyarab's soul lives as a bee on a palm tree on the Trikuta
mountain. Hanuman goes to the mountain and catches the bee. He squashes the
bee while at the same time he cuts off Maiyarab's head.
Maiyarab's nephew Waiyawik then becomes the king of the Underworld

37
Journal of The Siam Society
and Macchanu his deputy. Hanuman goes back to the Surakan mountain where
Phra Ram is being guarded by the gods. Soon, Phra Ram wakes up, but he is
completely unaware of what has happened during the previous night. However,
when he sees Maiyarab's head, he realizes that Hanuman's valour has saved his life.

Volume 74 ( 1986)
META-RHYMES IN CLASSICAL
THAI POETRY
ABSTRACT
Descriptions of rhyme patterns in classical Thai verse are found in Thai versification
textbooks and Thai literary anthologies. These descriptions are meticulous in
their discussion and detail. Because of this detail, it appears that each verse form has its
own idiosyncratic pattern that must be learned individually. To determine the validity of
this impression, this study examines and compares the rhyme patternsofthefive classical
Thai vl.!rse forms: riiay, kh loOTJ, kiwp. elvin, and klccn. The study concludes that the
rhyme schemes are not idiosyncratic; but, rather_ they are based on three primary
couplet patterns (meta-rhymes), with the use of each pattern dependent upon the number
of lines (wak) in each stanza. These patterns, moreover, are highly conserv ative in
that they have exhibited little or no change throughout the history of Thai literature.

39
Journal of The Siam Society
Meta-Rhymes in Classical Thai Poetry
Poetry has always held a significant position in the literature of Thailand.
Working with five different verse forms, Thai poets, over the centuries, have
created a body, of work that compares in quality with the very best of Western
literature. Much of the beauty of this poetry derives from the mastery of rhyme
patterns that characterize all forms of classical Thai verse.
Traditionally, descriptions of classical Thai verse forms and ryhme patterns
have been found in Thai versification textbooks known as chdnrhalak (Pali
chandu - prosody; laksana - characteristics) and in Thai literary anthologies. Phya
Uppakir Silpasarn's Ldk phaasaa thay [Principles of the Thai language] (196S) is
generall y considered the best of the chcln thci/cik series and Plfa11 mi? mikhccn's
Prawat ~vanna -kh6dii thay samrclp naksiksaa [History of Thai Literature for
Students] (19M) the best of the anthologies. 1 Sources in Western languages have
I . The fo llowing phonetic transcription is used in this study:
Consonanls
Bilabial Labio-Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Dental
Stops p ph b t th d c ch k kh ?
Fricatives f s h
Nasals m n lJ
Laterals I
Trills r
Semi-vowels w y
High
Mid
Low
no mark
Front
i, ii, ia
e, ee
£, ££
Central
Unrounded
i, ii , ia
e, ee
a, aa
Back
Rounded
u, uu , ua
0,00
c, cc
Tones
mid tone
low tone
falling tone
high tone
rising tone

40
Volume 74 (1986}
included Bidyalankarana (1926), Schweisguth (1951), Mosel (1959, 1961), Wenk
(1961). Simmonds (1963), Jones and Mendiones (1970), and Chitakasem (1972).
During the past ten years, the number of studies on the structure and development
of classical Thai poetry has increased significantly: Gedney (1978), Cooke (1lJ80),
Kuo (1980), Bickner (1981), Hudak (1981), and Bofman (1984). Investigations into
the verse forms found in the dialects outside Central Thai have also become
prominent: Wijeyewardene (1968), Egerod (1971), Hartmann (1976. 1981, 1983),
and Compton (1979).
All of these studies recognize the importance of rhyme for Thai poetry,
both as a source of aesthetic pleasure and as a feature in constructing stanzas (see
Hudak 1981 for details). A few of the studies discuss similarities in the rhyme
schemes between two or three of the Thai verse forms (Uppakit 1968; Hudak 1981).
None. however, investigates the rhyme schemes of all five of the classical Thai verse
forms: raay, khlooTJ, kaap, chan," and klccn. Because of this lack of a single study on
rhyme in classical Thai poetry, this paper considers the following. First, it examines
Thai stanzaic components and specific types of rhyme required for stanzas; second,
it compares the rhyme schemes of the classical verse forms and reduces them to
those primary patterns, meta-rhymes, that consistently appear in all the classical
forms.
Descriptions of all the major verse types in the chlmthalak consist of a
scheme of each verse type. a list or discussion of the constraints on each form, and a
s!10rt example that. in theory. exhibits the constraints. although this is not always
the case. In some versions. there are attempts to provide a history of the verse
forms. AU chiinthalak list the constituents requisite for a poem: khcma?, the
structure of each verse type; phayaaTJ, the specific number of syllables set for each
verse type; and stimphat, the rhyme requirements.
The khana? of a Thai poem consists of several components which are found
in all verse forms, their number and arrangement dependent upon the verse type.
Each verse type has a required number of syllables, phayaaTJ, arranged into groups
called wak. Usually two wak complete a line of poetry, a baat; and one or more bclat
form a stanza, bOt. Each stanza exhibits¥'ecificrhyme patterns. A typical stanza without
the rhyme pattern appears as follows. · ·
2. Each 0 repn:sents one syllable. In Thai, wdk making up a bilat are generally printed un the same line.

41
Journal of The Siam Society
bOt
baat
baat
wak
00000
00000
00000
00000
While the khcina? describes the basic requirements for the structure of a
particular verse type, it is the rhyming patterns that create the greatest variation and
often determine the excellence of the poem. In fact, it is the rhyme that signals a
poem, for without rhyme, a poem cannot exist in Thai. Mosel (1961:9) relates an
incident in which Prince Bidyalankarana, wishing to determine the importance of
rhyme in poetry, inserted a few ~tanzas of blank verse into a lecture on poetry, only
to discover that the audience was completely unaware of the blank verse because of
the lack of rhyme. Rhyme in Thai can be divided into two major types:1) samphat
neck - external rhyme, or rhyme that occurs between end syllables of wak; and 2)
samphat nay - internal rhyme, or rhyme that occurs between syllables within a wak.
External rhyme, considered compulsory for poetry, is always the type in
which two syllables are alike in all respects except the tones and the initial
consonants. In earlier poetry the tones on the syllables also had to agree for the
syllables to rhyme. In the following example taken from the klccn classic? lnaw of
Rama II (1809-24), these external rhymes are underlined.
dcckmaay thUk ph an kc banda an
flower every kind then produce
bcckbaan keesccn khacccn klin
bloom pollen spread in air smell
phummareet rcn rCCT) booybin
bee fly in circles call fly
prasaan siaT) phiaT) phinphaat khcc'Tl
unite sound as orchestra ring
(klccT) rhymes with the final syllable of the second wak of the
following stanza, linking the two.)
Flowers of every kind bloom and produce fragrant pollen floating

42
Volume 74 (1986)
and spreading in the air. Bees fly in a circle buzzing, uniting their
sounds like the sounds of an orchestra.
External rhyme is considered compulsory in poetry for several reasons.
First, it helps create the melodious and pleasing quality (phayrc?) essential to Thai
poetic aesthetics. Repeatedly, in literary anthologies, in printed introductions to the
poetry classics, in reviews of new literary compositions, and in the poems
themselves, highly esteemed and valued works are described as phayrc?.
A second reason for external rhyme is discussed by Mosel in "Sound and
Rhythm in Thai Poetry." In that article, Mosel (1959:31) claims that Thai verse
forms, with the exception of chan, have demarcative rhythm, which " .. .is obtained
by grouping the syllables into a fixed number or groups with a fixed number of
syllables." These groups are marked by pauses at the end of each group. To
emphasize these groups, external rhyme pairs are used. Kuo (1980:22) also makes
the claim that external rhyme patterns help to determine and to mark rhythmic
groupings.
Finally, external rhyme is instrumental in the formation of stanzas, for it
orders formalized patterns of syllables. In the formation of stanzas, external rhyme
is discussed in terms of rounds or ruat. A ruat yay (major round) is completed when
the end syllables of two wak rhyme. One completed ruat yay is necessary for one
stanza. In his discussion of klccn, Phya Uppakit Silpasarn (1968:359) maintains that
the minimum number of bilat per stanza is generally two (each baat consists of two
wak) because the ruat yay begun in the first baat is completed in the. second.
Schematically, such a klccn stanza appears as follows with the ruat yay linking the
second wak of the first baat with the first wak of the second baat:
baat 1
baat 2
a
b
000000
000000~
oooooo__j
c
d 000000
In maalinii chan 15, however, a stanza consists of a single baat divided into
three wak: 3 a
b
c
******001
O*OO_j
*00
3. The chem meters are based on two different types of syllables designated as light ami heavy. Each •
represents a light syllable and each 0 a heavy one.
/

43
Journal of The Siam Society
The single baat of this meter completes a stanza because the ruat yay begun on the last
syllable of wak a is completed on the last syllable of wak b. The basis for the Thai stanza,
then, is the couplet, "the most rudimentary form of stanzaic organization ... " (Fussell
1979: 129). Phya Uppakit's claim that the minimum number of bilatper stanza is generally
two probably results from the fact that most popular verse forms, including the klccn
stanzas, have stanzas of two baat.
Conceivably, a single complete stanza could consist of only two wak,
provided that the end syllable of these wak rhymed. In mostcases, however, stanzas
appear in series. With this arrangement. the stanzas are nearly always linked to each
other with another rhyme also considered part of the ruat yay. In a series of maalinii
chan 15, this linking rhyme occurs between wak c of the first stanza and wak a of
the second.
a ******00
b 0*00
c
a' *OO:=J=]
******00,
b' 0*00
c' *00
fhese linkin_g rhymes between stanzas are almost always present and can continue
for thousands of stanzas.
Besides the ruat yay, external rhyme also includes the ruat lek (minor
round) which optionally appears in stanzas with more than three wak. The ruat tek
links the last syllable of a wak with one of the early syllables, usually the third, in
the following wak. Schematically the rii.at lek appears as follows:
a 000000
b 660000
c 000000
d 000000
Because the ruat lek does not link the two end syllables of wak a and wak b, it cannot be
the basis for a stanza.
The other type of rhyme important to Thai poetry is internal rhyme,
ftimphilt nay, rhyme which occurs between syllables within a wak:
dcckmaay thuk phan kc bandaan
flower every kind then produce
bcckbaan keesccn kbacccn klin

44
Volume 74 (1986)
bloom pollen spread smell
in air
Examples in the above two wak include phan with ban, and keesccn with khtlcccn.
Alliterative pairs such as keesccn and klin are also classified as types of internal rhyme.
While not compulsory, internal rhyme is the area in whicq Thai poets display their
versatility. In many cases, it is thought that the poets kept their rhyming patterns secret,
only revealing them before death to their students.
In all chiinthtilak, ,each ruat yay pattern appears with the khana? of each
· verse type. The descriptions of the khana? and the syllables linked by the rhyme are
meticulous, but the very detail of these descriptions obscures a fundamental
simplicity. This wealth of detail and description suggest that each verse type in Thai,
whether it be khlooTJ, kaap, klccn, or one of the chan meters, has its own
idiosyncratic rhyme scheme. Such is not the case, for all of the meters of classic Thai
verse are based on similar patterns. These similarities can be best observed by
div~ding the five verse types into two groups. raay and khloo'fl, the earliest Thai
verse forms, form the first group; kaap, chdn, and klccn complete the second. In
addition to the intra-group similarities, other parallels in rhyme appear when the
two groups are compared to each other.
raay and khloo'fl
Most chiinthalak and Western studies on khlOOTJ acknowledge that
similarities in rhyme exist between raay and khloo'fl (Uppakit 1968, Bickner 1981,
Hartman 1983). Other similarities appear among the different khlOOTJ varieties.
Comparing these various forms reveals that the similarities are based upon the
structure of each stanzaic form, and three basic rhyme patterns.
raay is a type of rhymed prose usually consisting of wak of five syllables
each and linked together by rhyme;a series of any number of wak forms a single
stanza. There are four basic types of rday:
1) raay booraan
00000 00000....---.-0";""';0000 00000
2) raay sitphdap in which the last three wak have the same pattern
as the last three wak in khJOOTJ 2 ,Sitphdap.
00000 00000 oo6o6 oooo6 oooo (00)
3) raay dan in which the last four wak have the same pattern as
baat three and baat four in khlooTJ 4 dan.

45
Journal of The Siam Society
00000 00000 00000 00 00000 00(00)
4) raay yaaw in which the number of syllables per wak is not set
I
and the rhyme pattern links the last syllable of a wak with any
syllable in the following wak.
In these early verse types, two rhyme patterns consistently appear. Occurring in all
the rday forms the first pattern links the final syllable of a wak with an early syllable
of the following wak.. forming the ruat tek of a formal stanza:
00000 00000
The second rhyme pattern is the couplet in which the end syllables of two
wak rhyme. This couplet also, in part, signals the completion of a passage of raay
suphaap:
oooob oooo6 0000(00)
Characteristicofraaysuphiiap, thecoupletmayalsooccurinraayyaaw, althoughitisnot
listed as a required pattern.
Two basic types of khloOTJ verse appear in the Thai literary corpus, khlOOTJ
suphaap and khlOOTJ dan. 4 These two types, nearly identical, vary chiefly in syllable
number. although minor differences in tone placement and in rhyme scheme also
occur. In khlooTJ, the rhyme patterns between syllables nearly always require that
the two rhyming syllables have the same tone. Both types of kh!OOTJ have varieties
with stanzas of two baat (khloOTJ 2), du'ee baat (khloOTJ 3) and four bizat (khlooTJ 4).
Each of the numbers in the name refers to the number of five syllable wak in the
respective stanzas. A baat can be further divided into two wak.
Both khlOOTJ 2 suphfiap and khlOOTJ 2 dan have identical external rhyme
patterns, a couplet linking the two bt'lat in each stanza: maat and raat in khlooTJ 2
5
suphaap, nccy and cccy in khlOOTJ 2 dan.
4. The klt/ooTJ verse form was developed when the Thai language had a three tone system. Sometime
bctwt:en the fourteenth and sixteenth century these tones split, forming the present day five tone
system. Because of this split, much of the khlOOTJ poetry seems to be filled with errors. A significant
number of these errors disappear when the original tones are used in reading the verse. See Bickner
1981 for a complete discussion.
5. In Thai, the last two wdk (the second baat) are printed on the same lint:.

46
Volume 74 (1986)
kh[OOT) 2 suphfiap
taa mian taa man'kmaat ~
eye like eye deer _,_.__j
phit khiw phra Icc raat
look at eyebrow Phra Icc royal
pradut keew kawthan koTJ naa
like jewel bow arch particle
His eyes are like the eyes of the deer. Gaze at Phra Lee's eyebrows.
They are arched like the jeweled bow. Is it not so?
Lilit phrti? lee
khlooTJ 2 dan
baanncck rEETJ Iek ncey
countryside strength little small
baaT)racan cccy ecey
proper name little little
cithaan
brave
There is little strength in the countryside. BaaT)racan's bravery is little.·
Sadudii baan baaT)raean kham praphan baaTJ rfaTJ Phya Uppakit Silpasarn
Schematically these two forms appear as follows. In addition, the diagrams show
that the linking rhymes between stanzas are identical.
khlOOT) 2 suphfiap
ooooo--,
ooooo_j Moo (oo)
60006
khlooTJ 2 dan
ooooo---,
ooooo_joo
oo6M
khlooTJ 3 stanzas also have the same external rhyme schemes. Both stanzas
are formed by adding a third bilat of five syllables and by linking it to the couplet
with a ruat Iek.
kh/OOT) 3 suphfiap kh/OOT) 3 dan
00009 00009 .
ooooo---,
ooooo_joooo coQ)
666oo
ooooo--,
oooM_joo
066oo

47
Journal of The Siam Society
Phya Uppakit (J968:403) suggests that thes~ two types of khlOOTJ are similar, but
fails to clarify the similarities; he does point out, however, that the couplet in
khlooTJ 3 dan may end on the fourth syllable rather than on the fifth.
khlooTJ 4 stanzas are far more complex; The chief difference between these
stanzas and the khlooTJ 2 and khlooTJ 3 stanzas lies in the couplet structure. Couplets
in the khlooTJ 4 stanzas are formed by the end syllables of two wak which are
separated by other intervening wak:
00000]
00000
00000
00000
In the khlooTJ 2 and khloOTJ 3 stanzas, on the other hand, no such intervening wak
exist in the couplets.
Although more complex, the two types of khloOTJ 4 stanzas are strikingly
similar both in structure and in rhyme. khlooTJ 4 suphdap thammadaa and khlOOTJ 4
dan wiwitthtimaalii represent the two most common varieties of khlooTJ 4:

4H
Volume 74 (1986)
kh[OOTJ. 4 suphflap thammadaa
slaT) Iii slaT) Law ?daTJ ?an day phii ?ccy
sound rumor sound tell say whatever older particle
sibling
siaT) ycm ycc y6t khray thiia Ida
sound likely raise honor who every where earth
SCCT) khia phii lap lay liim tiin rii phii
two you two older to be forget wake particle older
sibling sound silbling
asleep
SCCT) phii kft ?eeT) ?aa yaa day thaam phi a
two older think self particle do not get ask we
sibling
What are these rumors? What do they say? Whose honor is raised throughout the
land? Have you two been sleeping so soundly that you've forgotten to awaken?
Think for yourself: don't ask us.
yaam
time
period
phiiak
group
khOmkhii
tyrannize
diiay
with
naat
destruction
khlooT) 4 dan wlwitthamaalii
khaat caak caaw
separate from title, you
from
phamaa thaarun
Burmese cruel, harsh
khUkkhaam pen ----------J
threaten
cit
heart
be
hoothtam
ruthless,
cruel
khlday -------------'
similar
L£llt phra? lee
cam
remember
rut
terrible
.---------------------~
paathian
savage
sat
animal
That time of destruction, ·separated from you (Siam),-remember the calamity:
Groups of the cruel and terrible Burmese tyrannizing and threatening, savages with
ruthless hearts like animals of the forest.
Sildudii bdan baaT)rdean kham praphan baaTJ rfaTJ Phya Uppakit Silpasarn
khen
adversity
calamity
raay
fierce
I
ph ray
forest

49
Journal of The Siam Society
Comparing the structures of these two khlOOTJ 4 stanzas reveals only three differences in
rhyme patterns:
kh/OOTJ 4 suphaap thammadaa
00000 00(00)
ooooo-, rOO
00000~~(00)
ooooO__j ~ooo(oo)
06600 00(00)
khlooTJ 4 dan wlwltthdmaalii
ooooOJi(oo)
00000 0
000~(00)
00000 00(00)
ooooo rio(oo)
ooooo_j bO
First, in khlooTJ 4 suph4ap thammadaa, wak two rhymes with the couplet completed
by wak three and wak five. In khlooTJ 4 dan wlwltthamaalii, on the other hand, wak
two forms its own couplet with wak five.
A second difference is found in the couplet formed by wak four and wak
seven of both stanzas. In khlOOTJ 4 thammddaa, the rhyme must fall on the fifth
syllable of the wak. In khlooTJ 4 wlwltthdmaalii the rhyme may fall on either the
fourth or the fifth syllable.
The. last difference lies in the linking rhymes between stanzas. In khlOOTJ 4
thammadaa the last wdk rhymes with the first wak of the following stanza. In
khlOOTJ 4 wlwitthdma-alii the link is with the third wak.
Both khlooTJ 4 th~mmadaa and khlooTJ 4 wlwltthdmaalii serve as models
from which other khlooTJ varieties derive. As models, these stanzas exhibit the most
common rhyming patterns as defined in the versification textbooks. The variations
are based on. changes in these rhyme patterns. Those stanzas differing from the
khfOOTJ 4 thammddaa stanza include khfOOTJ 4 SUphaap cattawaathanthii and khfOOTJ
4 suphaap triiphltthaphan:
khlooTJ 4 suphaap varieties
thammadaa
00000~(00)
ooooo M
oooooJrOo(oo)
ooooO___jOOOQ(OO}
ooooo oo
cattawaathanthii
ooomoo {00)
00000 00
oooooJ r0o(oo) ·
ooooO_j ~000(00)
triiphltthaphan
000~0 (00)
00000 0
ooooo I ~
00000~ ~~0(00)

50
Volume 74 (1986)
khloo"l 4 cattawaathanthii places the rhyme on the fourth syllable of the
third wak rather than on the fifth syllable as in khloo"l 4 thammddaa. Phya Uppakit
(1968:386) notes that the compounded name· of the stanza suggests that there is a
requirement to place the rhyme on the fourth syllable (cattawaa- fQur;
thanthii- walking stick, to have ill effects). In kh/oo"l 4 triiphltthdphan the rhyme
falls on the third syllable of the third wdk. Phya Uppakit (ibid.) also explains that
the name of the stanza implies that the rhyme falls on the third syllable
(triiphit- three places; phan- character, letter). Neither ·the kh/oo"l 4
cattawaa-thanthii nor the kh/oo"l 4 triiphltthaphan variety has any linking rhyme
between stanzas. These similariti~ are briefly acknowledged in the literature.
(Uppakit 1968:386-87; Jones 1970:199; Bickner 1981:109).
For khloo"l 4 dan stanzas, the khloo"l 4 dan wlwltthdmaalii stanza provides
th~ • model. Phya Uppakit (19.68:391) maintains that the meaning of
wiwitthdmaalii-to be in good order, systematic-has no significance for the structure
of the stanza. Variations of the khloo"l 4 wlwltthdmaalii stanza include khloo"l 4 dan
btlat kunchccn, kh/OO'fl 4 dan Cattawaathanthii, and kh[OOT} 4 dan triiphftthaphan.
Like the suphtlap stanzas, the dan varieties differ from the khloo"l 4 wlwltthdmaalii
stanza in rhyme patterns:
~hloo"l 4 dan varieties
wlwlthdmaalii btlat kunchccn cattawaathanthii triiphltthdphan
oooOO oo(oo) oooOO oo(oo) oooOO .----22.(00) oooOO · oo(oo)
o0ooo ,...---oo o0ooo l1ill . oo~ ~ o00oo J I . ~
oc00o_)j0ikoo) ooiloo J 11(DO) oot'IOO" ~oo) oOOoo..J 1 j!)(oo)
ooooo oo(oo) oooM o(oo) ooooi=Toolr 1-6( (oo) ooo~,Qg
00000 r0o(OO) 00060J00(00) 00000 00(00) 0009L--JOO(OO)
ooooa--J oo ooooa----J ooo o ooooo
The khlooT} 4 btlat kunchccn stanza displays the simplest variation with the
addition of a linking rhyme between the last syllable of wdk six of the first stanza .
and the fourth or fifth syllable of the . first wdk of the following stanza. btlat
kunchccn translates as ·the footprint of an elephant, Phya Uppai.Qt (1968:494)
explains; and the rhyme pairs occur diagonally across from each other, similar to the
position of the elephant's legs when walking. The khloo"l 4 dan cattawaathanthii
varies only slightly from khloo"l 4 baat kunchccn. As the stf:ip.Za name suggests, the
rhyme falls on the fourth syllable of the fifth wdk and on the fourth syllable of the

51
Journal of The Siam Society
underlying 5-syllable line in Thai (Siamese) cannonical form and
the feature of rhyming syllables according to their membership in
the earlier A, B, and C tones categories~ .. the historical picture
might well be viewed as one where the "primitive" raay of an
earlier oral tradition became the polished khlOOTJ of a more
self-conscious written tradition."
Historical literary evidence seems to support this claim, for, according to Mosel
(1959a:6-7}, the earliest raay predates the Sukhothai period (thirteenth century) while
the earliest khlOOTJ begins to appear in the fourteenth century.
A closer examination of these forms in terms of their rhyme scheme further
suggests that the forms are 'closely related. In the examination of raay suphaap it was
stated that the last three wak of the stanza must be the same as kh./OOTJ2 suphaap. In fact,
the last three wdk of raay suphaap with the rhyme scheme and the tone placement
constitute the khlooTJ 2 suphaap stanza:
oooM---,
oooo6___j o6oo(oo)
khlooTJ 3 suphaap, furthermore, is the same as the last four wak of raay
suphaap:
00000
00600---,
o0006____j 0600(00)
An even more striking parallelism occurs with the khlooT) 4 dan in which
the last four wak are the same as the last four wdk of raay dan:
00000 00(00}
00000 00
00000 00(00)
00000 00(00)
These similarities are occasionally mentioned in the literature; but because
of their wording, the discussions on this point seem to suggest that the khlOOTJ
stanzas have been used to terminate the raay stanzas. Since, historically, formalized
khloOT) patterns do not appear until well after the raay stanzas, this cannot be the
case. Rather, the khlOOTJ stanzas must have developed from the raay, the poets
adopting the same tone placement, cannonical form, and rhyme scheme as the last

52
Volume 74 (1986)
third wdk in the following stanza. Aside from these rhyming pattern differences, the
two stanzas are identical. A similar pattern of rhyme on the fourth syllable appears
in the suphdap variety .
. khlooTI 4 dan triiphltthdphan presents only a slightly different variation. In
this case the linking rhyme from the last wdk of the stanza falls on the third syllable
of the third wak in the following stanza. There is no rhyme with the third syllable in
wdk five of the first stanza because the tones of the two rhyming syllables are
different. This requirement for the rhyme to fall on the third syllable is suggested by
the name of the stanza.
All the external rhyme patterns occurring in raay and khlOO'fl can be
reduced to three basic couplet types. First, a couplet may be formed by two wdk
with one wdk immediately following the other as in the khlooTI 2 and khlooTI 3
stanzas:
ooooo-,
00000~
A second couplet type may be formed by two wdk with one or more wdk
intervening between the rhyming pair as in the khlooTI 4 stanzas:
00000 00{00)
00000 r--oo
ooooo_J r---GOcoo) .
ooooo_j oocoo)
These two couplets, with end syllables of the wdk rhyming, form the ruat yay, the
basis of a Thai stanza. The third couplet type, most prominent in the raay stanzas,
may be formed by the end syllable of a wdk and one of the early syllables of a
following wdk:
~9~00
00000
This couplet, the ruat lek, is never the sole basis of a stanza, other than in raay.
A final observation on raay and khlooTI concerns their historical
relationship. It has been suggested that on the basis of " ... the similarities in syllable
number and tone placement in raay ·and. kh/oo'fl, ... raay may have been the
forerunner of the khlooTI verse forms" (Hudak 1981:21). I:Iartmann (1983:4) makes
the same point about the two forms:
because " ... both share the common feature of an ideal or

53
Journal of The Siam Society
wdk of raay suphaap and raay dan.
kaap, chan, and klccn
While the similarities in raay and khloo'Tl are occasionally ackno~ledged,
those in the second group are not. The three couplet patterns found in the first
group also occur in kaap, chan, and klccn, the appearance of each pattern
dependent upon the number of wdk in a stanza.
1. The three-wak stanzas
The first of these patterns, the cquplet without intervening wdk appears in
stanzas consisting of three wdk as kaap chaba'Tl 16:
kaap chaba'fl 16
saamsipsaam sia .Oophaa~
thirty-three head beautiful
sia ni'TI cet . 'Tlaa
head one seven tusks
daTI phetchanlt ruucii------....,
like
diamond jewel bright, glorious
{The elephant) had thirty three beautiful heads and each head had
seven tusks which were like bright diamonds.
Kham. phtzak raammdkian
Royal Composition group, Rama II
In this three-wdk stama the final syllables of the first two wdk, phaa and
T}aa, complete the couplet without intervening wdk. The final syllable in the third
wak, cii, provides the linking rhyme with the last syllable of the first wdk in the next
stanza. Other verse types with this same rhyme pattern include maalinii chan 15 6
meekhdwlpphut-chltaa chan 19, satthunlawlkkiillta? chan 19, and ?iithlsa? chan 20:
maalinii chdn 15
******00-""-J
O*OO__j
*00--~
6. Other verse for~~ with this patter~_include: p~ph~t~h~ka? chan15, sasikala? chan 15, maniikhananlkara?
chan 15, waanfnu chan 16, hccranu chdn 17, stkhmnu c/zan 17, manthakkantaa chan 17 ·and kilsu r -'l'"'­
daawenlltaa chan 18. ' m.tu u

54
Volume 74 (1986)
meekhdwlpphutchltaa chan 19
satthunlawlkkiillta? chan 19
?iithlsa? chan 20
*00000*****01
o•oo_J
*00----,
000**0*0***01
OO*OO_J
*0-----.
*00-----.1
The three-wdk pattern is almost identical with the one in the khlOOTJ 2 stanza which
also consists of three wak. The difference resides in the linking rhyme; in klilooTJ
the rhyme is with the first syllable of the wak, not the last syllable as in these forms.
2. The four-wdk stanzas
The couplet without intervening wak appears in stanzas of four wak as
?inthdrawlchian chan 11:
?inthdrawlchian chlin.Jl
bay phoo suwan hccy
leaf Bo tree gold hung
rayaa yecy be
pendant hang loosely not ragged
ru~
lorn phat kradiT) daTJ .
wind blow bell to sound
sane saptM ?onwee'T)
melodious sounds agreeable
to the ears
The leaves of the golden Bo tree hang loose and not ragged. The
wind blows the bells and makes melodious, agreeable sounds.
Bunnoowaat kham chan
The final syllables in the second and third wak, TQT) and daTJ, complete the
couplet. The last syllable of the fourth wak, wee'T), provides the linking rhyme with

55
Journal of The Siam Society
the last syllable of the first wak of the next stanza. If the ruat /ek, the third couplet
type, appears, it is generally between the last syllable of the first wak and one of the
early syllables, usually the third, o~ the second wak. In the above example hecy and
yccy form the rtlat Lek. Besides ?inthtlrawlchian chan 11, these rhyme patterns also
occur in the following frequently used verse types:kaap yaanii 11, toodokka? chdn
• 7
I2, ?inthtlwo11 chan I2, wasantadilokka? chan 14, klccn hOk, and klccn peet.
kaap yaanii II
00000
oooooo----,
ooooo__j
oooooo--..,
?inthtlwo11 chan I2
00*00
**0*0*01
OO*OO_j
**0*0*0--...,
klccn hok
000000
oooooo----,
oooooo__j
oooooo----.
toodokka? chan I2
**0**0
**O**O--,
**O**O___j
**O**O-----r
wasantadilokka? chan I4
00*0***0
**0*00--,
00*0***0 ___j
**0*00--...,
klccn piet
00000000
oooooooo----,
oooooooo__J
00000000·--.....
It should be noted that the couplet and linking rhyme in the four-wak
stanzas are the same as those in the three-wak stanzas. The difference between the
stanzas lies in the addition of another wak, which may bear a ruat lek rhyme, in the
four-wak stanzas. Uppakit (1968:431) does note these similarities in rhyme between
kaap yaanii 11 and the klccn stanzas.
7. Other verse forms with this pattern include: ttlnumatchanaa chan 6, kumaaraltHflaa chan 7,
phachakluisllsuuhata? chan 9, rummawadii chlin 10, sutthawlraachltaa chan 10, panawa? chlin 10,
manooramma? chan 10, camptiktlmaalaa chlin 10, mattaa chiin 10, ?upeentharawlchilln chan 11,
?upachdat chan 11, surasdsiri? chan .11, saallnii chan 11, sllmukhii chan ,11, ?upatthitaa chan 11,
sawaakhataa chlin 11, thoothokka? chan 11, rath6otthataa chiin 11, phatthlkaa·clttln 11, thaatummftsaa
chlin 11, plytrfJwathaa chan 12, thutdwOamphlttamaalaa chiin 12, /alltaa chan 12, pamltakkhtlraa chlin
12, putta? chan 12, ?utchdlaa chiin 12, hitaamarotsa? chan 12, kllsummawfcit chan 12, kammalaa chan
12, phuchOTJkhapaydat chan 12, Wtl'fJSatthtl? chiin 12, weetsatheewii chan 12, pahiiasinii chan 13,
ruciraa chan 13, paharanakallkaa chan 14, paraachlta? chiin 14.

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'Volume 74 (1986)
Similar parallels exist with the khloOTJ 3 stanzas which also consist of a rtlat
lek followed by a couplet. As with the khlooT) 2 stanzas, the linking rhyme, falling
on the first syllable of the ne::tt wdk rather than the last, differentiates· the khlooTJ
stanzaS from these four-wak stallZas.
3. The eight-wdk stanza
Stanzas of eight-wak, as maandwakka? chan 8, include ·a combination of all
three couplet types:
maaridwakka? chan 8
?ee
?ih1r4at
oh
a name
praat thunikaan
without cause of anger
raw ke prathaan
I
we then bestow
thOotsa ka ?OTJ
punishment to person
tee khan a nfi
but time this
mii siri · SOT)
have all form
rduppa 18 khOT)
form and firm
deem be mi klaay-------.
previous · not have change
Oh, Inlaraat, you without the cause of anger. (At that time) we
· bestowed punishment upon you, but now you have your entire
shape and form, firm as before without any change. ·
? Inlardat kham chan
The last syllables of wak two and wak three, kaan and thaan, complete the
couplet without intervening wak. Three wak complete the couplet with intervening
wdk (this couplet is actually linked to another couplet without intervening wak):wak
four, six, and seven. As in other stanzas, the linking rhyme begins on the last
syllable of the last wak, klaay. Frequently, two n2at /ek appear, ~me be~een the

57
Journal of The Siam Society
first and second wdk, raat and praat, and the other between the fifth and sixth, nii
and mii.
In forms with eight wdk per stanza, the external rhyme pattern is the same.
as the pattern of two four-wak stanzas combined.
a 0000
b 0000~
c 0000
d
e ~0~ 0000
f 0000
g 0000
h 0000
a' 0000
b' 0000~
c' 0000
d' 0000
e' 0000
f' 0000
g' 0000
h' 0000
wak a through wak d and wake through wak h represent the two four-wak stanzas,
linked together by the same external rhyme which would link two separate four-wak
stanzas (wak d with wak f). To distinguish two eight-wak stanzas linked together
from four four-wdk stanzas linked together, a linking rhyme between the stanzas
extends from wak h, the last wak of the stanza, to wak d' in the next stanza. The linking
rhyme between two four-wak stanzas would terminate at wak b'.
kaap suraaTJkhdnaaTJ 28 also employs the eight-wdk pattern even though it
consists of seven wak.
kaap suraaTJkhdnaaTJ 28
pranaTJ kan khccy
gather together wait
milTJ meen ton rccy
intend look body trace

58
Volume 74 (1986)
be hen khaawii
not see cow
reT] yen reT] yam
quick dusk quick evening
reT] kham reT] tii
quick night quick early morning
?ok hay baa sii
heart weep look for excellent
phritsop
cow
maandaa
mother
They waited together and then looked for traces of the body. But
still they did not see Khawii, the cow. Quickly came the dusk and
evening. Quickly came the night and early morning. They wept
looking for their mother.
Sia khoo kham chiin
What differentiates the kaap form from the eight-wak form is the absence of the
first wak, which carries no ruat yay in the eight-wak pattern. In kaap
suraa1Jkhdnaa1J 28, a ruat Lek appears between wak four and wak five, yam and
kham.
Other eight-wak verse types include cittapathaa chiin 8, samaanika? chan 8,
pamaanika? chan 8, and witchummaalaa chan 8. Although consisting of eight-wak,
the khloo11 4 varieties do not employ this same combination of couplet types. The
khloo11 varieties, however, are similar, in that couplets with intervening wak
predominate.
Conclusion
From this examination of classical Thai verse forms, the following
generalizations can be made. Three metarhyme patterns, all based on the couplet,
exist as external rhyme patterns in Thai verse forms. A couplet formed by two
successive wak appears in stanzas of three and four wak. khlooTJ stanzas with three
and four wak complete a separate group from the other three and four wak stanzas,
kaap, chan, and klccn, because of the difference in linking rhyme patterns. In the
khloo11 stanzas, this linking rhyme falls on one of the first three syllables of the first
wak of the next stanza. In the other group the rhyme falls on the last syllable of the
wak.

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Journal of The Siam Society
A couplet formed by two wak with intervening wak constitutes the second
meta-pattern. This pattern appears in stanzas with seven and eight wak. The khlooTt
4 stanzas again form a separate group, for they display slightly different
combinations of patterns from those in the kaap and chan starizas.
The last meta-pattern is a cpuplet in which a final syllable rhymes with a
non-final syllable in the following wak. This rhyme pattern appears only in stanzas
with four or more wak. Unlike the two other couplets, this rhyme sequence cannot
be used as the basis of a stanza,. other than in raay.
All of the external rhyme patterns discussed in the versification textbooks
can be reduced to these three couplet types. These forms are highly conservative in
that they exhibit little or no change. Occasionally, nonce forms with different
patterns have been tried, particularly in the chan meters, but they have remained
rare experimentations. 8 Such conservatism has constrained poets in the forms they
can use. As a consequence, they have turned to developing internal rhyme patterns
where, it is said, their true genius lies.
Thomas John Hudak
University of Kentucky
8. See hti/amukhli chan 9, ?upphaphaasokkti? cht'in 10, stitthtiraa chan 21, and phtitthtikti? chtin 22. More
recently, there have been attempts at composing free verse in Thai. ·

60
Volume 74 (1986)
References
· Bickner, Robert John. 1981, A Linguistic Study of a Thai Literary Classic. Ph.D. dissertation. The
University of Michigan.
Bidyalankarana, H. H. Prince 1921, "The Pastime of Rhyme-making and Singing in Rural Siam."
Journal of the Siam Society 20.2:101-27.
Bofman, Theodora Helene. 1984, The Poetics of the Ramakian. DcKalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois
University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies (Special Report 21).
Chitakasem, Manas. 1972, "The Emergence and Development of the Nirat Genre in Thai Poetry."
Journal of the Siam Society 60.2:135-68.
Compton, Carol J. 1979, Courting Poetry in Laos: A Textural and Linguistic Analysis. DeKalb, Ill.:
Northerp Illinois University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies (Special Report 18).
Cooke, Joseph R. 1980, "Th.e Thai Khlong Poem: Descriptions and Examples." Journal of the American
Oriental Society 100.4:421-37.
Egerod, Soren (trans.). 1971, The Poem in Four Songs. Lund, Sweden: Student Litteratur.
Gedney, William J. 1978, "Siamese Verse Forms in Historical Perspective." A paper presented at the
Conference on Southeast Asian Aesthetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Hartmann, John F. 1976, The Linguistic and Memory Structure of Tai-Lue Oral Narrative'. Ph.D.
dissertation. The University of Michigan.
-------· 1981. "Computations on a Black Tai Origin Myth." Allthropological Linguistics
May 1981:1-19. ·
-------• 1983. "Tai Dam Poetics and Proto-Tai Tone Categories." A paper read
at the 14th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, University of
Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Hudak, Thomas John. 1981, The Indigenization of Pali Meters in Thai. Ph.D. dissertation. The
University of Michigan.
Jones, Robert B. and Ruchira Mendiones. 1970, Introduction to Thai Lit~rature. Ithaca, N.Y.:
Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University.
Kuo, William. 1980, "The Prosodic Structure of Ram a Il's klccn." Journal of the Siam Society 68.2:15-33.
Mosel, James N. 1959a., A Survey of Classical Thai Poetry. Bangkok.
-------· 1959b., "Sound and Rhythm in Thai and English Verse." Phaasaa I£? na'll sii
[Language and Books]1:29-34.
-------· 1961, Trends and Structure in Contemporary Thai Poetry . .Ithaca, N.Y.: Southeast
Asia Program, Data Paper 43, Cornell University.
Plia'll na? nakhccn. 1964, Prawat wannakhadii thay samrap naksiksaa [History of Thai Literature for
Students]. 8th printing. Bangkok: Thay Watthanaa Phaanft.
Schweisguth, P. 1951, Etude sur Ia litterature siamoise. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.
Simmonds, E. H. S. 1963, "Thai Narrative Poetry: Palace and Provincial Texts of an Episode from 'Khun
Chang Khun Paen."' Asia Major N..S. 10.2:279-99.
Uppakit, s:Jpasarn Phya. 1968, Uk Phaasaa thay [Principles of the Thai Language]. Bangkok: Thay
'Watthanaa Phaanft.

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Journal of The Siam Society
Wenk, Klaus. 1961,Die Metrik in der thailiindischen Dictung. Hamburg: Gesellschaft fiir Natur und
Volkerkunde Ostasiens e. V.
Wijeyewardene, Gehan. 1968. "The Language of Courtship in Chiengmai." Journal of the Siam Society
56.1:19-32.

62
Volume 74 (1986)
MERIT AND THE MARKET: THAI
SYMBOLIZATIONS OF SELF-INTEREST
When a coup hits Bangkok the explanation IS always easy. Any fool knows
the coup promotes its leaders' interests. When ruling generals make merit (tham
bun), they do. it to enhance this 'life, not the next one. Buddhism, it seems,
legitimates their power. Thai politics revolves around self-interest. Demonstrations?
They're orchestrated. Votes? They're bought. If you're clever you know who's
behind what and how they do it, but any dunce knows why they do it. Call it money
or power or whatever, but it comes down to self-interest.
That, anyway, is what most popular and much scholarly writing on Thai
politics says-self-interest explains events. Does it? Well such a 'theory' cannot fail,
Self-interest in its widest sense means that in their dealings people maximize
something or other, and that, as Cancian {1968:230) observes, "is one of the
standard restatements of the a priori truth that all human behavior is patterned; that
all human behavior has a reason." Yet this troubles few. Indeed, when so many
think self-interest say~ so much, it suggests a fundamental human 'truth.' Of course
this gets us nowhere. True as it may be, so broad a notion cannot fail to find
consensus. To narrow this we must specify the social and cultural conditions that
favor the recognition of this 'truth.'.
What, then, allows.peoples as different as Thai and Westerners to agree on
seeing self-interest? Here religion offers a clue. While Buddhism and Christianity
differ markedly, both are what Bellah {1964) calls historic religions that radically
devalue this world. This is a precondition for any thorough reductionism, whether
or not it ends in self-interest. Unless one devalues the immediate fabric of life, one
cannot see som.ething clear and simple beneath its everyday complexities. If this
makes self-interest conceivable for both, here the similarities end. Western and
Thai traditions reach self-interest by very different philosophical routes.
For the traditional Thai, Buddhism presumes a craving (taf}hii) that can

tl3
Journal of The Siam Society
thirst for money or power. If this is less human nature than the nature of human
illusion, everyone knows few penetrate the illusions. After all, how few are monks
and how few monks are pure? For a Westerner, however, this is human·nature, and
cynics say the best are only better at disguising their .interests. A Hobbesian man
haunts popular thought. Of course some hold a more favorable view of man, but
optimists and pessimists alike see society as predicated on the individual (Dumont
1970), and this popular solipsism sets them a world away from Buddhists for whom
self and thus self-interest is finally an illusion.
Social science builds upon these Western notions and so it readily sees
self-interest as fundamental. Where would economics and political science b~
without self-interest? Without exploring the naive Cartesian dualism that makes
radical material self-interest imaginable, we can follow Sahlins (1976:vii) and say
that some think culture comes down to "the rational activity to individuals pursuing
their own best interests." Others reject this reductionism, but if they separate the
individual from society as many modern social theories do· (Dumont 1970:4-8), then
they must posit self-interest or some such drive to animate the whole and activate
individuals. So a universal, free-floating self-interest props up social theories as
surely as it serves any elite.
This paper seeks to root self-interest in ordinary Thai life. In consequence it
does not delve into Buddhist philosophy, although undoubtedly this has historically
molded the everyday meanings of self-interest. Instead, it explores the ongoing
social origins and cultural meanings of Thai self-interest. I stress that it is social and
cultural to avoid the implication that it is just human nature; and I stress the plural
to avoid the single, seemingly uniform meaning of self-interest often equated with
the market. Seen as human and singular, self-interest makes the market monolithic
and politics straightforward, and so the two become the easy explanations for all
changes in Thai society and the simple way to debunk merit-making or any ideology.
In contrast I shall argue that self-interest is contextual. In contexts where the Thai
expect it, it marks no change and debunks nothing to show self-interest. Where do
they expect it? Their expectations depend on the type of social exchange, and here
overtly self-interested market exchange is but one of three. The other two are a
benevolence-respect exchange common to the whole of society and a modernized
discipline-respect exchange idealized by all but realized by few, mostly in temples
and the bureaucracy. To explore self-interest in these three models of exchange I
shall focus on a Bangkok temple (wat) where a conflict crystalized their differences.

64
Volume 74 (1986)
PLANTS, TAXIS AND THE TEMPLE
In the last century Wat Lek (a pseudonym) lay a bit beyond the city's
northern walls, but today it is near the heart of Bangkok. By the Fifth Reigh
(1868-1910) the neighborhood had the trappings of urban life when most of what is
now Bangkok was still rice paddy fields and jungle. Just over a hundred years ago a
wealthy Chinese nobleman restored the local temple. He made it, literally, a gift fit
for a king, who received it into royal patronage. Yet after its noble patron died the
temple languished, and despite later patrons it stayed in the shadow of wealthier
and more prestigious temples. Today, few people have heard of Wat Lek even
though many have passed by it. Far more people know about the thriving local
market, the nearby government offices, the main road that cuts across the temple's
land, and the canal that runs along its edge. Of course like most temples in the old
part of the city, Wat Lek is hidden by a wall of shophomes. But even without the
wall, Wat Lek would be lost amid the capital's hundreds of temples. Most natives
know only their neighborhood temples and a few famous ones.
Wat Lek is obscure, but it is not ordinary. Indeed, it is a royal temple (wat
luang) and within the Sangha its abbot has a high position (tamnaeng), its Pali
school is well regarded, and its Pali scholars (parian) are m~ny and distinguished. It
has powerful formal and personal connections to the Northeast that cement its
important place in the prestigious Thammayut Order. Yet these distinctions define
its dilemma. It cannot just 'get by' as ordinary Bangkok temples can; it must
flourish. It is in the big league and yet it plays with handicaps. It is just too small
(about 21/2 acres housing 60 or so monks and novices·in Lent) to be as prominent as
major royal temples several times its size. Its Northeastern regionalism is frowned
upon by the Bangkok elite. And its neighborhood has also declined. Once perhaps a
dozen palaces were within a short walk, but today the wealthy have moved to better
neighborhoods. Of course Wat Lek still attracts elite patrons from all over the city,
but it is caught between its elite aspirations and the practicalities of living amid
ordinary Thai and petty Chinese merchants. The temple needs both elite favor and
local popularity and yet the two can clash as they did when some young monks tried
to clean up backyards and a potted plant market that had spilled over into their
temple.
The backyards were eyesores-tangles of drying laundry, rotting debris and
knee-high weeds that had grown up in the most sacred part of the temple (the
phutthawat), in the very shadow of the stupa (chedi) and the preaching hall (wihan).

65
Journal of The Siam Society
One backyard was even a taxi repair shop where power tools whined as the monks
chanted nearby. Evening breezes bore the fragrance inc~nse--and the odor of
gas--while gutted hulks stood rusting next to the preaching hall. Fortunately potted
plants hid this mess. Less fortunately the plants were there not to decorate the
temple but to display to buyers. Some neighborhood plant merchants made merit in
the temple and, not waiting for the next life, took their rewards there too. They
turned the temple into a market.
This troubled the young monks. They wanted a temple known for its
disciplined monks and learned abbot, not its enterprising merchants and skilled
mechanics. When a customer mistook a monk for a plant merchant, it was the last
straw. Taxi repairs and plant peddling had to go. The young monks resolved to
act-but how? Conflict was unseemly and monks were supposed to be generous. So
the monks suggested taxis and plants leave. No one took the hint. Some were even
angered. "Was this the thanks they got for making merit at the temple?" "What
stingy monks! The temple wasn't using the land anyway." Some cursed the young
monks and threatened their leader's life.
Why were they so angry? They felt betrayed. In their eyes it cost the temple
nothing to be generous and honor their 'rights' to use its land. They had made merit
at the temple and thus shown respect. How could the monks now deriy them
benevolence? These attitudes and their interpretation of the monks' motives came
out of benevolence-respect exchange.
BENEVOLENCE-RESPECT EXCHANGE
The benevolence-respect exchange is not uniquely monastic, but simply
Thai and deeply Buddhist. 1 Its archetype is the family where a parent's benevolent
care earns his child's enduring respect. To express this the Thai turn to Buddhism
wherein benevolence earns merit (bun) and creates a bunkhun or debt of gratitude
that the child should grow to honor. Within this exchange the spiritual and material
mix. Benevolence means everything from a simple blessing (hai phqn) to daily
1. No one Thai word designates this exchange although it is implicit in clearly marked superior-inferior
relations (phuyai-phunoi [big person-little person], phi-nang [elder-junior]). The inferior depends
on (phyng, asai) the superior to care for (liang) and assist him. In return he should respect (napthy,
Khaorop) and obey (clt~tafang) the superior. While the gestures, words and offerings of respect are
clearly defined, the particulars of benevolence are left open to the superior's wishes. He should of
course be kind (karuna) and generous (chaikwang), but benevolence is best described bv the mel/a
or loving-kindness shown by a pure monk, Akin (1969) and Hanks (1975) provide a mor~ complete
discussion of what this exchange entails.

Volume 74 (1986)
meals; respect can be a gesture of deference (e.g. wai) or a lifetime of labor. As an
economic· mode we can say that respect funnels resources to the parent who
distributes them among his children.
This familial archetype and its Buddhist meanings can stretch to fit any
superior-inferior relationship. As Thai, monks establish these relationships with the
laity. As Thai institutions, temples do the same. Both build a community of
followers out of resources that range from sacred power and social connections to
money and land. A layman can go to a monk for a cure or an introduction he needs
to get a job. He can go to the temple to arrange a cremation or ask for a place to
live. When the abbot or any monk helps him, it shows an abiding benevolence. In
return the layman owes respect. He shows this through obeisance, small favors or
even major contributions-all deeds that make merit.
The exchange creates a social whole, or what Mauss (1967:76) called a total
social phenomenon that is "at once legal, economic, religious, aestbetic,
morphological..." and more. Whatever we label its content, a social whole is
inherently but not simply material. Its materialism is implied and embedded.
Of course we can objectively measure the material exchange at any moment
in time. Yet the relationship is not at any moment, but at all moments. Measuring it
is rather like cutting down a tree to count its rings. You can tell how old it was, not
how old it would have been. By the same token we can gauge the materialism in the
benevolence-respect exchange o~ly at its end, and some relationships last a
lifetime-or even longer, if we take karma (kam) as seriously as the Thai do. But
suppose we waited to measure just one exchange. What would be our scale? How
do you compare cash with kindness or tally a bunkhun that the Thai say has no
price? Of course it's easy if what the Thai say is all false consciousness, but does
stripping away Thai meanings do anything more than impose our own? Certainly if
we ignore Thai explanations for their actions then we must trace their motives to
some fundamental human self-interest. Real as this may be, so general a construct
can only obscure the specific self-interest that the Thai do see within the exchange.
Consider Wat Lek.
As elsewhere in Thai society. at Wat Lek benevolence-respect exchange
created social wholes or, more simply, communities. The local community revolved
around use of temple land. The temple compound proper was a place to gossip, play
and work. You could sell snacks or park your car. For perhaps a hundred temple
boys it was also home. Most had come from the country to study in Bangkok's
schools. They lived on the monks' charity. For free rooms, guidance and sometimes

67
Journal of The Siam Society
even board, they helped with chores and ran errands. Outside the compound
tenants lived on the monastery's estates (thithoranisong). Along one edge of the
temple stood shophomes, first built shortly after the turn of the century and soon
filled with Chinese. Later, in the 1950s, monks let favored laymen build houses on a
vacant edge of the temple. Soon Thai houses filled the land and a wall had to be
built to separate this burgeoning community from the compound proper. Temple
rents were very low, but then the tenants were part of the temple community.
Redeveloping the land would have multiplied the temple's income several fold, but
the monks did not want to displace their tenant-followers.
All of this is quite common at Bangkok temples. Tenants or other locals
who use temple land actively make up the immediate community of many temples.
Rents are usually low and redevelopment slow. At one of Wat Lek's neighboring
temples developers guaranteed an over twenty-fold increase in rent but the abbot
refused to redevelop the land (O'Connor 1978:102) . Seven decades before at yet
another neighborhood temple the abbot fought a streetcar garage, arguing like a
father protecting his children that even ten new people would not replace one old
2
tenant lost to redevelopment.
Wat Lek's locals expected this kind of benevolence. In return they
acknowledged a general obligation to support the temple. From nearby Chinese
merchants support was organized and substantial; from the local Thai it was erratic
and often small, but it was also personal, and that especially endeared them to the
monks. Of course, like respect, benevolence meant more than money. Monks could
not deny locals small favors. Indeed, small favors Jet the plant merchants take over
part of the temple. Quite literally they capitalized on the abbot's benevolence. As
Bangkok's suburbs grew and ornamental plantings came into fashion, their
businesses boomed. But there was no place to expand. Overflowing with plants,
they begged permission to set a few plants inside the temple, temporarily of course.
From this small favor big businesses grew, and a potted plant jungle soon engulfed
the front of the temple. The backyards began the same way. During World War II
the shophome tenants had knocked holes in their backwalls so that when bombs fell
they could flee to the temple for protection. What abbot could have denied this
favor? But from these beginnings backyards grew. ~oon laundry was hanging near
2. Letter from Plzra Prasitsutthakhun to Clzaoplzraya Thewetwongwiwat (?], 20 Aug 1903 (National
Archives, Bangkok (hereafter NA ] RS N49.7/51) .

6R
Volume 74 ( 1986)
the stupa and cooking pots were stacked beside the preaching halL The shophomes
were hot and crowded, while the backyards offered air and space. How could a kind
abbot push them back inside? Besides, granting benevolence was easier than taking
it back. Once granted, an indulgence became a 'right', not one within law, but
within the exchange. After all, the relationship was .cumulative, a bond that could
be honored or broken, not renegotiated like a contract. Denying a 'right' denied the
relationship.
None of this was new. Laity often established strong informal rights to
urban temple land and sometimes even parlayed them into legal ownership. Wat
Lek's tenants had used their back entrances so long that now they had a legal right
to them, though here there was no question of ownership. But over the last two
centuries Wat Lek and its three neighboring te~ples had lost perhaps as much as a
quarter to half of their land to tenants who had become owners. Here it is difficult
to be precise because there were no modern title deeds, but nearby Wat Somanat
offers a clear example. When King Mongkut built the temple in the mid-nineteenth
century he encouraged the monks' lay supporters to settle on temple land. It was
then a remote temple and he wanted to ensure there would be people to offer daily
alms food and care for the monks' everyday needs. No one paid rent, but then all
understood their obligation to support the temple (Reynolds 1979:203). Yet time
turned this understanding into a misunderstanding. By the turn of the century a new
generation did little to support the temple. They were, however, supportin~
themselves quite nicely by renting out and selling what had become 'their' land.
Wherever benevolent monks failed to collect rent the temple's claim lapsed.
Without modern title deeds, then the claim rested on memory and respect.
Sometimes that wasn't enough. Land was lost and the benevolence-respect
exchange broken.
We need not wonder if these laymen were self-interested. They were. But
then the benevolence-respect exchange itself presumes self-interest, if only in the
Buddhist sense that making merit is in your own best interests. Of course this is not
the self-interest of the tenants-turned-owners who to a good Buddhist suffered an
illusion of self that set their own against others' interests. Clearly, then, we need to
distinguish two sorts of self-interest, one within benevolence-respect and one
outsi~e , and we must show how each is plausible in itS own right. Here Durkheim
3. Letter from Caophraya Phatsakqrawong to Prince Sommot Amqraphan, 23 Mar 1900; and
Phatsa kqrawong's mc:mo [?] of 22 Mar 1900 (NA RS Kh4. 5/5).

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Journal of The Siam Society
(1964) suggests a distinction. In his division of labor the essence of organic solidarity
is interdependence r~oted in complementary differences, economic or otherwise.
Consider, then, the organic solidarity in the benevolence-respect exchange. The
exchange presumes the status differences of the two parties-one superior, the other
inferior. Each needs the other, not just for individual wants, but to sustain a social
whole that both value, whether that whole is a family, a temple or a community. 4
Like the organs of a body, they are interdependent. Their needs are complementary,
and so the self-interest that animates their exchange is organic-it binds them
together.
Of course this is within a social whole; self-interest works the other way
around on the outside. Wholes do not need each other; each is self-contained.
Instead of complementary differences, they are so similar that all want the same
things-patrons, resources and followers. This competition turns them against each
other. We can call this mechanical self-interest because, like Durkheim's
mechanical solidarity, its essence is independence based on similarity. Let me now
turn to Thai expressions of this Durkheimian duality.
How do the Thai interpret incidents such as the plant merchants? Its's easy .
Whenever benevolence and respect die, selfishness (khwamhenkaetua) kills them.
When a relationship goes well they are wary; when it goes sour they 'knew it all
along'. Selfishness or what we shall call self-interest is never surprising. It is as if the
Thai posit a 'natural' man for whom benevolence and respect are pretense, a cloak
5
to be shed when he has what he wants. Though not the only interpretation, it is a
common, indeed inevitable, one. A person can wear the cloak as though it were his
4. As Phraya Anuman (1972:433-434) says of the past, "Villagers were apt to depend on the temple
and the temple had to depend on the vi llagers." Vi llagers and monks led inseparable lives. Of
course at Wat Lek separation was both more possible and prominent. Locals could go to other
temples and the monks had outside patrons and rents to support them. Even so, both monks and
locals readily voiced their interdependence, saying that locals needed a temple and monks to make
merit, whi le the monks needed laity to offer alms and monastic requisites. The words that expressed
this mutual dependence (ph ~mg, asai) were the same ones used for other benevolence-respect
relaionships.
5. My observations on benevolence-respect exchange follow Phillips' (1965:ch.2) analysis of Thai
peasant interaction where he emphasizes the importance of reciprocity and the almost contractual
character of even parent-child relationships. In discussi ng what I would call this ·natural man'
attitude, he cites IeMay's (1930:10) observation that for the Siamese"This is a very wicked world,
and everyone is trying to ge t the better of you in some way or other."

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Volume 74 (1986)
skin, yet he is less a traditional man tlran a natural man who s~bordinates himself to
tradition. It is precisely this sacrifice that makes him so admirable.
Now if we agree with Thomas Hobbes about human nature, we can credit
the Thai with a fundamental insight and stop here. But even if this is true, it does
not explain the social origins of this 'insight'. True, within the relationship
self-interest is muted, perhaps forgotten. Generosity reigns. But outside self-interest
runs rampant. One owes strangers nothing. Thus the natural man is expected, even
approved, on the outside. But he does not stop there. He lurks on the inside too.
Now if he is only a socially constructed being, how can he haunt the inside where
society says he has no place? The answer lies in choice. In Thai society a person can
choose his affiliations. Thai groups are fluid and overlapping, and this is not
incidental but integral to the organization of society. 6 Thus society does less to
dictate one's group than force one to choose-or at least be conscious of choice.
Now because the Thai see the outside as hostile and exploitative, the choice to offer
benevolence or respect can never be disinterested. It always seeks the advantage of
the inside, a refuge from the harsh outside. This then is the self-interest that Mauss
(1967) saw in the gift--the stake that two parties have in an alliance when the choice
is that or nothing. Thus a consciousness of self-interest imbues even the inside
where it is presumed yet never proclaimed lest the benevolence-respect bond be
broken·.
Yet the bond was broken at Wat Lek, and so each side saw the other as
openly and viciously self-interested. Some merchants felt that the monks had
abandoned them to seek the respect of others who offered more. Certainly it was no
secret that the temple's elite patrons frowned on the mess and merchandizing. Of
course the monks saw it differently. For them it was a matter of discipline. A
disciplined monk would command respect and he stood far above self-interest.
DISCIPLINE-RESPECT EXCHANGE
In contrast to benevolence-respect, discipline-respect exchange is seen as
supremely disinterested. How is this plausible when an awareness of self-interest
pervades society? Again the answer lies in choice, or rather the lack of it. Within
discipline (rabiap, winai) there is no choice. Self and hen~e self-interest are
6. Thai society is organized in a center-periphery pattern (see Tambiah 1976) wherein small and local
groups are subsumed in larger ones that revolve around the capital and its ruler or ruling elite. This
sets the context for the patron-client relations and entourages (Hanks 1975; Akin 1969) that
.underlie and crosscut the formal structure of the society.

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Journal of The Siam Society
subordinated to the rules of a larger order. Unlike the subtle bargaining for
benevolence and respect, what discipline offers is fixed. A personal relationship is
always negotiable, but subordination to a principle admits no give-and-take (Simmel
1950:250). The only choice is to obey or violate the rules, to be disinterested or
self-interested.
While benevolence-respect is common to the whole of Thai society,
discipline creates and rules its core. Whether through fixed institutions such as the
military, the bureaucracy or the Sangha, or open idioms such as merit-making,
official ceremonies or just wearing a school uniform, Thai subordinate themselves
to discipline and thereby participate in a larger moral order that commands respect.
Within this larger cultural meaning of discipline, Wat Lek participated first in
nonastic discipline (phrawinai), then in the rules (rabiap) of the Thammayut Order
(Thammayuttikanikai), the Supreme Council of Elders (Mahatherasamakhom), the
government's Department of Religious Affairs ( Krom Kansatsana), and finally the
temple itself. Although at most temple the age-old Buddhist exchange of monastic
discipline for lay respect was well adapted to Thai benevolence, at Wat Lek
discipline had taken a stricter course best explained by its Thammayut traditions.
King Mongkut codified the Thammayut discipline in the mid-19th century.
As a young monk Mongkut tried to strengthen discipline and purge corruptions. His
Thammayut followers advocated an austere, almost Puritanical textualism. They did
not reject benevolence--after all , a pure monk had loving kindness (metta)-but they
would not abide by practices without textual authority, even though many of these
popularly expressed benevolence. They frowned on curing and magical protection,
even though the laity craved this beneficent use of monastic power. They
discouraged temple fairs, some popular folk ceremonies, and the all-too-entertaining
preaching monks (nakthet) as inconsistent with monastic discipline. If this
kept them pure, it also kept them apart from the laity who looked to the temple for
entertainment. Thammayut monks insisted on tight temple administration, even
though this eventually meant collecting proper rents-hardly benevolent in tenants'
eyes. Once abbots and lay leaders managed temple money as they saw fit. This
funded their benevolence and attracted followers. If in some years they profited
handsomely (Reynolds 1979) , when the temple needed funds, they were expected
to lead the efforts, But this looked corrupt in Thammayut eyes. Account books and
title deeds were better. Of course not all Thammanyut temples followed this regime
completely, but their formal discipline carried them in this direction. Stripped of

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Volume 74 (198o)
magic and superstition, their Buddhism was everything the modern world and a
modernizing elite could want, and so when the Sangha modernized, the Thammayut
Order's strict textualism and tight administration became a model for the whole
monkhood. Today civil and monastic governments propagate what were once
Thammayut reforms. Now they are simply the dictates of progress. Though this
modern Buddhism is widely accepted, it is not as widely practiced. Commoner
temples and laymen cling to traditional practices that express benevolence.
MERCHANTS vs. MONKS
This then set the stage for Wat Lek's conflict: the laity sought traditional
benevolence where the young monks offered reformed discipline. Decades of
reform had made self-interested use of the temple look bad, while it had also
crippled the benevolence that checked conflict. Had benevolence built strong ties,
local respect would have pressured the merchants to abide by the monks' wishes.
But the laity did not act and so the monks had to. Wisely the abbot avoided the
conflict, but this left the young monks with no traditional authority to act. Once this
would have been the .end of it. Less than a century before, few monks knew the
rules for passing a popular motion, and out of respect for the· abbot's complete
7
authority, far fewer would have dared use them. But the new programs in Pali
scholarship had schooled the young monks well, using the Jetter of the discipline,
they called a meeting of the Sangha; the abbot and older monks stayed away; and
the young monks gained the consensus for an order of the Sangha (sangkhakam)
and hence the authority to tell the taxi company and the plant merchants to ·leave.
Neither left willingly. Both begged delays. They were, they said, only trying
to earn an honest living. So the monks waited. Delay led to delay. Finally the
monks had to act. To expel the taxi company they called a meeting of the shophome
merchants who had backyards in the temple. They announced that the temple
would have to lock its gate. Realizing that then no one could park in the temple
compound, the merchants quickly offered to "make more merit" to keep the gate
open. The monks refused. This they said was like asking them to "sell the temple."
That they would not do. Then the other merchants turned on the taxi owner and
amid a fl urry of Chinese curses he agreed to look for another place. Time passed
and he fo und nothing, and so finally the monks put in a toll bar and locked one of
7. Reynolds (1973:217-219) describes how puzzled the monks in one temple were by the Prince
Patriarch's suggestion that they vote to decide who would manage temple affairs and receive the
end-of-Lent offering.

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Journal of The Siam Society
his cabs in and the others out. He simply shifted repairs to the temple entrance just
outside the toll bar. It's hard to say what the monks would have done had not a run
of bad luck befallen the taxi owner. After accidents destroyed several of his cars, he
decided that he had been foolish to curse monks. He offered to make amends.
The plant merchants also dragged their feet. After all, they argued, the
temple was not using the land anyway. This was a powerful argument. It made
casting them out look callous and arbitrary. The monks' answer was to use the land.
They decided to build a hall (sala) where the plants were. This was no hoax. They
actually built the hall, organizing contributions and adding their own labor when
funds fell short. In the end it had taken a 250,000 baht (approx. U.S. $12,000)
building to clear the plants and assert discipline. When denying benevolence usually
meant petty self-interest, what else could they have done?
FROM TEMPLE TO SOCIETY
How do we generalize from one temple to Thai society? The usual way is to
ask, 'are the events at Wat Lek representative of Thai society?' Certainly
benevolence-respect exchange is common to the whole of Thai society. It underlies
the patriarchal and hierarchical rule that reigns everywhere from the family to the
nation (O'Connor 1981); and it is embedded in the patron-client relations that
structure Thai society (Akin 1969; Hanks 1962). Here Wat Lek is typically Thai.
Even disagreement is common, although conflict is rarely so open. In part this can
happen at Wat Lek because many of the merchants are Chinese for whom discipline
holds little aura and self-interest is freely expressed. 8 To the Thai this is uncouth
and provocative, tantamount to denying the benevolence-respect relationship and
debasing the discipline-respect one.
Is discipline-respect exchange representative? If 'representative' means
what is common or typical, then the obvious answer is no. Yet this obvious answer
and the question itself hide a preconceived model of Thai society. After all, you
cannot ask if 'A' represents a larger society unless you already know the nature of
that society. Now within this 'already known' model we do not ask if a coup or the
8. Like Thai reserve, Chinese candor is well rooted in their social organization . The local Chinese fuse
Business with family so that the open material self-interest in the former cannot easil y be denied in
the latter sphere or social life generally. While for the Thai choice keeps them conscious of a
self-interest they dare not say , for the Chinese such c.lcnials are not only unnecessary, their very lack
of choice makes them implausi ble. Most businesses ha ve local clienteles that take years to build up.
and so they canno t easily move. Thus when it comes to a dispute, they have to fi ght for their
material self-interests while local Thai can alwa vs move on. perh aps physically but always, socially .

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Volume 74 (1986)
bureaucracy is statistically representative. Coups are rare and bureaucrats are few.
Even so, we do ·not doubt their significance. Why? We know, which is to say the
model presumes, that coups and bureaucrats represent the elite who by definition
are significant. We cannot leave this preconceived model unquestioned, but for now
let us take it as a first approximation and rephrase our question to ask 'are the
events at Wat Lek representative of the elite?' Here the answer is yes.
Wat Lek is an elite temple. Its abbot h.as a royally-awarded title
(ratchathinanam) and holds a high position within the Sangha's government. The
temple itself is a royal temple, and honor held by less than seven-tenths of one
percent of Thai temples (Vajiradhammapadip Temple 1976). It is also a
Thammayut temple. In itself this makes it unusual (outnumbered about twenty to
one by Mahanikai temples [Vajiradhammapadip Temple 1976]), not necessarily
elite. But for Wat Lek the Thammayut Order's historically strong elite connections
mean both a legacy of old elite patrons and the aura to attract new ones. More
important, its Thammayut affiliation together with its royal status explain the
monks' dedication to discipline.
So Wat Lek is an elite temple, but how is reformed monastic discipline
'representative' of the elite? In brief, this monastic discipline has strong affinities
with the elite's modern bureaucratic discipline. 'The historical connection is
particularly close. Beginning with King Mongkut (1851-68) and continuing through
King Chulalongkorn (1868-1910) and his brothers, the same people who initiated
and encouraged Sangha reform also modernized the bureaucracy. Indeed, the two
spheres were never wholly separate. Ideally the Monarch's Domain (anachak) and
the Buddha's Domain (putthachak) were aligned with each other (Reynolds
1973:5; Damrong 1968:36-37), and certainly bureaucratic and monastic discipline
both enjoyed royal favor. This royal favor lives on in part because the Thai elite
know and honor the past. But even if the past were forgotten, the prestige that
royalty first gave discipline is now well embedded in the status system. Thus,
whether it is Wat Lek or government agencies and officials, strict conformity to
discipline wins honor.
Yet this is more than the dead hand of the past. Symbolic affinities unite
monastic and bureaucratic discipline. Discipline's subordination to a larger order,
whether that order is Buddhist or modern or both, demands rationalism, Thus
simple rationalism unites the two and makes respect for reformed monasticism a
plausible and meaningful religion for a bureaucratic elite. As Weber (1964:89) has
)

75
Journal of The Siam Society
observed, "a dominant bureaucracy .. .is always the carrier of a comprehensive
sober rationalism and ... the ideal of a disciplined 'order' ... " Setting this affinity in
time, it appears that the two evolved together. When King Mongkut began monastic
reforms in the Third Reign (1824-51) there was no bureaucracy in the modern
sense. He saw Buddhism as corrupted by magic and improper customs, but then
perhaps that was appropriate to the needs of the traditional elite because, as Weber
(1964:85) observes, "warrior nobles, and indeed feudal powers generally" do not
ask of their religion "anything beyond protection against evil magic or such
ceremonial rites as are congruent with their caste, such as priestly prayers for
victory ... " Certainly an austere rationalism made little sense when chance loomed
so large in warfare, factional politics and courting royal favor. Yet ration(;llism
began to make sense as the elite started to see themselves in a modern world
grounded in rationalism and particularly science. Here the rationalism that King
Mongkut found within Buddhism prefigured the elite's acceptance of the modern
world. Indeed, science fit · easily within this reformed Buddhism (e.g.
Thipakgrawong 1965). Tl!us as modernity came to define more and more of the
elite and a modern bureaucracy arose, a similarly rational Buddhism founded on
monastic reform grew along with it. So ·whether we look at direct historical
connections or enduring symbolic ones, Wat Lek's concern for discipline
represented the concerns of the elite.
Now we have linked discipline to the elite, but it does not follow that they
are always disciplined. Indeed, few are. But then few should be if discipline is an
ideal that establishes a hierarchy of moral excellence. Here we must challenge the
preconceived model of Thai society that finds order in common behavior (e.g.
Potter 1976). If Thai society is hierarchical, then it is predicated on differences. Yet
the question 'is it representative?' asks for similarity and denies difference its
determining role. Or if Thai society revolves around a center, then again the very
question denies the essential differences that separate center from periphery. Of
course the solution is to say that hierarchy and center are deeply shared beliefs that
presume diversity in behavior. So discipline is at once representative and yet rare.
To say that the discipline-related events at Wat Lek are not 'representative' is
simply to assert a preconceived uniformitarian model of Thai society when much of
what we know points to a society predicated on diversity.
MARKET EXCHANGE IN A THAI CONTEXT
Having set benevolence and discipline in context, we now need to introduce

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Volume 74 (1986}
a third model of exchange-the market-where self-interest is most op~n. This is the
opposite of the other two. In benevolence-respect exchange self-interest is
unspoken while in discipline-respect it is unimagined. For both materialism is
indeterminate, obligations deep and relations hierarchical. In stark contrast, in
market exchange materialism is calculable, obligations minimal, and relations
egalitarian.
The opposition is obvious and yet it hides affinities that appear when,
following Weber (1958a:17), we distinguish two sorts of market-based
self-interest:-the simple greed sufficient for a bazaar economy as opposed to the
rational pursuit of profit necessary for capitalism. Given this distinction, bazaar-like
greed and benevolence-respect exchange share a profound similarity-a double
standard. In the bazaar you fayor friends and cheat strangers just as within
benevolence-respect you owe everything to your group and nothing to outsiders.
Each thus promotes an assumption that strengthens the other. Opponents on the
surface, they are allies underneath in the consciousness they create.
By the same token capitalism and discipline-respect share a single standard.
Friend or enemy, a capitalist charges the same price just as a strict monk follows the
same rules. Now this similarity would be little more than curious were discipline
confined to the temple, but it is also the model for the modern bureaucracy and
modernization. While a traditional bureaucrat favors friend~ and a corrupt one
favors money, the ideal modern bureaucrat simply follows the proper rules like a
strict monk. Discipline and capitalism oppose each other openly~ and yet their
shared insistence on a single standard promotes a consistent rationalism that may
someday dwarf their differences. After all, it was the ethical imperative to deal with
strangers and friends by the same standard that Weber (1950:356-358; 1958a:57-58)
saw as an essential step in unleashing the market economy in the West.
Will the Thai sense of discipline work the way the Protestant Ethic did? I
doubt it. The Thai see discipline as an ideal few can attain, not a duty for all as the
Protestant Ethic was. 9 This expectation that people will differ sustains the social
9. Of course this does not deny that some Thai do cultivate personal desciplirte or that their practice
could prove to be a trend. I have known ex-monks, lay meditators and two Seventh Reign
noblemen who lived profoundly disciplined lives. But in itself this is hardly new. Strict personal
discipline (e.g. avoidance of women) has long been a way to attain magical powers. Yet this has not
made discipline an attribute of ordinary individuals. To the contrary, most people admire rather
than imitate the disciplined few. Indeed, they are so admired that the bureaucracy eagerly absorbs
them and so gives their personal discipline institutional expression.

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Journal of The Siam Society
hierarchy and its institutions as expressions of these differences. Thus discipline
remains an ideal usually locked up in the monastery, the bureaucracy and modern
institutions, while the duty for everyone else is not discipline but respect. To set
discipline free, to make it an attribute of not key institutions but ordinary
individuals, would destroy the very meaning that makes it powerful- its prestige as
participation in the larger societal order. For discipline to be widespread, individual
and meaningful, social participation and indeed Thai society itself would have to be
reconceptualized so that simple self-interested rationalism is as meaningful and
universal a social act as it is, say, in the United States where it expresses democracy
and individualism. Or, put another way, the Thai's hierarchical assumption (and
toleration) of differences would have to dissolve into an egalitarian assumption of
(and demand for) uniformity (cf. Tocqueville 1945; Dumont 1970). If this is
possible, little in Bangkok now suggests it is probable. 10
So long as the Thai see sheer capitalism as simple greed, not acceptable
self-interest, they will remain poles apart from the thoroughgoing rationalism of a
Protestant Ethic. Instead of a studied neutrality, they judge how profit is gained and
used. By these standards some merchants acquit themselves well, but the Thai are a
long way from accepting the label 'capitalist' (naithun) as just descriptive, not
derisive. True, even large-scale corporate capitalism can put itself above greed. It
can tap discipline's aura if its consistent rationalism culminates in conspicuous
merit-making or the economic development that benefits the nation as a whole.
Here capitalism can enter openly. Not that the Thai want capitalism, they want
modernity. But modernity has been wedded to a capitalist ideology of development.
So it is not a Protestant Ethic but modernity's symbols that accept capitalism as an
unwelcome but needed guest.
CHANGES IN THAI SOCIETY
But modern capitalism does not need the Protestant Ethic or popular
acceptance to prosper. Discipline's unintended consequences may be ally enough.
Consider the way the two promote each other. Whether in the Sangha or the
bureaucracy, administration by a single standard makes the costs of business
10. The Northeast, however, may be more open to such change because discipline. is not just an elite
dictum but a popular I3uddhist tradition that can. as Keyes (1983:861) shows, sustain a village-level
Thai entrepreneur. A long line of disciplined forest monks testify to the antiquity of this tradition. It
is, then, apparently no accident that King Mongkut's Thammayut reforms were accepted more
readily in the Northeast than any other region. While the Thammayut Order has prospered in the
Northeast. elsewhere it has sunk often shallow or mostly urban roots.

78
Volume 74 (1986)
calculable, a necessity for capitalism. Both bureaucracy and capitalism attack local
autonomy. As Weber (1958b:230-231) observed:
Often bureaucratization has been carried out in direct alliance with
capitalist interests ... In general, a legal levelling and destruction of
firmly established local structures ... has usually made for a wider
range of capitalist activity.
We need look no further than Wat Lek for an example. When the temple turned
out the taxi owner and plant merchants, the market awaited them. Where once
'respect' an~ judicious merit-making had been enough, now only money would do.
Here capitalism followed bureaucracy's discipline. But the reverse is also true.
Wherever capitalism undermines local communities, petty patriarchs lose the means
to defy central control (O'Connor 1981). Then resources that were once locked up
in benevolence-re.spect move onto the market and often into the bureaucracy's
hands. Indeed, as capitalism has moved out into the countryside, resources have
flowed to Bangkok and funded the bureaucracy's prodigious growth.
I do not mean to imply that capitalism is taking over Thai society. Perhaps
it is. Certainly our largely economic theories of society and the perspective . of
Western history encqurage this conclusion. But self-interest is neither new nor
honored. True, capitalism offers it new opportunities, but these need be no greater
threat than the bazaar and amoral politics have been for centuries. Moreover,
wherever capitalism shows an ugly face, it strengthens the mandate for ... the discipline
· that controls it. Each can
.
grow and yet be stable opponents just as in the United
States big business and big government have often been. at once ideological
opponents and functional allies. Thus I see only ideolo.giqal reasons why capitalism
need conquer discipline, benevolence or respect.
But where I do see_ one model of exchange replacing another is between
discipline and benevolence as happened at Wat Lek. In this shift the people at the
top subordinate themselves to rul~s. They lose patriarchal powers. but gain respect.
For the people. at the bottom the requirements are the same-respect-but the
rewards are different. Benevolence was always personal and often material, but
discipline offers them the abstract reward of participating in the betterment of
society. This is no trifle. It is meaningful to many, even though it stealthily saps
·their power. Of eourse they still hold the power to not participate, to refuse respect.
In benevolence-respect this ~as acceptable self-interest and a powerful lever against
superiors who needed manpower to keep or enhance thejt positions. Under

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Journal of The Siam Society
discipline, however, refusing respect has little power. Bureaucrats and titled monks
get their positions from formal education and exams. Their financial support comes
from taxes and monastic estates. Thus the respect of underlings is not the currency
it once was. And when underlings challenge discipline their claims look corrupt.
Self-interest changes from something you bartered discretely and even unknowingly
to a vulgar assault on the social order.
Discipline won at Wat Lek, but benevolence does not always lose. True, in
any clear confrontation discipline's enormous prestige and bureaucratic
single-mindedness weigh heavily in its favor. Yet clear confrontations are concrete
and local. Benevolence can, indeed does, still prosper as an abstract national
symbol. Thus a traditional life style is transmuted into a modern ideology. Everyone
now worries about how to help peasants and urban laborers, not as individuals but
as societal categories. The government struggles to institute societal benevolence
even as the discipline-directed programs that carry this out attack local
benevolence. Practically, it is hard to see a solution as the contending factions (the
so-called 'left' and 'right') both offer only discipline under different guises.
Ideologically, the need to wed benevolence to discipline might be met through state
socialism or a return to traditional symbols that joined discipline and benevolence in
a single source-the King. 11 However the current crisis is resolved, the way to argue
is clear. Each side will claim discipline and benevolence while tarring the other side
with vulgar self-interest.
CONCLUSION
Self-interest lies at the heart of many popular and academic social theories,
Thai and Western alike. One can easily claim it is a universal, human nature itself,
but the proof of this universality rests on making the notion so broad that nothing
can fail to fit. The incidents at Wat Lek can be · lumped together as simple
self-interest, but this dissolves the very distinctions that moved the actors. Why
study the rich fabric of life if it is only to pull out a single thread? Stripped of
cultural meanings and social conditions, self-interest as the simple answer is just too
simple.
II. I am indebted to Thak Chaloermtiana for pointing out the affinity between benevolence-respect and
state socialism.

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Volume 74 (1986)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A shorter version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the
Association for Asian Studies in Chicago, April 4, 1982. Research for this article
was supported by an SSRC-ACLS Foreign Area Fellowship, an SSRC-ACLS ·
Postdoctoral Research Grant, and a fi'ulbright-Hayes Fellowship. I appreciate this
funding and I would like to thank the National Archives and National Research
Council of Thailand for their assistance and Thak Chaloermtiana, Christine Gray,
Lucien Hanks, Lysa Hong, Chatthip Nartsupha, Craig Reynolds, Chris Rieger,
Sirilak Sakkriangkrai, imd Sharon Siddique for their comments on this paper
directly or its ideas.
Richard A. O'Connor
Department of Anthropology
University of the South
Sewanee, Tennesse 37375

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Journal of The Siam Society
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Akin Rabibhadana, 1969. The Organization of Thai Society in the Early Bangkok 1782-1fl73. Ithaca:
Cornell Southeast Asia Program.
Anuman Rajadhon, Pliraya, 1972 . . Chi wit Chao Thai Samai Kqn. Bangkok: Khlangwitthaya.
Bellah, Robert N., 1964. Religious Evolution. Americ;m Sociological Review 29:358-374.
Cancian, Frank. 1968. Maximzation as Norm , Strategy, and Theory: A Comment on Pro~rammatic
Statements in Economic Anthropology. In Economic Anthropology: Readings in 1~cory and
Analysis. Edward E . LeClair, Jr. and Harold K. Schneider, eds. pp 228-233. New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston.
Damrong Rajanubhab, Prince, 1968. Laksana Kanpokkhrqng Prathet Sayam. Bangkok: 'Liang Siang
Chong Charoen .
Dumont, Louis, 1970. Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implication

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Volume 74 (1986)
ThipakQrawong, Chaophraya, 1965. Kitchanukit. Thonburi: Cremation volume of Nai Suk Naksuwan.
Tocqueville, Alexis de, 1945. Democracy in America. Francis Bowen, trans!. New York: Vintage Books.
Vajiradhammapadip Temple, 1976. Thai Buddhism: Facts and Figures, 1970's. New York. Mimeo.
Weber, Max, 1950. General Economic History. Frank H. Knight, trans!. Glencoe: Free Press.
-------·· 1958a. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Talcott Parsons, trans!.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
-------• 1958b. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills,
trans!. New York: Oxford University Press.
-------• 1964. The Sociology of Religion. Ephraim Fischoff, trans!. Boston: Beacon Press.

83
Journal of The Siam Society
THAILAND'S BARE-HEADED
DOCTORS · THAI MONKS IN RURAL
HEALTH CARE
Sickness, aggravated by malnutrition, continues to be one of the major
causes of large-scale rural poverty. When set against a background of dependencies
between countryside, town, Metropolis and international relationships with their
inbuilt structural injustices, sickness becomes even more debilitating, and facilitates
a situation in which western pharmaceutical companies can export inappropriate
medicines to developing countries at exorbitant prices. Remedies must be
implemented at various levels of which a major long term strategy must be the
establishment of self-reliant communities which rely on a combination of indigenous
and inexpensive modern medicines. InThailand, with its resilient Buddhist culture,
such communities are best created and maintained by Buddhist · monks, whose
unbroken historical continuity provides them with an ideal opportunity for
transforming Thai society from within . While many of the principles set out in what
follows may be valid outside Thailand and among non-Buddhist Thai minorities
(Catholics, Protestants and Muslims) , there appears to be a uniqueness about the
potential role of the Thai Sangha as a vehicle of social change.
In recent years there have been a number of imaginative programmes
combining so-called modern and traditional health care systems. This article reviews
one such attempt in Thailand, where Buddhist monks are currently being trained in
preventative medicine, primary health care, and procedures for the diagnosis and
treatment of illness based on a combination of modern and indigenous techniques.
The research is divided into two parts. In August 1983 interviews were
conducted with about a dozen monks who had taken part in the Maw Phra
('Vld-Jel'r'l'J~. Doctor-Monk) training schemes based on the Wat Samphraya and the
Wat Benjamabopitr in Bangkok. These two wats (temples) offer five day courses

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Volume 74 (1986)
for groups of up to fifty monks recruited from Central and Northern Thailand. The
monks were interviewed at their home wats in order to ascertain what practical
difference the course had made to them. Invariably they mentioned the ability to
diagnose accurately, the importance of prevention rather than cure, and the use of a
combination of indigenous herbal and inexpensive modern medicines. Some
brandished shining clinical instruments donated during the course though few
seemed to use them on a day-to-day basis. 1 ·
The second phase of the research was a detailed questionnaire-investigation
into the attitudes of young scholar monks at Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist
· University to the role of the Maw Phra in the context of Thai rural life and Buddhist
beliefs and practices. The questionnaire was designed in the light of the earlier
interviews -.thus anthropology shaped sociology. 2 The investigation was conducted
during visits to Thailand in December 1983 and 1984 and the data was analysed on
the University of Hull's ICL-1904-S computer.
The focus of the investigation was the monks' own understanding of the
potential role of the Maw Phra in relation to both contemporary social needs in
rural Thailand and how "appropriate" (mo som, L'llla.J1~ffa.J) or otherwise certain
activities are from the point of view of Buddhist orthodoxy. It is not"possible, for
example, to understand why a monk who is willing to give an injection to a man
(especially another monk) may none-the-less feel it totally inappropriate to do the
same for a woman, without recognizing the importance of the Vinaya, rules of
conduct which are binding on members of the s·angha. Thus, as in previous
research, social analysis and history are closely interwoven?
The Maw Phra programme is important not only on account of its culturally
sensitive fusion of tradition and modernity, but also because of its potential as a
means of creating long-term self-reliance among co':llmunities hitherto undermined
by rural-urban and ultimately international patterns of dependency. In Bitter Pills
Dianna Melrose has provided ample evidence of the mechanisms whereby
inappropriate pharmaceuticals are exported to developing countries with disastrous
consequences for many people. 4 While national and international legislation to curb
the activities of the drug multinationals may be important, the only long-term
solution is to create vigorous self-reliant indigenous communities which are no
longer obliged to satisfy their medical and other basic needs within a context of
dependency.

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Journal of The Siam Society
I. Rural Health Care
The "medical geography" of rural Thailand is a complex mix of
Government health care and traditional practice. The former is divided into four
levels of which the first three are Government financed and the fourth, though
Government sponsored, is voluntary. Tertiary medical care is highly specialised and
based on large hospitals such as . Siriraj and Mahidol. Dr. Prawase Wasi, who
originated the Maw Phra programme, is Director of the Siriraj Hospital and
Vice-Rector of Mahidol Medical University, both of which are located in the
Metropolis (Bangkok-Thonburi).
Secondary medical care is based on provincial ( changwat) hospitals of which
there are rather more than the seventy-one provinces in the country. At the district
(amphur) level less than half the total of 661 districts possessed hospitals a few years
ago, and of these only 80 had more than 30 beds. 5 Primary health care tends to be
based on the tambol (village administrative unit) rather than the amphur; a typical
amphur with a population of 50,000 may be made up of 18 tambols, each of which
may contain, say, 12 moo-baan (hamlets). The basic components of primary health
care are nutrition, health education, water, immunisation , basic treatment, essential
medicines, maternal and child health and sanitation. Voluntary health care occurs at
tambol and moo-baan level.
A typical amphur hospital may be staffed by three doctors, five nurses,
three midwives, a sanitarian and a dentist. There may be two or three health clinics
under its jurisdiction (plus that of the amphur health officers), each run by a
sanitarian and a midwife. Sanitarians and midwives train for approximately a year at
changwat hospital schools. It is important to distinguish Government midwives
(phadungkhan, ~~.:lfi"J

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Volume 74 (19S6)
fulfilled by a typical maw boraan:
Khun Panpikul is maw boraan at Bang Pa In. He is also known as
maw suk (suksala), which suggests that he holds an official medical position,
but is neither well-qualified nor well paid. He is seventy-eight years old and
learned most of his skills from a monk who died twenty years ago. About
sixty people visit him a month, on average two or three per day. Diagnosis
and treatment are either free or cost, at most, two or three baht (US$1=27
baht). Villagers and town people recognize his ability to treat diarrhoea,
fevers in general (post-menstrual fever was mentioned- probably
puerperal) and minor illnesses. He knows how to diagnose appendicitis, but
would refer the patient immediately to the changwat hospital, a mere ten
minutes' ride by samlor. He dt>es not believe that illness is caused by a bad
spirit (winytim) and does not use spells. His Buddhist beliefs have been
strongly influenced by progressive monks such as Putatat and Pafifiananta
Pikkhu.(8)
Khun Panpikul has a reputation for curing children's illnesses. A three year
old child was brought to him by her mother. She had been sick for a week
with a fever and no appetite. Her mother had not taken her to a clinic or to
the hospital but had dosed her every day with Wosing, powdered aspirin
sold at every store for 50 stang per packet (1 baht = 100 stang). This
brought the fever down temporarily but it quickly rose again. Khun
Panpikul explained that the child had gastro-enteritis which would be
aggravated by the acid content of aspirin even though the fever might be
reduced. He prescribed Ya Khiaw, a herbal medicine which he grew
himself.
Khun Panpikul's use of herbal medicines (samun prai, ~~UL'I"J

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Journal of The Siam Society
Khun Soak Samorn is maw saiyasat in Moo-baan Luang Tai
(Tambol: Cherngdoi, Amphur: Doi Saket), a farming community
containing about 280 families. There are three health clinics in the
area plus a maw boraan; the monk at the nearby Wat Rangsi
Sutawat also practices medicine. He learned his skills partly from
monks at the Wat and partly from a maw saiyasat who came to
treat his wife when she was sick.
Khun Soak daily treats two or three people suffering from small
wounds, internal swellings, food poisoning, stomach ache and eye
diseases; he is particularly noted for his ability to cure children with
swellings around the throat (kangtum) . Treatment involves secret
words in Pali, a magic stone found in a rice field, and water, which
he spits into peoples' faces to exorcise spirits. He uses neither
modern medicines nor samun prai (except occasionaily a leaf with a
sacred word). Poor people are treated free of charge.
Exorcisms are carried out by means of magic words and sacred
water. Phii ?hop (or Phii Mot) is a bad spirit who often stays with
families; if he is not fed he causes trouble. Phii Taihong comes
from a person who dies accidentally.
Khun Soak earns his living as a farmer and is well known and
trusted in the local community. Since his wife died he has lived
alone. He enjoys watching televisiE>n in the evenings.
Saiyasat activities were seldom mentioned in the Northeast, and there is
evidence that their role in village life is diminishing. Jane Bunnag reports that "in
Ayutthaya at least, very few monks were saiyasat. " 10
Phra Khru Sakorn
Sangvorakij, the influential Abbot of the Wat Yokkrabut in Samut Sakorn and a
close associate of Dr. Prawase Wasi, maintained that local villagers dislike saiyasat
practitioners.
Unofficial doctors range from ex-Military personnel who have been trained
reasonably well to maw tuen ("wild" doctors, 'VI:J.JflL~€1'Ut and "Imposters who just
1
manage to escape the criminal courts and the gaols." Benja Yoddumnern has
published a detailed account of the full range of traditional maws. 12 It is important
to note that in any given locality they tend to be recognized for particular skills.
Howard Kaufman rep01ts from Bangkhuad on the activities of two maw boraans, one
of whom is also a head teacher, plus a woman shaman: "Each specializes in one

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Volume 74 (1986)
aspect of healing and they do not actually compete with each other." 13
Village headmen (puyaiban): and school teachers (khru) may function in
either traditional or modern medical sectors. It would not be particularly unusual in
the Northeast to find a headman who is both a Government health volunteer and a
maw khwan (the lay officiant at khwan rites).
II. General Characteristics of the Respondents
Mahachulalongkorn University is one of Thailand's two universities
exclusively for monks. Its history began in 1890 when King Chulalongkorn moved
the monastic school at the Chapel of the Emerald Buddha to the .Wat Mahathat. It
was accorded university status in 1947. In any given year between 350 and 450
monks may be enrolled for the four year B.A. degree.
Details about Bangkok's two Buddhist universities can be obtained
elsewhere. 14 Mahachulalongkorn · caters for Maha Nikai monks whereas
Mahamakut, its smaller sister institution based on the prestigious Wat Bovornives,
is Dhammayut. Education at both is free, funds being derived from the
Government, the Sangha and private sources. Monks attend classes in the
afternoons and early evening, returning to their wats in Bangkok-Thonburi to sleep.
Mahachulalongkorn describes its main aim as being to provide monks and
novices with a level of education commensurate with the tasks of understanding and
preaching the Dhamma in contemporary situations. The curriculum is designed "to
present the fundamental Buddhist prineiples and doctrines in terms understandable
to modern man and in the manner applicable to modern living, both individual and
sociai."'The first two years of the B.A. are spent in the Faculty of Buddhism after
which candidates can either remain in the same faculty or opt for Education or
Humanities and Social Welfare.
All students are expected to meditate regularly and to participate in
development programmes. These latter involve practical activities such as the
construction of .roads, bridges, wells, water pumps, sanitary facilities, power lines,
schools and wats, and it is against the background of these programmes that the
Maw Phra scheme should be set. William Klausner has described the involvement
of the Sangha in such activities in the Northeast of Thailand. 15
Practical development programmes raise major questions as to the
"appropriateness" of certain actions for monks. According to the 227 precepts of
the Patimokkha a monk must not dig the earth or damage plants. This rules out the.

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Journal of The Siam Society
chopping down of trees, but doesn't mean that a monk can't saw a log if somebody
else has felled the tree (or it has fallen). It is not "appropriate" for a monk to propel
himself in a vehicle because insects and small creatures may die, but he may paddle
a canoe, and nowadays may ride on a bus travelling at breakneck speed!
The Patimokkha is particularly important in Thailand because the reforms
of King Mongkut, from which the Dhammayut order (or "sect" - neither word is
particularly satisfactory) originated, were largely based on it. But the notion of
"appropriateness" also contains a significant psychological dimension derived from
the values and mores of Thai society. Thus, for example, although a novice is
subject only to ten precepts, it is not "appropriate" for him, say, to drive a tractor
or pilot a helicopter!
Exceptions to certain activities appear to be made when it is clear that they
carry forward the basic purposes or principles of Buddhism. Thus the success of
Phra Chamrun, Abbot of the Wat Tham Krabok near Saraburi, in curing heroin
addiction, is generally held to justify such traditionally inappropriate activities as
clearing up lay people's vomit, building and operating sauna baths, and
administering a large community of volatile young men and women. Similarly the
desire of a community of more conservative Dhammayut monks near Chiang Mai to
preach the Dhamma to the inhabitants of a small adjacent township required the
construction and operation of an electric cable car across a dangerous river. 16
It will be clear from what has been said that medical activities on the part of
a monk need careful evaluation before they can be regarded as appropriate. Can a
monk take a layperson's temperature, administer medicine, or give an injection?
And even granted that he may give an injection to a man, are there any
circumstances under which he may ignore the Patimokkha's strictures in order to
give an injection to a woman?
Virtually all monks at the Buddhist universities have migrated to the
Capital from the provinces, especially the Northeast which is the poorest part of the
country. It is important to distinguish in general terms between monks who ordain
at an early age in order to secure a good education and those who ord.ain for a short
time often for·specific reasons such as the bestowal of merit (bun). n.e latter tend
to be drawn from the urban commercial "bourgeoisie" and the professional and
administrative white collar sections of society, and may disrobe after a few weeks.
Examples of the various routes whereby young men from poor provincial
families ordain as novices and migrate to the Capital have been given elsewhere. 17

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Volume 74 (1986)
Typically a boy may have completed compulsory primary education by the age of
thirteen, obtaining the highest grade (prathom seven). He could then ordain to the
noviciate at a wat near his home and pursue traditional pariyattitham studies based
on Pali language and texts. To take the higher Pali parian examinations he would
probably have to move to a provincial capital where he might ordain as a monk in
his early twenties, moving eventually to Bangkok where he might enrol for the B.A.
at Mahachulalongkorn or Mahamakut.
This, however, is something of an oversimplified picture, and there is a
wide spread of possible options. Monks increasingly choose secular educational
routes because these equip them for a broader range of jobs if and when they
disrobe. 18 By the time they reach the Buddhist universities they may be in their late
twenties or thirties. It is not appropriate, incidentally, for a monk to study at a
secular university because this would bring him into an unacceptable level of contact
with women. (It would also cost too much.)
The questionnaire used at Mahachulalongkorn is reproduced in English in
Annex A. The first six questions cover the monks' biographies, qualifications and
educational routes. Three hundred and forty of the 400 who received questionnaires
returned them. Of these 41% came from the Northeast and 19%, 18% and 19%
were born in the North, Central and Southern Thailand respectively. Two
respondents came from the Metropolis and six from outside Thailand, notably
Indonesia and Nepal. The questionnaires, incidentally, were distributed and
collected during class periods by Phra Maha Narong Cittasobhano, the much
respected Dean of the University, which meant that they were completed very
carefully by the respondents. (It is otherwise not at all "appropriate" for a foreign'
visitor to give questionnaires to monks, even with the approval of the Thai National
Research Council!)
The provinces (changwats) of origin of the Northeastern monks are listed in
Figure 1.
Eighteen per cent of the sample (25 monks) were born in Nakhon
Ratchasima (~orat), which is not surprising since it contains the largest population
in the Northeast. Khon Kaen, with 11% of the sample from a population two-thirds
of the size, is equally predictable. But Surin (12% ), Si Sa Ket (10% ), and Roi Et
(9%) are unexpected in comparison with, say, Udon Thani, which has a larger
population than Khon Kaen (or at any rate had in 1976), and yet accounted for only
1.4% of the sample. Ubon Ratchathani, with 4.3% of the sample coming from a

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Journal of The Siam Society
comparatively very iarge population, is probably atypical in that its population
decreased between 1970 and 1976.
It is difficult to attribute standards of living to populations wtu>se individual
incomes and assets may vary considerably, but it seems reasonable to conclude that
the poorest regions of the Northeast produce the largest proportion of monks who
gravitate to Mahachulalongkorn. They are, of course, exceptionally talented in
comparison with their peers, many if not most of whom never succeed in migrating
outside their home province.
III. The Maw Phra. in Village Context
Respondents were asked to specify who, in their home villages, performs
specific functions. Seventy one per cent stated that most babies were delivered by
the traditional midwife (maw tamjee), 16% specified the Government midwife
(phadungkhan), 11% gave the amphur hospital, and 2% a local health volunteer
(Question 8). Clearly traditional midwives are very much in demand in spite of the
fact that their Government equivalents also perform other roles such as giving
medicines and injections:
Khun Charuni is phadungkhan at Nong Cha Health Clinic
(Amphur: Ban Fang; Changwat: Khon Kaen), which serves
approximately 240 farming families. The Clinic also contains a
sanitarian and there are three local health volunteers, one of which
is deputy puyaiban. Charuni has been at the Clinic for three years
during which time she has delivered 200 babies, of which just under
a third arrived during the first six months of the current year. Does
this mean that there has been a baby boom or that people recently
lost confidence in the maw tamjee? No, the reason is simply that
Charuni recently acquired a Honda motorcycle which gives her a
head start on the maw tamjee, who is very old and .travels on foot.
Forty nine per cent of the sample said that the_ sanitarian gave most
injections, 17% specified the amphur hospital, 12% mentioned unofficial doctors,
and 11% each specified a private clinic or the Government midwife (Question 9).
The question: Which of the following is best for curing sickness? scored 78% for a
combination of both western medicine and medicinal herbs. Twenty per cent
indicated western medicine alone, and 2% specified samun prai (Question 12). It
was clear that the monks understand the legitimate role of modern medical science.
Figure 2 indicates the first choice of medical assistance for specific health

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Volume 74 (1986)
problems in the monks' home villages (Question 7 - the responses are not mutually
exclusive and the category "other" has been removed from the percentages). The
unofficial doctors, who in practice give a sizeable proportion of injections (12%),
are ranked consistently low. The maw saiyasat only comes into his own with
psychological problems (28%), and, surprisingly, severe stomach pains (15%). The
maw boraan scores higher on severe stomach pains (39%), which is not very
satisfactory because the Thai (puatongyangrunraeng, lh~fleJ\IeJEi1'11ULL;\I) indicates
the possibility of appendicitis. Perhaps he, like the health clinic, is consulted only
for preliminary advice.
Fever, which is unlikely to be particularly serious initially, is handled
effectively by the health clinic ( 41%), but malaria is much more appropriately dealt
with at the amphur hospital (39% as compared with 12% for fever). A rabid dog
bite should be directed to either the clinic (42%) or hospital (36%) for the·necessary
injections, though some respondents thought that the maw boraan could be of
assistance. It is interesting to note, in passing, how monks viewed the problem of
rabid dogs running wild. Some buried their Buddhist scruples and said that they
would kill them with their own hands. Others would direct the villagers either to kill it,
or to tie it to a tree and let it die. All agreed that it must at all costs be prevented
from biting people!
So far the category monk has scored quite low for the various ailments
(9-15%). But for psychological problems he comes into his own(40%).Similarly an
amphur hospital, presumably with specialists on hand, is better equipped than a
health clinic· (32% as compared with 12%), though the maw saiyasat does
surprisingly well (28% ). This must be on account of the belief that spirits are
responsible for mental ill health. But the presumed role of the monk as the person
to whom one should go first with psychological problems is interesting and
important.
Figure 3 lists a series of possible functions for a Maw Phra. In each case
respondents were asked to state whether or not, in their personal opinion, a
particular role is appropriate. (Question 10 - the responses have been ranked in
order of popularity.) ·
Eighty seven per cent of the 340 respondents endorsed the view that the
curing of psychological illness is a legitimate role for a Maw Phra. This is not
surprising in view of what has already been noted. But it is interesting that the
curing of fever (89% ), teaching of sanitation (98% ), and giving of herbal medicines

93
Journal of The Siam Society
(88%) rank even higher. Many monks teach sanitation during their regular sermons
and grow their own samun prai in wat compounds.
Diabetes (Thai: "sweet urine sickness") is presumably stabilised rather than
cured (81%), and stomach pains are likely to be treated with samun prai (80%). But
the difference between the appropriateness of giving an injection to a layman (75%)
and to a woman (15%) is enormous, and clearly reflects the strictures of the
Patimokkha (which is part of the more comprehensive Vinaya).
Stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers (for testing· blood pressure) were
introduced to monks who attended Maw Phra courses supervised by Dr. Prawasi
Wasi. As has been explained elsewhere, the measurement of blood pressure is an
essential part of Thai traditional medical practice:
A Buddhist monk with a stethoscope may appear at first sight as an·
eye-catching demonstration of the way the past can serve the needs
of the present. Mechai Viravaidya, the irrepressible advocate of
family planning, has attempted to further his cause by canvassing
photographs of monks blessing cheerfully coloured condoms.
The Maw Phra Programme is not ... a marriage of convenience
between ancient and modern medicine, but the refinement of a
traditional approach which, though deficient in some respects, is in
advance of prevailing modern methods in others. Individual and
social history, recognition _of the psychological dimension of
sickness, supportive intimacy between doctor and patient - in
general, a degree of holism now agreed by many to be lacking in
modern western medical practice - are part and parcel of the Thai
system. Though undoubtedly photogenic, a monk with a
sphygmomanometer is merely measuring blood pressure, which has
long been recognized by generations of maws as an indicator of
19
health and fitness.
Sixty-six per cent of the respondents thought it appropriate for a monk to
use a stethoscope and test blood pressure. Sixty-two per cent approved of the
teaching of family planning, and 56% thought that a monk should try to cure
sickness by samadhi (a less specific term for meditaion than vipassana).
The fact that 30% of the sample thought it appropriate for a member of the
Sangha to attempt to cure venereal diseases reflects the frankness and pragmatism
of Thai monks in dealing with what elsewhere are often regarded as "moral" issues.
A young Government official visiting the Wat Pa Dhammada in Buayai Amphur

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Volume 74 (1986)
(Changwat: Nakhon Ratchasima) explained to the Abbot, Ajan Banyat, that he had
contracted gonorrhoea while "visiting" Khon Kaen. He went to the amphur hospital
where he was given a dose of antibiotics and told to return later for further tests.
The symptoms disappeared, but he did not return. The monk explained why he
should have paid a second visit, adding that although he had been wise to take the
antibiotics, there were herbal remedies for both gonorrhoea and syphilis in the wat
compound. These technicalities were all carefully translated from Thai into English
by a young woman doctor.
Twenty-eight per cent of the sample believed that a monk could exorcise a
bad winy"an, 24% thought that he could cast a spell to remove sickness (which
amounts to much the same thing), 15% approved of giving an injecti9n to a woman,
and 5% thought it appropriate for a monk to deliver babies. This last is not only
inappropriate on account of the degree of contact with a woman presupposed, but it
is unnecessary because it is the legitimate role of both kinds of village midwife.
Annex B contains an alphabetical list of all the medicinal plants listed in
question 11 and also independently photographed and identified during field work.
Dr. Prawase Wasi has made an impressive series of recommendations as to how
such a major resource could be utilized on a large scale. 20 "
IV. Postscript
The terms of reference of the foregoing sociological investigation based on
Mahachulalongkorn University were set by anthropological studies of rural monks
primarily in the Northeast of Thailand from where the majority of student monks
had originally migrated. Thus, in line with Milton Jacobs' methodological
adaptation of Redfield's research in Central America, "small-scale anthropological
studies" shaped "sociological concern for quantification" 21
Considered together, these anthropological and sociological studies
demonstrate that the Maw Phra scheme has an enormous potential for preventing
and alleviating rural health problems, and doing so in a manner which circumvents
the misuse of expensive imported medicines (since the monks are taught to
administer an admixture of cheap modern drugs and indigenous samun prai). From
the point of view of historical Buddhism the Maw Phra represents not so much an
adaptation as the rediscovery of an ancient role (thereby giving the Sangha a
stronger sense of identity both in the eyes of its members and the general public). It
therefore constitutes a powerful example of Tambiah's "continuities and
transformations" between the past and the present, between the anthropology and
t h e h Istory . o f re 11g10n.
. . 22

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Journal of The Siam Society
It is important to recognize that the effectiveness of the Maw Phra is due to
the fact that it interprets the concerns of the past and of the present in such a
culturally potent manner, and that no amount of external funding, training and
effort could ever hope to achieve the same. In a country which has not been
subjected to western colonial domination - and perhaps in some which have - the
indigenous culture is the only true context for significant social change. Religion
(sasana), in harmony with the other two overarching Thai institutions, the Nation
and the Monarchy, is the primary vehicle for social transformation.
In the long run there is only one solution to the stultifying dependencies
which drain the lifeblood from rural and poor urban populations everywhere, and
this is the creation of self-reliant communities which utilize a combination of
traditional and modern expertise, the main criterion for which being its
appropriateness in a given situation as determined by the people themselves. And in
Thailand the Buddhist monks are playing a crucial role in bringing such communities
into being.
Acknowledgments
I wish to express my gratitude to the Thai National Research Council for
permission to carry out this research and to the British Academy for a grant to fund
it. Also to my research advisors, Dr. Prawase Wasi and Phra Maha Narong
Cittasobhano, for their constant advice and encouragement. I also received
assistance from Mr. Sulak Sivaraksa, Dr. W.J. Klausner, Dr. Surakiat
Achananuparp, Ajan Netnapa Kumtong, and, of course, from the 340 scholar
monks at Mahachulalongkorn University who so conscientiously completed my
qu~stionnaire.
David L. Gosling
Director of Church & Society
World Council of Churches

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Volume 74 (1986)
Figure 1: Province of Origin of Northeastern Respondents at Mahachulalongkorn
University
Province (Changwat) Proportion of Sample % Population of Province (1976)
Thousands
Nakhon Ratchasima 17.9 1778
Surili 12.1 940
Khon Kaen 11.4 1239
Si Sa Ket 10.0 1002
Roi Et 9.3 1007
Buriram 7.9 1025
Nakhon Phanom 7.1 703
Maha Sarakham 5.7 713
Kalas in 4.3 707
Ubon Ratchathani 4.3 1428
Nong Khai 2.9 576
Sakon Nakhon 2.9 724
Loei 1.4 404
Udon Thani 1.4 1331
Chaiyaphum 0.7 786
Figure 2: First Choice of Medical Assistance for Specific Ailments
Severe Rabid Psychological
Stomach% Fever Malaria Dog% Problems%
Pains % % Bite
Monk 15 12 10 9.4 40
Health Clinic 40 41 42 42 12
Amphur Hospital 19 12 39 36 32
Maw Boraan 39 29 18 25 14
Unofficial Doctor 3.8 4.1 5.3 1.5 1.2
Maw Saiyasat IS 9.1 8.2 6.8 28

97
· Journal of The Siam Society
Figure 3: The Monks' Estimation of Appropriate Roles for the 'Maw
Phra' (11JJ6Vn~)
Function of 'Maw Phra' (11JJtll'n~)
Whether appropriate (%)
Teach sanitation LL U~U1"1f11U1UL~el.:l~"ll1ii1J1'fl
98
Cure a fever inH1mm·:Mi~1,elU
'
89
Give samun prai ~1EHJ1~~ulw'l
88
Treat psychological illness ~n'l!t11 'l'fl~l111 'l'fl'l.h~~TI'I
87
Cure diabetes in'l!t1hflL1Jl'VI11U
81
Cure stomach pains in'l!t1flln1'l'tbvl'Ylel.:ln'l':m"l1~m'V11'l'
80
Give injection to layman a~u.nH1flul~"'fltl
75
Use stethoscope and test blood pressure 1V~m1~~u1'flVll11
66
Teach family planning LL u~'l.tl L~el.:ln1'l'11.:1LLt:.!Ufl'l'el1Jfli1
62
Cure sickness through meditation inH1€11n1'l'1'l'flYJnmh-:~1V~tJn1'l''Yh~~1fi
56
Cure venereal diseases inH1m~1 'l'fl
30
Remove a bad winyan -iJ1Jlfi1qJqJ1tu.,1tl
28
Cast a spell to re~ove sickness L~n~u~ mm -iJ1Jl~mm'l''l.hti
24
Give an injection to a woman aV~F..n'lV!mtl~'VI~.:i
15
Deliver babies fl'flelV\1Jt11'l'
5
'

98
Volume 74 (1986)
References
1. David Gosling, "Thailand's Bare-headed Doctors", in Modern Asian Studies, 19,2, 1985, p 357
2. Milton Jacobs, "The Alliance of Anthropological and Sociological Concepts and Methodologies in
Field Research in Thailand" in The Journal of the Siam Society, Vol.62, Part 1, 1974, p 35
3. David Gosling, "Redefining the Sangha's Role in Northern Thailand: An Investigation of Monastic
Careers at Five Chiang Mai Wats", in the Journal of the Siam Society, Vol.71, Parts 1&2,
1983, p 75; same author. "New Directions in Thai Buddhism", in Modem Asian Studies, 14,3,
1980, p 411
4. Dianna Melrose, Bitter Pills, Oxfam, 1982
5. Prawase Wasi, "Health Services and Medical Education in Thailand", Research Report, Mahidol
University, 1978
'
6. Riley and Sermsri claim that Thai Government health officers invariably practice medicine one
level above their formal competence. See James N. Riley and Santhat Sermsri, "The
Variegated Thai Medical System as a Context for Birth Control Services", Working Paper
No. 6, Mahidol University, 1974
7. Ibid., Annex
8. David Gosling. "The Scientific and Religious Beliefs of Thai Scientists and their Inter-relationship"
in the Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, Vol.4, No.1, 1976, same author, "Thai
Buddhism in Transition", in Religion, Vol.7, 1977
9. The Thai names of medicinal plants were obtained from the practitioners. Photographs were taken,
and both were checked by botanists from Mahidol and Chulalongkorn Universities ·
10. Jane Bunnag. B11ddhist Monk, Buddhist Layman, Cambridge University Press, 1973,.pp 59. 22, 74,
149
11. Far Eastern Association of Tropical Medicine, Siam: General and Medical Features, Bangkok
Times Press, 1930, p 237
12. Benja Yoddumnern, "The Role of Thai Traditional Doctors", Research Report, Institute for
Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, 1974
13. Howard K. Kaufman, Bangklmm/: A Community Study in Thailand, Monographs of the
Association for Asian Studies, No.10, Charles E. Tuttle, 1976, p 35
14. Both universities publish their syllabi annually in Thai. For summaries in English see Stanley J.
Tambiah, World Conqueror and World Renouncer, Cambridge University Press. 1976, Part 2
15. William J. Klausner, Reflections in a Log Pond, Suksit Siam, 1972
16. David Gosling, "Thai Monks in Rural Development" in the Southeast Asian Journal of Social
Science, Vo1.9, Nos.1-2, 1981, p 74
17. Stanley J. Tambiah, Op.cit (14), Part 2
18. David Gosling, Op.cit (3), both articles
19. David Go~ling. Op,cit (1), p 385
20. David Gosling Ibid., p 391
21. Milton Jacobs, Op.cit (2). p 35
22. Stanley J. Tamhiah, Buclclhism am/ the Spirit C11lts in North-east Thailand, Cambridge University
Press. 1970, p.37-l

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Journal of The Siam Society
ANNEX A: QUESTIONNAIRE
The purpose of this investigation is to study the role of the monk as a 'bareheaded
doctor'. Please mark answers you agree with using a tick.
1. Status
1. D Monk
2. D Novice
2. Home background
Year of birth
Tambol of birth ............................... Amphur ................................ Changwat ...............................
Number of brothers and sisters .........................................................................................................
Have you been a luksit? 1. D Yes 2. D No
Which year?........................................................ How many years? .............................................
Amphur .......................................... Changwat. ....................................
3. Ordination as a Novice
Year of Ordination .........................................................................
Amphur of Wat where ordained .......................................... Changwat ....................................
4. Ordination as a Monk
Year of Ordination .........................................................................
Amphur of Wat where ordained ............................................ Changwat ...................................
Wats at which you have resided since ordination:
Tambol ....................................... Amphur ........................................ Changwat ..................................
Name of Wat at which you are now resident ............ Amphur .....................................
How many years have you been at your present Wat? .................................................
5. Educational Qualifications
1. D Compulsory primary Education Level obtained ............................................
2. D Secondary Education Level obtained ..........................................
3. D Adult Education Level obtained .........................................
4 .. D Naktham Level obtained ............................................
5. D Pali Level obtained ............................................
6. D Buddhist University Level obtained ..........................................
7. D Other (specify) Level obtained ...........................................
6. Present Education
Institution ........................................................................................................................................................ .
Course ............................................................ Year of course ................................................ .

100
Volume 74 (1986)
7. In your home village, where do most people go first for medical assistance for the
following illnesses?
a) Severe stomach pains b) Fever
1. Monk D · 1. Monk D
2. Health Clinic D 2. Health Clinic D
3. Amphur Hospital D 3. Amphur Hospital D
4. Maw Boraan D 4. Maw Boraan D
5. Unofficial Doctor D 5. Unofficial Doctor D
(e.g. ex-Military)
(e.g.ex-Military)
6. Maw Saiyasat D 6. Maw Saiyasat D
7. Other (specify) .. ... ......................... 7. Other (specify) ·················· ····
D
D
c) Malaria d) Rabid dog bite
1. Monk · D 1. Monk D
2. Health Clinic D 2. Health Clinic D
3. Amphur Hospital D 3. Amphur Hospital D
4. Maw Boraan D 4. Maw Boraan D
5. Unofficial Doctor D 5. Unofficial Doctor D
(e.g. ex-Military)
(e.g. ex-Military)
6. Maw Saiyasat D 6. Maw Saiyasat D
7. Other (specify) ................................. 7. Other (specify) . ........... ..........
D
D
e) Psychological problems
1. Monk D
2. Health Clinic D
3. Amphur Hospital D
4. Maw Boraan 0
5. Unofficial Doctor D
(e.g. ex-Military)
6. Maw Saiyasat D
7. Other (specify) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -
D
8. In your home village, who delivers most of the babies?
1. 0 Government Midwife
2. D Amphur Hospital

101
Journal of The Siam Society
3. 0 Traditional Midwife
4. 0 Health Volunteer
9. In your home village, who gives most injections?
1. 0 Midwife
2. 0 Sanitarian
3. 0 Unofficial Doctor
4. 0 Amphur Hospital
5. 0 Private Clinic
10. In your opinion, which of the following is appropriate for a 'bareheaded doctor'?
1. Cure a fever 0 Yes 0 No
2. Cure stomach pains 0 Yes 0 No
3. Teach sanitation 0 Yes 0 No
4. Deliver babies 0 Yes 0 No
5. Teach family planning 0 Yes 0 No
6. Use a stethoscope and test blood pressure 0 Yes 0 No
7. Remove a bad 'winyan' 0 Yes 0 No
8. Give 'samun prai' 0 Yes 0 No
9. Give an injection to a layman 0 Yes 0 No
10. Give an injection to a woman 0 Yes 0 No
11. Treat psychological illness 0 Yes 0 No
12. Cast a spell to remove sickness 0 Yes 0 No
13. Cure venereal diseases 0 Yes 0 No
14. Cure diabetes 0 Yes 0 No
15 . Cure sickness through meditation ('samadhi') 0 Yes 0 No
11. Give the names of 'samun prai' which you have used or seen used in your village:
Name
Sickness to be treated
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

102
Volume 74 (1986)
12. Which of the following is best for curing sickness?
· 1. 0 Western medicine (e.g. antibiotics)
2. 0 'Samun prai'
3. 0 Both

ANNEX B: MEDICINAL
Thai English Latin Family Parts used Uses Reference
1. Borapet Cactus Tinospora Tuberculata Menispermani Stem Fever No.83,p.23
2. Eucalyp Blue Gum ' Eucalyptus Globulus Myrtaceae Leaf Antiseptic, anti-
La bill flatulent No.385, p.62
3. Fang Sappan Caesalpinia Sappan Caesalpiniaceae Wooden stem Menstrual problems,
Linn. diarrahoea No.l18, p.27
4. Fin Ton Coral Plant Jatropha Multifida Euphorbiaceae Latex from Laxative
stem No.279, p.47
5. Harroynang Toxification
6. Hanukmankopsap Toxification
7. Hunaman Nangten Wounds
8. Hanuman Prasanguy Schefflera Venulosa Araliaccae Young leaf Asthma, haemostasis No.400 p.64
Harms
9. Keelek Siamese Cassia Cassia Siamea Lamk. Caesalpiniaceae Flower, young Laxative, appetiser,
leaf sedative No.l25, E-28
10. Keetun Gonorrhoea
11. Khae (Khae, Khaw,Cork Wood Tree Sesbania Grandiflora Papilioanceae Bark Diarrhoea No.l79, p.35
Khae Daeng)
Pers.
12. Kha Jurt Travel sickness
13. Khamin Khaw Menstrual disorders,
blood disease
14. Khamin Oi Zedoray Curcuma Zedoaria Zingiberaceae Rhizome (root) Anti-flatulent No.68, p.9
Rose.
15. Khcm Daeng Ixora Coccinea Linn. Rubiaceae Root, flower Fever, diarrhoea No.554, 86
16. Khem Khaw Ghasalia Curviflora Rubiaceac Gonorrhoea
17. Khing Ginger Zingiber Officianale Zingiberaceae Rhizome Carminative, skin
Rose. problems No.73, p.lO
18. Khinghengplakang Menstrual disorders,

19. Kh lu Pluchia Indica (L.) Compositae Whole plant, Diuretic, sinus
Less. bakr, leaf, disorders
root, sap No.596, p.92
20. Kiajiab Priaw Red Sorrel Hibiscus Sabdariffa Malvaceae Calyx Hypertension, urinary
(.Kajiab Daeng) (Roxella) Linn. bladder stones No.227, p.40
21 . Krachai Daeng Menstrual disorders,
blood disease
22. Ling Dam Toxification
23. Maduachurnporn Ficus Glomerate Urticaceae Root Fever
24. Mahajakaphart Diarrhoea
25 . Mahamek (Wan Curcuma Aeruginosa Zingiberaceae Diarrhoea
Mahamek)
26. Matum (Mapin) Elephant's Apple Aegle Marmelos Coor. Rutaceae Young fruit , Diarrhoea, chest probleaf,
ripe !ems
fruit No.314, p.52
27 . Naam Klct Kidney disease
28 . Nguaplai-m10r Kaemorrhoids
29 . Noinaa Sweet Apple. Seed, unripe Purgative, skin dis-
Custard Apple Annona Squamosa Linn. Annoaceae fruit, root eases, lice No.54, p.l9
30. Nok Hongyok Gonorrhoea
31. Pengpuay Falang Cantharanthus Roseus Leukaemia
32. Petsangkhat (Sam Cissus Quadrangularis Vitaceae Sap, root, Removing "yellow blood"
Roi Tor, Khan Khor) Linn. young leaf from ear, nosebleeding.
dressing wounds & broken
bones, menstrual
problems No.358, .59
33. Phak Kachet Neptunia O leracea Mimosaceac Whole plant Toxification
Lour. (stomach) No.l45, p.30

T hai English Latin Family Parts used Uses Reference
34. Phayaa Sataban Dita or White A lstonia Scholaris A pocynaceae Bark, latex, Fever, malaria , diar-
(Tin Pet Jet Ngam) Cheese Wood (L.) R.Br. young leaf, rhoea, stomach "heat"
seed menstrual disorders No.429, p .68
35. Phla p Phlung (or Crinum Amabile Dorn. Amaryllidaceae Bulb, leaf Emetic (bulb), joint
Phlap Phl ung Dok pains (leaf) No.SO, p.7
Daeng, Phlap
Phlung Salap Khaw)
36. Phrai Dam Zingiber Ottensii Zingiberaceae Rhizome, leaf Diarrhoea, sedative No.74, p .lO
Valeton
37 . Phyagarsak Diabetes
38. Sabu Luat (Hang Toxification
Yai Khl a hin)
39 . Sabu Lu at (Thaw) Toxification
40 . Sadow India Necm Tree Azadirachta Indica Meliaceae Bark, leaf, Diarrhoea, prevention
(Margosa) (L.) Juss. seed of malaria No.304, p.SO
Wood, leaf, Diuretic, worms, sore
bark, flowers throat, menstrual
problems, diabetes No.495, p.78
42. Salao (Salao Khaw) Lagerstroemia Lythraceae Bark Diarrhoea No.368, p.60
Tomentosa Pres!.
-13 . Salehpangporn L.Ciinacanthus Nutans Acanthaceae Leaf Animal bites
44. Tam Lu ng Tua Phu Melothria Cucurbitaceae Skin rash
Heterophylla
45. Wa n Garb Hoy Boat Lil y Rhoeo D iscolor Hanse Commelin aceae Leaf Sore throat, cough,
(Wan Hoy Khreng)
internal haemorrhage.
anaemia
No.33, p.S
46. Wa n Si nghamora Cyrtospcrma Johnso ni i A raceac Leaf, flower, Asthma, menstrual
(Phak Nam Farang) N.E. Br. whole plant problems No.24, p.4
·Rhizome Indigestion, headache.
47 . Warn Na m Sweet Flag Acarus Calamus Li nn. Araceae stroke No.20, p.3

Thai
48. Ya Khiaw
(Rangchut)
English Latin Family
Blue Thunbergia Thunbergia Laurifolia Thunbergiaceae Leaf
or Laurel Clock- Lindl.
vine.
Fever. wounds No.545, p.85
Reference numbers from Ratdawan · Boonratanakornkit and Thanomchit Supawita,
Names of Herbs and their Uses, Chulalongkcirn University, n.d.

107
Journal of The Siam Society
SHAMANS AND REBELS:
THE BATCHAI (MEO) REBELLION
OF NORTHERN LAOS
AND NORTH-WEST VIETNAM (1918-21)
A largely misrepresented ethnic minority, the Meo 1 have most recently
drawn the attention of outsiders - social workers, international civil servants and
journalists among others - as a concomitant of the refugee exodus from Indochina
in the post 1975 period. Similarly, as both protagonists and victims in the Second
Indochina war and as objects of the post-revolutionary social restructuring of
Indochina, the Meo as a minority have been consistently treated by state actors
down through history as a problem group worthy of administrative or worse military
attention. They have seldom been beneficiaries of informed sympathy much less
admiration.
How then did this people whose origins lie in China - some would
contend, central Asia - come to be historically inserted in the northern salient oi
the Indochinese peninsula? What relationships did the Meo enter into with the host
populations at the frontiers of their southward thrusting migrations across southwest
China, northwest Vietnam (Tonkin) and northern Laos? How did this nomadic
people react in their first confrontation with the modern world, namely that
contingent _upon the entry of Laos and Tonkin - as French colonial
protectorates - into a broader world system?
Thus in this article on the 'Batchai' (Meo) rebellion of 1918-1921 - which
at its high point tied down units of crack colonial troops over an expanse of 40,000
square kilometres spanning northern Laos and northwest Vietnam - we seek to
throw light on these questions, while acknowledging that the answers might best be
addressed by Meo researchers themselves. 2 But in the absence of written Meo
testimonies and without the fruits of official Lao and Vietnamese scholarship on
1. Known as the Miao in China and H'mong in Laos, for reasons of consistency we have adopted here
the colonial-era nomenclature 'Meo' .
. 2. Implied here is the advantage that oral history would afford. P.rominent among native Meo
(H'mong) researchers are GarY. Lee and Yang Dao.

lOS
Volume 74 (191l6)
Meo history forthcoming, we have turned to the archives of the principal
adversaries of the rebels, the colonial military. 3 However biased these records may
appear as a primary source, there remains little in the way of a substitute.
As a ·minimum, then, we hope that this study can contribute towards an
emerging picture of the Meo as an independent race with distinctive material culture
as well as traditions and which therefore m~ght serve to stimulate and strengthen
those Meo of the diaspora in the US, France, Australia and even French Guyana in
their struggle against adversity. Likewise those Meo living under communist
political systems can only look back with awe at the activities of their forebears in
Laos and Vietnam in their conflict with the colonial State over questions of rights
and tax justice.
As one French observer writing in 1919 noted of the revolt of the Meo
chieftain Batchai and his followers - sometimes described in the colonial literature
as a 'Geurre de Fou' - it should be viewed with reference to three interrelated
aspects. These are, firstly, the repercussions of events in China. Secondly, the
excesses of the Tai mandarins belonging to the family of Deo Van Tri in their
dealings with the Meo. Thirdly, the pressure applied by Meo sorcerers (shamans)
and their chiefs. 4 Indeed, in giving consideration in the following pages to such
specific dimensions of the revolt, it is here argued that no analysis of Meo
revolt - otherwise often subsumed under the rubric 'millenarian' - which fails to
take into consideration historical, ethno-political as well as religious factors would
be complete.
The Political-Historical Setting
Broadly viewed, the irruption of French imperial power in northern
Indochina in the latter decades of the nineteenth century was doubly destabilizing.
On the one hand, Annamite and Tonkinese opponents to French pretensions in this
part of Asia, sought sanctuary in northern Kwangsi and Kwangtung provinces of
China (and Laos) from where they sought to requisition arms and ammunition to
3. In Lao and Vietnamese historiography Batchai (Patchay) is treated as a patriotic hero in the
struggle against French colonialism. While the Vietnamese, particularly, have been active in
promoting researches into· Meo ethnography, to my knowledge no detailed study of the Batchai
revolt from an historical or sociological perspective has yet appeared in these two countries.
However. on the basis of my research in France, it would seem that certain colonial reports bearing
upon the revolt are among documents not reJ>alriated to the metropolitan country from Hanoi.
4. Le Service Historique des Troupes de Marine (SHTM), Versailles, lndochine 3PCX1 353F. 'As du
mouvement Meo de Lai Chau et Sonia', Saint Chaffray to the Governor General. Hanoi, 10
February 1919

109
Journal of The Siam Society
mount their resistance.' Nor was the French annexation of Tonkin fully accepted by
China, a traditional regional hegemonic power. As an interested US diplomatic
observer wrote in 1889, the Chinese Viceroy, Chang Chih-tang, took no measures
to prevent violations of French territory mounted from southwest China- by Black
5
Flag bands: Indeed it was one of these bands led by Deo Van Tri and his
Yunnanese allies, known in Laos as the Ho, which in June 1887 attacked and sacked
Luang Prabang, the seat of the Lao monarchy, then under Thai protection. It wa~
on this occasion that the French 'conquistadora', Auguste Pavie, otherwise
remembered in colonial legend as the 'conqueror of hearts' rendered personal
support to the King of Luang Prabang and thus gained himself and France an ally.
In the same year the French launched a military expedition up the Black River from
Hanoi in an attempt to suppress Deo Van Tri and his Ho allies. However it was not
until 1888 that Pavie arrived in Tai heartland of Sip Song Chau Tai and successfully
negotiated an alliance with undisputed overlord of the Tai country. 6
As revealed in a French colonial memo, Deo Van Tri was originally from a
family of Chinese origin which had declared itself Tai. Such was the patrimonial
basis of rule in traditional Tai political systems that Tri managed to ensure that all
important bureaucratic positions in his 'mandarinate' were held by relatives. As a
consequence, he was able to extend his influence not only throughout the highlands
of northwest Tonkin, the heartland of the Tai country, but also across the frontier
with Yunnan. The French argued that any concessions to the Tai sense of autonomy
and tradition was only to be regarded as an indispendable administrative
compromise during a transitional period until colonial hegemony could be firmly
established. It follows that considerable tact on the part of the European power was
required in dealing with the 'feudal' Tai overlord if they were not to completely
alienate his clansmen. 7 Indeed, as the American diplomatic obse.rver remarked with
prescience, the Tonkin question in genreal remained a 'most disturbing element in
5. Charles Derby, 'Legation of the US, Peking, January 28, 1889 to Thomas F. Bayard,' Secretary of
State, Washington, No.807. Document No.107. J.David (ed), American Diplomatic and Public
Papers: The United States and China, Series III, 1861-1893, Vol. I, The French China War, II,
Scholarly Resources Inc., Wilmington, Delaware, 1979
6. For details of successive French military campaigns waged against the Black Flags, Annamit~ rebels
and their Yunnanese allies between 1883-85 in the lower Black river region see Journal des Debats,
14 October 1883, 15 April 1884 and Journal /e Temps, 23 December 1883 and other relevant
editions.
And for a more broadguaged study of the historical setting; see D.Marr, Vientamese
Anticolonialism: 1885·1925, University of California Press, Berkeley. 1971, pp. 46-47
7. Saint Chaffray Report, op.cit.

110
Volume 74 ( 19H6)
French politics'. France, he inferred, was struck with a paradox. It could hardly
abandon the place without a blow to national pride, but to hold it involved
enormous cost, 'a graveyard ... without compensatmg . commercta . 1 resu 1 ts ' .
8
To further set the Batchai revolt in perspective it is pertinent to survey the
relevant an'tecedent events in China. While a recorded history of Mea rebellion
against central authority in China goes back to antiquity, there is no consensus
amongst modern historians as to detail even concerning those uprisings which
occurred with some frequency during Ming and Ch'ing times. Agreement does
exist, however, as to the ferocity with which the Mea rebels were suppressed. Citing
Chinese texts, S.Y. Teng notes that in 1728 Emperor Yung-Cheng adopted a policy
of converting aborigines to Chinese .citizenship. In practice, military colonizers who
followed Chinese officials into the Kweichow-Hunan borderlands, thus substituting
indirect rule by local officials over the Mea for oppressive direct rule, managed to
completely alienate the Mea. The same author mentions revolts of the Mea welling
up in 1733, 1735-6 and 1795-1806. An eighteen year revolt which stirred the Mea of
Kweichow between 1855 and 1872 was attributed to a too rapid increase in taxes
brought down during the Taiping rebellion. Thus in 1855 the Mea of Kweichow rose
up against their Chinese oppressors demanding a permanent cancellation of heavy
taxes and a restoration of confiscated land. Tang relates that not only did the Mea
anxiously follow the progress of the Taipings but cooperated with them in certain
military manoeuvres in northern Kweichow. If short of genocide, this author
remarks, the devastation of Mea hamlets and towns 'must have been terrific'. 9 Tapp
adds that 20,000 Imperial troops were required to quell what he describes as the last
great rebellion of the Meo of Guizhou in 1856. 10 It should also be recalled that in
1853 the Meo of south-west China found themselves allies of Yunnanese Muslims
themselves in revolt against the centre. 11
In the event it seems clear that the migration southwards by the Meo was
·triggered by the excesses of agents of Imperial China. Mottin notes that the first
Mea began arriving in Tonkin in the early 1800's. Soon after they carried their
revolt to the plains of Tonkin where in 1860 they were turned back by Vietnamese
8. Charles De(by, op.cit.
9. S.Y. Teng, The Taiping Rebellion and the Western Powers, Rainbow-Bridge, Taipei, 1971.
pp.366-370
10. see N.Tapp, 'The Relevance of Telephone Directories to a Lineagebased Society', Journal of Siam
Society, Vo1.70, 1982, p.l18 which draws together numerous sources bearing on the history of Meo
revolt in China.
11. J. Mottin, History of the H'mong, Odeon. Bangkok. 19RO, pp.32-48

111
Journal of The Siam Society
elephant brigades. 12 In an early period other Meo groups arrived at the end of their
southward march in Hainan Island.
As a subsequent generation of colonial administrators discovered, political
action in the high country of Tonkin and Laos was determined as much by its ethnic
make up as by the nature of ethnic and interethnic political hierarchies. Newly
arrived White and Black Meo in the region were obliged to reach a modus vivendi
with the White Tai of the Black River and the upper Song Ma river (which traverses
Laos) as well as with the Black Tai of Dien Bien Phu and Son La. At the same time,
however, as an outside witness reported, the Kha of the region were 'shamelessly
exploited' by both the Tai and the Meo, while the Yao (Man) made common cause
with the Meo against the French. 13
Nevertheless, the original Meo settlers in Xieng Khouang who infiltrated
into Laos via Tonkin, accepted the tutelage of the Phouan (Lao) princes who ruled
the region. It appears that the Phouan granted local administrative rights to the
immigrants wherever they formed compact settlements. Thus Meo Kaitong or chiefs
were elected to head the great Meo families who settled in the Nong Het region of
Laos. For instance, the Lo, Ly, Yang, Yang and Moua clans were each ruled by
their respective Kaitong, while lesser families were ruled by lower ranking Photong,
Chone Kone and Xaophay. Bonds of reciprocal loyalty were cemented between the
Phouan and the Meo with the latter supplying tribute to the former while the lords
of the land (the Phouan) offered protection. But it was not until after the first Meo
uprising in Laos in 1896 - for whatever reason - that the French authorities
accepted the nomination in Xieng Khouang of a Meo Chief (Kaitong) to a position
analo§ous with that of Tasseng (the lowest colonial administrative unit reserved for
Lao) 1 Thus where the Meo had arrived at a modus vivendi with the traditional
feudal overlords in the pre-colonial period, by the turn of the century they were
obliged to renegotiate their social contract with the new force on the horizon, the
colonial state.
The Batchai Revolt as an Anti-mandarinal Affair
The first hint of major unrest by the Mea of northern Indochina came to
12. ibid.
13. SHTM Indochine 3PCXI353, 'Rapport de Dorey sur les operations du detachement du Laos
pendant l'hivcr 1920-1921 ct sur Ia pacification de Ia region de Ia province de Luang Prabang'
Hanoi, 5 June 1921
14. Yang Dao,Les Hmong du Laos face au clevelopement, Editions Siaosavath, Vientiane, 1975,
pp.45-4H

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Volume 74 (1986)
the attention of colonial administrators in 1918. A revolt of the Mea of Muoung La
was triggered by the arrest of a Mea sorcerer and his followers by Yunnanese
mandarins. In retaliation for this action, Mea warriors armed with primitive
weapons attacked Muong Tinh on 31 January, killed the mandarins and burnt the
town. With morale and power boosted by the capture of some modern rifles, the
rebel Mea proceded to declare themselves 'independent'. Splitting into two groups.
one headed for Muong La and another to Doung Xiang, attacking on 8 February.
For the rest of the month, armed conflict raged between Chinese regulars, Tai
partisans armed by the mandarins and the Mea of the border region. What began as
an anti-Chinese revolt had by this point taken on an anti-Tai dimension as well. By
the end of February, the Mea were repulsed from their strongholds in Na Phat and
Muong La by armed reinforcements. According to colonial rapporteurs the
repression of this Mea rebellion by both the Chinese and the Tai mandarins was
'cruel and violent'. Summary executions provoked a minor exodus of women,
children and elderly to Tonkin. While the Mea of Tonkin had only participated in
the rebellion on an individual basis they nevertheless accepted refugees from the
f fl. . h . k 15
zone o con 1ct mto t e1r ran s.
News of the repression of the revolt quickly travelled to the Mea of Lai
Chau, Sonia and Yen Bay in Tonkin. Indeed, within months the Meo in the region
neighboring Muong La, then Lai Chau and Sonia began to display the first signs of
agitation. By June, the Mea of Quynh Nhai, Lai Chau and Thuah (Sonia) were on
the point of rebellion. In the Dien Bien Phu region the Mea, already in revolt, were
energetically repressed by the local Tai mandarins. In Quynh Nhai, as colonial
observers reported, so~cerers and other 'agitators' found fertile ground. 16 To be
sure it would not have been the first time in the history of Meo rebellion that a
sorcerer or shaman appeared at a moment of crisis. Indeed it might be hypothesised
that typically sorcerers appear to the Mea at moments of crisis rather than the
obverse, that the crisis arises after the appearance or apparition of a sorcerer or
shaman.
Rules set down by the French relating to tax collection inhibited, but did
not prevent, the Tai mandarins from collecting illicit profits, not acknowledged as
contributions to the budget but as personal tribute. The crop growing and cattle
raising Mea who populated the mountain heights in an otherwise complex pattern of
ethnic distribution, were the most obvious and proximate victim of the Tai tax
15. Saint Chaffray report, op.cit.
16. ibid.

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Journal of The Sia, Societ}
collectors although, as stated, the Yao and other minorities did not escape their
clutches. Tai peasants 7 on the other hand, paid a relatively smaller amount of
tribute to their lords. 1 Indeed, according to the testimony of a Meo rebel leader
cited in an historical survey of the Meo authored by Larteguy and Yang Dao, both
the Tai and the Meo tax collectors sheltered behind the French administration.
After harvest time, each adult Meo had to remit to the Tai collectors five
Indochinese piastres or 200 grammes of opium, two or three times that required by
the French. Sanctions for non-compliance were severe. 18
Thus while the Meo rebellion of Quynh Nhai appeared to be attributable to
the events that transpired in China and to the excesses inflicted by the Tai
mandarins of Lai Chau, as indicated, there was also a messiahnic element involved.
This was confirmed on 11 June when the word was spread that a king had appeared,
calling upon the Meo to abandon their rice fields and to join with 'he' who had the
power to provide rice. Several Meo families left for Quynh Nhai. Towards the end
of June, a Meo woman given to hysterics was proclaimed queen by her followers.
She attracted adepts and received homage from the local Meo clan. The incident
had further repercussions in Quynh Ninh and on the Ta Rhing plateau. In spite of
the messiahnic element, however, colonial observers were not so obtuse as to fail to
perceive the underlying political dimension of the affair. 19
To stay the hand of the rebels in this first major uprising by the Meo in
colonial times, the French authorities promised the Meo of Quynh Nhai that they
would examine their grievances against the Tai notables if they returned to their
abandoned fields. In the event, the French arrested three leaders of the movement,
including a Meo chief and a sorcerer, and removed them to Lai Chau. The Meo
replied that at 'no price' would they continue to subordinate themselves to the Tai
authorities and in particular to Deo Van Khang, the eldest son of Deo Van Tri who,
upon the latter's death, replaced him as feudal overlor:d of the Tai. Rather they
wanted direct access to the French administration in order to escape from the
'extortions on life and property' imposed by the Tai. Fearing that the French would
remove the Meo from Tai authority and that they would lose their windfall profits,
the Deo did everything possible to counteract the proposed changes and to prevent
the implementation of a new code of inter-ethnic relations. 20
17. ibid.
18. J.Larteguy and Yang Dao, La Fabuleuse A1•enwre du Peup/e de Opium, Presse de Ia Cite. 1979,
. p.97
19. Saint Chaffray report, op.cit.
20. ibid.

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Volume 74 (1986)
On 15 August the Meo complained of a raid by armed Tai led by a cousin,
of the Quang Deo of Lai Chau, Deo Van Khang, in the Nam Lai valley. Thut
provoked a group of Meo from Dien Bien Phu rose up in revolt on 30 October.
They threatened communication lines between Sonia and Lai Chau, repulsed a
French patrol and put the village of Muong Phang to the Torch. Led by a then
unknown chief named Bathchai, 300 Meo warriors looted and burnt hamlets in the
precincts of Dien Bien' Phu. A dozen Tai were killed in the fray and the tirai/leurs
(colonial troops) were summoned from Yen Bay. Despite negotiations entered into
by French officials and Batchai, the rebel chief revealed himself as · beyond
redemption. On 5 December the Delegate of Dien Bien Phu was killed by Batchai's
warriors while en route to continue discussions with the Meo chief. 21
Described by a French military official as an 'epileptic' and a 'sorcerer',
Batchai was originally from the Dien Bien Phu region. Although his family had
been imprisoned during the earlier uprising, Batchai was released. At this juncture
he declared himself a Chaofa or messiah in line with a widely held Meo belief in a
returning Meo king or saviour. 22 According to Larteguy and Yang Dao, Batchai's
overall pretension was to bring peace and prosperity to the Meo and to establish a
'great royal, independent kingdom of the Meo'. 23 Not surprisingly, perhaps. the
colonial record of the time reveals no such positive estimation of the Meo chiefs
'political' program.
The Batchai Revolt as an Anti-colonial Affair
With the intervention of the colonial military, Batchai's rebellion could no
longer be construed as solely an anti-mandarinal affair. After rebel activity was
reported among the Meo of Long He (Chau of Thuan) bordering on Dien Bien
Phu, the French entered the rebellion on the side of repression. Batchai was
attacked in the fortified village of Ban Nam Nghan on 12 October by the tirailleurs.
While his group suffered heavy losses, Batchai himself managed to escape in the
direction of Sonia, where he took refuge with Meo rebels in the Chau of Thuan. On
27 December, several Tai villages were attacked by another Meo chief, the so-called
King Camxu of Long He. Althc~mgh the revolt was not generalised in this Chau, the
rebels nevertheless succeeded in terrorising the population. While Camxu was
deserted by his parti.sans following a fierce exchange with the tirailleurs in his
21. ibid.
22. SHTM. Versailles, Indochine 3PCX1 353, 'Rapport du Colonel Angeli sur sujct des operations
entrcprises dan~ lc Haut Laos contre les Meos', n.d.
23. Lartcguy and Yang Dao, op.cit. p.99

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Journal of The Siam Society
mountain redoubt, Batchai's band of fifty went from strength to strength. 24
Although Meo groups from Muong Sai and Muong Ngoi in Laos deserted
their villages to join the rebels in Dien Bien Phu, the first people in Laos to be
influenced by rumours of events in Tonkin were the Yao. Indeed in early 1919 the
Yao prophesied or at least made it known to certain Lao that within a year or two, a
messiah would appear who would lead them to happier regipns. Accordingly they
would turn over to the Lao their crops, flocks and houses. 25
Continuing through 1920, Batchai managed to extend his rebellion over a
triangular section of territory covering 40,000 square kilometres. Taking Dien -Bien
Phu as the apex of the triangle, its base was an east-west line located 150 kilometres
north of Vientiane. The western side of the triangle was the valley of Nam Ou while
the eastern side was a line between Sam Neua and Cua Rau. When eventually
pushed back by the mil.itary from Xiang Khouang and Hua Phan, Batchai
consolidated his position in the Pou Chom Chick-Pou Chom Chang region, where
he constructed his citadel in Phoi Loi, north of Muong Hiem. Seen as a natural
fortress by the colonial forces, Batchai's redoubt was located at 1000 metres altitude
in an area where visibility was reduced to several metres by thick forest, and where
the terrain clearly favoured the guerrilla. One of the largest military expeditions
assembled in colonial Indochina up until that time - and certainly the largest in
Laos by that date - was mounted to break Batchai's rebellion; four comP.anies of
tirai/leurs were brought in from other parts of Indochina to re~tore order. 26
As far as the rebels were concerned, the local population were either for
the rebellion or they were against it. In the case of dissenters, their villages were set
on fire and the inhabitants massacred or led off into captivity. Given these
circumstances it was not surprising that nearly all the villages in the rebel zone
joined the cause. The clan and lineage structure of Meo society made it imperative
that Batchai win over the Meo chiefs if his rebellion was to sustain its momentum
and succeed. We know little of Batchai's political program except that it was both
anti-Lao (or Tai) and anti-France. Although the Meo are not generally literate,
Batchai apparently succeeded in disseminating 'propaganda' tracts which his adepts
27
took to have fallen from heaven.
24. Saint Chaffray report. op.cit.
25. Archives Outre Mer (AOM). Aix-cn-Provincc, Laos El6 1st tri. llJlll
26. ibid. and Dorey report. op.cit.
27. I. Alleton. 'Les Hmong aux confins de Ia Chine et du Vietnam: Ia rcvolte du Fou (1918-1922)' in
Pierre Brocheux (ed). His~oire- de Asie du Sue/est: Rt?J•o/tes, Reformes, Revolutions, Lille, Presses
Universitaires de Lillc. 19RI. p.l3

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Volume 74 (19t;6)
Batchai's success in extending his rebellion so rapidly in Laos was attributed
by the French to the assistance rendered by his relative, the Soung Quan (a Meo
honorific) of Hoei Thong. Likewise the Song Quan of Phou Gni and the Song Quan
of Hoei Thong joined with Batchai and his chef de guerre, the Soung Quan of Lao
Yang. Notable Meo dissenters from Batchai's cause, however, were the Phya Sai
Meo and the Soung Quan Lao Meng, chiefs from the periphery of the rebel zone? 8
All the Kha villagers in the rebel zone either capitulated or fled in the face
of rebel attack. Those who remained were reduced to slavery; women were
'guarded' in their villages while men were conscripted as coolies either to work on
the construction of defensive structures for the Meo or to act as their emissaries.
Rumour of impending Meo attack served to make most Lao evacuate their villages .
and flee ahead of the marauding bands. Those Lao on the western perimeter of the
rebel zone fled to the other side of the Nam Ou where they re-established their ray
(gardens), while those Lao of the high valleys of the Nam Soung and the Nam Seng
were forced - as refugees - to forage for food in the forest following the
destruction of their houses and the plunder of their harvests and cattle? 9
While some of the French experts of the day thought that only the capture
of Batchai would permit the revolt to be neutralised, others surmised that even then
a new sorcerer-shaman would appear to take his place. As it happened, one
emulator of Batchai sought to pass himself off as a Chaufa. This person went from
village to village announcing that he had received a mission from heaven to deliver
his compatriots from the Tai domination and that a king would come to place
. himself at the head of the mountain peoples. Just as his propag-anda was beginning
to attract followers, he was arrested by the authorities in Tran Ninh. 30
Despite Batchai's wearing guerrilla tactics and command over the mountain
peaks, his movement began to fragment in the face of the French repression.
Alleton describes internal dissensions between Meo clans as a contributing factor in
Batchai's isolation. By the time of l* death, practically all the Meo had capitulated
and even began to pay taxes again . .) 1 Batchai was killed by pro-French Kha on 17
November 1922 in the Muong Ngai region in Luang Prabang. At that point his first
lieutenant, Phya Chan. surrendered and swore his loyalty to king and country (and
28. ibid and AOM Aix Laos E16 . Luang Prabang. 4th tri 1919
29. ibid.
30. AOM Aix Laos El6. Luang Prabang. 2nd tri 191 9
31. A ll eton. op.cit. p.31i

117
Journal of The Siam Society
France) by praying at a (Buddhist) pagoda. Followmg the capture of Lao Sing,
another of Batchai's lieutenants, the 'pacification' of the region was seen as
practically terminated and the withdrawal of occupation forces was then
. d 32
envisage .
That the revolt did not take on a more general and permanent character
could be attributed to the fact that not all the Mea joined in. Clearly Batchai was
unable to convince or intimidate all Mea chiefs into believing that he was the 'true'
Chaofa. Others may have had a better estimation of French military capabilities or a
different estimate of French rule. For instance, although the Mea of Muong Sai and
Hongsa were worked over by Batchai's propagandists, they proved unwilling
participants in the rebellion. According to information supplied by Phya Sai, a
pro-French Mea chief, the Soung Quan Song was a reluctant participant in the
rebellion. His village had been occupied by Batchai's White Mea guerillas as a
33
reprisal for not supplying conscripts to the rebel cause. Supply was also a major
problem for the Mea and their adversaries alike, although the French eventually
succeeded by the tactic of cutting major trails leading to Batchai's redoubt. Indeed,
stricken by shortages on Phoi Loi , the rebels had to be supplied by caravans
34
dispatched from Dien Bien Phu by their clansmen.
Interpretations
While not ignoring political motives of the rebels, namely the struggle of
the Mea through history to seek autonomy, the French Catholic missionary and
Mea specialist, Savina, echoed in his writings the arguments of many colonial
observers by giving credence to the irrational element in Mea behaviour. According
to Savina, the Mea are waiting for a liberator or a king - phoa thay - just as the
Jews are waiting for a messiah. What we call revolt, he continues, they" call oa phoa
thay or king-making. It is by the shamans that a Mea 'sorcerer' is named and
empowered. The shamans are the source of prayers-magic and such paraphernalia
as amulets to ensure vulnerability against the enemy. With equanimity, however, he
concludes that in Mea political cosmography, religion is used as a weapon to win
32. AOM Aix Laos E17 ·Repo rt to th e Gove rno r G e ne ral". Vienti ane, 10 Ja nua ry 19 19
33. AOM Aix Laos. E 17. 4th tri 1919 .
34. AOM Aix Laos E17. 2nd tri 1919

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Volume 74 (1986)
. . I f d 35
pohttca ree om.
While the actual extension of the rev

119
Journal of The Siam Society
Another administrator, Roux, put the blame at the feet of the local Lao
chiefs- 'very·lazy, very rapacious' -who treated the Meo as 'milch cows'. If the
warrior spirit of the Meo sometimes welled up, he pointed out, then it was for very
good reasons, notably crushing taxes, illegal requisitions and opium. 38 ·
Contrary to Alleton's assertion, we have no evidence that abuse of the
opium trade was a major cause of Batchai's revo1t, 39 although control over opium
was the central issue with respect to a revolt by Chinese 'republicans' which raged
through northern Laos in 1914. That is not to say, however, that the last of the
Black Flag bands which, as seen above, terrorised northern Indochina at various
times over the past half century were entirely uninterested in profiting from
Batchai's rebellion. Firstly, Yunnanese sought to take advantage of the turmoil in
northern Laos and the Fourth Military Region .of Tonkin to purchase low price
opium. Secondly, the Yunnanese caravaners entered Laos with the intention of
selling guns to the insurgent Meo. At Muong Sen, 150-200 Chinese smugglers living
in close contact with the Meo were taken as common enemies of the French, all the
more so as - incongruously - they brazenly displayed German military pictures. 40
Sequels
As a sequel to the revolt, rebel chiefs were summarily executed by the
authorities and their collaborators were made to pay compensation to the victims of
their rampage. In defense, the Meo responded that they 'were mad and possessed
by the devil' and, by inference, not responsible for their actions. If there was an
irrational motive for the revolt, the French did not accept a prima facie case for the
diminution of culpability. Observing that the Meo had great reserves of money and
were blessed with a good opium harvest, the colonial government established a
committee for each muong comprising three Meo, three Lao and one Vietnamese to
determine the collective guilt of each Meo clan and the amount of compensation to
38. Roux cited in Larteguy and Yang Dao, op.cit.
39. cf. Alleton, op.cit.
40. Dorey's report, op.cit.

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Volume 74 (1986)
be paid. 41 Suggested criteria for indemnity were set at fifty piastre~ for every Lao or
Vietnamese killed, not including compensation for loss of houses, cattle and
crops. 42 Acting as government agents, the Banque de l'lndochine collected a total
of 375 kilograms of silver from the Meo, worth, however, only 7000 piastres due to
the dubious quality of the silver. 43
In order to preempt a recurrence of rebellion in the highlands the local
French administration commissioned an enquiry to ascertain the abuses to which the
Meo were subject and set forth guiding principles for the more equitable
administration of these people. This task befell Father Savina. Duly drawn up and
with the best intentions, the statute proclaimed that the Meo should not be
subordinate to any other races in the administrative hierarchy, but like Lao or
Vietnamese should administer themselves, 'under the surveillance of the
Protectorate'. To this end a census was to be taken of the Meo by tribe and habitat.
A new territorial delineation of the cantons and communes was to be drawn up
'with care and precision'. All the Meo of Tonkin and Laos were to be invited to
'freely' elect their own tribal chiefs, one each per province. per military territory,
per canton and a mayor for each commune. Elections were to take place, not in the
main towns but in the villages under the guidance of an official and according to
majority vote. Taxes were to be requited to the French administration 'in the
presence of all the chiefs of the canton and all the assembled mayors'. Subject to
French approval, Meo customary law was to be binding upon them. For the first
time under the French administration of Laos, Meo chiefs would be authorised to
adjudicate intra-Meo disputes, although fines were to be paid to the French
authorities. Contrariwise, Meo chiefs would be responsible for those they
administered and were to furnish yearly political reports on their muong. 44
41. AOM Aix Laos F6, 'telegram from Vientiane", 2nd bureau, 26 August 1920
Although we have no evidence. one should not ignore the contention of inter alia Tapp op.cit.
p.122, that missionary groups such as the China Inland Mission served to 'lend ideological support
to an essentially sociopolitical form of alienation'. Indeed, according to one missionary memoir,
S.R. Clarke, Among the TribeJ in South-west China, China Inland Mission, London, MCMXI
(Ch'eng Wen Publishing Co., Taipai. 1970), it was not until 1896 that definite efforts were made to
evangelize among the Mea of Kweichow, Mission activity was expanded to Yunnan in 1905 and by
1909 the Society claimed tens of thousands of converts among the Mea.
Whether or not the ideology of the Taiping rebels permanently influenced Mea behaviour in their
contact with outsiders down through the decades remains an open question, however.
42. AOM Aix Laos F6, 'telegram'. 11 February 1920
43. AOM Aix Laos F6, 'Governor to Director of Finances, Hanoi', Vientiane, 26 August 1920
44. Savina. op.cit. np.

121
Journal of The Siam Society
Some five years after Batchai's revolt was crushed, the Meo 'tribes' of
Luang Prabang, Tran Ninh and Sam Neua were reportedly 'peaceful' and in
excellent esprit de corps. This felicitous state of affairs was attributed to the
implementation of the new administrative measures including the constitution of
autonomous Meo groups under elected chiefs and directly responsible to French
Commissioners. 45 But because of past grievances as well as continuing clan conflict,
as much as new burdens imposed by the colonial state - especially in the way of
corvee and tax demands - Meo discontent was always simmering and barely
constrained throughout the entire colonial era.
Geoffrey C. Gunn
University of Queensland
45. AOM Aix Laos. 06, 'Rapport au Conseill de Gouvernement', 1926

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Volume 74 (1986)
REMNANT OF A LOST NATION &
THEIR COGNATE WORDS TO OLD
MON EPIGRAPH
Surprisingly, a few extraordinary discoveries on anthropology, archaeology,
and linguistics have been brought to light by competent scholars of respective fields of
research in recent years both in Burma and Thailand.
In 1979, U Thaw Tint and U Ba Maw of Geology Department of Mandalay
University reported the new finds of fossilised primate jaws at Pondaung Hills, near
Mogaung village, Pale township, North-West Burma which date back to 40million years
according to Radiocarbon test. Thus claiming to be the oldest specimen fossils of anthropoid
so far found in the world. (See Nature Vol. 282, No. 5734, pp. 65-67, 1979 Macmillan
Journals Ltd.)
Pisit Charoenwongsa and Chester German had jointly conducted the systematic
excavations at Ban Chiang, a small village in North-East Thailand in the field seasons
of1974-75. ReportssaythatthefindsfromBan Chiang Provide the earliest bronze casting
technology yet discovered which Radiocarbon (C14) analysis places them 3600-2900
B. C. antedating both the bronze metallurgy of China and the Middle East. (See Tentative
Stratigraphic Sequence through the Ban Chiang Mound, Expedition Vol. 18 No.4,
p.26, 1976, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia)
In the same issue of Expedition "on page 12, the learned editor James D. Muhly
wrote: " The first radiocarbon dates from Mainland China suggest that copper metallur-.
gy in China could as old as c.2000 BC. But no earlier, at least on the evidence now
available. Yet the radiocarbon

123
Journal of The Siam Society
word for copper, Chinese t' ung, was borrowed by Chinese from Austro-Thai. For
Benedict the graves at Ban Chiang and Non Nok Tha represent the very graves of these
ancestral Austro-Thai people or peoples, with evidence of sophisticated bronze casting
inthemiddleofthethirdmilleniumB.C. about a thousand years before the appearance of
the celebrated bronze of ancient China.
Professor PaulK. Benedict writes: "We come now finally to the one cultural
item which is represented, albeit. with semantic shift, in Munda, viz. lu (y) a11 'copper/
brass', yielding Proto-Munda lua11 'iron', the final piece in the puzzle (the missing" y)
being supplied by Mon sluy 'copper' (cf. Slak 'brass') from s/luy (a'fl) .......... Thus it
appears that the "culture word" of greatest antiquity in all Sc;jltheast Asia should designate
the metal (copper/bronze) that was probably first .produced in history by the people
(Austro-Thai speaking) of this region" (See Austroasiatic Studies, Part I, p.27, 1976,
Hawaii University, Honolulu).
Austro-Thai is a new term given by Benedict in a paper presented at the First
International Conference on Austroasiatic Linguistics at the University of Hawaii in
1973. Old linguist W.Schmidt (1906) of Vienna started calling a language super family as
"Austric" which has two sub-divisions known as Austronesian (languages spoken on the
southern islands) and Austroasiatic (languages spoken on the mainland of South Asia
including Mon-Khmer but excluding Thai-Chinese and Tibeto-Burman, both belong to
Sino-Tibetan, a different main family).
Among members of the Austroasiatic stock, Mon was one of the major languages
which had played a considerable role in bygone days in the soil now known as
Thailand.
Regarding the remnant of ancient Mon in Thailand which I prefer to call them a
lost Nation, Gerard Diffloth of Chicago University brought me in 1980, a copy of his
work entitled "Reconstructing Dvaravatl-Old-Mon" revealing the fact that the Nyahkur
language was a sister-language to Modern Mon, which separated itself during the
Old Mon period and has had an independent life since then. Strangely enough they do
not consider themselves to be Mon and in fact have no knowledge of the name Mon or
any older form of it such as Raman; Rmeii; Rman and Man, pronounced 'Mon'.
Obviously their spoken words are more closer to written Old Mon than to Modern
Spoken Mon.
Despite the fact that they are illiterate they still maintain the sound of final
consonants in their speech as we find in Old Mon inscriptions of both Burma and
Thailand that had flourished from 6th centuries A.D.
Dr. diftloth writes in his lntrodution; "The comparison of Mon and Nyah Kur

124
Volume 74 (1986)
gives us not only more information (two Monic languages instead of one), but also
information of a totally different kind; it allows us to construct, in part, a third language
which has disappeared for ever, ~nd to suggest the course of events which led from this
reconstructed language to the ones which are still spoken today: Mon and Nyah Kur.
This third language will be called Proto-Monic, following normal linguistic practice; but
we will try to show in the conclusion to the present work that this language was actually
the one spoken in Central Thailand in the Dvaravatl period, i.e. that Proto-Monic is
Dvaravatl-Old-Mon."
His reconstruction is admirable and I was excited to have such a very striking information
about the discovery of the r~nant of a lost nation of our ancestors the ancient language
of Thailand that had presumed to be lost forever. As a Mon, I was delighted and would
like to express my heartiest congratulations to Dr. Diffloth for his pioneer work excerting
strenous efforts in bringing to light the long hidden Nyah Kur language to be definately
affiliated to an offshoot of the Dvaravati=Old-Mon.
Again in 1984, I was overwhelmed with joy when I received a copy of Nyah Kur
(Chao-Bon)-Thai-English Dictionary by Dr. Theraphan Thongkum.lt was kindly presented
to me by the author herself. 1his rhyming dictionary consists of about 5000 entries
of Nyah Kur words. The author says this dying language is spoken by a minority group
scattered in remote areas of three provinces; Chaiyaphum, Khorat and Petchabun. She
states that th_e phonological system of Nyah Kur is more similar to Old Mon of the
inscriptions than to Modern Mon. The learned dictionary is arranged by semantic categories
into 37 sections. The entries are transcribed in IP A script and translated into Thai
and English with sample phrases and sentences.lt is extremely helpful for me in comparing
with my language. Therefore, I would like to extend my heartiest congratulation to
Dr. Theraphan for her pioneer work on Nyah Kur. I admire her for her ability and
diligence in mastering the dialect which is a sister-language of my mother tongue.
Simultaneously, Dr. Diffloth sent me a copy of his book on "The Dvaravati Old
Mon Language and Nyah Kur". It is a very extensive work proving that the Nyah Kur
people are the direct linguistic descendants ofDvaravati society. He suggests that Dvaravati
Old Mon was the communication medium of ancient Central Thailand before Thai
supplanted it. He says that by comparing the Nyah Kur language with the VlJ.rious stages
of Mon, a competent linguist can start reconstructing the Dvaravati Old Mon langu~ge
itself. Because the Nyah Kur language (Chao Bon) is an offshoot of Old Mon.
This new theory may not be accepted by every one and even certain linguists of
today do not have the notion that the Nyah Kur are actually a dialect of Mon. So also over
half a century ago. Seidefaden had contributed two learned articles on Nyah Kur lao-

125
Journal of The Siam Society
guage in JSS Vol.12 and 13 in 1918-19 and Phra Petchabunburi wrote about the same
tribe in the same journal in 1921. Both scholars regarded Nyah Kur as a dialect of
Lawa, a Man-Khmer language. However, Seidenfaden changed his view in 1958 and
said they are not Lawa. Credner, regarded them in 1935 as representative ofthe Kui, a
Man-Khmer dialect also known as Kuoy and So_ai who ~well in the hills along both sides
ofthe Thailand-Cambodia border between 103 E, 103 E. (See Ethnic Groups of Mainland
Southeast Asia, by 12 authors, including P.M. Lebar, G .C.Hickey, J .K.Musgrave,
Human Relations Area Files Press, New haven, USA 1964).
In those days, the linguists were unable to ascertain that the Nyah Kur language
was almost identical to Old Mon and linking closely with Modern Mon than to any other
Mon-Khmer language because it seems that they had no authentic reference books on
Old Mon epigraphy. Professor H.L.Shorto of School of Oriental and African Studies in
London University who compiled" A Dictionary of the Mon Inscriptions from the Sixth
to the Sixteenth Centuries" in 1971 was also silent on this dialect though he did put them
as Niakual of Karat and Niakual of Petchabun in giving cross references in his learned
book.
In 1970, Professors Thomas and Headley place Nyah Kur together with Mon,
calling it Monic branch when a general classification of the whole family was proposed.
(See "More on Mon-Khmer Subgrouping" by David D. Thomas and Robert K. Headley,
Lingua25,4:398-418). The notion was well accepted by ProfessorF.E.Huffman in 1977
and finally confirmed by Dr.Diffloth in 1980. (See Diffloth's interesting article on Nyah
Kur which rendered into Thai in a Thai Journal of Bangkok 1980 and his Introduction to
ReconstructingDvaravati-Oid-Mon in English appeared in a Thai publication in 1982).
Concerning the Old Mon people in Thailand, a learned and eminent scholar
Phya Anuman Rajadhon wrote in JSS Voi.LIII, pt.2, p.135 in 1965.
" It is a historical fact that the central part of Thailand, the Menam
Basin, a thousand or more years ago was peopled by the Mon speaking
race who later mixed freely, racially and culturally with the Thai, late
comers from the North of Thailand and beyond. Historians tell us that
Mons at those times were a relatively civilized race as compared to the
Thai and other neighbouring races".
No one has ever thought that some of those Mons of the historic past mentioned
above would be still surviving in the isolated places far out from Thai speakers. Unexpectedly
we can now prove that the Nyah Kur are indeed no other than remant of the
Dvaravati-Old-Mon. They represent the oldest tribe of Thailand numbering slightly
over two thousand who dwell in about 25 sm::ll villages scattered in Korat, Petchabun

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Volume 74 (1986)
and Chaiyaphum provinces.
They have no close contacts with the outside world. That is why they have not yet
been incorporated with the Thai language up to now. But at any rate, due to the growth of
Thai population, the Nyah Kur speakers would be assimilated by the majority Thai
language sooner or later as in the case of Modern Mons who migrated to Thailand from
Burma in the 17th-18th centuries who had very freely mingled with the Thais. (Immigration
of the Mons into Siam by Robert Halliday, JSS, 10, Part 3, 1913 pp.l-14. Reprinted
in 50th Anniversary Volume, The Siam Society, Vol.I, pp. 65-77).
The Nyah Kur are called Chao Bon by the Thai which means "people of the
hills". In Modern Mon, iia~ giil11ah ku/means "people of the plantations" - iiaJYTJahlor/
nyah/=people and giilku/=plantation. Perhaps this meaning had been changed from hill
to plantation because old peoples used to do plantation on hillsides or on slopes of the
hills. The majority of them are located in Chaiyaphum. About five villages in Korat and
two in Petchabun. All the villages are found on the edge of Korat plateau. Except one all
villages have mixed populations with Thai. All of them can speak Thai.
· In addition there are many people in the area between the Central Plain and the
North-East of Thailand where they say that their parents spoke Nyah Kur but they now
speak Thai only; some say they used to speak Nyah Kur when they were young but now
unable to do so. Some fifty years ago, there were at least fifty villages who spoke Nyah
Kur. At present there are less than half of that number. Obviously they have been
dwiJ;tdling. The older people speak Nyah Kur well, but younger ones go to schools and
pick up Thai words easily and perhaps they would drop off Nyah Kur language in the
years ahead. There is a village on the new main road and easily accessible to buses, trucks
. and even tourists. So they are more exposed to the outside world than the more remote
villages. Apparently no more Nyah Kurspeakers could be found in this village in the next
fifty years. There are of course small dialect differeces among the Nyah Kur but they all
understand each other without difficulty. Only the two villages in Petchabun are rather
difficult for others to understand their dialect as they live very far away and do not have
contact with the rest. ·
Most of them are wet rice cultivators and some of them raise rice and maize in the
hill clearings. Of course Professor Luce has said: "The pioneers in civilization, both in
Old Burma and Old Siam, were the Mons. Strongest in the deltas near the coast, where
they grow their irrigated rice, they had contacts with India from very early times ..... "
(Old Burma-Early Pagan, Voi.I, p.3, 1969, Artibus Asiae, Supplementum 25)
Despite the difference in language, the surviving small number of Nyah Kur tribe
are not much different from Thai in out-look, dress, ornaments, manners and housing

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Journal of The Siam Society
but there are some characteristics which are peculiar. The women keep special drcs~
what they call I kny.un I corresponding to gnun I kny.n I of Old Mon and gnin l nhin /
of Modern Mon, meaning woman's waist cloth or skirt which they wear at special
occasions. The men wear dark-red skirt (sarong) at ceremonies. Of course the dark-red
skirt is also a most favourite one for us in Burma.
Like us in Burma, they also believe in the unseen spirit which they call 1
nthQok I and our word in I alQok I literary kalok but written kindok in Old Mon with
the supposed pronunciation I kentQok I apparently almost identical. Jf some one falls
from the house, the owner or anybody has to pour some water over the fallen person ami
say some words of apology to the house spirit according to their custom. Such inherited
primitive custom is still existed in my native village too. At Songkran (New Year Festival),
they still throw water a teach other like us and use to visit each other's houses and hold
parties for quite a few days-drinking home made rice wine. Even those who do not speak
Nyah Kur any more also follow these old traditions. A popular game which they play
between boys and girls is what they call I win 11lee~ I corresponding to our word I woi11
bene~ I also wain hanai' I depending on locality wfth variant pronunciations but in literature
written wen gane'. ·
The Nyah Kur word to play I win I was spelt wiii in Old Mon and its supposed
pronunciation would be I win I which is strikingly indentical. We have no voice affinal
consonant offiln/ in conversation but instead we have the sound of i1 I 11 I or n I n I
according to locality. The large dark round seeds which they calll11lee "!I is not occurred in
Old Mon epigraphy. It is known in Thailsabbala sort of bean called in English entada.
This common game is played in groups at all times and seasons but preferable at
night during New Year Festival where the entada seeds are set upright in a long row at
which each boy or girl from a distance of about ten or more feet would knock down in turn
with the same seed that each of them holds in hand. Young people are very fond of this
game. It is a sort of an old form of courtship at which they can easily get acquainted with
each other. This is a typical Mon game.lt is still played popularly in Mon villages both in
Burma and Thailand.
Though we play the same game and follow the same custom we do not utter the
same voice. Once Dr .Diffloth took a Nyah Kur to a Mon village in Rachaburi province.
There he found that they could not communicate with each other, except in Thai, but
everybody was amazed at finding almost identical and similar words in both the dialects. I
was astonished to find certain words _among the Diffloth 's collection and Theraphan · s
entries which are very important support to the Old Mon glosses in determining the
meanings.

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Volume 74 (1986)
We have lost such old words in our spoken language. Regarding this point, my
old teacher Professor G.H.Luce often remarked ; "Old Moo and Middle Mon are
. well-nigh two different laguages and Mordern Mon is yet a third!" (See his paper, Mons
of the Pagan Dynasty, JBRS Vol.XXXVJ pt.J).
I could still reflect my study tours under Luce's guidance at Pagan over three
decades ago when I began to learn to read Old Mon inscriptions on stones and ink glosses
on the interior walls of various temples. He read to me Old Moo words with the sound of
final consonants somewhat like English words such as - das = to be ; ar = to go; kya
I =air; sac = fruit ; piii = to be full etc. Then I smiled and said to myself: "He pronounced
in such a way because he is an Englishman!" I imagned then that he was wrong
because we do not have such sound in my mother tongue.
Only now I am convinced and realised that he was absolutely correct because I
learnt from Diffloth and Theraphan that Nyah Kur people are still maintaining such final
consonantal sound in their speech in the same way the Old Moo people of Pagan should
have been spoken in the 11th century A.D. as evident by the orthography of Old Mon
epigraphy. Professor Luce has also very often said that Thailand was once Monland
because the oldest Mon inscription was discovered not in Burma but in Thailand. Of
course, Mon inscription are found in Nakhon Pathom, Loburi, Lamphun and various
other places in Thailand dating between 6th and 13th centuries A.D.
Authentic Chinese accounts of 7th century A.D. stated the existence of a country
known as To-lo-po-ti between Isanapura (Cambodia) and Snk~etra (Burma) which
have been restored as Dvaravafi (Skt. word meaning city with gates). This identification
was first proposed by Beal and Chavannes in 1884 and 1894 respectively and remained
conjectural until two silver medals or coins bearing the writing Sr!Dvaravat~varapu~ya,
were dug up in 1963. (See the King ofSnDvaravafi and his Regalia by J .J .Boeles,
JSS Vol.LII pt.I, pp.99-114).
Thus approving the old theory of restoring the toponym TOLOPOTI to Dva
ravafi of the Chinese text written by Hsuangtsang in 648 A.D. during his pilgrimage
travel from China to India and back.
The history of Dvaravafi, an old Mon kingdom flourished in Old Siam in the 6th
century A.D. after the break up of Fun an Empire has been mostly described by George
Coedes and many other historians. The archaeological evidences of Dvaravafi period
have been established by P.Dupont who conducted systematic excavations in 1950. A
book on Dvaravafi by Quaritch Wales came out in 1969. Moo inscriptions of Thailand
have been edited by Coedes and Halliday in BEFEO in 1929 and 1930 respectively.
While Moo inscriptions of Burma have been deciphered and translated admirably by

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Journal of The Siam Society
C. 0 .Blagden in Epigraphia Birmanica in four volumes since 1918. Old Moo ink inscriptions
of Pagan temples have been read and translated by G .H.Luce in the Bulletin of
Burma Historical Commission Vol.II, 1961 and J.B.R.S Vol.LIII,pt II 1975.
There are sol)le odd words in Old Moo inscriptions of Burma which are really
difficult to make out their meanings. We have, however, solved such problems by comparing
with the later find glosses among ink inscriptions perhaps some are slightly
different in spelling. Such ink glosses are found mostly in the Jataka stories and the
events from the life of Lord Buddha written below the murals that illustrate the episodes
on the inner walls of Pagan monuments.
Among Diffloth's collection and Thraphan's entries shown in their books, I was
thrilled to find such important words spoken by the Nyah Kur today which are very
valuable evidences in confirming the rendered meanings of the obscure words found in
the ancient epigraphical records of Old Burma Early Pagan.
For instance let us look at the Shwezigon Moo inscriptions written by a Burmese
king known as Kyansittha in the 11th century A.D. on face C, lines 35-37, the text reads:
'"ut mahajan gumloil dus ambo amba Ia~ dus kurilci munyow Ia~ dus
imail kandar Ia~ dus kanlyanamit sahay rumlos Ia~ dus rail sko kum
kum ci de~ sculoh tu~a~ kel sak spunluk smic cir-al! de~"
Dr. Blagden's translation: "All the people, be it the faults of mother or father,
nephew or brother-in-law, husband or wife, good friend or trusty companion, or the
faults of one another, they shall openly declare (them), shall not conceal (them) and shall
desire their purgation." (Epigraphia Birmanica Vol.I, Pt.Ilp.ll9).
Among human society, (mother and father) and (husband and wife) are normal
doublets but the combination "nephew and brother-in-law" is doubtful. It is certainly a
mistake in translation. The word yow and kamin from kamun mean elder brother-in-law
and nephew or niece respectively. Therefore, Dr. Glagden was forced to translate tentatively
as stated above in 1920.
Over three decades later the word kwnci was noticed in Hatthipila Jataka
(No.509) in Nagayon temple at Pagan. The story reads:
Translation:
Glossary:
" (Bodhisat das Hatthipal kurilci aja imo Assapil moy Gopil moy
Ajapal Moy ..... "
The Bodhisattva was Hatthipila (Elephant keeper). His younger
brother (s) (were) named one f\ . .;sapala (Horse-keeper), one Gopila
(cowherd) and one Ajapala (Goat-herd) ..... "
Bodhisattva = future Buddha or Buddha to be;

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Volume 74 (1986)
das = to. be; kurilci = younger brother; aja = his;
imO =named or called; moy =one
It is certain that the word kumci means younger brother because in this Jataka
story Hatthipala has three younger brothers as mentioned above. In a later Old Mon
inscription known as Pagan Nganintha (Pagan Museum stone No.68) on west face
11.22-24, the text reads:-
yail pey karilci del} ui' ran ya phaw karilci bel}
ya dwac ya si ya krac fui pan ya sok fui
glan fui khan..... ·
Translation:
Yah poy, his younger sister Ui'Ran. Ya Phaw, her younger sisters and
younger brothers Ya Dwac, Ya Si, Ya Krac, Na Pan, Ya sok, Na Glan
and Na Khan .....
This Mon inscription contains both Mon and Burmese personal names. In such
proper names, the prefixes Ya in Mon and Ui' in Burmese indicate female names.
Prefix~s Yah in Mon and fui in Burmese stand for male. Therefore karilci here means
younger siblings.
Moreover the word for younger sister-in-law appeared twice in Kusa Jataka
(No.531) in ink inscriptions of Nagayon Temple. The story reads:­
WO kat smiil durilpoh tluil bin baranaSi mic kurilci dnal smiil
kussaraja kurilsrr smiil kussaraja kfia tit
cinleh smiil kussaraja k-ac'ut smiil durilpoh ku ciil
k~eh balaba~ lot op abar taw smii1 kussaraja rap
'ut smiil durilpoh go!} rail lop kil ku kurilsi sak or pa
s-ir or kil kurilci dnal mimoy mimoy'.ut smiil durilpoh go h .....
Translation:-
This is when the seven kings come. and besiege Banares, demanding the Kumci
dnal (younger sister-in-law) of Prince Kusa:·The father-in-law of prince Kusa invites him
to go out and fight. Prince Kusa roars. All the seven kings, with (their) elephants. horses
and hosts, fall down crouch and remain prostrate. Prince Kusa captures all the seven
kings, brin~s (them), enters (the city) and hands over to his father-in-law. with request
not to make harm (but) to present with a kurhci dna/ each t~ those seven kings .....
Glossary:-
W o , = t h i s ; k a- I = t i m e ; w h e n ; s m i n· = k i n g .
prince;dunipoh =seven; tluri =come; birl =surround,

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Journal of The Siam Society
besiege; mic = sesire, want,demand; kurilci dnal = younger sister-in-law;
kurilslr = parent-in-law; kiia = invite, ask; tit = to go out; cinleh = fight; k­
ac = shout, roar; 'ut = all; ku = with; ciil = elephant; k~eh = horse;
balaba~ = hosts, troops; lot = fall; op = to hide; to crouch; aba
r = prostrate; taw = stay;remain; rap = capture, hold; rail = bring;
lop = enter; kil = give; or = to cause; sak = not, nil; pa = make; s­
ir = harm; ill treat; mimoy = each, apiece; gob = that, those; baranaSI
= Banares.
Apparently the story in this Old Man version is not completely agreeable with
the modern texts which say that the seven kings have come to Sagala simultaneously and
threaten to destory the city, if Pabhavati (Kusa's bride) is not given. King Madda of
Sagala city decided to cut down his daughter Pabhavafi into seven pieces for the seven
kings but she is saved by her despised husband Kusa. Prince Kusa persuades his fatherin-law
not to kill the seven captured kings but to give each of his seven younger sister-inlaw
to them.
Therefore, the term kwhci dnal has a great problem. The word kurhci certainly
means younger sibling as shown in other records. Obviously kurhci dna/ means younger
sister-in-law. However it contradicts with the modem version in the first place though it
agrees in the second. Following or sticking on t.he modern texts, Professors Luce and
Shorto have rendered the word kurhci dna/ in both places as bride, perhaps to suit the
story. But they keep the ~ity Banares as it is without any alteration or any reference to
Sagala to be in accordance with the modern Jataka tale.
Consequently, I am inclined to consider that it was the scribe's mistakes in
putting Banares instead of Sagala and so also in using the term kurilci dnal in the first
place instead of Pabhavati Despite such errors in using words in the wrong places, the
original meanings of such words cannot be altered. (See G .H.Luce's rendering of Kusa
Jataka ink glosses in JBRS Vol. LVIII pt. II, p.159 and H.L.Shorto's dictionary-of Man
Inscriptions and his Note on Man Epigraphy in BSO~S XVIII, pp.346-8.
The second word in the pair munyow occurred in Hatthipala Jataka inN agayon
Temple of Pagan thus:-
'utsmiilabo' aba' ajakurilci munyow ..... trus brow j-itjnokm-irdas risi
attavi
"All the king, his mother and father, his youn~er siblings and elder
brothers ..... male and female, a great procession, renounce the world
and become hermits of the forest".

132
Glossary:-
Volume 74 (1986)
~ut = all; kun'lci = younger sibling; munyow = elder brother;
trus = male; brow = female; j-it = procession; retinue;
jnok = great;m-ir = tobecomemonkorhermit,renouncetheworld;
das = to be; risi = hermit; a!!avi = forest (Skt./Pali a~avi)
A variant of this word occurred in Sona-Nanda Jataka (No.532) in the same
N agayon monument which is spelt min yow but it means the same. It is a common practice
in the change of vowel u to i in old Mon epigraphy. The story reads:-
Glossary:-
"We'kal risi nan ket smiilmanoja ar dwan smiil (klan'!.) moy da'ut bnas
kan'lmade~ t-e~ pan tiil.gim tagoh ajacirdu-il utkucarilmakhanmarow
gob kun'lci 'ut smiiljambudwip mle~ rna aja pkom ket na s-ar kin do' han
minyow aja rna himo' risi son"
"This is when the hermit Nanda brings king Manoja and goes to invade
(one hundred and) one kings. All the spears and arrows which they
shoot and thrust (at them) he even wards off all with his leather mat like
that! In order to go and pay respect to Qis elder brother named the
hermit Sona, he assembles all the kings of the whole Jambudipa"
wo' = this; kai = when; risi = hermit; ket = take; smiil = king; a
r = go; dwan = fight; klam = 100; moy = one; 'ut = all;
bnas = spear; kan'l = arrow; de~ = he; t-e~ = plural suffis;
pan = shoot; tiilgim = thrust; ta = plural form; go~ = that;
aja =he; cir = to shade, ward; du-il = off; ku =with;
can'lmakhan = leather mat (Pali cammakhanda) row = like;
kun'l = even; mle~ = whole; pkom = assemble; rna = prefix;
d = indeed; da = suffi'

133
Journal of The Siam Society
Mon glu I klu~ I eldest of sibling.
Regarding the Nyah Kur term for younger sibling, Diffloth's collection and
Theraphan's dictionary show:­
Northem dialect I
Central dialect I
Southern dialect I
Dvaravati Old Mon
reconstruction
lkmcii~ I
cii~ I
cii~ I
kemcii~ I
Thus the Nyah Kur word I kemcii~ I apparently approves the Old Mon gloss
kmfisi I kamci as younger sibling which we have lost and invented instead a new one
de' I de~ I in the 15th century.
The Nyah Kur word for elder brother-in-law according to Diffloth 's collection
and Theraphan's dictionary is I y~w I jaw I which is almost identical to Modern Mon
yau I yea I and Old Mon yow without the prefix mun or min. Strangely enough we have
the same sense with Nyah Kur in this usage which is not much different from Old Mon
meaning elder brother. In the case of Modern Spoken Mon, we have adopted a Burmese
word kuifor elder brother and our own word yau I yea I is used as elder brother-in-law
instead of its original meaning elder brother. This slight shift is due to loanword as
obvious in other instances. In the list of Nyah Kur dialects there is another particular
word for elder brother except I y~w I meaning elder brother of spouse; husband of elder
sister. It is I pcc11/ (p.27). This word also combines with I mcii I as I pcc11l for doublet
elder and younger male sibling.
It is very interesting to see Theraphan's dictionary on Doublets (pp.229-235).
She shows:
Nyah Kur O.Mon M.Mon
dogs and pigs
Chur-khliic cluiw-clik kluiw I kle I
clik I kloik I
rice and water
teeth and tongue
monitor and tortoise
head and tail
mortar and pestle
knife and matchet
shell fish and crab
p6o11-daak pun-dak
11iek-ntaak nek .....
tekuat-thii~ ,cewn:~· darkot .....
kedfp-pataa~
ndul-T)rii~
buun-mraa~
T)loo~-ntaam
puil-4ak I pe11-daikl
nek-ltak I nek-ataik/
dakot-gwil
hekot-kwtl
k4uip-bta/cx:ap-hata'/
k4ip .....
....................... ga!.rilhei~-ri~l
~un-mra
~un-mralbun-pare'/
kinlo' ............... kanu-btamlkenao"
lhetem/

134
Volume 74 (1986)
tree and bamboo
cooking pot and
water pot
chuu?-thuuTJ
mbaaj-trcTJ
chu-dufi
timbay-troil
chu-dun/chuo;-dunl
thamay .... ./hemai. . .I
Note ( Theraphan gives only cooking pot in her book for this doublet. Old Mon gives troti
as water pot or jar and tim bay as cooking pot but Spoken Mon has lost the word troil. In
Ananda basement we read devataw rna rap troil = gods holding jars or water pots
(offering to Buddha). In Nagayon glosses we read troiltirilqay pak = jars and cooking
pots were broken (due to earth-quake). In Shwezigon Mon inscriptions we read troil
pupifi = full jar which is an auspicious object.)
sambar deer and barking deer tebuTJ-pay
fire and firewood
elephant and horse
Buffalo-ox
Sweet potato taro
fish and frog
·feet (leg) and hand
snake and centipede
husband and wife
mother and father
younger sibling and
elder brother?
kamat·-

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Journal of The Siam Society
Southern I khem{'!an I
with the defination - "husband of younger sister, of cousin younger than Ego, of daughter,
of niece".
Both Modern Mon and Middle Mon have the same word with the same sense
though the word does not appear in Old Mon. The word in Modern Spoken Mon I
haman I means son-in-law, it is written in literature gaman or khaman and in Middle
Mon inscription gaman I gamaan I. For the terms younger brother-in-law and younger
cousin brother-in-law the word gam an is combined with de' a new word invented for Old
Mon kurhci younger sibling. It is thought that the Old Mon term would be gaman kurhci
for younger brother-in-law. I wonder whether or not I khemaan I in combined with I
kemciic; I for this term in Nyah Kur. After all Theraphan shows I nciic; phrawlandlnciic;
maaljl for younger siblings-in-law in her dictionary on page 23.
The Nyah Kur's terminology of society are more akin, if not identical to Old
Mon than to Modern Mon. We have lost some but they are still maintained by the Nyah
Kur which are no doubt cognate to Old Mon. For example, the word for young child or
girl of tender age in Old Mon was written kiium /kn6om /which we have lost but the
Nyah Kur still have it as /khn6om I in one dialect and /hn6om I in another from which
the reconstruction is I kn6oml. However, we have a new word for it as ilak lJ aik/. Shorto
shows /kanem I for young boy in Nicobarese and Palaung dialects and nem I for young
child in Praok as cross references to Old Mon kl'ium in his dictionary p.56 which he
defines as child of tender years.
The terms in Nyah Kur I maalJ I for husband and I kenthar I for wife are
almost the same with Old Mon forms written imail I imalJ I and kindar or kandar I
kinder I or I kendcr I for husband and wife respectively which are no more spoken in
our tongue except in literature which are written imail I imalJ I and kalaw I kelcw I
with a normal phonological change in the second term. Modern Spoken Mon use truh
(male,man) and brau I brea I (female, woman) instead. In fact, the Nyah Kur also
use I phr{'!w I for wife as well as for woman and they use I truuy I for husband and for
man which is trus (male in human) in Old Mon.
Theirwordforwidow I khamaay I or I hmay I whichisnotoccurredininscriptions
but Old Burmese loanword from Old Mon is kamay I kemew I and Thai word
Vl5:J1tl 1 maay I is obviously adopted either from Nyah Kur or Mon.
Their word for parent-in-law I kemsiir I is linking closer to Old Mon kurilsl
r I kemsiir I than to Modern Mon kharilsl I khamsce I or I khmasei I according to localities.

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Volume 74 (1986)
The Nyah Kur word for Spinster or virgin I lehuut I or I Iuut I is similar to Old
Mon lwut which we call I wut I and it is interesting to note that they keep the first initial
consonant I and we keep the second w from Old Mon lwut.
. .
Their term for nephew or niece I khamuun I is congnate with Old Mon kmun
which we write kmin and speak I hmen I or I men I or I hmein I in different localities.
Their word for daughter-in-law I c;uay I is allied to ours which we :write kha'ah
and pronounce I hec;ch I or I hec;oh I but it is not found in Old Mon. Like us they combine
the word with I kuan I child as I kuanc;uay I which w~ write kon kha' ah and utter I
kon hec;oh I or I kon hec;ch I in different areas.
Their term for uncle, younger brother of father I maam I is not agreeable to
Old Mon kamwa I kcmwa I and Modern Mon amu I emu I for uncle.
So also their word for grandfather I peen I . Perhaps they are loanwords.
We have invented aba'jnok I pa nok I great father for grandfather.
However, their words for grandchild I caw, great grandchild/cab/and great2
grandchild I ceec I are almost the same with our words cau I cao I, ca~ cab I and
cek/ coik I or I cctl.
The Nyah Kur word for bachelor, marriageable boy I phlaay I is quite
close to Old Mon and Modern Mon bUiy I play/, plail.
Their word for rainbow I them~ chyaak I is wonderful which we have knamil
rfak /khemea11 daik I or lhemea11 dati in Modern but not found in Old. Diffloth reconstructs/
them~11 kyaak/ "rainbow" where he says I them~ I "place of, abode" and I
kyaak I has no meaning by itself to present speakers of Nyah Kur. in Mon I khemea11
daik/ "beam of water" and we say I khemea11 su11 daik I meaning khamail I hemea11 I
suil I su11 I drinks I daik I water. I wonder why they put I kyaak I which we mean
God, Buddha or object of worship and we have I daik I water instead. ·It is indeed a
difficult problem to solve. Theraphan's dictionary (p.4) shows that the Nyah Kur in NL
and HK provinces have lt!1]choon11 daak for rainbow.lt means ju11drinks water. It is
more similar to Mon. Therefore, I consider that the Nyah Kur of TP province has
changed the word from I daak I to I khejaak I as they have no sense on the_.latter by
itself. /chyaak/
Indian Loanwords
Though Indo-Aryan words are not so plenty found in Nyah Kur, they seem
rather old borrowings. Tentatively the following words are considered as corrupted
loanwords from Sanskrit and Pali. Pages of Theraphan Thongkum's dictionary are
shown against them from where they are detected.

137
Journal of The Siam Society
Pages Nyah Kur Meaning Etymology Mon
1. XIII nduu season p.utu 'utu/u~tao~/
s.rtu
2. 9,180 kaaj sky p.akasa 'kan/ekah/
231,264 s.akasa
304.
3. 10 kuh hill, termite nest (cave) s/p. guha guitlkeh 1
o.m. go~
4. 14 boot sanctury in a Buddhist p.bhiita · bhut/put/
monastery
5. 19 rot vehicle, push cart s/p. ratha (kwi) rat/ret/
ret/ I
6. 20/30 naaj officer,p.nayaka naai/nai/
naaj address term nay
7. 21 thit learned man p.paq~ita pandit
pcndit/
8. 22/229 chaat children, family p.Jataka jat/chat/
466
9. 27/28 manih person, p.manussa mnih/nih I
1811195
196/203
10. 40 Khrih liver Skt. graha griuh /kreh/
11. 49/232 taan palmyra. s/p tala tU!taal
12. 54/73 ch6ut silk p.Sutta sut/sct/
s.sutra
/sut/
13. 64 thllup incense p.dibba dip /dip/
14. 65 baat alms bowl p. piq~apata pi pat pi pat
(food recived in /pea" pat/
the almsbowl)
15. 101/186 hlfi maize, p.sali safi7salce/
350 chelii will rice s. sali
16. 107 melf' jasmin s/p mallika om. mlir
/pcle/maluiw
/mcle/
17. 107 mpaa oleander p.campaka
-
jampa
campaa champaka ( champaka tree /cern pal
having fragrant

138
Volume 74 (1986)
white and yollow
flowers
. 18 .. 109/112 mic chilli sip. marica mrek/brct/
brek /proik/
19. 112/297 tuel cotton s/p.tula omtolm m tow
Ito/
20. 129 kawak white breasted p.karavika krawit
water hen.
/krawct/
21. 141 baap sin s/p papa pap/paap/
22. 142 c;ejiic; age s/p ayu 'ayuk/eyek/
23. 142 chebiak letter slplekha lik/Ioikl
24. 143/144 bUn merit Skt.pu~ya om;pun/pon/
456/457 DOMpu~ya puin/pcn/
25. 149 bat cubit p.hattha hat/bet/
26. 159 choTJknian a religious day s.aaril.-kranti sailkran
(passing, transference)
/se11kran/
27. 170/236 kecet die p.cuti khyuit/chct/
396. cutilcu ~ce c;/
28. 210/233 jiim cf. jum breath heart p.yama yuim /yem/
(p.236)
OM yuril.yuril.
29. 231 phum country, city (land) s/p.bhumi bhum/phiim/
30. 272 mana

139
Journal of The Siam Society
etc. are found in the 6th-8th centuries Mon inscriptions of Phra Pathom and Loburi.
Even the word for yoke or pair lailgur (Skt.langula, lailgala) was used in offering
pairs of cattle or buffaloes in Old Siam in those days. This word also appears iii Mon
inscription discovered in Laos dating back to around 9th century (later part of Loburi
period). Though this word lailgur is not found in Theraphan Thongkum 's collections, the
animals used in combination with it are shown which are akin to Old Mon glosses such
as:-
Cattle, bovine
bull
Nyah Kur
I chalgow/
/kh lrw/
/chlow/
DOMR
/jloow/
/jlew/
Old Mon Modern Mon
jlow glau /kl~a/
Water buffalo
khl~w/
/pria'T]/
/pria'T]/
pre~
It is striking to find the Nyah Kurwords for metals and cultural terms and natural
phenomena of nouns, verbs and adjectives which are similar and closely related to Old
Mon epigraphy. These cultural terms obviously point out that rhe Nyah Kur are not
ordinary illiterate hill tribes like Lawa or Palaung but they are apparently no other than
descendants of the civilized Dvaravat!Old Mons who had ruled over both Old Siam and
Old Burma after the break up of Funan Empire (1st to 6th centuries A.D.) in Indo­
China. They are no doubt a daughter -language of Dvaravat!Old Mon.
"Lexical correspondences between Nyah-Kur & Mon"
English
Nyah Kur
Old Mon literary Mon Spoken Mon
N Gold
N Iron
N Lord,Owner
N Slave
N Sacred, God,object
of worship
N Earth
I thaar I
1 pehey/
/tall:ia"/
/diik/
/khyaak/
/chyaak/
/tii"/
thar
birsey
trala
dik
dek
kyak
kyek
ti'
thaw
basey
pasai
tala
tla
dik
ti
I the
/pesoa
/kela"/
lela"/
/doik/
/do it/
/caik/
/cyct/
Icy aiel
/tee"/
/tai'/

140
Volume 74 (1.986)
v To reverend, /IT] liar/ lilor lilow /lT]C/
·homage, to make
lT]O
obeisance
alJO/
v To build (pagoda) /cr6T]/ cruil sruiil /sal]
v To wear, to adorn /ghlukl sluk sluik helak/
v To sound, to say /phru,./ bru bru /pur,./
v To play /win/ wiii wen WOiT]
v To shout /tn1ak/ tiak
v Dream /pee,./ 'empo' lapa' /kepc,./
/epc,.
N Mucus /suar/ sinmor smow /hemo/
v To breathe /yurnl yum yuiril /yem/
N Hole /ghrunl sruil sruiil /saT]/
v To give /kul/ kul kil kel kuiw Ike/
A Deep /ghUh/ · rjuh sjuih /seh/
v To feed lciml iikim
N Roof /kamur/ kumir kami /kemce/
kmi /kmei/
v Rotten, bad, wicked/gh"uy/ suril'ur s'uy uai lui/
v To lift /yuki yuk yuik /yak/
N Mud llhuk/ lhuk lhuik /hlak/
v To hold in beak /khUT]/ guil guiil lkaTJI
v To laugh /khruT]/ gruil gruiil /kralJ/
v To lodge /them/ dum duim /tern/
N House post, fT!ghuT]/ jinjuil dayuiil /heyaTJ/
House pole
A Soft /l"un/ lu'in duin /den/
v blow /pkhUh/ pgoh bguih /pekeh/
v Four
pguh
/hekeh/
/ghruh/ sruh suih /sch/
/sah/
N Knife lbuun/ bun bun /bun/
v Drunk /buul/ balbul babii /kebu/
N Medicine (kduuy/ kin'uy ga'uai ga'uy /he'uy/
N Moon /ntuu"/ kintu gatu /hetao"/
v Over, above /ntuul/ 'antul latii /a tao/

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Journal of The Siam Society
v To burn /tuur/ tur tu tao
N Silk /ghuut/ sut sut /sut/
/set/
N Forest /khrap/ grip gruip /krep/
v To plant /tel/ til tuiw /tel
Ito/
N Plenty, much /khle'l')/ glon gluin /kla'l')/
v Extinguish /phlet/ plit pluit /palct/
/plct/
v Die /kcet/ kcit gacuit /hecct/
Khyuit /chct/
N Corpse, meat /ghwaa

142
Volume 74 (1986)
N Husked rice /T]kcc

143
Journal of The Siam Society
House /g1]ii~/ shi' shi /hce~/
sni
/hai~/
Leftside /ghwii~/. jwi jwi /jwi~/
Rightside /ctoom/ stum sturil. /hatum/
To dig /ciir/ kir khay /khai/
To attend, /tawiill tirmil tawl lkawi/
To surround
/kawi/
.....
To look out /ghiir/ 'agir sru
/1]f:J
to find, iU /1]if
to search
To fear, /phiic/ phic phek /phcikl
to sc.are
/phct/
Long /khlii1]/ jliil gliil /klOi1]/
- -
To wrap
lkhiiw/ gtw gwt lkwi/
New /famii~/ tumi tami lkmce~/
/amai~/
To run /thriap/ drep grip /krip/
To take /ciat/ ket ket /kit/
/ket/
Wing /ghnia11/ sneil sneil /knea11/
To kindle /pdian/ tuden p~en /den/
fire,
den
to light
To make /trl]CC~/ p~o' lfm' /a1JO~
effort,
energetic
To cause, ruar/ 'or 'ow lol
persuade
Firewood, ruas/ 'oh 'oh lohl
Fuel
To fall /luut/ lot lot /lot/
v. To eat /h:iap/. hap hap /hap/
v To lose /khyaa~/ kya kya /ca~
v Torn, /1Jcaakl cik cak /caik/
to depart, to be
devoid of, to tear
v To burn /eel]/ coil can /CC1]

144
Volume 74 (1986)
N Dwelling place /thmcl'}/ dirmoh dman /hemc"f)/
v To open /pckl pok pak /pck/
A That /khch/ goh gab /kch
v To untie /ghch/ soh sah /sch/
v To plant /crck/ crok crak /sck/
upright
srak
v To have /nccm/ nom nwam /m1m/ .
N Stone /thmcc~/ tmo' tma' /hmc~/
v To cook !teem! tom tom /tom/
v To enter /lccp/ lop I up /h)p/
v To accompany /ckcc~/ sko' ska' /hekc

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Journal of The Siam Society
N Fire /kmat/ pumat pmat /kemet/
/emot/
v To bind /thak/ dak dak /teak/
v To follow /phak/ bak bak /peak/
N Door /mraTJI tinrail tar ail /kereTJ/
/eraT}/
N Horn, /thrliTJ/ drail grail /kreTJ/
tusk
v Adhere to /cap/ cap cap /ccp/
N Back ITJkraw/ krow krau /krao/
v To win, victory /ghnah/ jna~ jna~ /hneh/
v To instruct, /paean/ pcan phyan /ph yen/
to order, to send bakan /peken/
word
v To hold /rap/ rap rap /rep/
v To strike /katak/ tak tak /tek/
v Purgation, to clean /c~ah/ co;ah so;ah rahl
v To weep /yaam/ yam
-
yam /yam/
lyeml
N Water /daak/ dak dak /daat/
/daik/
v To cut, to shatter /paak/ pak pak /p~ik/
v To crawl, prostrate /mrmaar/
/paat/
a bar bam a /hemea/
/heme/
v Low /gher/ sar saw /sci
v Near /nen/ iian iian /ncn/
non/
N He, it Ide hi deh deh /deh/
N Arrow tkaml kam kam /kern/
N Night lptaml birtam btam /he tern/
N Day /thay/ tiley tilay ITJOal
tilai /hTJOOa/
v To steal /khlec/ klac klat /klct
N Fruit lchecl sac sat /set/
v 'Shoot /pen/ pafi pan /pen/

146
Volume 74 (1986)
v Male ( ani~al) /khmak/ kmak kmak /hmak/
/mak/
N Stalk, ltful tar taw /tel
handle
v Upside down tpkap/ pukap blap /hekcp/
v To press, to strike, /pat/ pat pat /pet/
to massage
v To be, to become /theh/ das dah /dch/
Itch/
v To pluck /bas/ bas bah /6ch/
N Cup lkhciV khal khaw /khc/
v To look /may/ mey mway /moo a/
mwai
v To crumble, /ckat/ ckat kat /kct/
to pinch, to learn
Mother /mee"/ 'ambo' mi tmi"l
Father /phaa"/ 2ba'/ ma2pa /aba"/
/abac;J'
lab a!
There are· many Nyah-kur words which did not occur in Old Mon epigraphy:
Howeyer, they are shown below with their equivalents of Modern Mon showing that
they are really sister-languages.
English Nyah-kur Literary Mon 'Spoken Mon
Oil /kalin/ kleil /klciTJ/
/klein/
Bell /li1]di1]/ khniil /henoi11/
Ash /ptinl paten /petci1]/
/pet en/
Excrement, '"ic/ 'ik /oik/
dung
/ct/
Pumpkin /mpiir/ khapl /he pee/
/hepei/
Cl:ntipede /krkiir/ gag1 /heki/
Hail. to rub /phliir/ pll /pice/

147
Journal of The Siam Society
Swim · /biin/ bih /6oiTJ/
/6oin/
Peppery /riiTJI rih /roiTJ/
Thin /triiw/ tn /krce/
/krei/
Turtle /thwii~/ gwi /kwi~/
Pestle /nrii~/ ri /ri~/
Poison /Ka6hii 11 / gyi lei~!
Float /hiiw/ ht /hi/
Wash (face) /liiw/ Ii /li/
kick /ndiic/ khanik /henoik/
/henoit/
Betel /aphluu"/ jablu /heplu'~
Gaur /nthiiTJI kalih /keloiT]/
/eloin/
Porcupine /lamniaT]/ lamleil /peleaTJ/
Vegetable /chniar/ sanew /hanei/
Hawk /lTJliaTJ/ laneil /en eaT]/
So /ghiaTJ/ sen /seaT]/
Stingy /mbiat/ s'et /he'~et/
Scorched lsTJhiak/ silek /heak/
/hneak/
Whisper /kghiaw/ Kasey /esca/
Real /kwehl kweh /kweh/
Jar /ceh/ ceh /ceh/
Cockroach /ghthee'~/ khadc' /hete'~/
/hetai'~/
To clear throat /k'~eern/ ga'em /he'~em/
Short /khlee'~/ gle' lkle .. l
/klai'~
Otter /phee'~/ phe' /phe'~/
Leech (land) /klam/ klaril /klcm/
Python /khlan/ klan /klcn/
To sneeze /tn'~as/ kha'ah /he'~ch/
Deer /pas/ pah /pch/
Bait /pran/ pran /prcn/

148
Volume 74 (1986)
Cough /gdak/ khadak /hedek/
Gall bladder /pmat/ kamat /emct/
To set /taT)/ tan /taT)/
Smoke /yak/ yak /yeak/
Dry Iekas/ sakah /kch/
To fly /phar/ paw !pel
To pound /ndak/ khanak /henek/
Beak /mbaw/ kamhau /hemao/
camhau
To send along /praTJI prah /pniT)/
Crab /ntaam/ gatam /he tam/
Skin /ghnaarnl snam /hnam/
Allgator, /khyaam/ kyam /cam/
Crocodile
Weave (basket) /taan/ tan /tan/
Tongue /ntaak/ latak /etaik/
/a tat/
Shallow /kdaal/ k~a Ida/
Comb, broom ITJraas/ kharah /herek/
To comb, to sweep /khraas/ gra~ /kreh/
Young man /maam/ maril
-
/mehm/
Mint plant /I wan/ wah
-
/waiT)/
/wan/
-
To be light
/kyaal/
sa
!sal
Horse fly /phaiar/ pia /pia
Put aside, /paay/ pay
-
/pail
reject
paai
Carry on /mphaay/ camay
-
/kemai/
Shoulder Kamaai /email
A species of sweet /khwaay/ kway /kwai/
potato with dark skin
kwaai
Spew /khlaat/ kiat /klat/
To forge /thaac/ dat /tat
Sweet /tdaac/ dat /dat/
Break /kal/ kaw Ike/
LOllS(~ /cay/ cay /co a/

149
Journal of The Siam Society
Dry in sun /coy/ cay /coal
To measure tkbatt bat /bet/
Pierce Ieee/ cat /cct
Hook (fish) /nden/ khanan /henon/
Edge, lip /mben/ thaman /hemon/
Hang /kwakl kwak /kwakl
Arm pit /T]lakl knak /kenakl
/enakl
Bitter /ktaT]/ Katail /ketaT]/
/ataT]/
Grass hopper In tap/ gatap /hatcp/
Charcoal /kcahl khya~ /chah/
Sour /pcahl phya~ /ph yah/
Sourness /ncahl bcah /hao;cah/
Explode /ktah/ gatuih /hatch/
Touch,
right. correct /thahl dab /tehl
Shoulder /phnahl pn~ /hanh/
Hot /ktaw/ Ktau /a tao/
Arum tuber /trawl krau lhrao/
Red ant /Gbaw/ kachau /achao/
Kahyau
Pinnacle, end /thanat/ kanot /anot/
Sick /Ghas/ jab /cch/
wear on neck /lbakl labak /abak/
Alive /nyuT]/ gyuiil /ca11t
Imperial pigeon /prkhum/ phaguim /hekem/
Cover with
cloth on body /khlum/ galuim /helem/
Cool /I bub/ lbuih /bch/
To boil things /bub/ buih /bch/
Pour water. drop water /cruhl caruih /hero hi
Bone /ghluut/ jut /cut/
Termite, white ant /thruuh/ grun /krun/
House t1y /ruuy/ ruy /ruy/
Ript; /lo;uusl dub /dub/

150
Volume 74 (1986)
Swell /khuus/ guh lkuhl
Dove /puur/ pii /pao/
Wax /phluuy/ pluy. /pice/
/pluy/
Stale /gh~uut/ s'ut rut/
Is uti
Piece ITikuut/ dakut /hekut/
Chisel /pnuuc/ pout /nut/
/bout/
Do wrong lluucl lut llutt
To sprout /khluuc/ klut tklutt
lklct/
Stump /tkhall daguiw /heke/
To be full in eating /phey/ phay /phoa I
Lid lcTikep/ Sakuip /hekcp/
Warm ITieml guim /kern/
Thick /ctem/ stuim tuim Item/
. Edging in weaving ITircm/ gruim /krem/
Roof-cover ITIIem/ Kaluim /elcm/
Scratch. scrape /khwaac/ gwat /kwat/
Lick /khlaanl klan /klan/
Open (eyes) /mlaakl lamliik /pelaik/
Tree (wood-oil) /khyaaTI/ gayiin /heyaiTii
To yawn /ghTI~aap/ kh'ap /he,.apl
Fork of tree !Khaap/ gap
-
/kepi
Chaff, husk ITikaam/ kiim /kam/
Vomit /taa~/ ta Ita~/
Open (mouth) /baa,./ ha /hal
Cleaver /mraa,./ mra /pere~/
Hand span /cdaa,./ cda Ida,./
Arm span /phmmy/ phih /phih/
To blossom liTI-rilaTI/ raillraiTI
Cloth /yaat/ yiit tyatt
Clear throat, to hawk /khaakl khiik /khaki
/khaikl
Thin smp of bamboo /saall khyii /chat

151
Journal of the Siam Society
spit /kechi khyah /chch/
Spittle /T)CCh! Kasah /kesch/
Hard, ripe /trcT)/ trail /krCT)/
Dry tkchl kah /kch/
To scoop up tkhlckl glilk /kick/
To hoe tbckl bilk /bck/
House lizard, gecko /ck/cekl khacak /hecekl
This, here /neeuay/ sapoy /hepoat
Stream /cuar/ cow /co/ ·
Hornet /thuar/ thow ltho/
Hornet (bigger) !huT)/ huifll lhaTJ/
Hornet (large one) /mruat/ pharot /he rot/
Tree bark ITJkuar/ jkow thakow /heko/
Belly, stomach /puT)/ bun· lpeTJI
Dark /khluu'~/ glu /klu'~/
Salt /p"ur/ buiw /be/
Regret, miss /khus/ guih /keh/
Mortar IT)"Ul/ kha~ /he"i/
Sleepy ICTJkuy/ dakuy /hekui/
dakuai
Shrimp· lkhU.y/ huy ITJui/.
Carve, to cut /putt put /pat/
Gourd /lull luiw /let

152
Volume 74 (1986)
Journey, pathway /trew/ trau /crao/
Hearth. stove /phew/ ph au /phao/
Step on !len! luin /len/
To choke /ghlekl gluik /klakl
Scare, frighten t11ketl takuit /ekctl
Thunder lkh-kher/ gaguiw /heke/
To bury /tep/ tuip /top/
To winnow /khoom/ gum lkilml
Eel /nthoo11/ galuil /hele1J/
Rafter /c

153
Journal of The Siam Soci~ty
However. Dr.Gerard Diffloth shows such glottal I b I and /d I in his reconstructions of
Dvaravati Mon language. I wonder why Nyah Kur people have lost such glottal sounds
which we are still having them but we have lost almost all the sounds of final consonants
: ~ • I
which the Nyah Kur dialects still maintain them.
Nai Pan Hla
Former Honarary Editor of the
Journal of Burma Research Society
& Head of Epigraphy Division,
Archaeology Department, Rangoon.

154
Volume 74 (1986)
Reference
Ba Maw. Ciochon, R.L.
& Savagl!. D.E. 1979.
Charol!nwongsa, P. & Gorman,
c. 1976
Codes. G. 1925
C'.oedes. G. 1929
Coedes. G. 1945.
Davids, T.W. Rhys.
& William Stede.
Diffloth.G. 1981.
Diffloth. Gerard, 1984.
Dupont, P. 1959.
Forbes. C.J.F.S. 1881.
Foster. B.L.
Gagneux.P.M.1972.
Grierson.· G .A.
Griswold. A.B. & Prasert
na N ag;ara 1971.
Halliday. R.
Hallidav. R. 1930.
Haudricourt. Andre 'G .1966.
Huflman. F.E. 1975.
Huffman. F.E. 1976.
· Late Eocene of Burma yields earliest
anthropoid primate, Pondaungia Cotteri, Nature Vol. 282,
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U.K.
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Expedition Vol.18, No.4, pp 14-26 Philadelphia.
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Paris.
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de Dvaravati, de Crivijaya et de Lavo Deuxieme edition revue
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inscriptions et, belles letter Cinquantenaire de Ia fondation de
I'Ecole Francaise d' Extremen Orient, Paris.
The Pali Text Society's Pali English Dictionary.
"Reconstructing Dvaravati Old Mon" (draft manuscript).
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University printing House. Bangkok.
L.archeologic Mone de Dvaravati,BEFEO.
Comparative Grammar of the Languages of Further India, W .H.
Allen and Co.Pall Mall. S.W. London.
Ethnic Identity of the Mons in Thailand. Journal of the Siam
Society Vol.61,pt.I, 1973, pp.203-226.
"Vers une revolution dans L'archaeologie Indochinoise" Bulletin
des amis du royaume Lao. No.7-8, pp 83-105. Vientiane.
Linguistic Survey of India vols.II and IV, Reprint 1966.
"An inscription in Old Mon from Wieng Mano in Chieng Mai
Province" JSS, 59, pt.l, pp.153-7, Bangkok.
A Mon-English Dictionary (Published by the Siam Society,
Bangkok 1922 and reprinted in 1955 by the Mon Cultural Section,
Ministry of Culture, Rangoon.)
"Les inscriptions Mon du Siam" BEFEO Vol.30. pp.lll-105, Paris.
The Limits and Connections of Austroasiatic in the Northeast,
in Zide, Studies in Comparative Austroasiatics. The Hague.
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An Examination of Lexical corresJ>ondenccs between Vietnamese
and Some other Austroasiatic J~nguages.
"The Register Problem in 15 Mon-Khmer languages" Austroasiatic
:Studies pt.I, pp.575-589.

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Journal of The Siam Society
Lebar. F.M. & 11 others, 1964
Luce, G.H. 1975.
Malasekera, G.P.
Muhly. J.D. 1976.
Nai Pan Hla, 1976.
Phra Petchabunburi,
Schmidt, P.II. 1907-8.
Schmidt, P.Il
Seidenfaden,E. 1910.
Seidenfaden.E. 1919.
Shorto, H.L. 1971.
Smithies, Michael. 1972.
Thaw Tint, 1979
Thongkum, Theraphan L. 1984
Thoman, D. & Hesdley,
R.K. 1970.
Wales, H.Quaritch.
Williams. Sir M. Honier.
Ethnic groups of Mainland Southeast Asia. Human Relations
Area Files, New Hav.en.
Pl\Ii and Old Mon ink glosses in Pagan Temples. JBRS Vol.
LVIII pt.II.
Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vols.I&II. The Pali Text Society,
London. Reprint 1960. ·
Introduction-University Museum-Thai Fine Arts Department
Northeast Thailand Archaeological Project. Expedition Voi.IS,
No.4, Philadelphia. ·
"A wmparative Study of Old Mon Epigraphy and Modern Mon"
Austroasiatic Studies, pt.II, Oceanic Linguistics Special publication
No.l3, University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu,
The Lawa or Chaobun in Changvad Petchabun JSS,14 pt.lpp.l9-Sl.
Bangkok.
"Les peuples Mon-Khmer: traitdunion entre les peuples del'Asie
centrale et de I'Austronesie, BEFEO, 7:
Die Mon-Khmer-Volker in Bindeglicd zwischen Volkern Zentralasiens
und Austronesiens, Archiv fur Anthropologie 33:
59-109.
"Some notes about the Chaobun, a disappearing tribe in Komt
Province" JSS, Vol.l2, pt.3,pp.1-ll.
"Further notes about the Chaobun etc." JSS Vol.13,pt.3.
pp.470 53.
A Dictionary of the Mon inscriptions from the 6th to 16th Centuries.
London Oriental Series Vol.24, Oxford University Press.
Village Mons of Bangkok, JSS.60, pp.3!)7-332.
"The 40 million-year-old Pondaung Primates" The Working People's
Daily, August 21-22, 1979 issues. Rangoon.
Nyah Kur (Chao Bon) Thai-English Dictionary Chulalongkorn
University Printing House, Bangkok.
"More on Mon-Khmer Subgroupings" Lingua Vol.25, pp.398-418.
Dvaravati, London Bernard Quaritch Ltd. 1969.
A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford.

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Journal of The Siam Society
"THE LAST OF THE PRINCES" :
A CENTENNIAL REFLECTION
ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF PRINCE
DHANI-NIVAT KROMAMUN
BIDYALABH·
Let me applogize for the talk tonight. Had we planned it properly we
could have had at least a dance drama of Inao here and a lecture illustrating it
because Prince Dhani would have loved to see a performance here. But as I said,
we were not very well prepared. I have just come back from Japan, very late last
night. I am leaving again on Sunday for Europe, which will be a long trip. So this is
the only free time that I have to speak about him. In fact his centenary will not take
place until the 7th of November. But I invite you to regard this as something very
informal and personal. If you want more facts, and something more formal and
right, we are honoured that his daughter sits in the audience.
Some of you may recall that in 1982, we gave a series of lectures on the
Bangkok Centennial Celebrations. Then I challenged the Government committee
on the basis that it was not the Ratanakosindr Bicentennary. It was a Bangkok
bicentennary, not Ratanakosindr. After the foundation of Bangkok when the city
was moved across on this side of the river, it was still called Ayudhya. Only when
the city was completed, with big celebr~tions, was it then named Ratanakosindr. So
this year is appropriately .. named the Bicentennial year of Ratanakosindr.
Unfortunately the Government paid no attention. I think they were interested in a
"coup" or "counter coup" or something similar. And then as you know, this year is
not only the centenary of Prince Dhani's Birthday, but also that of the first proposal
for the Siamese Constitution which was rejected by King Chulalongkorn. Those
who proposed the first constitution were princes and officials at the Siamese
Legation in London, one of whom was Prince Bidyalabh Senior, father of the late
- Prince Dhani. This topic is also very interesting. I hope Dr. Sumedh will talk about
it on the 16th of November. I believe he will talk about Prince Prisdang. Because
Prince Prisdang played a leading role in this propos.al. Sumedh regarded this as the
height of Prince Prisdang's career. In a way he is right. Nevertheless, I also believe
that was the beginning of Prince Prisdang's decline, because I think it was the first

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clash between Prince Prisdang and King Chulalongkorn. However, that's not my
topic for tonight.
As I said, Prince Bidyalabh was at the Siamese Legation as the first
Siamese military attache. Prince Siddhiporn's father, Prince Nares, was then
Minister to the Court of St. James's, the other princes being Prince Swasti, father of
the late Queen Rumbai and Prince Prisdang who was Minister in Paris. He went to
London and consulted with those 3 Princes who were mostly senior in rank but
junior in age. Again as I said it's not my topic tonight. Only on Prince Bidyalabh's
return from London to Siam late that year was Prince Dhani born Hence his name,
meaning "Returning to the City" (of Bangkok).
As for Prince Dhani's, I will talk very briefly. For those who can read
Thai, a new book has recently been published. As well, there is my own book -
released today. It is not really his biography, but a collection of articles, interviews
and conversations I had with him. I am sure this book will not be confiscated, but
it may be banned in some quarters. When I published the first one, I cal_led it
"Conversation with Prince Dhani". It was well received in some quarters, but
very much despised in others which is nothing unusual with my books. You may
also recall that he wrote his own autobiography when he was 84 years old, called
Seven Cycles of Life which I reviewed in the Journal of Siam Society. If you read
that review, you will have some idea of his life. As I said I ·will not talk a great
deal about his biography, but I will give you a short synopsis.
He ~as born during the reign of King Chulalongkorn. Soon after, his
grand-mother became mistress of the robes in the Royal Palace, more or less in
charge of the inner domain. In those days there was an inner court where only the
King and the ladies, princesses and all the women lived. Prince Dhani's
grand-mother was in charge of inner court affairs and so she brought him to live
with her in the Palace. Boys were only allowed to live there until the age of puberty.
Once you had your top-knot shaven off, you could not live within. You could go
during day time but were not allowed to live there. So Prince Dhani was more or
less raised within the inner circles of the Grand Palace - perhaps the last of that
generation to be brought up there. Being very attached to his grand-mother, he
accompanied her everywhere. In fact he even went to some forbidden places. When
Queen Swang, grand.:.mother of the present King, was giving birth to one of her
babies, Prince Dhani was also present. When the Queen saw him she called out,

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"What? That's none of your business, get out".
I think being brought up within the Grand Palace gave Prince Dhani that
deep commitment to the Thai culture. It is important to understand that the palace
was not only for upper class culture, it was a world within a world. There was the
king, the princesses, the nobility and commoners. Everything was going on there.
For those who wish to understand life in the Grand Palace of that period - the best
book, was written by - the former prime minister. His famous book "Four Reigns"
(I think) was translated already by Tulachandra, particularly the first part
concerning life in the Grand Palace.
At the age of puberty, most young boys in those days would take the robes
and become novices. Being a prince, Dhani was ordained at Wat Pra Kaew, the
Chapel Royal and then took residence at Wat Bovorn. Again he was much attached
to the temple and he thought he might even remain a monk for life. But his father
said, "No, no, you must go abroad. You must be educated in England", as
customary then for aristocrats. It was King Chulalongkorn who felt that all the
eldest sons of his half-brothers and brothers should be given a chance to be
educated abroad at his own royal expense. Prince Dhani, being the eldest son of
Prince Bidyalabh, received that benefit from his uncle, King Chulalongkorn. So he
was sent very young, more or less straight after being disrobed.
· From the temple he went to a prepschool, then to one of the rather good
public schools, Rugby, and· from there to Oxford. Again as usual - an upper class
education. It was unusual though, that he wanted to study archaeology, but instead
became the first Thai to study oriental languages in England. He took Sanskrit and
Pali. I think that was a kind of compromise between his desire to study
archaeology, and the wishes of his royal uncle and the Cabinet who both said,
"Well it may be good to study archaeology but what we need now are civil servants
or diplomats who can deal with foreign officials to tell them that we can run our
own country. We should talk with them as equals, so we need administrators and
diplomats. Archaeology may be useful, but not now."
He did so well with his English education that the then Minister to France,
Prince Charoon, asked him to stuqy further in France. He said, "You have a good
English education now, but it's not enough. We want you to be a diplomat, and to
be good you must have a command of the French language and to know the French
aristocrats". During the colonial period, in the age of aristocracy, those who were
running the empire thought they were aristocrats, even if they were not originally.

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Prince Dhani declined the minister's invitation because he was very much attached
to his grand-mother and he wanted to return home, (much to the annoyance of
Prince Charoon).
When Prince Dhani returned to Siam at the end of Chulalongkorn's reign,
he had quite a few offers. In those days, highly educated people were always offered
good jobs. Some of you may recall, a talk I gave last year on Phaya Anuman. He
only completed standard 4 from Assumption College. Even so, many offered him
jobs. So obviously a man with a good B.A. from Oxford would receive many good
job offers. But our prince wanted to know his country better by serving in the
Provinces and so he went to see Prince Damrong asking to join the Ministry of the
Interior. Prince Damrong replied, "We don't want people who are so well
educated." Even in his autobiography he in~icated that he felt a little upset. It is
possible to see Prince Damrong's point of view - "Why should I need an Oxford
graduate working somewhere like Ayudhya or Udorndhani?" But Prince Dhani
insisted. So Damrong finally said, "All right, you can work with me but for low pay.
We don't pay for your foreign degree .. Of course if you go to work in the Ministry of ·
Foreign Affairs, the royal Secretariat or wherever educated people are needed, you
can get much more money." Prince Dhani replied, "Money isn't my goal, I want to
serve my king and my country. I want to know our people, and to know our people
well, I must live up-country with them". To be fair, officials in those days, although
few in number, had titles and some of them were nobility, but they knew the
people. They mixed with the people much better than today. Anyhow I should not
go into that matter.
Luckily for him he was sent to Ayudhya because the Governor there, Phya
Boran, was a great archaeologist, not trained in the western sense of the word, but
he loved digging and knew the city faultlessly. He knew its history. He read all the
chronicles. In fact he started the first provincial museum in Siam. When King
Chulalongkorn went to Germany and saw the provincial museum in that country, he
sent a cable praising Phya Boran for starting a small museum in Ayudhya. So Prince
Dhani was very pleased to serve under Phya Boran and became familiar with the
old capital city. Unfortunately he didn't remain there long because soon afterwards
King Chulalongkorn had a great illness. A cable was sent to the Governor of
Ayudhya saying that the King would go to his summer palace at Bang-Pa-In for
recuperation and that he needed somebody from Ayudhya to be in attendance; not
necessarily a high official, but someone that the King knew and trusted. So Phya
Horan said, "Well, your Serene Highness, this is just a job for you, being brought

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Journal of The Siam Society
up in the Palace. And you are not too high up yet. You should be there". But the
next day another cable came, announcing that the King had passed away. So ended
his first period in the reign of Ram a V.
The new reign started with a great surprise for Prince Dhani: He was called
to work in the Royal Secretariat. This of course upset the Minister of the Interior,
but what could he do because the Queen Mother herself had instigated this transfer.
Since Queen Saovabha became Queen Mother, her son had set up a Royal
Secretariat for her and thus she needed a Secretary. Hence Prince Dhani was
recalled to fulfill this role. You would observe that because he was brought up in
the Palace, she obviously knew him well. He was very young and with foreign
education. She must have felt it was a waste to leave a young man in the wild. In
those days Ayudhya was more or less wild and the Prince was living on a floating
house next to the Governor's office. Thus was he called to work in the Grand
Palace.
The Queen Mother was very kind. She said, "I have not much work for you
to do, but what I want you here for is to help my son, the King. He needs some
young people, with ability". From her point of view, the new king was surrounded
by all kinds of people. The new King was very shy and he had to comply with the
old administration.· So I think it was her wisdom to have young able and trustworthy
people around the King.
Our Prince was in fact working mostly for King Vajiravudh. I shouldn't say
very much about King Rama VI's reign because the case againstme last year partly
concerned King Vajiravudh. But I must observe from historical evidence that he
was surrounded by quite a number of court favourites who unfortunately exploited
him. They asked for money, they asked for land, they asked for all manner of things
which the King, through his generosity, gave. In fact Princess Sipban, Prince
Dhani's sister, told me once that a court favourite told her brother, "You work veiJ
closely with the King and if you don't ask something from him he would be
annoyed; you ought to ask something from him." Prince Dhani didn't want to be
unpopular, as it appeared he would, so he drafted a letter asking for something
nominal. Then he heard that the King had granted so much, he was now in debt to
many of the grantees. The King told them. "All right, I will pay you in instalment.''
When Prince Dhani overheard this, he felt so sad that he tore up the Jetter and
remained poor during the reign of Rama VI, unlike those working in the Palace, in
the Royal Secretariat who became very rich - some of them very, very rich.

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(although it was more in an advisory capacity as he was Supreme Counsellor of
State which later came to be called Privy Council). Later he succeeded Prince
Rangsit as President of the Council when the latter died. By the way, Prince Rangsit
and Prince Dhani were born in the same year. I believe the Government issued
stamps to commemmorate both Princes this year.
This is roughly his career- a very long life. He died when he was almost 90
years old. He had a wonderful memory. His grandmother lived to the age of 99.
In the customary Thai tradition, on the old Songkran New Year, you go to
pour water on your elders or those you respect and ask for their blessing. He always
gave me a blessing saying, "May you live as long as my grandmother". I said, "Not
as long, Your Highness".
I have entitled my talk, "The last of the Princes", and some of you may
think it controversial. But in fact there is nothing controversial about it. I acquired
this phrase from George Coede whom I met in Paris, when he was almost 80. He
said, "Mr.Sulak, You should be proud of your Princes; unlike the Khmer Princes,
unlike the Laotian Princes, even unlike most European Princes, your Siamese
Princes have the tradition of devoting their Jives to their country, to serve their King
and country seriously. And they also pursued serious scholarship, particularly Thai
studies Buddhism, literature and history as well as living noble lives. It is important
to know that Coede was very much influenced by Prince Damrong. He worked
under Prince Damrong in th~ National Library. He was our President here.
Coede started by mentioning the names of Mongkut, Chulalongkorn,
Damrong, Naris and others as examplar princes of whom we should be proud, and
then when he mentioned the name of our prince, he paused, and said: "Ah, this is
the last of· those Princes." I said, "What do you mean?" and he replied, "These
people were self-educated, showing devotion, and great learning". He said, "They
were unlike other princes who were educated abroad and then became more
westernised, and much Jess familiar with their own Thai culture. But I said "Prince
Dhani was also educated at a prep-school in England, then Rugby and Oxford". He
said, "Even so. Although he didn't learn very much academically within his country,
he was still deeply rooted in his own princely tradition of Siamese scholarship." He
added, "After him, there was nobody and not only that, he was very proud of his
own culture." Even during the time Piboon forced people to change their dresses to
follow western fashion. Prince Dhani adhered to the traditional custom of wearing a
panung. Even though the Government forced people to write about their own

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country as "Thailand" and not "Siam", Prince Dhani resisted. He told me that it
was sad for even the Siam Society to change its name to "The Thailand Research ·
Society" just to please the politicians. He said, "Why should we?" Then when he
became its President he changed the name back to "The Siam Society" again. So I
hope I shall live until I see the name of this country change to ''Siam", partly to
please him and partly because I think that it is accurate and appropriate. It should
not be changed by the enforcement of a military dictator. Again if you want, I can
discuss that with you tonight or later on.
In a way it is sad that on his centenary the Thai Government appears not to
be doing anything in honour of Prince Dhani. I don't feel sad for him, but I feel sad
for the nation. Prince Dhani would not have wanted people to honour him, to make
a celebration for him because he was a humble man. Even his autobiography is
hardly about himself. He wrote a book once in English; The Kings I Served and
he gave it to his English friend to read. His friend said, "Oh, is this your
autobiography? But there is hardly anything about you". This was Prince Dhani,
you see. And for this in part, you must thank the coup d'etat in 1932. Without it, we
would hardly have any writings by Prince Dhani. He just was a civil servant working
in the Royal Secretariat. He regarded everything as confidential, working so near to
the Kings and he would do anything to serve his masters. So he became a
non-entity. He was actually a man of great scholarship, as could be testified in­
The Collected Works of Prince Dhani, which we published 16 years ago on his
84th birthday. King Vajiravudh was a great writer and while translating his
masterpiece · Madhanapadha into English, he consulted Prince Dhani all the time.
He consulted with Prince Dhani over many things but our prince never told people
because he was very humble. Humility is a great Buddhist virtue, but it is not a
national virtue right now. I think nowadays that the most popular are those who
boast about themselves. As I said, our prince started writing seriously after he
became unemployed. He would't claim to be a creative writer, but he could have
been. His grand-mother was a great artist, a great dancer, b1,1t she didn't want to
dance very much. Similarly, he could write poetry and many creative works, but he
chose not to. He felt his job was to create a link through Siamese culture between
the older generation and the younger generation; from the Thais to the foreigners
and vice versa. So he spoke in English, he wrote in English and he also wrote in
Thai for the younger generation of this. country. I think he acted as a bridge
between past and present and he encouraged other scholars. I think it was a great

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Journal of The Siam Society
contribution. He never felt that anyone was inferior to him by birth, by education or
by status. Phya Anuman was educated only up to Fourth Form, but any book
written by Phya Anuman, was always reviewed by Prince Dhani in his review of
recent Thai publications in the Siam Society Journal. he put Phya Anuman in touch
with scholars abroad. He encouraged people in various scholarly pursuits, not only
Phya Anuman, but many others.
There was another thing that he enjoyed greatly, but was not able to do. He
loved to teach. He taught for a short time in the reign of Rama VI. Subsequently
the then Rector of Chulalongkorn University asked him to work either part-time for
the university or else as a fulltime professor. He was tempted but he felt that this
would betray the confidence of his master, the King. He remained very humble in
the Royal Secretariat despite not being a teacher. Even in that brief period of
teaching he enjoyed it greatly. When he became Minister of Public Instruction, new
teachers appointed asked if he could he would go to listen to see how they
performed.
As for his literary works, I don't think Prince Dhani's writings will become
immortal. Obviously later scholars will surpass him. I think he would be the first to
admit that. But there is one thing very unique about Prince Dhani that will be
difficult for biographers to describe and that is his personality. On one hand he was
very humble and on the other he had deep scholarship, a deep penetration into
human minds which enabled him to treat all as equals. I think I find that a great
virtue and I can say that with confidence because I was close to him for many years.
I could see the way he treated the servants, the way he treated the monks,
princesses and others, so naturally, so simply. I find it a very great value- that
commitment to friendship. He would go out of his way for friends. But he wouldn't
do anything wrong, such as pushing his friend ahead of someone else if that person
was better than his friend or relative. If anything was within his ability, or capacity,
if it was right, legal of lawful, he would help you. Concerning the legal and ethical,
perhaps some thought he went to extremes. He wouldn't even allow people to use
water from the public works for the lawn. He said, "We have water from the pool.
We use· that because those who use the public works often do not even have enough
water to drink. We should not waste water which should be reserved for others". I
think if he lived until now he would find it very difficult. If you used water from the
pond now, I think the lawn would disappear because pond water now is so polluted.
You see he was very fond of gardening but his best critic was his own son.

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Volume 74 (1986)
He said, "My father is very fond of gardening. It is useless and his garden always looks
hopelessly dull." This is his best critic - his own son. His son criticized him not only
on this issue but on many others and they had heated arguments. I told his son to at
least admit that his father was an honest man. He said, "Yes, I grant you that, but
he didn't know how to be dishonest".
I could talk on and on about Prince Dhani as a traditional Siamese Prince.
In a way he was. But to me I think Prince Dhani combined the best of English
education and the best of Thai traditional culture. This is very difficult to achieve.
Many of us were brought up in the foreign culture and after that it is difficult to fix
into your own culture again. In fact much harm is done to this country because ,>f
those educated abroad. But Prince Dhani had that wonderful spirit which could
comhinc the two cultures and this was partly because of his humility and partly
perhaps because of his deep commitment to Buddhism. He would never regard
himself as a great Buddhist scholar. He would never regard himself as a great
authority on anything. But because of that I think he combined the two cultures
meaningfully. This made him quite unique and I am very proud that such a man
lived with us. I hope we shall have more of his kind in the future because that would
be great for this country.
Sulak :
Question :
Sulak:
Now I am open for inquisitions, questions, debatable points, as I said,
his daughter is in the audience, if you want more accurate facts, she
can help me.
If I remember my history correctly, in the end of 1920's, under King
Prajadhipok, there was a draft constitution and there were municipal
elections planned for the beginning of the 1930's. How did Prince
Dhani view the movement to the democratisation?
Well, I'm glad you asked. In fact I meant to skip it. On the democratic
principle I must be honest with you. Prince Dhani was rather against it.
He was confident that he could run the country well but at the same
time you've got to realise that during that period the ruling elite felt
that way. Not only he but the American advisor to the Foreign
Ministry felt equally that Siam was not ready for democracy and that

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Journal of The Siam Sllcicty
what the Princes did was right. They were honest, they were good.
During the reign of King Rama VI perhaps things went wrong and so
the princes were coming back, and doing the right thing without
realising that a lot of people resented them. I think that is the main
factor for the cook; whether the people were educated enough - that is
beside the point. There was also a memo that is now released. I think
it is in Ben Batson's book. Just months before the coup of 1932s, Prince
Dhani sent Mussolini's plan, the project on education,to the King. Mussolini
felt that democracy could only be available in the Anglo-Saxon culture,
certainly not in a Latin culture. So he felt that people must be led and
that they must be led by strong dictatorship. Prince Dhani sent that
memo to King Prajadipok for comments since he was in charge of
education. He sought the King's advice. And in fact he tended to
incline towards the elitist and educationalist viewpoint (but not to the
same extreme as Mussolini). He believed that while the mass should be
able to support themselves, and be self-employed that at least the elites
should run the country. King Prajadhipok wrote a very nice comment
which was partly typical of the King, saying, "Well, in a way Mussolini
was right, but once you allow the free press as happened in the reign of my
father and my brother, how could you go backward? Italy was strong
and could do it. If we do not pave the way for democracy, the great
powers will say that we are half barbarians. So we must, whether we
like it or not, pave the way for democracy and then we must educate
our public to be ready for democracy." I think that was the king's
reply. But, of course they didn't have the chance to do it. The coup
leaders did that for them just one month after.
Question :
Sulak :
Did he do any archaeological research? Did he have any chance to do
it in addition to the museum kind of work.
Well, it depends on what you mean by research. I mean he was not
involved in digging, obviously. He would have done research as far as
literary work was concerned. You can see from his writings. He
consulted archaeologists and scholars who visited him, experts, such
as, the Dutch professor some archaeological site in Java. He was very

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Volume 74 (1986)
fond of the story of Panyi and some of the archaeological discovery
here. He inspected them when he was in charge of the Ministry of
Public Instructions and later on when he joined the Royal Academy as
an academician. Obviously he was involved at that period. Even later
on as the president of the Siam Society he was involved, but not
directly, I think.
Question :
Sulak :
How was his family life?
He was a devoted husband and father. I am not quite sure how close
he was to his parents. He did not mention them very much. Although
he was a strict monogamist and sex did not play a great part in his life,
. he was very close to some ladies. First of all was his grand-mother; a
woman of great character. Then his wife who was an ideal mother and
a wonderful supporter of his work - very unassuming and with great
charm and understanding. Princess Dhani was never at the forefront,
btit without her, he would have found life difficult. Again his sister,
Princess Sipban Sonakul, was his favourite travelling companion and
she helped him much in his literary work. Last but not least were his
daughters, especially the one in the audience tonight.
A lecture by S. Sivaraksa
at the Siam Society 29 October 1985

16lJ
Journal of The Siam Society
SOME ·REMARKS ABOUT THE LIFE
AND WORKS OF SUNTHQN PHD
Prefatory Note
The following article is an English translation of the introductory chapter
to the second volume of my "STUDIEN ZUR LITERATUR DER THAI"
(Studies relating to Thai Literature).
This volume was recently published with the subtitle "TEXTE UNO
INTERPRETATIONEN VON UND ZU SUNTHQN PHU UNO SEINEM
KREIS" (Texts and interpretations of works of SunthQn Phu and his circle), 372
pp.,Hamburg and·Bangkok 1986. It contains the following works of SunthQn Phft
and his presumed pupils in German translation together with detailed
commentaries and annotations:
Chapter I.,
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Kamnoet Phltii Ngtim
Nirtit Pha Khau Thgng
Nirtit Muang Phet
Nirtit Phrd Prdthom
Ph/eng Ytiu Thawtii Owat
Nirtit Inau
Nirtit Nen Klan
Suphiisit Sgn Ying
In 1986 (2529), the year of SunthQn Phu's bi-centenary, the following
contribution may be of general interest and special significance.

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In Thai literary studies it has justly been emphasized that the works of one
of Thailand's greatest poets, Phra Sunthqn Wohan or Sunthqn Phii, as he is
commonly referred to, are scarcely known as yet outside Thailand. Only a few
essays have. so far been published in a Western language to convey to those not
familiar with Thai some notion of the extensive literary production of this poet.
General interest in Thai culture has first and foremost been focussed on things
visible, on objects of the fine arts such as paintings and sculptures.
As matters stand in philological and literary studies in Thai at the present
time, it is certainly something of a venture, nay adventure to embark upon studies
of Sunthqn Phii and his works. The truth of this is borne out by the introduction to
the various works of the poet under review in this study.
There are many open questions, points in doubt and gaps in our factual
knowledge regarding bibliography and the poet's intentions. In view of the present
state of affairs we can hope to solve only a few of these problems. It is with this in
mind that the present study has been undertaken.
As to method I have started from scratch taking into account almost all
that was available in secondary literature. From this relevant data and opinions are
quoted in the present study, without adding comment however or entering into a
discussion of their merits. Any literary historian has to face the fact that almost
everything in the life and works of Sunthqn Phii is doubtful, to say the least. The
reader is referred to the evidence produced in the following eight chapters.
Only by a radical break with what h;as hitherto been transmitted and by
admitting that many things no longer lend themselves to exploration by us today,
can we hope to replace "opinions" by facts, negative ones notwithstanding, and to
· label as such what is merely of fantastic or anecdotal nature to separate it from the
few facts that can so far be considered as certain scientific knowledge.
The following selection from the works of Sunthqn Phii and those
presumed to be his pupils was for the most part made according to objective
criteria and for the rest according to my personal preference. It seemed to me
imperative to begin this volume with Kamnoet Phlai Ngam which as part of a
greater poem belongs to world literature. Before anything else, the name of
Sunthqn Phii will always be associated with his nirat poems, notwithstanding his
great poem Phra Aphaimanl.
Mention should also be made of the less known poem Ph/eng yau thiiwai
owat, as it is calculated more than any other to shed light on the poet's personality.
I would finally observe that the nirat of the poet Nen Klan must be considered as a

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fortunate literary discovery which I would place on an equal level with the poems
of the great master SunthQn Phii.
1. Sunthqn Phii and Thai literary research
a. Text editions
Most of the texts attributed to SunthQn Phii are today available in print.
However, there is as yet no such thing as a complete edition of his works.
Considering the deficiencies of Thai literary studies at this juncture!) it is scarcely
possible to refer to a definitive canon of texts of this poet.
(a) From the poems that can be attributed to Sunthqn Phii with a fair
measure of certainty, an attempt to edit a critical text has been malle so far only in
one case, viz. Niriit phrd prdthom. But even here only one of the manuscripts
extant has been used to verify the text.
All other printed poems of SunthQn Phii have been edited in a version
which, in broad terms, we can only presume to be the authentic text composed by
SunthQn Phii. The question arises how to explain the discrepancies between the
printed texts and the manuscripts which in some cases are considerable. The realler
needs only to refer to the list of variants of Niriit phrii priithom contained in the
present study. In the case of this poem it is indeed an open question how the
printed version has come about at all. Who selected the version from the various
manuscripts and according to what criteria? Why are numerous sections of verse
contained in the manuscripts disregarded?
In cases of ambiguity the manuscripts alone are doubtless the authentic
text composed by SunthQn Phii! The textual history of this niriit can be taken as a
classic example of the way in which literary research in Thailand stands on rather
shaky ground as long as a poem's authentic text has not been established with
precision and competence.
It is evident that any further studies of the poems of SunthQn Phii should
first and foremost aim at setting up a historical-critical edition of all his poems2).
This task should indeed be a primary concern of Thai rather than of foreign
scholars.
{b) With the help of historico-comparative as well as descriptive
1. See in this connection WENK, Literature and Literary Studies in Thailand, Aksqnsat Mahiiwithalai
Sinlapakqn pi 8 chabap 2, pp. 98 pp; NAGA VAJARA, Literary Historiography and
Socio-Cultural Transformation: The Case of Thailand, in JSS vo. 73, pp. 60 pp.
2. See in this connection WENK, op.cit.

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linguistics it may thus be possible to come to a clearer decision as ·to whether
Sunthqn Phil is the author of certain poems or whether that authorship is
questionable. Predictably, such studies will yield not a few surprising results. One
such is that lately among other things Sunthqn Phil's authorship of Suphiisit sgn
ving has been doubted - and probably rightly so!
(c) Since the poet is ranked among Thailand's national heroes, it is
surprising in our literary studies to find allusions to texts of Sunthqn Phil that have
not so far been printed:;), or which are alleged to have been lost4), or of which his
authorship is called in question5). To learn that manu.scripts, presumably in the
poet's own hand, were in ignorance or out of sheer lack of interest in Wat
Thepthidaram (BangKok) as late as 19376), fills us with no less consternation.
b. Secondary literature
Considering Sunthqn Phii's fame in Thailand, studies of scientific relevance
about his works and person are relatively few in number. The name of the poet, it
is true, occurs constantly in books or articles on literary subjects, but mention is
almost invariably made in rather a routine and cursory manner. Surprisingly, only a
small number of monographs have appeared so far to clear the ground for new
insights.
As in the past, the pivotal point from which to start all research is "The
History of Sunthqn Phil" written by Prince Damrong and published by the National
Library in 2370 (1927) 7). Due to his remarkable scientific achievements the renown
of the prince has been unquestioned to the present day so that his writings have, on
the whole, not been subject to criticism. Nevertheless, a great number of
Damrong's statements and opinions have quietly been corrected in modem
3. SATAWETHIN, Sunthqn Pha, p.25, for example mention~ a poem, extant but unprinted: Klon
chaloem phra kiet phra · ong cau lakhanakhun.
4. See on this for example PRAMUONMAK, Prawat kham klqn sunthqn phu, p.471, where the
suphiisit son dek are mentioned; see on this also SATAWETHIN, op.cit., p. 37.
5. PHRAPHAPHITAYAKON, L6k khqng phiisii lae wdnakhadl, p. 156; the title Manisuriya was
mentioned in connection with Sunthqn Phii. It's attribution to him, however, is doubtful. Another
significant surprise is contained in the text edition of Wanakam niriit khqng Sunthqn Phu. In this
text extensive nirat poems are attributed to Sunthqn Phii, which, are not in the other text editions,
and which in the secondary literature are not mentioned at all or only in passing, such as Niriit
duan, Niriit priithom phriithon, Niriit thawarawadi, Niriil ki} can, Niriit thalang and Niriit
ramphueng.
6. Thus KANCANASON, 196 pl Sunthqn Pha. pp. 19 pp.
7. This text was however published prior to this year as a supplement (to the works of Sunthqn Phii), ·
see SCHWEISGUTH, Elllde sur Ia litterature siamoise, p. 385.

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Journal of The Siam Society
literary studies without any criticism of him. Even prior to Damrong assessments
were made of Sunthqn Phii by competent writers. Satawethin8) for example
mentions the poetess Khum Phum as having spoken very highly of Sunthqn Phii
comparing him to a white elephant, an utterance possibly made during Sunthqn
Phii's lifetime. Khun Phum is said to he born about 18159).
'Likewise, the popular publicist Thien Wan whom Rosenberg recently
rescued from oblivionlO) wrote about Sunthqn Phii in 190311>pointing out in his
notes "that Sunthqn Phii, a citizen from Klaeng and Ban Nan Kram composed the
epos Phra Aphaimani". In particular, he praised the realistic handling of the plot
and the unpretentiuu:, charackr of the author. Effort.s to give a full account uf
Sunthqn Phii's poems were also made by Khamwilai in his book Rqi pl khqng
Sunthqn Phy published in 2498 (1955) and by Pramiionmak in his study Priiwat
kham klqn Sunthqn Phil. The latter study was published in 2499 (1956). Both
studies aim at giving an overall view. They do not include, however, the longest of
Sunthqn Phii's poems Phrii Aphaimanl.
We fully appreciate the efforts made by both these authors to appraise the
works of Sunthqn Phii who is said to be the greatest poetic genius of their country,
especially those of Khamwilai who himself is known as a poet of remarkable
talentl2). Both authors do not lay great stress on philological faithfulness and,
more often than not, are content to work with philologically unreliable texts.
Consequently, their conclusions are doubtful on many points and, instead of
bringing clarity into the argument, rather add to the existing confusions.
Satawethin's monography about Sunthqn Phii, in which he goes so far as to
equate the poet with the Thai people13), does not contain anything intrinsically
new either. In the course of the last few years, however, the younger generation
has gradually taken a more critical approach to the poet and his personality which
is based on more objective criteria. Some of these younger pioneers, however,
8. Sunthqn Pha, p. 17; SATAWETHIN perhaps refers to Ph/eng yiiu chaloem phrtl kiet, verses
(623pp) in which Khun Phum describes SunthQn Phii as atan and khru and further remarks that he
composed Phra Aphai "in order to sell it".
9. See Schweisguth, op.cit., p. 262.
10. ROSENBERG, Nation und Fortschrin, Der Publizist Thien Wan und die Modernisierung Thailands
unter Konig Chulalongkon.
11. In the periodical Tunlawiphakphotcanakit, R.S. 121, Vol. 2, p. 191.
12. See on this details in WENK, Die Ruderlieder- kiip he riio - in der Literatur Thailands, pp. 89
seq., 154 pp and 178.
13. op.cit., p. 2.

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overshoot the mark, and yielding to the spirit of the day their criticism becomes
mere prejudice.
The collective volume Rak muang Thai edited by Sombat Canthawong and
Rangsan Thanaphqnphon, published in 2519 1976), contains an article of some n
· pages entitled "Reflections on an enquiry into politics in the epics of Sunthqn Pht1".
Some time later, in 2521 (1978) Sombat Canthawong wrote an article about the
world-view of SunthQn Phii. Though adding very little to literary history, this
article nevertheless has the merit of drawing attention to a number of facts that, in
future. studies of Sunthqn Phii's w~rks, his personaJity should not be left out of
account.
..
Another tendency of literary research is evident in Nithi Iosiwong's study
entitled "SunthQn Phii the great bourgeois poet", published in two series in Sinlapa
wathanatham in 2524 (1981).
Somewhat outside the scope of the aforementioned studies is an article by
the psychiatrist Bunsui Choetkienkun entitled "A medical enquiry into the life and
works of Sunthon Phu", published in L6k nangsue in 2525 (1982). In his article
Dr.Bunsui deals with the psyche of the poet and arrives at conclusions, as in part
does the present author, that Sunthqn Phii's poems evince intense psychopathic
symptoms of a highly strung personality. (The apparent attempt to detract from the
established renown of a national hero provoked a flood of angry letters to the
editor of Lok nangsue.
In the book "The thoughts of SunthQn Phii"Sagniem Khumpawat embarks
upon a di.fferent literary subject-matter of limited scope. The title of this book calls
for a brief explanation. In 28 chapters, or rather subject groups, the author sets
about to catalogue SunthQn Phii's statements and opinions about Indigenous flora
and fauna, women in general, Mon women, astrology and spirit worship,
Brahmins, etc. The catalogue is certainly not complete, but it may serve as a guide
to the manner in which the multifarious themes of SunthQn Phii's poetry might be
examined.
Prathip Wathikt~inkon in his book with the brief title Sunthqn Phu deals
with the formal structures of the poems and with prosody in particular. He is the
first Thai to try to classify the poet's verses by means of carefully arranged tables.
Prathip's book like those mentioned above is but a tentative beginning - it deals
only with the poet's niriit - but it marks a turning point in so far as its conclusions
are based on verifiable facts.
Most Thai publications put SunthQn Phii on a par with the greatest poets in

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Journal of The Siam Society
world literature. On the other hand, there exist neither Sunthqn Phii archives, nor
for example a yearbook exclusively dedicated to him, nor an ideological dictionary,
and there is almost not one detailed comprehensive analysis of a single one of his
works, that such analysis can help to arrive at new insights is borne out by the
present study in Chapter III. In this text the year of composition of Niriit muang phet
could be established with a degree of probability almost amounting to certainty to
supersede all former conjectures:
As far as I am aware, we do not possess a single piece of evidence of or
about Sunthqn Phii. Possibly one or the other manuscript, or parts thereof, have
been drawn up by him. However, we do not really know anything about that at all.
Some of the above-mentioned authors make an effort to determine place and time
at which the poet sets out for the destination of the journey described in the
respective niriit. All this is mere conjecture which cannot be supported by a single
line in his works or any other document. Another author alleges that Sunthqn Phii
had "forty wives" -phalayii!-. One author mentions 23 wives and 10 mistresses.
It is likewise uncertain which of his reputed sons was by which wife.
Neither his origin nor the name of his parents nor his birthplace are
known. This notwithstanding, a horoscope has been set up which even contains the
hour at which he arrived on this planet14). Is there a single document to mark his
alleged year of death? Certainly not in the "History of the fourth Reign" by
Thiphakarawong. Damrong does not tell us either from where he had knowleage
that Sunthqn Phii "died in the fourth Reign in the year of the hare B.E. 2398 at the
age of 70 years". Such statements smack of vagueness and hearsay. There is no
indication of day or month and an age with the round figure of "70" is suspect15).
All things considered, we are confronted with a rather desolate state of
affairs. The works of a poet whose name is mentioned in Thai literature in one
and the same breath as Tolstoi, Goethe and Shakespeare, are but little known in all
their depth and beauty even at home. A good deal of information currently
presented can probably be relegated to the realm of fantasy and anecdote.
c. Translations into western languages
At the present day only a small part of the voluminous works of Sunthqn
Phii is accessible to western readers in translation. In 1959 Camille Notton
14. See on this further Ch.II of the present volume, under III.
15. Prawat Sunthqn Phil, p. 57.

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Volume 74 (1986)
.published a French translation of Ramphan philap16) together with short
fragmentary excerpts from other poems. In the same year Schweisguth followed up
with a French translation of the Niriit phil khau thqng11), and Hundius translated
the Niriit muang klaeng1 8) into German in 1976. Recently, a contribution in this
field was made by Volkmar Ziihlsdorff with a German rendering of Rampan philap
in 1983. An English translation of the Niriit muang klaeng by prince Prem was
printed in 1984.
The present author published a translation into Sermon of the Suphiisit sqn
ying19) i~ 1965 followed by the translation of another suphiisit poem, viz. .
Sawatdi raksii in 1982. (At this stage of my research I feel inclined however, to
believe that Sunthqn Phii can not longer be considered as the author of Suphiisit sqn
yintl-0). Apart from these poems quotations, mostly in English translations, of
small sections from various poems are scattered in magazines, newspapers and
scientific periodicals. Of special significance is a contribution by Kemper which is a
translation of section 25 of Phrt'i Aphaiman121).
Finally, there are a number of paraphrases. Prince Prem published a
paraphrase of Sunthqn Phii's most popular poem Phrii Aphamani22) in 1952.
Incidentally, mention must be made of two paraphrases of bot lakhqn Khun Chang
Khun Phaen, section 24 of which was allegedly composed by Sunthqn Phii. The
authors of the paraphrases are Prince Prem (1955 seq.) and Kasem Sibunruang
(1960) respectively23).
2. Notes on the poet's personality
a. The initial position
From the five poems examined in the present study only a single date could
be established with fair measure of certainty. The journey to Phetburi which later
came to be the subject of Niriit muang phet was made during the rainy season of
16. NOTION, La vie du P_o~te Sunthone-Bhou.
17. SCHWEISGUTH, Sunthon P'hu- Nirat P'hu K'hau Thong.
18. HUNDIUS, Das Nirat Mueong Klaeng von Sunthon Phu.
19. In Oriens Extremus (OE), XXII, part I, pp. 65-106.
20. See on this Ch. VIII of the present volume under I.
21. In OE 11. Jabrg., Teil 1, pp. 109-126.
22. The Story of Phra Abhai Mani,. 141 pp.
23. See on this the bibliography of the present volume.

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.Journal of The Siam Society
the year 182724). If we assume that th~ Niriit Nen Klan was written in 1833,
another date may be fixed in as much that we can conclude that Sunthqn Phii's state
of health in 1833 was good enough for him to set out on a journey as fatiguing as
described in the niriit. Avowedly, it is always a delicate matter to interpret the
psyche of a poet on the basis of his own works. The problems attending such a
procedure have been discussed amply elsewhere. With all due reserve, the selection
of Sunthqn Phii's poems presented in this study nevertheless permits the emergence
of a few characteristic traits of his personality. As mentioned before in section Lb.,
the notable Bangkok psychiatrist Dr. Bunsui was brave enough in 1982 to analyze
Sunthqn Phii's personality in the light of utterances contained in his works. The
reaction from conservative quarters to Dr. Bunsui's essay was rather discouraging
to both the author and his publishers. What Dr. Bunsui considered to be nothing
else but an analysis abreast of the latest findings of his science was, and continues
to be, nothing less than a sacrilege to conservative readers. I assent, in the main, to
both Dr. Bunsui's basic position and his scientific method, although I do not think
that he is right about a number of his basic assumptions such as the statement
about SunthQn Phu's having had forty "wives". (Neither can I follow in other
respects Dr. Bunsui's far-reaching conclusions.)
The basis of our enquiry of course is SunthQn Phu's poems. In order to
begin we must take courage and assume that it was indeed Sunthqn Phu's intention
to give in his poems expression to personal experiences and his innermost feelings.
Proceeding this way, there will always remain a certain degree of subjectivity on
the part of his interpreter. Yet, for those familiar with Tha~ poetry prior to SunthQn
Phu, this poet's art doubtless achieved a breakthrough to a new type of poetry
centering round the poet's personality.
With him Thai poetry assumes a new orientation. The longings of the
narrator, his sadness and human powerlessness so frequently expressed, all this is
new a11d far removed from the stereotypes and conventional expression of feelings
of the time before him. The passages of ·Sunthqn. Phu's and his pupils niriits are
expressive of personal traits; they portrait the existential concern and dejection of
all mankind and stand out against the stilted and non-committal empty phrases of
former times. These poems are not the utterance of a glorious fairy prince or
victorious hero, but of a human being suffering from the woes of this world and his
own frailty. This poet dares to reveal, at least partially, his own tragedy to the
reader. Allusively, he lays open the gulf of his despair and dissonance - more
24. See on this Ch. III of the present study, under I and II.

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Volume 74 ( 1986)
analytically than passionately - but he makes up for that by his creative genius, his
verse which serves him as a mask and guards him against obtrusively uncovering
what is veiled by 'nature. Such an attitude requires fortitude to expose oneself as
one really is - at least pars pro toto - instead of trying to add a trifle to one's own
stature by retaining impenetrable reserve. Still the fact remains that Sunthqn Phii's
works are anything but a confession.
b. The man SunthQn Phii
To portrait the man Sunthqn Phft is a vast enterprise which, due to what
has already been stated can never be tackled to everybody's satisfaction. Sunthqn
Phii has not left a coherent autobiography. or even biographical notes that could be
considered authentic. The absence of such documents may be explained by the
poet's adherence to the teachings of Buddha, possibly even by his lack of
self-regard which leads to the exclusion of others from intimate knowledge of one's
private life. What in the following pages is classified as "autobiographical" must
really be considered as nothing else but Sunghqn Phii's reflections on things real or
imaginary. It has already been mentioned that nothing authentic is known about
the origin and the youth of the poet. It may, however, be assumed with some
degree of certainty that he came from the very dregs of the population, a free-born
man, it is true, but only a phrai with the '"worth" -sakdinii- of 10 to 25. Due
allowance should be made of these origins when evaluating his later development.
His thoughts and feelings are rooted in the social environment into which he was
born. That he was probably familiar with courtly manners in his early years, does
not change matters25)
In the poems presented in this study Sunthqn Phii does not refer to his
youth at all, possible references are so veiled that we are unable to recognise them
as such. By contrast, Nen Klan, who possibly is Sunthqn Phii's adopted son- is far
more outspoken and realistic about the problems of his youth. This comparison
suggests that Sunthqn Phii may well have deliberately repressed his childhood. Nen
Klan successfully unburdens his heart; not so Sunthqn Phii. Although with measure
of resignation, Nen Klan eventually takes an affirmative approach to life, Sunthqn
Phii is far more hesitant in his approach. Nen Klan frankly admits that he was
abandoned or rejected by all his relatives-see chapter VII . Sunthqn Phii; a far
more complex personality could however not bring himself even indirectly to write
about his parents and their family life which was obviously shattered. It is only in
25. Reputedy his mother, whose name we do not know, was a wet-nurse at Wang Luang.

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Journal of The Siam Society
Niriit muang klaeng, written perhaps at an age of 22, that the poet gives some vent
to his spiritual troubles. When visiting his father, then as it is said the abbot of Ban
Kram monastery, he does not succeed in restraining his tears, having his mother at
the back of his mind "living far away in the capital city" 26 >. After a wearisome
journey "he caught sight of the face of his father" (791), one may safely add "for
the first time". His father takes gentle, even loving care of him, but Sunthqn Phii
continues to long for his mother who lives in the attractive city whereas his "father
lives in the wilderness". Verses (784-791) of Niriit muang klaeng inform us with
some degree of certainty of four significant circumstances: Both parents were still
alive when Sunthqn Phii was probably over 20 years old; there must have been an
affectionate relationship between son and mother (784-786); at the end of his
journey he met his father and his father's relatives for the first time in his life; in
spite of his late encounter he has no unfriendly feelings towards his father; on the
contrary he feels inclined to believe himself to be the cause of his parents'
separation; during his sojourn his father takes great care of his physical and
spiritual well-being.
There are no references in the poet's works to this subject i.e. the
separation of his parents, and there is no point in pondering over how his parents'
separation was accepted by him. One Thai author has it that the separation was
caused by a Lesbian love-affair of the mother, and that Sunthqn Phii's relationship
to her was a mixture of love and hate 27 >. Apart from the fact that there is no
evidence to prove this allegation, it is in fact contradicted by the verses from Niriit
muang klaeng quoted above. Does the early separation of the parents by itself
justify the assumption of an "absence of a feeling of security in tender years"?28>
The question is quite legitimate since children in old Thailand in general grew up in
the extended family. Is it legitimate to conclude alone from the fact of his parents'
separation that the poet suffered from an "inferiority complex" -without knowing
his genotype? 29 >
Sunthqn Phii was indeed homeless and nobody will deny, after reading his
poems, that he was a person affected with certain complexes. However, it would be
wrong to look for causes which cannot be substantiated by known facts. It is
generally known that impressions received in early childhood have a decisive
26. See on this also HUNDIUS, op.cit., p. 68.
27. CHOETKIENTIKUN, Sunthqn Pha, p. 36.
28. ibid., p. 32.
29. ibid., p. 33.

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Volume 74 (19H6).
influence on character formation on later years. This is why I have deemed it
appropriate to d !al briefly with what we know about the poet's domestic situation
during that period. After all, we can proceed from the assumption that in all
societies with a firm hierarchic structure-as in Thailand-education is not geared to
the cultivation of self. The educational system has built-in safeguards against
self-centredness and egotism. This may lead to dissonances and tensions in
childhood which cannot be overcome in later years. In other words this means that
everybody, from early youth on, is assigned a certain position in society, a fact
which largely inhibits the free development of the personality. In the following
chapters attention is repeatedly drawn to verses and whole sections which with
some degree of certainty may be considered to be autobiographical utterances.
How does SunthQn Phii present himself as a man? Is he a poet and man marked
with a stigma? And np less importantly, how does he assess his relationship to his
environment? Most of what SunthQn Phii said about himself sounds pretty gloomy.
It has a negative slant, he often approaches the verge of depression. There is too
much of fatalistic acceptance in him. He can almost never bring himself to laughter
that breaks the tension. Only in rare places are signs of self-irony discernible. The
reader will sit up when coming across one of those rare passages which are couched
in a serene or calm mood, such as in Niriit muang phet (68). Niriit phrd prdthom
(517 pp.) , {564 pp.).All these poems are permeated by gloom and depression. It
would be idle to quote examples. ·
Typical of his basic frame of mind are his constant complaints about his
loneliness and isolation and his alleged material distress. Yet, his works do not
contain any verses in that outright mood of melancholy which is the most poetic of
all means of expression.
The sadness of his mind appears to spring largely from his inability to
realise ideals or abstract conceptions, although as a Buddhist he was well aware of
the working of the karmic law against which he did not revolt. It is a fact that
everyday life with its attendant problems and difficulties causes a continual
awareness of self. In this context it should be borne in mind that SunthQn Phii was
a poet with a delicate mind permanently under latent tensions which intensified in
situations of uneasiness or loss of comfort.
SunthQn Phii's spiritual world was grounded in Buddhism of the rigorous
Theravada variety. This is evident as a leitmotif in all his poems here presented in
translation. However, it is also true that side by side with Buddhist principles there
are many things in his verses, and probably also in his way of life, that are utterly
un-Buddhist. He is eager for fame and never conceals his sensual appetites. He is

JR I
Journal of The Siam Society
out for good food and. presumably. intoxicating drink and constantly complains of
an alleged want of material goods. He does so quite massively in some passages
and thus lays open to be, in a high degree, "a man full of contradictions". Often
enough. the precepts of his religion are at variance with the vital needs of his
personality. It was good for his poetry though that he never repressed his. vital
needs, when repression would jeopardize his mental balance, so difficult to achieve
for a complex personality. Despite all his desires Sunthqn Phii was fully aware that
none of his actions would be without consequences and that ta~thii is the main cause
of human suffering and the ceaseless cycle of rebirth. (What a sublime form of
empiricism in the realm of morals!)
In a manner varying between devotion, enthusiasm and gratitude Sunthqn
Phii makes mention of such persons of rank who supported him at times. In this
context he constantly refers to Ram a II., see Nirat plu1 khau thqng (16) . (23) etc.,
and to ''heavenly princes" in Ph/eng yau thawiii 6wiit (4)-(7), or to Mqm Bunak in
Niriit muang phet {548)-(551), or to "judges" in Niriit muang phet, (596)-(599).
Goethe's epigram No 34 b referring to the Duke of Saxony/Weimar Karl August,
may pertinently be quoted here: "He bestowed what is seldom granted by the
Great,/ affection, leisure, confidence, fields, gardens and houses./ I was indebted to
nobody but him .. ./ as a poet being inexperienced in business". But Sunthqn Phii
likewise mentions persons who let him down or did not live up to his expectations,
e.g. Cau Fa Aphqn in Ph/eng yau thawiii 6wiit (272)-(275). Opposed to his many
utterances about his desolate situation and his personal discontent there are
numerous quite obtrusive instances of self-praise. Who else could possibly match
him, ''the poet by passion"? (See Niriit phu khau 350). Or remarks like these: "His
name is on everybody's lips" , "a master of phleng yau verse", in Ph/eng yiiu
thawiii 6wiit (269 pp.). Other people copied from him without acknowledgement,
Niriit phrd priithom (637) , (639). He apparently derives some sort of narcissistic
satisfaction from his own creative abilities, compensating for his sufferings possibly
conditioned by psychosis. He laments his alleged poverty, the depravity of
mankind, the hardships of nature, but he never complains about any difficulties in
composing his verses or about a lack of ideas for his poems, nor about any
technical obstacles impairing his poetic production.
Egotism is indispensable for all creative work. An author who suppresses his
ego degenerates into a mere scribe. However, Sunthqn Phii's self-awareness is not
just strong and healthy and combined with modesty, but he is a person of
excessive, almost narcissistic self-centredness craving for recognition and social
approbation. Considering the primitive nature of his alleged emulators who copied

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Volume 74 (1986)
him without acknn\vlcgcmcnt, he could easily prove his superiority. Yet he strikes
an aggressive note which clearly aims at drawing attention to his own poetic genius.
The poet obviously was keen on establishing his own fame. What is more, his
verses subconsciously give expression to his conviction that as a simple citizen he
was in all respects the equal of the Great and those of rank and wealth. His name
was on the lips of everybody! Sunthqn Phu, it is true, does not revolt against
established order but he is conscious of his personal mission and his uniqueness to
such an extent that he feels justified in putting his name beside the name of those
of noble descent which, of course, runs counter to the unwritten laws of
hierarchically structured Thai society. Nobody with impunity can go outside the
limits of the role assigned to him by destiny. Nobody is allowed to profess openly
that he aspires to raise his social status by referring to his achievements30).
Now let us proceed to examine the poetic works of Sunthqn Phu with a
view to finding references to his own person. It may not be entirely fortuitous that
such a great number of niriit poems have come down to us from this particular
poet. The niriit genre of Thai poetry encompasses movement and separation. Such
travelogues lead to a certain destination where one rests for a while and then
returns to the place of departure.
Travelling in old Thailand was surely never a comfortable under taking,
except on a royal barge 31 > or in a howdah on elephant's back 32 ) even without taking
into account the many risks on the way. The journeys of Sunthqn Phu were
toilsome and his complaints are numerous. He mentions winds and waves,
mosquitoes, wild beasts, the narrowness of the byways and their concomitant
congestion, hunger and lack of accommodation, etc. Nevertheless, again and again
he sets forth out on journeys not only to Phetburi (obviously several times), but
also to Phu khau thqng near Ayuthaya, Nakhqn: Pathom, Suphanburi, Phdi Thaen
Dong Rang, Klaeng. Was it the love of travel or adventure? What may have
prompted him? For one thing it was certainly his thirst for knowledge, his craving
for new experiences or for new inspiration for his poems. However, over and above
all these rather positive aspects another motive must not be overlooked: he was
promted by an impulse to flee-from himself and from others, by unrest and perhaps
30. See on this for example WENK, Phiill teaches the Young, pp. 102, 109 seq.; MULDER, Everyday
life in Thailand, pp. 71 seq. and elsewhere.
31. See in thic connection for example WENK, Die Ruderlil' !a- kiip he ruo- in der Literatur
Thailands, pp. 11 seq.
32. See about this the illustration plate LXVIII in WENK, Mural Paintings in Thailand, Vol. II, first
part.

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Journal of The Siam Society
by a sense of ~ompulsion.
It appears to the present author that the motive of flight combined with
unrest was perhaps the strongest impulse for Sunthgn Phu's poetic effusions, flight
from one place to another, from laity to monkhood, each time to another
monastery. It was a flight from women which will be discussed at greater length
later,perhaps a flight into intoxicating alcoholic drinks, and a flight into dreams to
which an entire elegy is devoted (Ramphan philiip). In every single one of his niriits
there are hypothetical phrases such as "if I had this ... I should do that" , etc. Such
phrases are not to be understood as expressions of wishes admitting that there is
something missing, defective or imperfect, but as projections of a deep-rooted
sense of frustration from which he seeks to escape, a flight from actual reality. The
present is always affected by variations of self-consciousness, by shortcomings and
death, hence only the past and the future are open to life: either relegate a
would-be paradise back into the past or project it out into the future. The medieval
knight for example periodically returns into his narcissistic paradise - King Artus'
Court or Grail Castle. Sunthgn Phu's entire literary works may be regarded by way
of sublimation as aflight from present time.
The field of polar tensions from which Sunthgn Phii sought to I.!Scape is also
reflected by the deliberate mention of the appointments he held, the official duties
he performed, and of his habits. The poet lays stress on calling himself samien
(royal scribe) or ii/ak (secretary), or khra (teacher),nak buot (monk), mahatlek
(page); but he also.refers to himself as khon khuk (convict), phq khii (merchant)
and khan dit !au (addicted to alcohol). Normally, the dignity and standing af an iilak
excludes any comparison with a khan khuk, and the gulf between a nak buat and a
khan dit· /au cannot be bridged at all.
The comtemplation of nature, the name of a tree, of a flower conjures up
in him right away the name of a woman. He indulges in dreams to be with her
"locked in embrace" clasping her with arms and legs and "resting on cushions".
This is wishful thinking uttered in a straightforward manner quite un-usual in the
Thai language which is rather discreet in referring to intimate relations. However,
it does not matter whether Sunthgn Phft's fancies or dreams were centered on a
real or imaginary person. Similar passages recur in almost all his poems. They
indeed permit a partial insight into the poet's psyche. Let us suppose that in
Kamnaet Phliii Ngiim Sunthgn Phii identifies himself with the role of abbot Koet
Thau who knowing Khun Phaen well bursts out in a jocular yet angry tone: "Look
at this lady-killer! I predicted that he would get into trouble because of women!"
(873 pp.)

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As announced above, the poet's relationship with women needs further
illustration. Words of rememberance. longing. affection and gratitude contrast with
harsh words of refusal and contempt. These cannot be attributed to oriental
machismo, but evidently are part and parcel of Sunthqn Phii's character. His
utterance that he does not care for "bad women" is still acceptable, see Niriit pha
khau thqng (312). In other verses, however, he openly criticizes the very make-up
of the female character, see Niriit muang phet (220 pp.), and its inferiority to that of
man. He offers to cite many other bad qualities of women in Niriit phi1niithom
(640pp), (672pp). Possibly apart from female relatives, all women mentioned in
Sunthqn Phii's verses may be classified into two categories: Firstly, Sunthqn Phii
condemns women or rather womanhood lavishing adverse criticism on the females
in question. Secondly, Sunthqn Phii expresses his longing for real, or more
frequently, imaginary women for sexual gratification or just to assuage his
imaginary loneliness, e.g. Nirat phrii priithom. (80pp), (139pp.), (167), (214pp),
(238), (510pp.), (764pp). There is no middle way in him, no such thing as longing
for a woman in order to give her all his love, and to receive love from her, affection
and devotion in return. All this testifies to his distorted relationship with the
opposite sex. What we can glean from Sunthqn Phii's works regarding his
environment gives us some inkling, but these notions are far too vague to allow for
drawing up a psycho gramme of his complex personality with absolute certaint03).
Are his "pains of love", it may be asked, just reflections of his world-weariness or, in
more general terms, just the suffering of the individual from his time and
environment?
Sunthqn Phii did not like the so-called "simple life". This is one of the
reasons why he complained about his material poverty. If I interpret the verses of
Ph/eng yau thawai owat correctly, e.g. (247pp), good food meant to him so much
that he was not ashamed to take meals in the palace together with (or prior to?) the
servants. He accepts the prevailing hierarchic order as long as he derives personal
profit from it. It is not difficult to enlarge upon Sunthqn Phii's relationship with his
environment by adding some more facts. On several occasions he comments on his
relationship with his "pupils" who may have been his own, or as Nen Klan, his
adopted sons. Alternately he embarks with one or the other on his various travels,
and he reports in a m~tter-of-fact and sometimes affectionate style on their
participation in certain eve,nts. But his pupils are never real companions nor friends
but only attendants. He complains of his loneliness in Nirat pha khau thqng, he
33. As CHOETKIENTIKUN tries to do, op.cit., passim.

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Journal of The Siam Society
notes "I see only Nu Phat" (214). How his talented pupil Nen Klan depicts him is
of great interest: "Father is resting and complains of his poverty. He sighs and
makes us feel ashamed," NiriitNen Klan (183pp). Sunthqn Phfi makes his young
attendants feel so uneasy that they also "swallo~ their frugal food only hesitantly"
(184). Another scene which Nen Klan describes is significant: Nen Klan and Nu
Tap are counting the "32 bends of the khlong", "one, two, three ... when father_
interrupts by asking questions and thus stops us counting the bends". This may be
just a casual observation of the young author. On the other hand, this observation
may have a subconscious critical connotation. The meaning of many utterances,
especially in Niriit muang phet and Ph/eng yiiu thawiii owiit which presumably refer
to his personal environment can no longer be deciphered by us to~ay. We cannot
even tell whether the numerous female persons he mentions in his verses were real
living persons or just produ'cts of his poetic imagination or perhaps objects of
. sexual appetite. We must however keep in mind that Sunthqn Phu was a poet, and
he was not the only poet for that· matter to write phrases and tags and make
allusions which will forever remain an enigma to the reader, which cannot be fully
deciphered, but which to the poet were nevertheless full of meaning at the time of
writing.
It may be added in passing, or as a mere curiosity that Sunthqn Phu. very
frequently refers to "silk" in such an emphatic way that the layman, as the present
author ,may feel inclined to speak of a "silk complex". We must leave the subject
to experts competent in this field to clarify t~e issue. I just wish to quote a few
passages in which the poet refers to silk in a way which is calculated to baffle the
reader, viz. Niriit muang phet (251), (485), (624), (637), (659 pp), (674pp); Niriit
phra prathom (556), (704) etc.
3. Sunthqn Phii ~a citizen of his time
Dealing with the personality of a poet soliloquizing in his poems, to give
the reader insight into his rather personal problems, is one thing. Another thing is
to deal with the social status of such a personality against the background of a
society that is stratified from top to bottom, from the king down to the meanest
slave, a society in which everybody was compelled to take his place according to his
sakdina34). Presumably only for short intermittent periods Sunthqn Phfi enjoyed
the status of a poet laureate. King Rama II and later King Rama IV conferred on
him instead of a laurel wreath, the name of Phra Sunthqn Waban. I do not know of
34. See on this WENK, op.cit. foot-note 30.

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Volume 74 (1986)
/
another case in Thai literary history where a common penniless citizen, a phrai, was
raised to such high honours due to nothing else but sheer poetic genius. In his own
estiiD:ation SunthQn Phii had thus reached th.e status and prestige which he
deserved. The pusillanimous, melancholic and despondent way in which he
complains of external circumstances and personal desolation after the death of
King Rama II., his royal sponsor, reveals: his utter dismay at living on persona non
grata after 1824. He bewailed the past and his fall ~nder the sovereign who was far
less devoted to the muses than his pre

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Journal of The Siam Society
due respect for their dignity" (97). They should help those who are loyal (112pp);
kind words are more effective ,than iron fetters (116pp). He urged his pupils to
accept his teachings and demonstrated his own virtuousness and loyalty. While
respecting all due form and decency Sunthqn Phu in his poem seiz.es his chance to
bring home to the members of the royal family that those in power depend on the
loyalty and devotion of their servants and vice versa to the same degree. All this is,
of course, embellished with trimmings and interspersed eulogies. Nevertheless, the
poet's audacity is remarkable in making such utterances in a society where the King
was absolute, Indeed was Lord in life and d~ath, cau chiwit, as in ancient Thailand.
Sunthqn Phii does not hesitate to describe the nak priit, the sage i.e. himself, as
''the seat of the breed of swans" i.e. of kings (292pp). Hence the assumption is not
far-fetched that Sunthqn Phii equateS- the nobility of birth with that of the spirit.
Yet the poet, as an individual, did not outrageously step outside the bounds of the
social frame, but merely called attention to the very special role which was his to
play in society.
It is questionable whether Sunthqn Phii's way of acting was representative
of the general attitude of his estate at the time. Probably, it was granted to him
alone to give expression to what was indistinctly felt by good many others. This
ability alone was enough to make him stand out from his contemporaries and it
testifies to his genius. To describe Sunthqn Phii, or rather his poems as a product of
his age35) would, therefore, be only half the truth. Nothing in contemporary
literature indicates that a tum in Thai intellectual life was brought about by the
works of Sunthqn Phii. The poet must be considered as a singular figure during the
reigns of Rama II. and Rama III. It is only just to refer here also to Maha Montri
and his Phleng yiiu wii phriiyii mahii thep36 during the reign of Rama III. Some of
the far-sighted ideas in Sunthqn Phu's poems are in contrast to his total adherence
LO a centuries-old tradition. This, for example, is evident in verses (156pp) in
Phleng yiiu thawiii 6wat. ·
What is ~ore: we must not only examine SunthQn Phu's relationship with
his patrons of high rank, but his relationship with people socially his equals who,
like him, had the sakdinii worth of a phrai. But let us concentrate on how "the
royal secretary", the poet popular already in his life-time, describes his own
people. This question refers more directly to the "poet" than the "citizen".
;35. Thus IOSIWONG, Sunthqn Phil mahii kawl krathumphl, p. 15.
36. See on this WENK, Raden Landai, 'bas Leben und Werk des Mahii Montrl, pp. 81. seq.

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Volume 74 (1986)
Is Sunthqn Phii the bourgeois, KrathumphP7? This is a solgan which fails to
do justice to both the poet and his time. It is, however, conceivable to :~scribe to
him the qualities of an actor who plays his role perfectly. Why, it ma:y be asked,
should his own relevant indications and references not be taken literally?. Niriit phu
khau thr;ng, reads (351): "I have enacted this role of separation so casually". And
he said he was "a poet by passion", (350).
In this way Sunthqn Phii transforms his life into art which, according· to
Nietzsche and others, is the vocation of man. The poet has many faces: courtier,
sage, pious Buddhist monk, and a man allegedly consumed by carnal desires. It is a
fact, however, that human life tends to be corrupted in society, and that sensitive
natures cannot play their role in it without donning a mask.
To the heading of Sunthqn Phii, a citizen of his time, we must add a few
more facts which can be substantiated directly from his verses.
It has repeatedly been" pointed out in literature38) that the Thai as a whole
were already prone to nationalist attitudes of self-assertion at an early stage of their
histbry. I wish to refer to this once again, but I think we had better relegate any
attempt to give explanations to the future. Both Sunthqn Phii and his pupil ~en
Klan make contemptuous remarks about Chinese people, cognate both in race and
language, who could look back upon a cultural heritage of some. 3000 years when
the Thai people were still unknown. The proper word to designate the Chinese
people in Thai is cln. This is a neutral word. In the poems of Sunthqn Phii and his
pupil Nen Klan- and other poets as well- cln is used only exceptionally. In it~
place they use the derogatory word cek, ·e.g. Niriit muang phet (29), Niriit phra
priithom (338), Niriit Nen Klan (192pp), (286pp), (293), (414), (467pp) etc. Nen
Klan calls the Chinese "rat-tails"', (268). Their activities, status, wealth and their
religious ceremonies are described in a way - see details in the chapters of the
book - which is calculated to produce aversiQn, contempt, and even xenophobia in
the Thai reader or listener. Obviously the time was not yet ripe for recognizing
without resentment the achievements of another race in inany respects superior.
This must, however, be said in .favour of the Thai: they only followed suit and. did
what was generally done by all other neighbouring peoples. To the Chinese all
non - Chinese were, and still are considered baibmians .. The kings of Burma
considered their throne as the "centre of the universe" (not just of the earth), and
37. Thus id. foot-note 35, passim.
38. See on this· among others ROSENBERG, op.cit. foot-note 10 and the references on literature
given there, pp. 81 seq; WENK, Mural Paintings in Thailand, Vol. I, p. VIII and elsewhere.

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mention must here be made also of the well-known hypertrophy of the
representatives of the Indian cultures who up to the present classify Southeast
Asian art mereiy as "Indian ·colonial art" or "art of Further India".
Apart from the Chinese, other people are mentioned several times, e.g.
Mon, Lao and Lawa. They are almost invariably associated with servile
functions39) and, from the outset, are regarded as inferior to the Thai. To
chat acterise their lowly status it is not necessary to resort to the use of derogatory
words. Nevertheless, the Mon are referred to as "slovenly" in Niriit phrii priitlwm
(100), - notwithstanding the fact that Thai culture is inconceivable without the
Mon. It is significant that the Mon are so frequently mentioned.This might
conceivably confirm the opinion of some authors that a considerable part of the
population was Mon (Khmer) during the Ayuthaya period40).
4. Sunthqn Phfi the poet
The prominence to the name of the poet in the field of Thai literary
studies gives rise to a question. For which particular qualities did he attain such a
great distinction? Surely, the tame of his poeticworks could not have survived, if it
rested alone on particular environmental conditions or on a complex personality ..
Which role must actually be assigned to him in Thai literary history? This question
must be posed in two respects: firstly, as to the role he played by objective
standards scientifically measuring the quality of his verses. Secondly, as to the role
assigned to him by his contemporaries and the present day literary critics. Was
SunthQn Phii the consummation and climax of a literary tradition of three hundred
years standing, or was he a new starting point, the beginning of a literary of the
future? Such questions are weighty and difficult to answer. Considering the poor
state of Thai literary studies at this juncture we can tackle them only with great
hesitation and try to find, at the best, some hypothetical answers.
a) The master of form
Our knowledge of Thai literature prior to the beginning of the Bangkok
period, uncertain and incomplete as it is, still does not admit of any doubt that all
literary types of which SunthQn Phii made use, were known and practised long
39. See on this WENK, Studien zur Literatur der Thai, Vol. I., pp. 25 seq. and elsewhere, and Ch.I of
the present volume. ·
40. See on this among others WOL1ERS, A Western Teacher and the History of Early Ayuthaya, p.
94. .

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Volume 74 (1986)
before his time. This goes for the nirdt, the suphiisit, and for the bot Ia khgn as
well. Sunthqn Phfi took up the existing framework, but, dui-ing his long literary life
he did not add a new type to those he had found. It should be added here that, in
Sunthqn Phfi's time and probably under his decisive influence, the form of the bot
lakhgn was expanded into what is known as "the long epic". It would indeed be
anachronistic to classify such works as Phra Aphaimani, Inau and Khun Chang
Khun Phaen under the category of bot lakhgn. These poems, by sheer reason of
their length and volume, cannot be considered as texts written for entertainment or
moral edification and to be enacted on a stage and accompanied by music. They
are indeed elaborate epics of great art, parts of whi

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Journal of The Siam Society
who·came after him44).
We may proceed from the assumption the Thai language was already fully
developed when Sunthqn Phii started his poetic career, except for idiomology
which even today is subject to continual change. The poet therefore was
unhampered in the composition of his verses with ease as per se produces euphony
. and harmony, even though the contents of his verse did not arouse_ much interest.
.The Thai language. leaves much scope for keeping the meaning of a phrase in
suspense. Since the formulation of phrases is easy for the talented,. linguistic
expression does not unduly exert the intellect. Lively persons with vigorous minds
thus develop a facility of poetic expression which goes togethe_r with a certain
inability or unwillingness to dissect everything intellectually. In fact, it is not the
idea that generates the word, but vice versa, the word generates the idea. This is
true of many verses of Sunthqn Phii, and for that matter, of many other poets as
well. Not a single one of his nirat was composed from start to finish following a
definite idea. Rather, they were all created by linguistic and literary inspiration on
the spur of a moment. To Sunthqn Phii writing poetry means, among other things,
just personal liberation and artistic play.
b) New subject-matters for the niriit
What has been said under a) above is certainly of great significance for
Thai poetry which is very sensitive to form. But decisive for the general evolution
of Thai poetry was, after all, the meaning and the message of Sunthqn Phii's
verses. In them an entirely new style evolves, a fact that, as the present author
would assume with certainty, went not unnoticed by his contemporaries. Thai
literature was enriched by a new language and new subject-matter in a way hitherto
unknown. There was no period of transition. The reader was not warned by
·fanfare. It came into existence all of a sudden and was received so gently as is
possible only in Thai ~ulture. The age of Sunthqn Phii was certainly not ripe for
cultural or political revolution and nothing indicated the need for revolutionary
adjustments. However, as the kings of the Cakri dynasty vaguely sensed the advent
of a new era from the West, the machine and gun-boat age-which is evident in the
introduction of rational elements into Buddhism and central government e.g .. so
SunthQn Phii, a citizen with a sensitive personality and great poetic talent,
expressed in his verses what he subconsciously sensed in his age.
44. In Thai secondary literature we find almost invariably nothing but brief statements as to what a
great master of klqn SunthQn Phii has been and that he was surpassed by nobody else.

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Volume 74 (1986)
·For abetter understanding of this process, Sunthqn Phii's klgn nirclt poems
should be compared with the form and the substance of the klgn nircit written
before him. ,It is with great hesitation that one dares to refer to the Ph/eng yiiu uiriit
rop pha'mii thl .thii din daeng of Rama I or to the Niriits of Mahrt Uparat
Surasinh.anat4.:>). What else existed in Thai literature of the type 'klgn niriit prior to
Suntbqn Phii's Niriit klaeng? Surely, a small number of little known texts, mostly
unprinted as yet, texts not even known by literary historians. They nevertheless
have some significance, but the type of klgn niriit came into full life and brilliance
only with Sunthqn Phii.
c) What are the new elements?
A text of the quality of Kamnoet Phliii Ngiim - a piece belongin~ to world
literature- was totally unknown in all Thai literature prior to Sunthqn Phii. If we
disregard for the moment the high stylistic and aestetic level of the poem, it is the
realistic representation of the environment, the photographic· faithfulness of the
narration which fascinate us in this unique text which is p~rt of the voluminous epic
Khun Chang Khun Phaen. What is true of this masterpiece, holds good more or
less also for the niriit poems of Sunthqn Phii. They are closely linked with, and
copied from, real life. In these poems the reader can recognise the poet as well as
his life and his environment. ·
Sunthqn Phii's break with traditional subject-matter is rather abrupt. We
do find real representation of things in poems of other poets such as SI
Mahosot46), but they have a different relationship to the whole of these poems.
Though necessary, they are of secondary importance and are merely instrumental
in carrying on the action which, in the analysis, is a glorification of His Majesty.
The subject-matter of Sunthqn Phii's poems, however, goes beyond the pale of
fairy-tale fantasy or mere eUlogy. His niriit poems are something more than versified
nithiin or niyiii, even though they still contain. a fair portion of traditional elements
such as the e9umeration of what he has actually seen or merely visualised.
He is keen on observing and describing reality, on expressing personal
feelings, not just old cliches. Sunthqn Phii is one of the Thai poets who in his
poems is actor and reporter at the same time. This, of course, implies that we have
also to keep up with his occasionally tiresome lamentations.
The frame of action, for instance for the journey indicated in the heading
45. See WENK, Studien zur Literatur der Thai, Vol. I, Ch. IV, V and VI.
46. See .on this op,cit., Ch. I and II.

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Journal of The Siam Society
of his nircit poems, is a certain geographic datum easy to check. In fact, he ·
enumerates locality after locality, most of which are still there today. These places
were not inhabited by celestial beings,· but by living persons whose peculiarities
were minutelydescribedeither with critical remarks or with loving sympathy. To
exercise criticism presupposes a great deal of rational thinking. The poems
presented in this volume almost never deal with fantastic ideas or with what cannot
be controlled by the intellect. There is no room for powerful fairies, horses equipped
with seven - league - boots or winged creatures who can cross continents at a pace or
wing-beat. Buddhism certainly conditions intelligent people to be rational,
although in some cases this may bring about an inability to observe or understand
magical phenomena in our environment. SunthQn Phii gives expression to this in
rather moderate terms, whereas his alleged pupil Nen Klan uses forceful
·expressions, see Niriit phrii priithom ( 429pp) and Nirtit Nen Klan (395pp)
For SunthQn Phii a journey is not only a pastime - though with a definite
destination - but an opportunity to gain more experience and acquire new
knowledge which he may later impart to others. He makes careful notes of what he
observes, perceives. and of what appears strange and extraordinary to him.
Sometimes it is a particular landscape, a striking formation of the river bank,
sometimes he comments on the usefulness of certain plants on his way. Yet his
description of localities does not reach the standard of geographical surveys, not do
the enumerations of species of fauna or flora have such a precision as would
preclude or in any way inhibit poetic expression. Much is also left to the reader's
imagination.
SunthQn Phii conceives of the world only as being nature. This implies that
the world-view of the poet - as far as real things are concerned - is built on his own
perceptions, hence his view of the world is not screened or deflected by anything,
and it is free of doubt. And this also implies that the time to him is not of linear
cycles. All that is human, including the psyche, is subject to this cyclical movement,
hence ever-recurring. Nature is, however so immense and boundless, so perfect in
herself, so uniquely self-sufficient - oceans, mountains, jungles - that pure
contemplation of her may lead to barrenness of poetic expression Nature is deaf to
man's anguishes and agonies. But poetic production is just stimulated by the latter.
The question arises again and again whether the poet describes landscape
only as he objectively sees it or whether he represents it from within with reference
to his self. When thinking for instance of the name of a woman, instantly a shrub of
the same designation must come into sight on the bank of the river which serves as
a motif for expressing his feelings about that woman. Often enough in his poems

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the objectivity of the outside world is buta projection of his mind. Often enough
nature herself is suppressed to give room to mere conceptions that spring from the
poet's imagination. Only on rare occasions does he express his feelings about the
beauty of nature without making reference to his personal sufferings or longings.
The routine listing of trees, shrubs or flowers would be less annoying if they were ·
couched in a more rhapsodical style or permeated with more majestic pathos.
However, he who has seen the world, and is able to gauge the abysses of the
human mind, rather prefers to remain on the surface of things and express himself
in cliche phrases. At this point, let us insert a few remarks that do not only concern
SunthQn Phii's poetry, but Thai poetry in general.
Why is reference made again and again to lofty and punny trees, leafy or in
full bloom, described sometimes in detail? We know that Thai thought as expressed
in literature is conditioned, to a great extent, by animistic relicts - a fact which most
Thai people are hesitant to admit-, but which nevertheless is a fact47). It is moreover
generally known that trees are universally considered as symbols in a variety
ofways48).
Thai poets travelling in boats and barges, in their niriit poems-pretend-to
describe what they see, among other things, trees, the fragrance of which, in some
species, is said to produce specific effects in men such as sadness or the suggestion
of pleasant things. Incidentillly, the eff~ct of scents has been proved by scientific
methods. A great number of aromatic essences, s

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Journal of The Siam Society
it is useful to be aware of facts, and this certainly is not patriarchal overbearing, but
it is expressive of his personal craving for knowledge. His eagerness for knowledge
has nothing to do with a bourgeois conception of education. It is not knowledge
man requires for survival in his natural enviroment which Sunthqn Phii wished to
impart, but knowledge about the fatefulness of human existence. The concept kam
is the central concept of his thought. The instances for the occurrence of this word
are quite numerous in his works. With Sunthqn Phii religion clearly plays an
important role and instinctively compensates for the limitations of the intellect
which spring from the vital depths of life. For Sunthqn Phii it is absolutetly certain
that all mankind is subject to the law of karma in the same way as to the change of
seasons. The knowledge about our own transcience is always present in his mimi.
What then are the things necessary to know for passing through this life?49)1. The
real essence of nature, especially of our own environmen~; 2. The customs of the
country and how to behave accordingly - tiim phiisii, see Niriit pha khau thQng
(125); 3. To recognise our place in society and to accept our role, - which the poet
emphasises again and again in each of his poems.
Yet another way is open to Sunthqn Phii, the faithful Buddhist who is keen
on rational arguments. Even in him there is left a good margin of the magical
elements in traditional Thai thought. The description of the magical powers of
~hHii Ngam borders on the abstruse, see Kamnoet Ph/iii Ngiim (812pp). It was
difficult for Sunthqn Phii, presumably so often assailed by depression not to
succumb to man's longing to participate in the Divine through magic. On such
occasions he rebels against the rigorous chain of cause and effect which excludes all
that is supernatural and, concomitantly, all good things that come by chance or
good luck.
If a place is of some historic interest, he reports what he deems worth
reporting, see Niriit phrii priithom (193pp), (422pp.), (811pp) etc. The range of the
poet's interests is wide. His niriit poems are also a rich source for those who are
interested in economic history of ancient Thailand, e.g. Niriit muang phet (252pp),
(276pp), (503pp), (708pp); Niriit phrii priithom (331), etc.
The principal commercial products are given for each locality, fruit, fish,
firewood and salt, cloth and brass utensils. In mentioning the surrounding flora he
49. SOMBAT CANTHAWONG, in Rak muang Thai, pp. 116 seq. in this connection points to the
concept wisai, which according to ALABASTER, The Wheel of the Law, p. 237. stands for the
"four qualities of visual phenomena" namely noise, taste and their intensity and nature. Sunthon
Phii also uses this expression occasionally, sec for example Ramphan philap, (98).

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docs not go beyond what other poets used to mention before him. However his
pupils, the poets of Ninit Inau and Niriit Nen Klan furnish more detailed
information. In the one mentioned first, the description of nature, especially
vegetation serves to express the poet's own lyrical mood, and with Nen Klan
shrubbery and thicket along the river bank are described as places of horror, the
hiding places of wild beasts such as tigers. In some cases, however, the poet takes
interest in nature proper. see Ninit muang phet (312pp); Niriit phrii priithom
(472pp), and he intimates that he feels an urge to have others share his knowledge
of the flora of the country, see Niriit muang phet (270pp). Sunthqn Phii suggests to
his readers that mere perception is conducive to the knowledge of things. Surely,
such things as law and philosophy must be studied methodically, see Kamnoet Ph/iii
Ngiim (1024pp); Phleng yiiu thawiii 6wiit(56pp),(60pp), but only a small number of
people are qualified to take up formal studies. On the other hand, the
environment of real things is accessible to everybody and should be studied to
enrich personal experience. Sunthgn Phil expresses his concern for education not
only in Sawatdi raksii or Ph/eng yiiu thawiii 6wiit, but also in Kamnoet Ph/iii Ngiim
and in most nirtit poems.
The poet looks at the world from below, from his own low position as a
phrai, he does so in a straightforward manner without interposing any intellectual
concepts. Thus he achieves a realism in his verse in direct touch with everyday life,
by attracting interest to the small things, to the trivialities of life. He has an eye for
what is simple and typical, but his mind goes further than this. What he has seen
and noted leads him to engaging in a dialectic process between the outer world and
the world of his mind, a process that tends to lead his thought in directions
frequently opposed to the course taken in the respective poems. The narration of a
niriit is always progressive, passengers of a boat are heading for their destination,
Sunthqn Phil, however, is looking backward in his mind. There are many
associations, e.g. the name of a flower, which bring back memories of the
past, man, being conservative by nature, is reluctant to adjust himself to new
situations; he is subconsciously sustained by a longing for his original condition. In
his diction Sunthqn Phil does not highlight his verses by sudden points, the conflict
of dialectic reasonings is mostly reflected by asyndetic sentences or by
comparisons.
The description of his environment is for the most part critical as far as
people are concerned. It is consistent with his character that he is concerned more
with what separates than with what unites. Unreserved praise and admiration are
uttered only in describing Buddhist sanctuaries and buildings such as the Nakhqn

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Pathom Cedi in Niriit phrii priithom and the Phii khau thqng in the niriit of the
same name, or the Khau liiong in Niriit muang phet. As is proved by the same
description of the Phii khau thqng Sunthqn Phii is fully aware of the conception of
space in Hinduistic-Buddhistic cosmology. With a sure hand he combines the
vertical line prevailing in the latter with the characteristic features of Thai
architecture, see Niriit phu khau thqng (282pp). In SunthQn Phii's niriit poems we
also find the three qualities Levi-Strauss (Traurige Tropen- Sad tropics) associates
with travelling: "Travelling is more than a change of place, a journey is made in
space as well as in time and in the social hierarchy", see chapter IX ibid.
All that has been written about Sunthqn Phii will necessarily remain
rudimentary. It is perhaps impetuous to attempt to explore an alien personality.
There is the risk of painting some personal characteristics in too loud colours,
whereas other traits are perhaps overlooked, concealed or masked. If we had
better knowledge of Sunthqn Phii, we might perhaps be confronted with a good
deal of startling or embarrassing circumstances, but we have been spared such
surprises by indifference or negligence of Sunthqn Phii's contemporaries and
successors. Considering the scantiness of the material that has come down to us I
venture to say that the biography of this poet will never be written. if we disregard
the fabrications of. feuilletin writers and other inventions. Sunthqn Phii's works will
stand out as landmarks in Thai literary history.
The citizens of Klaeng, the destination of his first niriit poem, have proudly
erected a bronze bust in honour vf the poet. It shows a firm face with an earnest if
somewhat melancholic expression. The features of his mouth and nose suggest a
certain disdain of the outside world. Judging by his head we may infer that he was a
lean basically leptosomic type. Graphic representations of the poet follow similar
lines. In the light of his works, Sunthqn Phii could possible be imagined to have
been like the person represented in such pictures. But we must realize that any
attempt to draw a picture of him is only the product of personal imagination.
"It is a high calling to have a presentment of noble minds" - this maxim of
Goethe was certainly not a motto for Sunthqn Phii's creative work. He probably
did not even think of such a lofty and pretentious aim - in fact. such a thought.
owing to the Buddhist culture of his environment, could not arise in him at all. We
must admit though that some parts of his poems are expressive of Thai thought,
feelings, aspirations and presentments of the Thai of his age - at least pars pro
toto- but Sunthqn Phii did not make himself their harbinger. There is no indication

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of this in his works. His poems are an artistic play, an expression of his personal
moods and problems and, last but not least, a reverence to the "Great Teacher"
Gautamo Buddho.
Klaus Wenk
Department of Southeast Asian Studies,
University of Hamburg.
For the translation into English I am indebted to my old friend Erich W. Reinhold, Bon.n.

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Journal of The Siam Society
NOTES & COMMENTS
Betty Gosling's Reply
to Michael Wright's Note on
"Why Were the Jatg,kas 'Hidden Away'
at Wat Si Chum?"
It is fortunate when a scholar has the interest and critical bent of mind to
question the host of theories concerning Sukhothai history and art that have been
formulated in recent decades. Because of the sparsity and ambiguity of data that
derive from the Sukhothai period, the sources have often led scholars in very
different directions. Before viable conclusions can be reached, every "lead" must be
investigated; sources must be reexamined many times.
I therefore welcome Michael Wright's comments on my article "Why Were
the jiitakas 'Hidden Away' at Wat Sii Chum?" (JSS Vol. 73, 1985; Vol. 72, 1984). It
is disappointing, however, that, in Mr. Wright's case, JSS has relaxed its
requirement that correspondence be "suitably documented." Mr. Wright has
introduced some interesting new evidence that· could possibly alter our present
notions about early Thai history. But, unfortunately, the sources of some of the
most controversial findings have not been cited, and the data's usefulness as a
reasonable basis for further research is thereby seriously curtailed.
But, as his Note exemplifies, Mr. Wright has an exceptionally probing mind
that focuses on vital issues, and he has raised some questions that deserve to be
taken seriously. Three points in particular are crucial to the unraveling of Sukhothai
history:
1. Identification of Sukhothai Inscription 2's Mahiithiit Luang.
2. Identification of Inscription 2's "large, tall chedl."
3. Reasons for enshrining the engravings of the Five Hundred Jiitakas in the
Wat Sii Chum mondop.
points.
I would like to comment on Mr. Wright's arguments concerning each of these

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Volume 74 (1986)
1. Identification of Sukhothai Inscription 2's Mahiithiit Luang.
I have already stated my reasons for identifying Inscription 2's Mahathiit
Luang as Wat Mahathat, Sukhothai's largest monastery, located at the center of the
city: 1 I will mention these reasons here only in relation to Mr. Wright's objections.
Mr. Wright's theory that the Mahiithat Luang in Inscription 2 refers, not to the
Sukhothai Mahiithat, but to Phra Pathom Chedil in Nakhon Pathom, some 450 kms.
away, perhaps deserves consideration that I have not previously put into print.
The Phra Pathom/Mahathat Liiang theory is interesting, and Mr. Wright
has presented some enticing evidence. Given the wide geographic range that
Inscription 2 encompasses, Nakhon Pathom is certainly a possible site for some of
Inscription 2's activities. But there are also arguments against Mr. Wright's
identification that need to be stated.
a. Mr. Wright bases his identification partially on Inscription 2's statement
that the Mahiithat in question was called by the "Khom," or Khmer, "Phra Thorn,"
("General" [phonetic] System of Romanization), or "Bral;l Dham" {"Graphic"
[letter-by-letter] System"). 2 Inscription 2 spells the word 'ii 0 and the· modern
spelling is construed as 'iia.J. Mr. Wright equates Phra Thorn (Bral} Dharn) with the
Pathorn in Nakhon Pathom's Phra Pathom Chedil. Phra Thorn (Bral} Dharn) and
pathorn do sound vaguely alike, and when the names are Romanized according to
various methods of transcription, they can (in Roman letters) be made to look alike.
But the meanings of the words are quite different.
King Rama IV, who instigated th~ rebuilding of Phra Pathom Chedil in the
late nineteenth century, reported that Pathorn, according to local tradition, meant
"sleeping" (th~Yla.J, ~.JYJa.J, 1J'1'1Yla.J), for the local people believed that the Buddha had
once slept on the site where the chedil was built. The King questioned the story,
however, and recalled that he had read in earlier writings that Pathorn, when
referring to the chedil, meant "first" (tl'1~na.~, 1l~3.(). indicating that the chedil was
1. Betty Gosling, "Once More Inscription 2: An Art Historian's View," JSS 69.1-2 (1981): 13-42.
Elizabeth Gosling, "The History of Sukhothai as a Ceremonial Center," University of Michigan
Ph.D. Dissertation. Ann Arbor, University Microfilms International, 1983.
2. Line 2.23. In A.B. Griswold and Prascrt na Nagara, ''Epigraphic and Historic Studies, No. 10: King
Lodaiya of Sukhodaya and His Contemporaries," JSS 60.1 (1972): 21-152.
Since both pronunciation and spelling are relevant to the present discussion, I have used both
the Graphic and General Systems of Romanization. Elsewhere, I have stuck with the General
System.

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Journal of The Siam Society
thought to have been the first one built in Siam. 3 This is the interpretation that is
usually given today.
If these are the meanings traditionally associated with Phra Pathom chedil.
then it is difficult to see how Inscription 2's Phra Thorn ( Bra~1 Dlwm) is rl!lcvant.
Tlwm (dham) is a Khmer word meaning, "large", "massive, "royal," .. rl!gal.·· ~ami
is, therefore, a reasonable Khmer translation of Inscription 2's ··Mahiithat
Liiang"-mahiithiit meaning great chedil or great relic; 5 /Liang meaning ··great,"
"royal," "chief," "superior." 6 Phra (BraM is an honorific term often placed before
the names of monasteries, chedils, Buddha images, etc. It is difficult to sec how
Phra Thorn ( Bra~z Dlzam) can be construed to mean "first" or "sleeping.··
On the other hand. Mr. Wright reports having found ''Ayutthayan and
early nineteenth century references" to Phra Pathom Chedi, which give its name as
Phra Dam. Unfortunately, Mr. Wright does not give the Thai spelling of fhra Dam,
his method of Romanization, the definition of dam, or the names of the Ayutthayan
and early nineteenth century works in which he has found the name. Without
further information it would be foolish to try and guess just what he has in mind. Of
course, Pathama, which Mr. Wright believes to be the "modern" spelling of
Pathom, is a Romanization of the Pali root word from which the Thai word derives.
With a diacritical mark pa{hama), it is simply the Graphic System's equivalent of the
General System's pathom.
b. Mr. Wright thinks that since Nakhon Pathom is "connected by folk tale"
to the Indian god Krishna, Inscription 2's "Krishna's city" (nakhQn Phra Kris) refers
to that association.
Mr. Wright bases his theory largely on a mutilated phrase in Inscription 11,
lines 2.20-21, for which he provides a "re-reading." According to the re-reading, the
phrase in question, nakhon ... ris or nakhon ..... ris, should be translated as "Nakhon
. Kris" or "Nakhon Phra Kris"-there seems to be some uncertainty about the
3. Cilwphrajaa thiphaakorawqng, The Dynastic Chronicles, Bangkok Era, The Fourth Reign (B.E.
2394-2411 (A.D. 185/-1868), trans. Chadin Flood, (Tokyo, The Center for East Asian Cultural
Studies, 1966), p. 496.
4. George Bradley McFarland, Thai-English Dictionary (Stanford University Press, 1944), p. 431.
S. Griswold and Prasert, "Studies 10," p. 121, n. 122.
6. McFarland, Dictionary, p. 919.
7. Line 2.23.

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Volume 74 (1986)
number of missing letters. (The two transcription:; I have at hand render the phrase
8 9 . •
as ..... ft and u ..... R .)
What is significant is that the phrase occurs in a sequence of place names
that suggests a geographic location for the city somewhere in the vicinity of Nakhon
Pathom. Mr. Wright reports that Dr. Prasert Qa Nagara, basing his reasoning on the
recent appearance of nakhon ..... ris or nakhon ... ris in Inscription 11, has
"tentatively" accepted the Phra Pathom/Mahathat theory. I look forward to this
respected epigrapher's . non-tentative judgement when he has arrived at firm
conclusions concerning this interesting new evidence.
But, in any case, whether or not Inscription 11 's new translation can be
used as reference to the Phra Kris of Inscription 2 is questionable. In his arguments,
Mr. Wright has ignored important internal evidence. For Inscription 2 reports
explicitly thaphe '.'Phra Kris" found in the text refers to the inscription's author, the
monk Sil Satha 10 -not to the Indian god associated with Nakhon Pathom.
Inscription 2 leaves no doubt that the city to which Sil Satha/Phra Kris held
allegiance was Sukhothai. ·
c.. Inscription 2 states that it was at the center of Phra Kris's city that the
Mahathat Luang (called by the Khmer "Phra Thorn") was located.U Like other
inscriptional evidence, this bit of information suggests Sukhothai rather than
Nakhon Pathom. Both the ancient cities of Sukhothai and Nakhon Pathom were
surrounded by moats and ramparts that make a center point easy to identify. Wat
Mahiithiit is located at the center of Sukothai's walled, moated city, whereas Phra
Pathom Chedil is located a kilometer or so to the west of Nakhon Pathom's moat
and ramparts. 12 That this point outside the old city could have .been considered the
city center in the fourteenth century needs some substantiation. (The monastery at
the center of the old city is Wat Phra Pathon [not to be confused with Phra
Pathom.])
d. One of Mr. Wright's most interesting observations concerns Inscription
2's statement that at the place where the Mahathat was being restored, it was
8. Prachum charyk syiim phiil thii 1: clzaryk krung sukhcithai, Bangkok, 2467, p.l51
9. Griswold and Prasert, "Studies 10," p. 137.
10. Lines 2.37-8.
11. Lines 2.23.
12. Quaritch Wales, Dviiravatil, The Earliest Kingdom of Siam i6th to 11th century A.D.), (London,
Bernard Quaritch Ltd., 1969), p. 32 and fig. 2B.

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Journal of The Siam Society
difficult to fine lime. 13 The lime was needed to stucco the Chedil, and the statement
is usually taken at face value. It is Mr. Wright's contention, however. that ''having
no lime" is a figure of speech indicating "totai ruin, remoteness from other civilized
places, and a lack of basic civilized amenities" (source not given). He thinks the
passage must refer to Nakhon Pathom, not Sukhothai.
Mr. Wright's reasoning can be questioned on several counts : first, that in
the context of the passage, the statement that lime was difficult to find should not
be taken literally; and second, because Mr. \Yright claims not to know of
unfavorable conditions at Sukhothai in the mid-fourteenth century, Inscription 2's
evidence cannot apply to those unknowns. In fact, Inscription 3, dating from 1363,
provides some evidence that the Sukhothai kingdom had "been torn into many
fragments and pieces" and that the fragments had perhaps become "destitute." 14 I
do not know what sources Mr. Wright has used to determine conditions at Nakhon
Pathom in the mid-fourteenth century.
2. Identification of Inscription 2's "large, tall chedil."
Here Mr. Wright has accused me of misusing evidence provided by George
Coedes, who suggested that Inscription 2's "large, tall chedil" was the central
monument at Sukhothai's Wat Mahathat. 15 According to Prof. Coedes, the
engravings of the Five Hundred Jiitakas now encased in the dark stairwell of the
Wat Sii Chum mondop are those which Inscription 2 states once surrounded the
Mahiithat chedil. I have. already stated my reasons for accepting Prof. Coedes's
theory. In part, according to my chronological study of Sukhothai architecture, the
Mahiithat chedil was probably the only large, tall chedi at Sukhothai prior to the
1340s when Inscription 2 was written. 16
Of course, one could suggest that Inscription 2's chedil was not at Sukhothai
at all. In fact, in 1980 Mr. Wright claimed that the chedil was in Nakhon Pathom
and that the Jiitaka engravings at Wat Sil Chum had been transported from Nakhon
Pathom to SukhothaiY But Mr. Wright appears to have abandoned this theory,
.
13. Lines 2.23 ff.
14. Griswold and Prasert, "Epigraphic and Historical Studies, No. 11, Part 1: The Epigraphy of
Mahiidharmariija 1 of Sukhod.aya," JSS 61.1 (1973): 71-177. P. 106. · •
15. George Coedcs, Recueil des Inscriptions du Sipm. Vol. 1 (Bangkok, 1924). P. 177.
16. Elizabeth Gosling, History.
17. Michael Wright, "Phiithat silii charyk sukh6thai lak thil 2." Muang Boriin 6.2 ( 19!!0) : 19-31. PP.
27-8.

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Volume 74 (1986)
and I do not have any reason to doubt that the engravings were executed at
Sukhothai. It follows then, that the chedil they once surrounded was also located
there. I will continue to choose the most straightforward explanation and second
Prof. Coedes's identification.
In order to accept Mr. Wright's new theory that the Jiitaka plaques
originally surrounded a chedil at Wat Sil Chum, in Sukhothai, one must also accept
a complex set of a priory assumptions: 1, that. unlike other Sukhothai inscriptions,
Inscription 2 was a verbal communication, and that it was only at a later time that
the words "somehow .... ended up in the form of an inscription in stone"; 2, that we
know precisely where the speaker, Sil Satha, sat or stood when he made his oral
presentation "one hot morning" centuries ago; (i.e.,at Wat Sil Chum, although the
name does not appear in the inscription); 3, that the Thai who liberated Sukhothai
from the Khmer in the thirteenth century attacked the Thai walled city that we
know today rather than the old Khmer city just to the north; 4, that a 1980 reading
of Inscription 2 (source not given) is more reliable than the transcriptions used by
Coedes and Griswold/Prasert; 5, that the here that Mr. Wright sees in his 1980
version of the inscription, and which he finds in a passage referring to a number of
towns and regions. refers, not to another geographical location, but to a monastic
site, 6, that the absence of the phrase lang htieng, used consistelltly elsewhere in
Inscription 2 to denote a change of location, is not significant in the "large, tall
c'hi!dil" passage; and 7, that prior to the building of the Wat Sil Chum mondop there
was once a large. tall chedil at the site for which we have no archaeological or
inscriptional evidence. Furthermore, 8, Mr. Wright asks us to believe that prior to
Sil Satha's discourse. he had just built the Wat Sit Chum mondop, although the
inscription mentions neither the construction of a new building nor the placement of
the Jiitakas in a new location.
Mr. Wright"s reasoning provides a good example of what Michael Vickery,
in his excellent article on Sukhothai historiography. calls an "epicycle". According
tn Prof. Vickery. cpicyclical reasoning ignores the simplest explanation, and,
mstcad multiplies elaborate assumptions to create a complex theory that cannot pass.
as more than plausible historical fiction: 1 x Mr. Wright has made some interesting
spcculations. hUI his new "history" based upon these suppositions is insupportable.
IX. Michael Vickery. ··A Guide Through Some Recent Sukhothai Historiography," JSS 66.2
(197R) : 182-246. P. 185.

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Journal of The Siam Society
3. Reasons for enshrining the Jiitaka engravings in the Wat Sil Chum mondop.
Mr. Wright has suggested in his Note that the engravings were hidden away
because they were damaged: Acc~>rding to his reasoning, damaged religious objects
are "inauspicious, an embarrassment. a reproach to the owner, and not fit for the
eyes of the faithful to behold." Thus the Jtitakas should have been "disposed of or
hidden away" where they would not '"offend the pious eye."
Given the fact that Inscription 2 is largely devoted to descriptions of
meritorious works that involved the restoration of damaged religious architecture
and sculpture-not hiding them away-Mr. Wright's suggestion is surprising.
I am also puzzled by Mr. Wright's reference to the "ruined Si Samphet [sicj
image from Ayutthya entombed in the Stupa at Wat Phra Chetuphon in Bangkok."
Mr. Wright cites the Si Sanphet image as providing evidence of the embarrassment
and shame that Siamese feel towards badly damaged religious objects.
But the Chronicles of the First Reign provide a very different picture: "On
Friday, the tenth day of the waxing moon of the third month, the Year of the Tiger,
the sixth year of the decade, the year 1156 of the Chula Era, in the morning, the
king, accompanied by members of the royal family, government ministers, elderly.
government councilors, Brahmin court advisors, court astrologers, and learned
men, came to the field where the great chedi reliquary would be constructed. Then
the Buddha statue known as Phra Phutthapatimakon Sisanphet, which was damaged
and brought over from the old capital (Ayutthaya), was moved to the site and
placed on the prepared foundation. At the precise auspicious moment, the music
played a loud fanfare with gongs, drums, trumpets and conch trumpets." 19 It is
difficult to discern anything inauspicious or embarrassing in the passage.
We do not know if the installation of the Jtitaka plaques at Wat Sil Chum
was accompanied by gongs and trumpets. But we do know that the plaques were
invariably placed face outward and were arranged approximately in the order
prescribed in the Pali Canon. Apparently, even in the mondop's dark stairwell, they
were meant to be seen. I do not think they were considered "offensive" or that they
were ''suppressed," as Mr. Wright accuses me of writing.
Finally, Mr. Wright misrepresents me when he says that I appear to suggest
that the Jiitakas' installation in the Wat Si1 Chum stairwell somehow involved a
dissent in the Sangha. As I have already stated, I think that the enshrinement of the
plaques in the stairwell reflects some of the vast changes in religious and political
19. Chaophraya Thiphakorawong, The Dynastic Chronicles. Bangkok Era. The First Reign, trans. and
ed. Thadeus and Chadin Flood (Tokyo, The Center for East Asian Cultural Studies, 1978), p. 229.

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Volume 74 (1986)
attitudes that took plac~: at Sukhothai during the fourteenth century. But that a
dissention in the Sangha was responisble is a theory that goes far beyond any
evidence that I have p1esented. The inference is Mr. Wright's not mine.

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Journal of The Siam Society
AN OBITUARY
M.C. Pilailekba Diskul
(8 August 1907- 11 December 1985)
H.S.H. Princess Pilai Diskul, daughter of HRH Prince Damrong
Rajanubhab, was one of the three favourite ones who accompanied her father
almost everywhere. The other two being M.C. Poonpismai and M.C. Padhanayu,
while M.C. Chongchit-Thanom, the eldest daughter, usually remained at home, in
charge ot the affairs of the palace, while the others were abroad or in exile.

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Volume 74 (1986)
All of Prince. Damrong's daughters were talented and more well-known
than his sons. Princess Chongchit, for instance, was acknowledged especially for her
cooking, Princess Poon was a popular writer and leader in many Buddhist circles,
and Princess Padhanayu was a humourous character and a good conversationalist as
well as an amateur astrologer.
All of them served their father dutifully and contributed meaningfully to
Thai culture, especially in the field of literature and performing arts. The three
princesses were once asked by. Phya Anuman Rajadhon to help the Fine Arts
Department after the Second World War to resurrect traditional dance dramas and
they did their best for the national theater for many years.
Comparing 'with these. sisters, Princess Pilai was less of a character .
. Healthwise she was not strong, but she was beautiful physically as well as
spiritually. She was also a noted artist.
Princess Pilai was brought up by Queen Saovabha in the Grand Palace as
well as at Phya Thai Palace. Had she been ambitious, she would have become a
queen herself. But she was so modest and unaggressive, that she usually remained
in the background.
She was mentioned in most of Prince Damrong's Travelogues, especially his
trips to Angkor, Burma, Indonesia and Europe. She remained with him all through
his years of exile in Penang. After their return to Bangkok, Mr. Pridi Banomyong,
the then Regent of Siam, paid a visit to Varadis Palace to pay his respect to Prince
Damrong. She was the only one her father allowed to be present at this audience. He
said other daughters might not be polite to the man who was instrumental in ending
the era of the absolute monarchy, which in part contributed to their exile. In fact
both Prince Damrong and Princess Pilai were impressed by Pridi's sincerity and
ability and the Regent was resp.onsible for the establishment of the Damrong
Rajanubhab Library after the Prin~e's passing away in 1943.
Princess Pilai was much attached to her uncle, Prince Naris, whom she
regarded as her mentor in the field of Thai arts. She also took lessons in drawing
and painting from Professor C. Feroci (Silpa Birasri).
She remained unmarried and lived with one of her nieces until the age of
88. The cremation volume in her memory was a collection of her correspondence
with Prince Naris and Professor Feroci, both in Thai and English. The volume also
contains some of her own paintings. Unfortunately it was not for sale.
s.s.s.

209
REVIEWS
B.J. Terwiel, e.d., Buddhism and Society in Thailand: Papers presented at the First
International Conference on Thai Studies, New Delhi, 25-27 February 1981 (Center
for Southeast Asian Studies, Gaya, 1984)
It seems that Thai Studies are gaining new prominence and interest as can
be seen from the fact that more and more Centers for Southeast Asian Studies
outside Thailand are offering this relatively new discipline. One of such centers is in
Gaya, India, that held its first international conference on Thai Studies in New
Delhi on 25-27 February 1981.
The new interest is only natural in view of the fact that since the fall of the
three Indochinese countries in 1975, Thailand has become the frontline state which
attracts the attention of those who want to see how and how long it---as the "next
domino"---can survive. The fact that the country has not only survived, but has
instead played an increasingly important role in regional power politics making
people even more curious to know about the reasons behind it. While it is true that
internal power struggles among political parties and military factions, occasionally
climaxed by violent coup attempts, they seem to give little impact on the country's
overall cohesion and resilience. At this point, one is easily tempted to attribute the
country's ability to overcome various crises to Buddhism, a religion and way of life
professed by the majority of the Thai people. However, to be more precise, as one
of the papers presented at the New Delhi conference pointed out, it was the Thai
king Wachirawut's concept of nationhood comprised of nation (chat), religion
(sasana), and monarchy system (phramahakasat) that would probably deserve
special emphasis for its positive factor in ensuring national survival.
Consisting of seven papers presented at the New Delhi conference and one
published by the Asian Studies Center of Michigan State University, the monograph
Buddhism and Society in Thailand is a timely and welcome contribution to the
library of Thai Studies. The presence of highly qualified contributors, both Thai and
non-Thai, and their in-depth treatment of various areas of studies related to
Buddhism are a sure guarantee that the monograph is a must for those engaged in
Thai Studies.

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Volume 74 (1986)
The first paper by Dr. Sunthorn Na-Rangsi is a short but comprehensive
preliminary survey on the importance of Buddhism to Thailand and Thai people.
After that, anyone interested in the Thai Buddhist arts and architecture can gain
new insight from Betty Gosling's paper on the subject which dwelled extensively on
. the ancient Thai kingdom of Sukhothai. An equally interesting analysis on a related
subject is presented by Pinna Indorf who discusses; the ordination hall (bot), the
assembly hall for laypeople's ceremonies (wihan), and their significance in the Thai
Buddhist monastery (wat).
As one of the leading authorities on the relationship between Buddhism
and political authority in Thailand, Somboon Suksamran's paper is definitely a
valuable contribution toward the understanding of Buddhism's role in the domestic
power politics. As new events have occurred in the country since he presented his
paper in 1981, now he can certainly justify his claim that King Wachirawut's concept
of nationhood has often been misused by unscrupulous groups to attain their
political goals.
Two other papers can perhaps be combined for the readers to reflect on:
Chatsuman Kabilsingh's paper on the status of women in Thai Buddhism and her
thought-provoking idea on the possibility of establishing a bhikkhuni sangha in
Thailand can be viewed positively in terms of Palanee Dhitiwatana's paper on the
important role of Buddhism in Thai education. When Palanee Dhitiwatana is
discussing how "temple boys" and young monks froin impoverished rural families
work their way up for a better social status through monastic education, Chatsuman
Kabilsingh correctly implies that such a privilege does not exist for rural girls simply
due to the absence of a bhikkhuni sangha. A Thai female can of course . ordain as
chi or white-robed nun and she can study limited course offered by certain
monasteries, but she cannot join the prestigious Mahamakut or Mahachulalongkorn
Buddhist University because these two institutions are strictly for monks only.
Besides, the term "temple girls" has never been heard of. However, as for the
establishment of a bhikkhuni sangha, one important fact to be borne in mind is that
during the time of the Buddha, men and women ordained bhikkhus and bhikkhunis
as an expression of their fervent desire to renounce the world and seek
enlightenment. One can imagine how the Buddha would react, if he were alive today,
when he hears suggestions that a bhikkhuni sangha oe established to counterbalance
the existing bhikkhu sangha that has clearly become an avenue for upward social
mobility.
B.J. Terwiel, the editor of the monograph, also contributes a paper

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Journal of The Siam Society
describing vividly how Buddhism is practiced in the rural areas where a Buddhist
monastery is practically the center of activities for the villagers. Having spent some
time in various rural communities, he obviously gained firsthand experiences from
the villagers' religious ceremonies and these enabled him to come to the conclusion
that Buddhism----at least as "folk-religion"----is still very much a living religion in
Thailand.
The last paper by Sulak Sivaraksa stresses the need for people to go back to
age-old Buddhist values, such as simplicity and contentment---something that
modern people tend to keep away---because the two values are often erroneously
equated with backwardness and absence of desire for progress. Being himself a
Theravada Buddhist, he nevertheless stresses the necessity of inter-faith and
inter-sect dialogues to enhance mutual understanding among followers of different
faiths and sects because such interactions will in turn lead to less strife and more
peace in our already troubled world.'
A highly recommended book, the only regret is that it should have been
published earlier.
Teddy Praseryo
Mahamakut Rajavidyalaya

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Volume 74 (1986)
Surin Pitsuwan, Islam and Malay Nationalism: A Case Study of the Malay-Muslims
of Southern Thailand (That Khadi Research Institute, Thammasat University
1985), Bangkok 297 pages
This readable book is a reproduction of the Ph.D. dissertation which the
author submitted to Harvard University in 1982. It is one of the few books on the
Malay-Muslims of Southern Thailand which is ever written by a Muslim. Even if the
author is not a Pattani Muslim, he is quite knowledgeable about Islam and the Malay
culture. This book is therefore the "insider's" view on the issue.
The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter one describes the theoretical
approach to the research question and the socio-economic setting of the research
locale. Chapter two describes a historical background of Pattani during 1902-1922.
Chapter three discusses the struggle for autonomy of the Muslims during 1922-1945.
Chapter four discusses the IslamiC affairs and the Ulama rebellions during
1945-1957. Chapter five describes the government's integration efforts during
1957-1973. Chapter six discusses the path of violence during 1973-1982.
The author's basic argument is that the Malay (ethnic) nationalism is the
reaction to the illegitimate control over the Muslim population in Southern Thailand
by the central Thai government. Since the process of national integration carried
out by the central government is viewed, argued the author, by the Malay Muslims
as (Malay) cultural disintegration, the Malay-Muslims therefore strongly oppose to
the government efforts. The driving force for the Malay-Muslims to oppose the
central government has been, argued the author, Islam as he clearly stated that,
"this dissertation is devoted to a study of the role of Islam in the resurgence of
Malay ethnic' nationalism within the context of Thai national politics" Such
statement (or argument) is more or less tlie major "hypothesis" of this study. In
the subsequent chapters througout the book, he tries to discuss certain historical
events (and evidence) to confirm his hypothesis.
I find the discussions and the analysis of those events very interesting and
quite persuasive. However. I still feel that his 'hypothesis' has not been empirically
proved when I finished the book. In other words, I think that his persuasive
discussions (and assertions) inadequately explain what exactly accounts for the

213
Journal of The Siam Society
resurgence of Malay ethnic nationalism. I think that his failure in attempting to
explain this socib-political phenomenon stems from the fact that he tends to
interpret the data to fit his theoretical framework. For example, while he asserts
that Islam has played a vital part in the emergence of Malay ethnic nationalism, he
is at the same time arguing that the "sense of being separate from the domil;lant
populace of the Thai nation and its bureacratic apparatus that can be identified as
the single-most crucial factor that sustains the conflicts and violence in southern
Thailand ... " (p. 51). And, (another example) "Of all the reforms in the Pattani
region, nothing engendered more hostility among the Malay-Muslims than the
intrusion of Thai officialdom into the domain of the administration of justice which
was con~idered secred terrain" (p. 41). From this incident, it could be argued that
the hostility of the Malay-Muslims is created because Islamic law (Shariah) is not
respected by the Thai government, but it is quite possible also to interpret this
phenomenon (hostility) in political terms. That is, the hostile feeling among the
Malay-Muslims (possibly among the elites) is created because the Malay-Muslims
elites are deprived of political power which they used to enjoy.
Furthermore, the argument advanced in this study, i.e. the Malay ethnic
nationalism is created by religious force (Islam), assumed that there is no internal
variation of "ethnic nationalism" among the Malay-Muslims in southern Thailand.
This assumption is, I feel, at best shaky because ample evidences reveal that a
great number of the Malay-Muslims in this region, those in Satul in particular, feel
much less in the scale of "ethnic nationalism" (whatever it is measured). How then
would the author explain this variation if indeed Islam is the driving force in the
resurgence of the Malay-Muslims ethnic nationalism?
Another point that I would like to comment is the framework which is
employed by the author in the attempt at explaining the Malay-Muslims behaviour.
The author seems to contend that in the situation where the Muslims cannot fully
practise Islamic principles (ie. Shariah law or Abat), there are only two "standard"
choices for them to choose. First, to emigrate to other place where they can fully
practise Islam and Second, to fight (Jihad).
With such framework in mind, the author tries to demonstrate that in the
case of Thailand the Muslims (in the four Southern provinces) are not allowed (by
the ce.ntral government) to fully practise Islamic principles. It is therefore logical for
the Malay-Muslims to have chosen these choices with the aim to become
autonomous so that they can fully practise Islamic principles.
While I find this kind of argument very interesting and persuasive, I am

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Volume 74 (1986)
unsure whether it is really the driving force behind the emergence and escalation ofj
political conflicts between the Malay-Muslims. of southern Thailand and the central
Thai government. It is a great pity· that the author himself did not provide any
empirical evidence beyond his logical argument to support this argument.
Despite the questions I have posed, I still commend that the student of
politic~} sociology as well as the student of minority groups ought to read this book.
I really hope that there will be more writings on this issue and it would be of great
value if the. local Muslims write it themselves.
Uthai Dulyakasem
Silpakorn University
Nakorn Pathom

215
Journal of The Siam Society
R.B. Davis: Muang Metaphysics: A Study of Northern Thai Myth and Ritual (Studies
in Thai Anthropology 1, Pandora 1984 Bangkok). 324 pp. incl. index, bibligo. &
apps. 13 b-&-w ills.
This posthumous publication of Richard Davis' Sydney University Ph.D.
thesis, now in its second and revised edition, comes at a timely moment for Thai
studies. Affording a comprehensive .introduction to the rich muang mythology and
ritual life of Na~, Davis at the same time places a specifically Tpai ethnography
within a much wider historical perspective on the origins of this muang culture from
the three separate strains of archaic Tai, aboriginal Mon-lqlmer, and lndic (p.33),
and. the recent assimilation of muang identity within a Thai one. His awareness of
parallels in the ritual and kinship system of such groups as the Black, Red and
White Tai, and his textual emphasis, his familiarity with the Northern Thai
chronicles as well as with the French literature on neighbouring Indochina,
particularly qualify him to undertake this kind of analysis·.
An excellent introduction summarises divergent anthropological approaches
to ritual in a way which students will find particularly helpful. Davis confesses, for
example, that it is the high degree of structuredness of ritual events which has led
anthropologists to devote more attention to them than the time spent on them
actually warrants and this is in line with his own structuralist approach. The
introduction does raise important questions about the anthropological approach to
ritual, which Davis is clearly more aware of than most, yet with a structuralist
facility he then proceeds to embark on a full-scale analysis of ritual in the rest of the
book. I have found this introduction particularly valuable, and have referred back
to it many times in the past few years. Davis shows an intense s.ensitivity to and
immediate sympathy with ritual behaviour, and his insights at a· distance are often
shrewd and penetrating, as when elsewhere he refers to Livi-Strauss'
'functionalism', and here draws attention to the obvious, that the (Northern) Thai
'rarely use the word jeua (believe) in connection with their ritual .. .' but instead
'thue (hold, abide by, respect' (p.17). For those who have asked belief-oriented
questions in the field about specific aspects of Thai ritual this will be, if evident, still

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Volume 74 (1986)
worth remembering, as it informs Davis' whole phenomenological approach to the
study of myth and ritual, bracketing questions of veracity and proceeding on the
assumption that the ritual, or myth, is that which is there to be studied - a
somewhat similar approach perhaps to that of the Formalists with regard to the
literary text. And indeed Davis treats rituals as texts to be studied in their own
right, as he treats the texts which accompany or may illustrate those texts
themselves, and this is why the book contains several examples of raw data in the
form of the khao pun nam · ritual, for example, described on p. 148, the kam
suukhwan khwaay on pp. 177-179, other appendices on pp. 233-236, and in fact
throughout.
The inclusion of such dense and detailed ethnography is the third main
value of Davis' work. The second chapter, on the M.uang, which functions as a
more ethnographic introduction, provides a valuable account of the political history
of the muang before shifting to a brief description of the 'Landing' field site.
Tantalisingly sparse information is provided on demographic patterns and migration
and the distribution of wealth, and it is here that one feels most keenly Davis' lack
of an empirical underpinning, for we are only pages away from two of his focal
concerns and a dive into the 'ideal' world of the villager : an excellent account of the
architecture of the huean, in its ambiguous aspect as house and sleeping-area, and
the ritual tabus and social constraints which the spatial divisions of the house
impose/express (the question is not posed), leading onto a consideration of
uxorilocal residenc~ patterns, the 'matrilineal descent groups' (kok phii) of Nan,
methods for divining the identity of a reincarnated soul (p.61}, ritual prohibitions
expressing male dominance, and the distinction between senior and juniors,
superimposed on that between men and women. In the Conclusion (Chapter 9, on
Myth and Rite), which in a sense takes up some of the concerns of the introduction,
in a discussion of omens and ambiguity which owes much to Mary Douglas, and a
consideration of 'myth, play and dreams' (p.293}, Davis ties these threads together
under the heading of 'dualism', with the proposition that 'much of Northern Thai
perception and behaviour, and especially ritual behaviour, is structured in terms of
an ideology which consists of assymetrically opposed concepts' - in that they are
hierarchical, encompassing social categories, spatial orientations, the human body,
and the physical environment (p.283). Here, however, they form an introduction to
Chapter 3, on Cosmology, again an excellent survey, moving onto another of Davis'
central concerns, with time, the structuring of ritual time and horoscopes. It is in
Chapters 4-8 that the main ethnography of the book consists, however, and here the
arrangement is a little awkward (although it is difficult to see how it could have

217
Journal of The Siam Societv
been done otherwise), for the distinction between 'critical' and 'calendrical' rites
Davis posits at the beginning of the book, maintaining that the book will be
concerned only with calendrical rites, is sometimes difficult to sustain. While
Chapter 4 deals with the New Year, therefore, according to Van Gennep's model,
from the 'Day on which Experience flows away' through the 'Day of Putrefaction'
to the 'Prince of Days' (wan phanyaa wan), with remarkable examples of bawdy
ham sung during the bamboo rocket firing, it also includes suukhwan rites
performed at this time (with interesting asides on the etymology of khwan and the
relationship of the. naga to the Chinese dragon). Chapter 5 (Agricultural Rites 1)
points the link of the khwan with rice and describes techniques of rice agriculture
which could well have come in the first chapter, moving from a detailed description
of first-planting rites and feasting the Rice Goddess to the buffalo suukhwan and a
consideration of 'people, beasts and nature' (pp.169-176) which despite its great
fascination and theoretical relevance to other work on classification in Thailand and
elsewhere, belongs again to an earlier section. Although the chronological ordering
is adhered to in a general sense, the connections between the parts are often poetic
rather than logical, deriving from and illuminating the ethnographic 'text' of the
book. ·
Chapter 6 (on The End of Lent) deals with 'exorcising the rice fields' and
·'label eating' (kin sa/aak), kathina and the boat races, joyously blending the
Buddhic with the non-Buddhic in an entirely appropriate way, and dealing at some
length with the figure of Phra Upagrutta in a way which should be compared with
Tambiah's. Chapter 7 (Agricultural Rites 2} deals with the threshing and harvesting
period, again inclusive of the techniques, followed by a rice suukhwan text in
appendix before Chapter 8, on Rites of Territory and Clanship, where chronology is
sacrificed to more theoretical concerns, in a classification of phii ('spirits') along
territorial and kinship lines which includes much valuable historical data.
As a whole the book is an invaluable addition to Thai ethnography of a type
which it is becoming increasingly more _difficult to practice. It has considerable
points of general theoretical interest, and a wealth of fascinating ·and sometimes
startling details about little-known aspects of specific ritual behaviours. While one
may regret at times the lack of empirical underpinning and the occasional disorder
of sequences (which might have been remedied by replacing the chronological order
by beginning with rice rituals) one can only regret further the circumstances which
made it impossible for Davis to continue his work, and express thanks to the
publishers for making this major work of Davis' generally available.
Nicholas Tapp
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

218
Volume 74 ( 19R6)
K. Chantabutra, The Reconstructive Group: The First Movement of Thai Young
Monk 1933-1941 (Thammasat University Press and Foundation for Social Science
and Humanity Text Book, 1985) 329 pp.
The Sangha in Thai society composes of 2 sects called Mahanikaya
(the majority) and Dhammayuttikanikaya (the minority). The last one, which
was founded by King Mongkut while he had been a bhikkhu in the reign of
King Ram a III, was considered to get more advantage because it was
supported by the Royal Family and Noblemen for over one hundred years.
Despite the small number, this sect controls more role in Sangha's
administration and education. Almost all of the Supreme patriarch since 1851
came from this sect which have more educated persons and money also. They
can rule the monks of another sect but don't accept that group to be equal or
to govern them. These made the majority dissatisfied very much and became
a conflict between these two groups for years. Even though King Rama V
wanted and tried to help the majority, this group lacks of qmilified leader to
improve themselves to be equal with the minority.
Two years after the revolution of 1932 a _g roup of young monks founded a
movement to reconstruct the Sangha administration. They succeeded to
convince the government and parliament to enact a new Sangha's
administration Act in 1941 which was considered to be most democratic even
now. (Unfortunately this Act was abolished by a dictatorial government in
1962).
This book is a description and analysis of this important event. It was
adopted from M.A. Thesis presented to department of history, faculty of
Arts, Silpakorn University. The author used both primary and secondary
sources and also interviewed the persons who were involved in this movement.
So this research is very vivid and interesting.
The author divides the book into 5 chapters. The first chapter talks
about the background of Sangha and State in Thai Society and also gives the

219
Journal of The Siam Society
state of conflict between the majority and minority which is very useful for
one who wants to know the state of Thai Sangha during that period. Then in the
second chapter the author explains more about the cause which makes this
young monks move with the aim to make equal right, equal opportunity and
justice. The third chapter describes the organization and tactics of the
movement (which Dr. Pridi Banomyong, the Minister of the Interior at that time
took an important role to support). The next chapter shows the positive
attitude and reaction of the government.
The fifth chapter talks about the result of this movement which
succeeded in their main aim to change the Sangha Administration Act and to
make the government recognize that the education of the Sangha must be
improved but this movement did not succeed much in making these two sects
to be one. In the last chapter, the author gives conclusion and suggestions,
evaluates the movement and analyze that Sangha Administration Act. The
author also gives the documents of the movement as an appendix which is
very useful and readable. The readers will see the comparison between Buddhism
and democracy and communism, too.
The author of this book seems to stand for the majority group and
helps this young .monks movement to speak for themselves the reason of their
,
activities; however, she also shows the disagreement of the minority side.
Another point that should be given cornment in this book is that it often
repeats the conclusion which is already written before (pp. 154-5, 224-5) and
the continuity of the event ends abruptly. Some lines are ambiguous, for example,
the years of the same event are not the same (pp. 49 ,50). The name of the temple
where Pra Thepmuni was the abbot should be Wat Benjamabopit, not Wat
Mahathat (p. 64) . Another point ·is that it lacks a good introduction which will
show the importance of the issue.
On the whole, however, this book in itself is readable and should be
considered as a good research which reveals the interesting event thoroughly.
For those who want to know Thai Sangha, this book will help so much as a
pioneer to go deep in this subject. We should appreciate the author for her
great contribution.
Pra Dusadee Medhangkuro
Wat Thongnoppakhun

220
Volume 74 (1986)
Yoshiyuke Tsurumi Stories on Malaka 7::5:.:.'.7;1~~ M)£llUr
445.
(1981) pp.
About the book.
As this book is published only in Japanese, I will put rough translation of
each chapter for you to grasp the idea of this book.
Prologue: Canal made by hydrogen bomb.
(The idea on making canal in Isthmus of Kra)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Gold of Gods (the historic background of Malaka. and Malay
Peninsula, lots of treasure governed by "authentic" sultans)
. Peoples who live on the sea (Peoples of Malay Peninsula,
. Kingdom of Malaka (Kingdom bases on trade)
Raffles (Founder of British Colonialism in Singapore)
Merchants of Strait
Rebels (against colonialism)
Tin and Opium (two important products which are used
for colonialism)
Tradition and Progress (Movement seeking for independence)
Independence (of South East Asian Nations)
Last chapter Struggle (to obtain the rights and interests over the
Malaka Strait)
As you can see from the chapterization of this book, it is composed of two characters;
the journalistic and critical view point on South East Asia (Prologue and the
Last Chapter) and history of Malay Peninsula and Malaka Strait (chapter 1 to
9)
About the. Author
Yoshiyuki Tsurumi was born in 1962 in Los Angeles, U.S.A. His
father was a diplomat and was a consul general of Singapore and first Administrative
Commissioner of Malaka.
Mr. Tsurumi has written many books on South East Asian countries.

221
Journal of The Siam Society
He was one of the prominent figures of anti-Vietnam war movement in Japan
in 1960's.
You can call Mr. Tsurumi a progressive liberal. His view point is
journalistic and his criticism is always based on fact. You may find his
character when you read the Prologue and the Last Chapter of this book.
He describes the idea of making canal in Isthmus of Kra from 19th
century to 1970's. Be stresses on the Japanese businessmen's idea to construct
the canal. He discloses the idea of building the artificial water way using the
H-bombs to minimize the cost. Many Japanese Sago Shosha (trading
companies which combine the companies of the same Zaibatsu like Mitsubishi
Trading Company and Mitsui Trading) competed to lessen the cost of carrying
crude oil from Arabia to Japan. It seems that he does not like to use the
terms like Japanese Imperialsism or Capitalism, but what he tries to say is
that Japanese businessmen make plans for the benefit of themselves
regardless the · historic background of the area or the life style of the people
who live in the area for many centuries.
When Japanese talk about South East Asia, Japanese tend to think that
if it is good for us it is also good for them. The idea is lacking to see the idea
of people living over there.
Japanese political situation has changed in this decade very drastically.
It seemed the Japanese wanted progressive government ten years ago, but
now it seems like that they do not want to change the status quo. They want only
economic progress, for this is good for well-being of their life. This book sheds
strong light over the future of Japanese people who like to forget the experience of 50
years ago i.e. in the World War II. As a Japanese who lives in the time of historic
transitional decade, I just wish we still have .imaginative power in foreseeing the
danger of our future as well as we still maintain modesty in learning from the past.
That is what we can learn from this book.
Toshiyuki Sato
NHK Bangkok

222
Volume 74 (1986)
John Hoskin, Ten Contemporary Thai Artists (Graphis, Bangkok, 1984) pp. 182
This lavishly produced quarto volume has a long list of credits. The te;x:t and
three-page introduction are by a British free-lance journalist, the photography,
which is of a high quality, is by Luca Invernizzi, the 'design' (presumably of the
book) by Saroj Kuphachaka, one of the artists described, Uab Sanasen, is also listed
as coordinator, Chamaiporn Chalermchaichawalit is stated to be the· researcher, and
the publisher, Thavorn Sopee-Armorn, unusually provides a preface.
Only he addresses the question of why the ten described here have been
· selected; they· are not, we are told, to be regarded as the top ten, but as
representatives of three generations of practicising artists. today. If that is so, then
Tawee Nandakwang, Angkarn Kalayanapongsa, Uab Sanasen, Thawan Duchanee ·
and Pratuang Emjaroen presumablY. represent the older generation, all having been
born between 1925 and 1939, and excluded from the choice is the still older
generation of Sawasdi Tantisuk, Fua Haripitak and Chalood Nimsameur, or the no
longer so young figures like Damrong Wong-Upparaj, Anand Panin and Pichai
Nirand, all born in the same period as those selected.
If we accept the publisher's contention, then Tawee of the older generation
would appear to be a painter of lotus and other plant life, with the single exception
of a portrait; Angkarn is well-known as a line artist but his murals as shown here
uneasily combine photographic technique, Hollywood imagery and Buddhist
themes. Uab is perhaps the only painter not particularly influenced by murals (he is
also, the privilege of being a coordinator perhaps, the only person not to have a
stated date of birth) and is an eclectic painter by any standards, veering in his nudes
dangerously close to chocolate boxism and admitting they are commercial. Thawan
is represef?.ted by no less than ten triangular theme pieces with a limited colour
range, but full of his usual force and the power of the animal world. The self-taught
Pratuang seems to paint for his own enjoyment more than for a public; his br!lliant
colours and indeterminate shapes in space are of limited appeal.
Two painters born in the 1940s form, one assumes, the middle generation
referred to by the publisher. They are Preecha Thaothong, whose studies of

223
Journal of The Siam Society
chiaroscuro in Thai temple architecture are extremely intellectual and rigorous, and
the relatively less known Worariddh Riddhagni, whose compositions seem to owe a
lot to Chagall. The youngest generation is represented by three persons all born in
the mid-1950s, Watcharee Wongwathana-Anan, who appears to confine herself
exclusively to Lotuses for subject matter, and two young men both at work on
decorating the Thai temple in London, Chalermchai Kositpipat and Panya
Vijinthanasarn, whose works have been strongly influenced by the medium, the
former in composition and subject matter, the latter in imagery and animal
mythology.
The text by Hoskin avoids the gushing extremes of much writing about art
and honestly seeks to explain the artists' differing purposes. It pays a good deal of
attention to the cathartic position of Silpa Bhirasri, though, having known this
teacher, your reviewer wonders if he would have approved of some of the adulation
expressed, not to mention the art ascribed to his influence.
If_ there is a unifying theme to the artists whose lives and works are
discussed in this book, it is perhaps the influence of mural painting, to which the
author refers in his introduction (even though Uab seems outside this, many of his
paintings have a two-dimensional character which may derive from it), and the
related influence of Buddhism (to which again Uab, the coordinator, appears the
exception, since no mention of the subject is made in the text about him, nor are his
works evidently under its influence).
In 1963 this reviewer, in introducing an exhibition of contemporary Thai art
to a London public, compared it somewhat inelegantly to having been placed in a
pressure cooker, because there had been no long period of development and
evolution. Nearly a quarter of a century later, he is inclined to the view that some of
the ingredients stayed too long inside the cooker, and have come out limp and
lifeless. That is perhaps inevitable: what is important is that the contemporary Thai
artist can now exist as an established figure , even a figure of the establishment, and
that the subject now receives the patronage of a public wider than social figures,
banks and diplomats. The struggle, to which a few of the'older generation'figuring
in this book contributed, has not been in vain , and the publication of the book itself
is symptomatic of the maturing of contemporary Thai painting.
Micl1ael Smithies
Srinakharinwirot University
Bangsaen

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Volume 74 (1986)
Adrian Snodgrass, The Symbolism of the Stopa: (Ithica, New York: Cornell
Southeast Asia Program, 1985). pp. 407; figs. 286.
Adrian Snodgrass's monumental work is one most persons seriously
jnterested in Asian art and philosophy will probably want to own. Here the author
has compiled a vast amount of material from primary and secondary sources and has
given us a comprehensive topical survey of stupa of design and its related symbolism
that no other work can match.
I stress stupa-related symbolism because the book analyzes the stupa not
only in its immediate Buddhist context but also within the wider realm ofindian
philosophy as a whole. Brahmanic concepts give depth and expanded meaning to
Buddhist t4~ught. Chinese, Japanese, Sinhalese, and Southeast Asian sources, as
well as Indian, are included. The amount of data assembled from these diverse
cultural backgrounds and historic periods is impressive.
The book is divided into two parts. The first examines the plan of the
stupa-its ritual demarcation, its placement in time and space, methods of
measuring, significance of directional orientations, and so forth. Symbolic meanings
generated by the center, of the vertical axis, of the circle and the square are some of
the topics explored. The relationship of profane and cosmic space, of microcosm
and macrocosm are examined, and the stupa is considered in its symbolic relation to
the lotus, the wheel, and the mandala. The political implications of the stupa are
discussed.
The second part of the book is concerned with the stupa's architectural
components: the axis (the stabilizing point that fixes the earth and settles the site);
the dome (womb-egg); the harmika ("high alter"); the stairways; the base; the
spire; the pinnacle. Each element is discussed individually in terms of a host of
symbolic meanings drawn from Brahmanic, Hinayana, and Mahayana sources.
The casual reader should be warned that the book is not easy going. Even
for the informed reader already familiar with Asian philosophy and art, the richness
and complexity of the material precludes an easy grasp. The numerous branches
into which Buddhism is divided has each generated distinctive iconographic and
symbolic systems. But in the present work it is the common basis, not the

225
Journal of The Siam Society
idiosyncratic, that is examined. One may well puzzle over the validity of
cross-cultural attributions without firm supportive evidence. And in some cases the
uncritical reader mi?ht be led to assume that some stupa designs were more directly
influenced by Bnihmanic· than Buddhist thought. But I suspect that many readers
will return to the book a number of times to re-explore and to reassess the material
at hand.
It is the author's integrative approach that seems to account for some of the
book's inaccuracies. When the author describes some Southeast Asian stupas as
elephant supported rather than elephant surrounded, (chang/om; changrop in Thai),
the problem seems to lie in the Indian, rather than Southeast Asian framework that
has been taken as reference. In another instance, the author, citing Coedes {1963),
speaks of the Bayon towers, in Angkor, where, according to Mr. Snodgrass,
Jayavarman II had his own face carved in the likeness of Vajradhara. Although the
carvings provide appropriate examples in the author's discussion of "The
Deplopment of Space in Iconography, Architecture, and the Buddhist Kingdom," it
must be pointed out that the carvings were executed in the reign of Jayavarman VII,
not Jayavarman II, and that Coedes, in fact, identified the faces as Jayavarman VII
in the guise of Lokesvara, not Vajradhara. Subsequent studies that have questioned
the Vajradhara identification are not cited.
But it is not the author's purpose to explicate the particular. His approach,
as he notes, is "non-historical" and "a-temporal." It is synthesis, not disparity, with
which he is concerned. For, according to Mr. Snodgrass, all symbols, which, for
him, include ritual, myth, and doctrine, as well as visual forms (architecture,
sculpture, painting) are interconnected -"so many variant reflections of the same
principle." And as Craig Reynold notes in the book's preface, the Indian stupa,
although without interior space and basically simple in construction, concretizes
these principles and generates their multivalent meanings. The stupa's proliferation
of reflected, interrelated meanings is what the book is about.
But, although Mr. Snodgrass admits that his method of "comparative
juxtaposition" runs the risk of "denaturing" the specific content of the symbol, "to
reduce or compromise that which is singular" is not his intent. To use the book as
the author has intended, that is, as an all-embracin~ picture of a vast symbolic
pattern, is a treat that the distortion and inaccuracies-perhaps inevitable in a work
of this scope-should not minimize. After reading the book, I for one, will never
again be easily tempted to ascribe only one symbolic meaning to any one particular

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Volume 74 (1986)
thing.
And as an introduction to the detailed study of any one place or culture, the
book is also helpful. It is meticulously footnoted and points the way to a vast
amount of material for further reading. The bibliography includes well over five
hundred entries, and should, in itself, be reason to consult the book. Since The
Symbolism of the Stupa will obviously be used as a reference, the absence of an
index is a drawback. But the text is well organized, and the detailed table of
contents, with listings of chapter subtopics helps the reader to find his way around.
The curious, especially readers with an interest in Asian art, would certainly
welcome identifications of the several hundred photographs of sculptural and
architectural pieces used to illustrate the conceptual points. But, again, it is the
symbol-not the concrete-that is meant to be illustrated.
In all Mr. Snodgrass has succeeded in giving us a useful and fascinating
book that many students and scholars will consult-either for an overview of Indian
philosophy and symbol or before turning to more intensive studies of the stupa in
particular times and places.
Betty Gosling

227
Journal of The Siam Society
U Than Tun., The Royal Orders of Burma: 1598-1885 (Parts one to three)
Published by the Center for SE Asian Studies, Kyoto University (memiographed
with printed cover) Part one: 1598-1648 A.D. 471 pp (1983). Part two: 1649-1750
A.D. 352 pp (1985). Part three: 1751-1781 A.D. 286 pp (1985).
By his works evidenced in the above volumes, Professor Dr. U Than Tun
who formerly served on the faculty of Mandalay University has rendered a significant
yeoman service to the community of scholars interested in researching the 16th
to 19th century history of Burma.
71 Orders extending from 28/2/1750 to 25/3/1760 and 28 Orders extending
from 4/11/1755 to 19/8/1758 have been edited and published by the Burma Historical
Commission in 1964. The work of Dr. U Than Tun not only supplement that
publication but provides additional benefits to a wider circle of researchers a.s will
be indicated below.
The collection in the three present volumes provides a wealth of
information for those who seek to verify details such as historical events,
administrative organization, political, social, cultural and economic factors, national
ethics etc. of Burma during the period stretching over eigthteen decades from
1598-1781 A.D.
By compiling these Royal Orders in Burmese chronologically and providing
as mentioned, summaries and notes in English with hintful introductions Dr. U
Than Tun has made the information in these primary sources available to the
community of researchers beyond the Burmese borders and beyond Burmese
speaking scholars.
As the compiler pointed out these Royal Orders formed major sources for
the writing of famous Burmese Chronicles such as "Maharajawan" (The Great
History) by U Kala in 1720 and "Hmannan Yazawin" (The Glass Palace Chronicle)
by a Royal Commission in 1829. The study and scrutiny of these Orders could assist
in modern assessment by contemporary students of these chronicles which normally
were taken for granted. Though Part 1 is entitled as containing the Royal Orders
from 1598-1648 A.D. it also contained two orders of the earlier years viz. 1249 and

·228
Volume 74 (1986)
1368 A.D. Again though the Royal Orders in Part 2 are for the period beginning
1649 A.D. it contained 18 orders which could have been included in Part 1
according to their dates. The compiler felt it best to have scholars determine
whether the dates of these were anachronistic in terms of the kind of vocabulary or
place names used, as these would historically belong to later times.
Dr. U Than T~n also expressed his intention to attach to the last Part in the
series an appendix made up of notes and observations which are not Orders but
material which could usefully be studied along with the Orders. We look forward to
the progress of work Dr. U Than Tun has set for himself, for the sake of the wider
community of interested scholars.
The Royal Orders provide information on the bureaucratic system of the
nation duringthe time covered. They also provide a basis for reconstructing history
of Burma of those centuries. Part 1 of Dr. U Than Tun's edition contains the earlier
Rqyal Order ever recorded, while the Royal Order of 19th June 1368 contains a
specially significant point about the ministers "given the permission to remonstrate
the king if necessary". In the original Burmese version the point is elaborated by a
whole sentence which says that "a royal injunction though given should be
scrutinized by the ministers, should such injuction given involuntarily be
inappropriate. The ministers should report such to His Majesty".
The collection will thus prove to be a mine for analysing the ideals and
practices in Burma of the monarchy as well as the whole administration under the
king's directions, in those days.
The Center for SE Asian Studies of Kyoto University should be
commended for providing the compiler with research facilities and the auspices for
publishing the collection, while Toyota Foundation is acknowledged appropriately
for the financial aid provided to have these parts published. As a personal friend
. and former colleague of Dr. U Than Tun I want to add my own word to
acknowledge the historical effort he and his 48 collaborators had made to extend the
frontiers of knowledge about Burma of those centuries in the academic field.
Kyaw Than
Mahidol University

229
Journal of The Siam Society
Compiled by Heinz Braun and Daw Tin Tin Myint Burmese Manuscripts (Part 2):
Fransz Steiner Verlag wiesbaden GMBH, Stuttgart, 1985 (302 pp)
The publication is the second part of a catalogue of Burmese manuscripts in
German libraries, museums and other collections. The late Dr. Wolfgang Voigt
initiated as general editor the series of the "Catalogue of Oriental Manuscripts in
Germany" and the present volume is part of these series. The present volume deals
mainly with the collection in Gottingen where Daw Tin TiQ Myint, of Arts and
Science University in Rangoon stayed to do the work. To her work Dr. H. Braun
had added bibliographical and other references, indexes etc. "The collection was
brought together in Burma during the pre-war period by a colonial officer who later
on left Burma with the British troops-at the time of the Japanese invasion in
1942." Same was placed in security in India and later brought to Europe.
The manuscripts of this collection are all on palm-leaves. Dating back to
1715 A.D. and go on to 1906. They consist not only of copies of well-known
canonical Pali texts and exegetical as well as ritual works but also a variety of
nissayas and original works of prose and poetical writings in Burmese language.
They include also some so-far unknown works with religious teachings for the laity
as well as works· on the practice of Buddhist meditation. There are five sections
listing the material under the categories of: i) manuscripts with mixed contents; ii)
Buddhist texts including canonical literature, extra-canonical works and original
Burmese Buddhist works; iii) classical poetry in Burmese; iv) Historical literature
and v) Grammar.
Those who wish to refer to these will welcome the highly organised
catalogue complete with indexes of works, authors, dates of manuscripts, and list of
owning libraries, museums etc.
This catalogue is a must for reference in Burmese libraries as well as those
of institutions in this region giving attention to Burmese and Buddhist literature.
Daw Tint Tint Than
ACFOD, Bangkok

230
Volume 74 (1986)
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Dhammic Socialism: Thai Inter-Religious Commission for
Development, Bangkok 1986.
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu was 80 on the 27th of May 1986. Over 20,000 people,
among whom 2,000 Buddhist monks were present at Suan Mokh (the Garden of
Liberation) during the three days celebration. He is the only monk of this country
who was celebrated in such a way by the public . of all classes. A series of
conferences and discussions on his teaching and on Dhamma were organized in
Suan Mokh and in many other places, especially in Bangkok. Many articles and
books about his life and teaching were published on this occasion.
Publication of Buddhadasa's writings and lecturers have been done during
these last fifty years in different forms. The most distinguished one is the series
called "Dhamma Ghosa". There are about 50 volumes by now. Each of them
comprises more than 500 pages. Some of his lectures were translated into English,
German and Swedish, such as Another Kind of Rebirth, Christianity and Buddhism,
Dhamma the World Saviour, Handbook of Mankind, Two Kinds of Language,
Dhammic Language - Human Language, Why were we Born, No Religion, etc. The
last publication appeared in English is Dhammic Socialism, a collection of lectures
concerning society.
This book was an important contribution to the celebration of
Buddhadasa's 80th birthday. Foreign readers are offered, for the first time, a
significant access to this prominent monk's thought of such an important issue as
society.
Donald K. Swearer, a professor at Department of Religion, Swarthmore
College, Pennsylvania, is the chief translator and editor. Assisted by a good team,
including Dr. Pataraporn Siri-Kanchana, who studied Buddhadasa's thought in her
dissertation and in a particular way Pra Rajavoramuni, considered the most
distinguished Thai Buddhist scholar today, Dhammic Socialism must be taken the
most perfect translation of Buddahdasa's works ever done. Besides being scholar of
Buddhism and of Buddhadasa, Professor Swearer has a good knowledge of Thai
language and culture, as well as the context of Buddhadasa's thinking. His two
articles "The vision of Bhikkhu Buddhadasa" and "Dhammic Socialism" included in

231
Journal of The Siam Society
the first part of this book are excellent introduction to readers to Buddhadasa's
Dhammic Socialism. There is therefore here little need of additional introduction.
Buddhadasa's 4 translated lectures in this book are entitled : "Democratic
Socialism", "A Dictatorial Dhammic Socialism", "A Socialism Capable of
Benefiting the World" and "The Value of Morality". The main and common
concept of these lectures is "Socialism". Buddhadasa himself admits that
"socialism" as well as "Dictator" are two "dangerous" words in Thai context. Yet he
did not avoid them. He gives them their "true and original meaning". To this
meaning man has to go back like a car, fallen out of the track, then driven back to
the right place. He furthers his statement to all religions in the world, taking them
as different ways to the same goal : salvation. For him, all religions "are socialistic
in the most profound sense". He means "all religions are founded on the ideal of
love and compassion toward all beings" (p.107) As for "Dictatorship" he explains
that "Dictatorship in the sense of tyranny has no place in dhammic socialism. If
dictatorial methods are consistent with dhamma, they will help expedite moral
solution to social problems and should be used to the fullest sense." (p.8~)
It is not easy to grasp the meaning of Buddahadasa's thinking. His lectures
are 'often read as "intellectual" pieces of a "philosopher". He himself does not like
"philosophy", taken as exercise of human intellect. His are reflections of long.
experience of meditation and practice. Reading his "lectures" needs more than
"intellect". There is a need of "intuition" which can result only from meditation and
practice. In a word, there is a need of openness of one's own integral self, a
commitment to Dhamma or God or any name one may call. As his are fruits of
commitment and discernment, one can "realize" what his teaching is only persuing
this "same" path. This is not to say that what Buddhadasa has experienced is "his"
truth, and that "his" way to attain truth is "the" way. But to stress the fact that one
should meditate and practice means that the language Buddhadasa uses expresses
the depth of his experience that can be grasped in a full sense only by "experience".
This is not only "to know" by means of sense perception, or to "understand" by
means of intellect, but "to realize" by means ofthe integral self.
Buddhadasa•s· Dhammic Socialism can be for many readers just one of the
"ideals" preached by a religious thinker. It can be Qnly so if one takes his lectures as
plain "lectur~s". If one wishes to perceive his "message''.. one should start to
"discuss" with "him" through these writings. There is a need of "dialectic" process,
so that a new light may be lit. Buddhadasa is not a founder of a new sect of

232
Volume 74 (1986)
Buddhism. He is a "philosopher" in the real meaning of the word. "Philosophy" was
originally, after Greek thinking, understood as love of "wisdom", which is not a
plain knowledge. resulted from intellectual exercise, but an insight into the
realization that "all is one" - the unity of the universe; a practical way of life, in
which "virtue is knowledge". Buddhadasa has not founded a new institution. He has
no "followers" as other religious founders usually do. His name "Buddhadasa",
given to himself, means "servant of Buddha". He wants the Buddhists to be "real
Buddhists", namely Buddha'a followers, the Christians to be "real Christians", the
Muslims to be "real Muslims". He believes that if one attains the essence of one's
own religion through practice, one will attain salvation which is the same for all
religions. He states that "True religion is practice (patipati)". The fact is that this
practice is disappearing. "What is left is the study of religion, that is to say, thinking
and theorizing rather than practice" (p. 47)
Buddhadasa may not have given any ready made answer to how this
Dhammic Socialism could become a reality, yet he has done his part. Nobody can
deny the impact of his teaching during these last 50 years. The reform of religion
and society cannot happen in one or two "events". In the case of Siam it is a
process carried on by a movement. This movement must be participated by all
classes of people: monks and laymen, educated people and farmers, politicians and
leaders of different sectors of the society. Their initiatives •and actions have been
inspired by Buddhadasa'a teaching.
Buddhadasa's Dhammic Socialism is not therefore an ideal in the sense of
"illusion". It is a new horizon which does not lie far away, but present at every pace
made by man who walks on the path of Dhamma.
Dhammic Socialism is worth not only a reading but a meditation. It is not
only for those who are interested in Buddhism, but for everyone who sincerely
searches for unity and peace for a better society today.
Seri Phongphit
Faculty of Liberal Arts
Thammasat University

233
Journal of The Siam Society
BUDDHADASA BHIKKHU
G). DGl~'l1h~1~"11tl\I'YiTU'VfY11.i'YI1ft m La3J
(La1l11u1E.Jftunm) tn3Jafi3J'Yifl\l l!:!ci~E~~
1!:!. t~u-Auunii~n"a"a3J"llfl\1Vfnn'YI1ftiin"D
'I ~ • "'
( ~n'lf1~GlflEl1\l Lllu1'Yimf11ftG1,) UT'il1"aE.Jft1"a I!:! ell!:!~
m. mr~~Gl ~o u ~'YI1.i'YI1ftiin~
(~~'l 'V!3J"llfl\I~'Y11.ift1ftU1)
~au U Lft!EJ"atm~~-U1fl~U"a~fiu
ce. fl~~5.:~1"0J:;:t"a1EJ~3J1Uft"atii "OJ1n'I"''YI1.i'YI1ftiin"D l!:!cece~-l!:!cll!:!~
'I 'I , ,
I!:! ell!:!~
There were many books published on the 80th birthday anniversary of the
Yen. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (27th May 1986). We should mention some which are
fairly outstanding. Besides there were exhibitions, lectures and symposiums in his
honour at various universities, temples and government offices. 1) The first volume
of his autobiography first appeared on his 79th birthday while the second and third
volumes appeared with the reprint of the first volume on the. Venerable's
octogenarian birthday anniversary. The three volumes were. in fact a series of
interviews by a young penetrating monk, Phra Praja Pasannadhammo, who asked
searching questions, tracing the memories of his spiritual mentor to his boyhood
days and through tqe ages, giving social background and spiritual depth. These
volumes are really .. extraordinary and they must be read by all who want to
understand the Yen. Buddhadasa as well as his thoughts and outlook concerning
various aspects of life.
The Ven. Buddhadasa only wrote partially about himself and the first ten
years since the establishment of Suan Mokh, the Garden of Liberation, in
ii1JULLvl\lft1~n~ which I had it included in my 'V!U\I~flft~n (first published in 1965 and
new edition 1986 pp 277). It has now appeared in a booklet entitled iiGl;i1tl"i::'iGi
tcu.'SEJ\II\b.l"llii4'W,fi,1ifiln"ll. This ·piece should be translated for a wider audience.
q q q
It will give much encouragement to those who wish to study and practise Buddhism
in the way laid down by the Buddha himself.
While editing the three volumes of the Yen. Buddhadasa's autobiography,
Phra Pracha discovered an old diary which his spiritual mentor kept for one whole
period of rains retreat in 1934- two years after the foundation of Suan Mokh. The

234
Volume 74 (19R6j
diary or Notes on the Dhamma Practice El";bfi'l.l.u~ii'~n'l'l~ was a record of spiritual
achievement and how to fight greed, hatred and delusion by various means. It also
showed how mindfulness could be practised. Those who read this book will gain
much spiritual strength and it gives a vivid picture to the three volumes on his
autobiography.
For those who do not wish to tackle the life and work of the Yeneralble
Buddhadasa too seriously, let me recommed his Pictorial Biography 111'V'lm'il Gio tJ
'V'l'YI11'1'11'~11n"ll in which volume one does not have to read much but to browse
• •
through old photographs with enough explanation to understand historical
background and at the same time getting to know the monk who has become so
famous.as an outstanding scholar and "saint" as well as a social reformer who has
almost always been controversial.
Last but not least is a volume called msliiS4':llili!.11~fl3.11~ft·n~ .which gives
more contemporary pictorial representation of the Yen. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, in
colour, representing him in many moods and positions, some of which are quite
humorous.
The Yen. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu is a great man, and an outstanding monk,
of spiritual depth and an intellectual giant, yet he could always laugh at himself. All
these volumes help us to know him, through his various aspects of life. But to know
his thought, one has to read his work in Thai like ~Yiuu"il"i!E.J'il1. Although foreign
scholars have introduced his works in English, German and French, there are only
glimpses from his lectures or pamphlets. Only through the great volumes would we
be able to find out how majestic and penetrating are his thoughts. Besides he lives
by what he thinks and preaches - a wonderful witness to the living teaching of the
Buddha.
S. Sivaraksa
Asian Cultural Forum On Development
Bangkok

235
Journal of The Siam Society
Sulak Sivaraksa,. A Buddhist Vision For Renewing Society: (Bangkok, Tienwan
Pub. Hse., 1986) 243 pp. 120 baht (Available from Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Publications, 36 Victoria Parade, Preston, Lanes PR2 1 DT, at £6.50 incl. postage).
Sulak Sivaraksa is a Thai lay Buddhist, a social critic, publicist and
organiser, as well as being a scholar of international standing. His open and
out

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Volume 74 (19Rn)
programs and groups who promise to redeem others. In all likelihood we probably
have far too many saviours.:. How many of our "saviours" are mindful of
themselves ? ... Perhaps they never have time to investigate closer the so-called
"self' .. Har-dly any of them close their eyes while they are awake' (pllO).
Secondly, Sulak's 'Buddhist Vision', pursued with a 'passionate
moderation', is of a society which has rejected industrial materialism, either in the
form of capitalism or communism, as harmful to Buddhism. Indeed it is harmful to
anyone who wishes to restructure his consciousness for spiritual liberation, and who
at the same time wishes to restructure his society for social justice, freedom and
human dignity, (p183). Sulak is particularly opposed to the Western type of Third
World development, 'for economists see development in terms of currency and
things, thus fostering greed (lobha). Politicians see development in terms of
increased power thus fostering ill-will (dosa). Both then work together, hand in
glove, and measure the results in terms of quantity, thus fostering ignorance
(moha), and completing the Buddhist triad of evils' (p57). 'From the Buddhist point
of view, development must aim at the reduction of craving, the avoidance of
violence, and the development of the spirit rather than material things' (p71).
A third principle of Buddhist radicalism which emerges in Sulak's writing is
that social justice is to be sought through a truly positive and creative kind of
nonviolence. 'To fight with the killer one must not only use compassion and
non-violence, but one has also to learn the techniques of non-violence, the art of
releasing one's own self from ignorance, the way to avoid becoming the agent of the
tempter' (p152).
Fourthly, Sulak calls for 'a return to the traditional culture and spiritual
values' (p127). Buddhism is a radical conservatism of rich and diverse possibilities.
Fifthly, Sulak reminds us that the Buddha Sasana (culture) has, at its best,
always been pluralist, nonsectarian, fraternal and open-minded in its relations with
other belief systems whose broad values it could share. 'What we can accept from
other ideologies and religions, we should do; where we cannot accept, we need not
blame and attack. We also have to study modern knowledge in the same way. We
do not have to appreciate science and the technologies to such an extent that we
evaluate them higher than religious principles. At the same time we need not reject
and fear them so much that we become reactionary' (p140).
Finally, the !3uddhist vision is one of global responsibility :md fraternity.
'World dukkha is too immense for any country, people or religion to solve. We can

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Journal of The Siam Society
only save ourselves when all humanity recognizes that every problem on earth is our
own personal problem and our own personal responsibility' (p.114). Moreover, 'I am
sure that once Buddhism takes root in the western world, western Buddhists ... will
contribute meaningfully and positively to their society and to the world at large. The
west will become more humble, will treat the rest of the world, especially
economically poorer nations, as equal partners or friends, and will have less
aggressive attitudes toward non-human beings and the whole atmospheric
environment' (p162-3).
Sulak concludes that if we can 'build up (enough) spiritual strength, moral
courage and enlightenment ... there may be enough of a community to be the
growing point of the restructured consciousness for the reconstructed society'
(p190).
Ken Jones
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship UK.

238
Volume .,4 (1986)
Karl Gjellerup, Pilgrim Kamanita: A Legendary Romance translated by John E.
Logie New edition in Thai and English (Matichon Press, Bangkok, 1985), pp. 464
This is an unusual book with a still more unusual history. The author
was Danish and originally published his book in German around the
beginning of this century. It was then translated and published in English
(and I wonder why no Western publisher has thought it worthwhile
republishing, now that interest in Buddhism is so much greater?), and
sometime after rendered into Thai by the two famous literary figures
Sathirakoses (Phya Anuman Rajadhon) and Nagapradipa (Phra Saraprasert).
After its translation into Thai it proved so very popular that it was
eventually adapted for Buddhist sermons which to this day can be bought in
Bangkok printed on the traditional palm-leaves. The Thai version is also a
prescribed textbook on modern literature for secondary school students. This
is high praise indeed for a Western novel on the Buddha's times. It has now
been presented in a bilingual edition.
The covers are attractive drawings while the text is graced with many
drawings by the well known Thai artist, Chuang Mulapinit. It is surprising in
view of the novel's age that there are not more errors in the Buddhist parts of
the book. Actually these are very few, notably a rather unclear list of Noble
Eightfold Path factors. Also, where the Three Characteristics are listed, Max
Muller's translation, "All Phenomena are unreal", should read "All dhammas
(events) are not-self" (sabbe dhamma anatta). I noticed also, the word 'walk',
perhaps a literal translation from the German, where 'conduct' or 'practice'
would have been more appropriate. There is an omission easy to amend, e.g.
of the words "Truth of the End of all Suffering". And from a Vinaya point of
view it could be objected that the Buddha stands to address to audience,
while, of course, he would have sat crosslegged upon a dais or seat.
Having noticed these small matters that could easily be corrected, it is

23lJ
Journal of The Siam Society
time to praise further the very broad Indian knowledge of ·the author as well
as his fine and inspiring style. I do not know if the author had ever been to
India, but certainly he impresses us with a fascinating picture of high life in
ancient times there. And his picture is very convincing in its wealth of detail.
Even his flights of fancy like the fiendishly clever robber priest, Vajrasravas
and his Kali siitras, are vivid and like enough to be true.
His story is basically of a young merchant's finding of his true love in
a far distant city, and the many difficulties that prevent them from enjoying
each other's company thereafter.
All through the long story is woven the figure of Angulimala, at first
shown as a robber much more terrifying than in the suttas, and later a tamed
and compassionate bhikkhu. But at the beginning and near to the end the
Buddha is depicted in a heart moving way. For sure the author was a true
Buddhist.
Though a large part of the book is Kamanita's account of his life
given to the Buddha during the early part of a night, towards tne end his
beloved, Vasitthi, who has practised far on the path as a :bhikkhuni,
discourses on her life, her account of the Buddha's Parinibbana, and from her
great wisdom manages to raise up Kamanita from his attachment to sensuality
and sceptical doubt.
I would caB the account of Sukhavati (not to be confused with
Amida's paradise, but more like one of the six sensual-realm heavens), where
they are both born in lotuses, quite superb. If words can express heavenly
delights then our author has done a very fine job. When it comes to the
couple's next rebirth in the Brahma-world, the writing is even more
astonishing and I can only admire the author's excellent and convincing
imagination. Finally, there is the attempt to convey their 'going-out • or
Nibbana, which is the finest of most evoca.tive pieces of writings - where
words cannot really tell.
Then of course, there is the Dhamma running like a thread all the
way through. The author has very skilfully borrowed pieces of suttas and
woven them into the right places in his story.
Anyone who enjoys a good tale and loves the Dhamma will like this
book. It could be a good introduction to the Buddha's Teachings for some,

240
Volume 74 (1986)
and for others, it could help them to understand a facet of the land of Jambu about
two thousand five hundred years ago.
Bhikkhu Khantipalo
'Wat Buddhadhamma, Sydney,
Australia

241
Journal of The Siam Society
Phya Anuman Rajadhon, Popular Buddhism in Siam and Other Eassy on Thai
Studies (Suksit Siam, Bangkok, 1986) pp. 216 Baht 300
The Sathirakoses Nagapradipa Foundation and the Thai Inter-Religious
Commission for Development are to be commended for publishing this carefully
edited tastefully packaged reprint of selected English language writings of the
eminent scholar, Phya Anuman Rajadhon.
The articles in this volume stand as dramatic examples of the abiding
commitment of the author to interpret and illuminate distinctive and unique aspects
of Thai culture. Though he did not possess academic training in any specific
discipline, Phya Anuman, nevertheless, was the mentor of a continuing stream of
Thai and foreign scholars whose lettered credentials paled in the lustrous gleam of
his intellect, imagination and energy in his endless search to prove the depths of
Thai culture. Phya Anuman's early interest in popular Buddhism, as evidenced in
the writings in the book under review, established guidelines and points of
departure for Thai and foreign scholars, such as Somboon Suksamran, Jane
Bunnag, Charles Keyes, Charles Kirsch, Stanley Tambiah and this reviewer who
have focused their research on the functional role of living Buddhism, ~s reified
through the rural Sangha, and Buddhist attitudes and beliefs at the village level.
This volume also includes description and analysis of the spirit world and worship in
its many identities and manifestations as well as detailed examination of selected
festivals, ceremonies and customs, e.g. royal funeral rites; Songkran festival; rites
associated with the Rice Goddess, Me Posop, etc. Numerous scholars have applied
their extensive academic skills to further analyzing these subject areas in depth.
However, as was the case with popular Buddhism, these scholars gained strength
and sustevance from the intellectual food for thought so expertly prepared by Phya
Anuman.
A meritorious debt is owed by generations of scholars to this remarkable
man. Thus, when one reads the book under review, one should not carp at the
anecdotal nature of the author's observations nor the absence of the standard tools
of academia, e.g. in-depth interviews, random sampling, participant observation.
Rather one should stand in awe of his insights and his determination to seek the

242
Volume 74 (1986)
deeper meaning and origins of customs, beliefs and behaviQr taken for granted by
an increasingly Westernized younger generation, often both ignorant and
disparaging of their roots.
I remember sitting at tl}e feet of Phya Anuman, both literally and
figuratively, as, week after week, he gently badgered me to pursue my research and
not be satisfied with less than intellect~al perfection. How many others did he
similarly guide, encourage and provoke to press ahead tirelessly with their research!
Thus, Phya Anuman's lasting legacy is not only his provocative and stimulating
interpretations of Thai culture but the many disciples he nurtured and who, in his
memory and ever mindful of their debt to him, continue their multi disciplined
probings of the rich· depths of Thai culture.
Phya Anuman's irrepressible and dedicated disciple, Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa,
who provided the impetus for this reprint of selected articles and whose bookstore
Suksit Siam is the distributor of his book, can be justly proud of not only this
attractive publication but the welcome absence of printing imperfectios.
W.J. Klausner
The Ford Foundation,
Bangkok

243
Journal of The Siam Society
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241
Journal of The Siam Society
Ishii, Yoneo Sangha, State And Society: Thai Buddhism in History
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986, 193 pages; price: $22.00 cloth, $14.00
paper.
Ishii's Sangha, State and Society is a translation of an earlier 1975
Japanese-language monograph Pt~:blished by Kyoto University's Center for
Southeast Asian Studies. Inevitably, many things have happened since then that are
not included in this volume and the book does not seem to have been updated for
the English publication. Hence, some of the "new directions" of Thai Buddhism
suggested by Ishii are no longer very new or especially exciting. Primarily, this book
will be valuable as an introduction to some of the sociopolitical aspects of Thai
Buddhist history.
In the introduction, Ishii, in the tradition of Weber, asks how a
"nonproductive" monastic institution maintains itself in an otherwise productive
society. His answer to this is that, essentially, the Sangha flourishes when its
relationship to royalty is tightest-when the King is the "protector" of the faith and
the Sangha reciprocates by putting their moral stamp of approval on his reign.
Themes range from the relationship between kingship and religion (along with the
ever-popular "legitimation"), to the build up of controls and "Acts" over the Thai
Sangha (which has made its administration so centralized and so closely parallel
secular government), to the Sangha's role in national integration; and finally there is
even a short section on millenialism. All of which is handled in a very clear, concise
and readable manner.
Also, according to Ishii, the Sangha has maintained its other-worldly
orientation and "nonproductive" lifestyle by relying on the laity for its sustenance.
While at the same time, he states that one of the new developments in Thai
Buddhism is an attempt by monks to reclaim some of their more "traditional" roles,
as teachers, counselors, mediators, experts in medicine, and even community
"developers." Ishii claims that combining secular functions and religious roles serves
to enhance the Sangha's prestige, but he does not explain to us how this leap from
the "other-worldly" to the "secular" works. In light of the changes in roles cited by
Ishii, ·.his thesis based on the "nonproductivity" of the Sangha needs to be
challenged.

248
Volume 74 (1986)
We already have descriptions of the Sangha Acts, the structure of the Thai
Sangha, and its relationship with royalty and secular authority-the works of
Tambiah and Somboon Suksamran come to mind; but students will find this volume
much more accessible than resorting to sorting through Tambiah's WorldConquerer,
World Renouncer for information of a similar nature. Instead of explaining the
dynamics of the relationship between State and Sangha by the "Acts" it has imposed
upon the Sangha, it might now be useful to try and understand the dynamics of this
· relationship by investigating some of the Sangha's reactions to these "Acts." A
recent work by Thai scholar Khanungnit Chanthabut, entitled Kan khluanwai
khong yuwasong Thai runrak ph.s. 2477-2484 [The First Movement of Young Thai
Monks, 1934-1941], is valuable in this regard and deserves to be translated and
made available to a wider audience.
This book has the look and feel of a text; its short chapters provide a
suitable introduction for a more general audience while would-be scholars will find
Ishii's notes a helpful guide to primary sources. Some of the diagrams and charts in
this volume, however, are almost humorously simplistic and are guaranteed not to
confound even the densest student.
Strangely lacking from this work is an adequate conclusion to pull all its
themes together and to make good on the initial thesis. After Ishii has discussed the
"new directions" in Buddhism and millenialism (the real work on millenialism in
Southeast Asia has yet to be done), we are left wondering if he is still willing to stick
with his original thesis.
Essentially, Sangha, State and Society contains older information which has
been available before (the author continues to use Kaufman's statistics froin the
fifties, for instance), but students can now have access to it in a new, more
aerodynamic and relatively economical package. It flies; but I will not guarantee
that it will take scholars of the region where they have never been before.
Grant A. Olson
Co~nell University

249
Journal of The Siam Society
Edited. by Carlos A. Mailman and Oscar Nudler, in association with the United
Nations University Human Development in Its SociaiContext: (269 pp). Available
from Hodder and Stoughton, £19.50 net in U.K. First published in 1986.
Almost ten years back I was involved in training program on H~man
Development. The trainees were mainly the grass~oots devblopment workers
engaged in rural development activities through non-govermental organization.
Atlater stage we included selected landless peasants, women and fishermen so that
they became the organiser at the village level and shape the society as they desire.
A few days back when' Acharn Sulak gave me this book; a volume of 269
pages, devoted to discuss Human Development, quickly I had a look and tried to
think back and compare with my thought wbat I used to convey to the trainees. I
could see there are similarities but presentation-wise it is rather different, much
more wide in perspective, indepth and also complicated. However with much
interest I read this book, I cannot say I absorbed all what has been said in this book
but found it interesting forum to interact with lot of ideas from different angles.
As in the preface the editors said this book is an out-put of the Human
Development Study group of the UNU-GPID project. It is based on the papers
presented at the meeting of the study group, held at foqndacion Bariloche, San
Carlos de Baridoche, Rio Negro, Argentina, 11-15 December, 1980. The final
versions of the papers took these enlightening discussions into account.
The editors said this book is a collective exploration and the title Human
Development in its social context but I would rather say it is so also from global
context. The contributors are Oscar Nudler, Temla Barreiro, Carlos A. Mallmann,
W. Lambert Gardiner, Catalin Mamali, Gheorghe Paun, Ian Miles, Eleonora
Barlieri Masini, Maria Teresa Sirvent, Benni A. Khaopa, Sulak Sivaraksa and
Ashis Nandy. They are from different parts of the world from various background.
The commonness of them is, all of them are academic, intellectual and social
leaders from upper strata, so it is obvious that the presentation became academic.
There are four sections in this volume - section I discusses the Human
Development concept in the light of some major contemporary ideological systems.
Sectioa II theoretical examination of different aspects of the key concept - notion
of continuous personal growth, theories of life stages, potentialities and needs,
mal-development/good development. Section III deals with psychosocial and
the "doyen" of contemporary Thai poets, Angkarn is also recognized as a master of
visual arts. "His paintings and especially his drawings are very much sought after. It
is said that as with his poetry, his work in the visual arts serves as a bridge between

250
Volume 74 (1986)
personality aspects of Human Development and finally section four presents
regional perspectives, an assessment of Human Development in different regions
and diverse economic and social conditions.
On the Huinan Development concept different model has been
discussed - Dominant Model - the process of modernisation and the Human
Relation in the modern society. The liberal capitalist model inclined towards the
individualist pole and its consequences. The state socialist model has been referred
not as Marx's original Human Development thought but rather on the existing
practices in socialist countries. Finally the Humanist model reflected both on
modern paradigm as well as the traditional one.
Model of Human growth distingishes between primary growth and
maturity growth which is an interesting discussion. Primary· growth stresses on
physical and biological aspects whereas maturity growth refers to human beings
learning capacity towards change and transformation.
To look at development from outside-in to inside-out is also an interesting
way of looking at the issue of Human Development.
On the Motivational field there is a close dependence between satisfaction,
genesis and development of human needs, on the one hand and the complexity of
social relations evolution on the other hand. Motivational relations are especially
defined by the quality and intensity of needs that are satisfied and generated within
the framework of social relation. (P.93)
From the section of regional perspectives we can see the issue of Human
Development is not confined in human and sociological term. The contributors
here discussed about economics, politics, religion, and cultural perspective.
Growth and quantity oriented development did not solve the problem.
Similarly simple geographical ·autonomy or independence did not bring the
development to the people.
The issue of Human Development is a holistic one thereby holistic
approach is necessary to understand, response and relate.
As I mentioned earlier the presentation in this book is academic. It may not
be easy for average readers but there are lot of exciting ideas which could be
debated further and ext)lore towards deeper understanding.
M. Abdus Sabur
Appropriate Technology Association, Bangkok

251
Journal of The Siam Society
Edited by Michael Wright Angkarn Kalyanapong: A Contemporary Siamese Poet
Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation, Bangkok, 1986.
People who "see" Angkarn Kalyanapong, his manners and his dress may
think he is sort of eccentric. Some who "know" Angkarn feel that he is too
talkative and a bit arrogant, while others who "know" him enjoy his discourse and
sense of humour. But for those who "understand" him, Angkarn may be a bit
aggressive, a bit self-righteous but he really means well. And in terms of work,
Angkarn is a genius. He is, by general consent, the doyen of contemporary Thai
poets. He is also a painter, an artist and a social critic.
The book under review was published on the occasion of the poet's fifth
cycle anniversary. It collects in one volume translations into English of his writing
as well as articles written about him so that readers who do not read Thai may get
to know him and some of his works.
In fact the Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa first recognized Angkarn in 1972
when it presented him with an award as the best contemporary Thai poet. In the
preface to the present volume, Sulak Sivaraksa, Chairman of the Foundation's
Administrative ·committee, explains that the Foundation's "main activity deals with
publishing books, and the income derived therefrom is spent on charitable works,
mostly to help artists and writers to survive with dignity, in order to pursue their
creative talents meaningfully."
In this year of 1986, Angkarn was honoured with a SEA Write Award,
"the latter recent fashionable prizes" which people like Sulak Sivaraksa feel "have
no meaning for such a genius (like Angkarn)."
"Angkarn is intensely Siamese and is thus able to give true voice to his
cultural origins-Buddhist, Hindu, animist. At surface these cultural elements are
alien to the West, but at a deeper level they contain traits common to all
humanity." Thus writes Michael Wright in his editorial introduction to the volume.
The article, "The Sense of the Past in the Poetry of Angkarn
Kalyanapong" by Professor Chetana Nagavajara of Silpakorn University illumines
the poet's thinking and world view, illustrated by some of Angkarn's poems cited
from Song of Phu Kradung (1969), Fragments from Suan Kaeo (1972) and Nirat
Nakorn Srithammarat (1978). According to Professor Chetana, apart from being
the "doyen" of contemporary Thai poets, Angkarn is also recognized as a master of
visual arts. "His paintings and especially his drawings are very much sought after. It
is said that as with his poetry, his work in the visual arts serves as a bridge between.

252
Volume 74 (1986)
the old and the new."
In additie,n to the above article, three appendices are also articles about
Angkarn.
The main part of the volume contains 13 items of Angkarn's poems,
naturally only a small portion of his entire works. From the follo\ying list, the first
three are from Song of Phu Kradung (1969) and the rest are from Kawi-Niphon
khong Angkam Kalyanapong 5th edition 1986
Oh the Cold Wind that Rustles the Leaves
(1~ ~~VIU11'1"4~nL1JL~tvn)
All Over the Sky (1hueJEJ34~"lmhh~h)
A Politician Speaks Out (b~EJ~
" "
.. r:hu1EJQ'thL~)
Grandma (qj1)
Ayudhya (eJ~fim)
I Lost You (Lilm~1)
Scoop Up the Sea (1m1~b~)
Those Who Look Down on Art (~nn~~tl~)
""
The Poet's Testament (tlrufi1WlleJ\In1)
The World (1~n)
Buddhaisawan ('1"4'Yilnfl':l"l"l~)
It Is Late (~n.Uf-1n~u~.:~)
The Rich Man (L~"l'li§)
There was a period, around 1967-1972, when Angkarn's poems were
memorized and recited by university students, and wide discussions took place on
his works. Among the most popular were "I Lost You," and "Scoop up the Sea."
The beautiful rhymes and rhythms in these and other poems are unfortunately lost
in translation, understandably so. Yet we agree with Michael Wright when he
writes, "even through the poor medium of translation, Angkarn is enabled to sing
to people other than speakers of Siamese."
In short, this collection of Angkarn's poetry is rich in both style and
content, reflecting the human faith in the ultimate truth as well as belief in the
immortality of art and literature. Angkarn's works blend traditional Thai literary
techniques with modern reality and through them he speaks the truth about the
modern world.
Sudarat and Koson Srisang
Ecumenical Coalition on Third World Tourism, Bangkok

253
Journal of The Siam Society
Pridi Banomyong's The Vicissitudes of My Life and Twenty-poe Year Exile in the
~.. ~ " " :'1 ~ ~ 'l ~
People's Republic of China, 'lf1~Nl.!N1l.!'llo..:J'Ill'WI111 mt~ k>GI uiliHJtl.!CfllillD.Illii~'Hll.!,
Thienwan Publishing House, 147 pp. 1986
Pridi Banomyong's is one of the strangest cases in Thai political history of
modern times. Although he devoted his life to better this country, most Thai people
know him as a rebel, a communist and the one accused of murdering the king of
Thailand. His great merits were erased almost completely from the historical
record, in spite of the fact that he used to occupy some of the most important
positions of the Thai government. He was also the founder and the leader of the
Seri Thai Movement, which rescued Thailand from the disaster of World War II.
But Thai younger generations hardly know his name or, rather, they know him as a
traitor.
It is nevertheless fortunate that recently some radical intellectuals in
Thailand have turned to study his· life and work. And it is in this year that
Dr.Banomyong's ashes were brought ·back to his motherland. This book,
m~~\t,t:-J1U'll€l'l~ll'Y'lL~l was published to commemorate this occasion. It is an
autobiography. Dr. Banomyong wrote it in French under the title, Ma Vie
Mouvementee et Mes 21 Ans D' Exil en Chine Populaire. He wished to translate it
into Thai himself. But the wish was not fulfilled because of his death. With
permission from Mme. Poonsuk Banomyong, this book is for the first time
translated into Thai.
This version comprises only Part One of the original work, which contains
an account of his political life before his exile to China. The details need little
rehearsal here. It is well known how, under the monarchic regime, he formulated a
democratic ideology and then saw it realized, how Dr.Banomyong rose to the
highest position of the Thai government, how he traveled from country to country
in order to liberate Thailand from bondage, how he was accused of being a
communist, and how after Field Marshal P. Pibulsongkram made a victorious coup
d' etat, his life was threatened and he was driven from his native land. This book is
interesting because it contradicts the governmental records and is valuable as a
historical document.
What is interesting not less than Pridi's work is his thought and his moral
principles. Dr. Banomyong is the role model for every Thai who wants to turn this
country in a better direction. In the preface, Dr.Banomyong mentions clearly his
ideal. That is the ideal of peace. He wrote, " ... (it) is the obligation of everyone,

254
Volume 74 (1986)
who wants peace in this world, to try to find a right solution, so that all countries
with different social systems can live together in peace ... " [p.(3)]. This is the code
which he clung to all of·his life. Therefore he disagreed with the doctrines of
nationalism, racism and fascism. When WW II broke out, Dr. Banomyong insisted
that Thailand not join the war. That caused the discord between him and
Pibulsongkram. This book is thus one contribution to the Year of World Peace.
Dr.Banomyong steadfastly emphasized that every country should have
territorial autonomy. He stressed that powerful countries should not intervene in
the domestic affairs of the underdeveloped, because the intervention would
accelerate the revolution. He also pointed out that psychological war and
propaganda do not lead to governmental stability. If the government overpublicizes
the evils of communist doctrine, the people will soon lose faith in their leader. So
the Machiavellian world-view, that power will be gained only by fear and
deception, is wrong. For Dr.Banomyong the ruler must_not be lion and fox, but
should guide his country on the basis of truth and peace. What inspired him to write
about China was the purpose of showing that communist phobia was not based on
reality. In this aspect Dr.Banomyong is a philosopher who tried to destroy illusions
and turn people to the light of truth. He held that all countries must live together
with true understanding, which will lead the world to permanent peace, because
the true meaning of. peace is not "intervals in war".
Another issue worth mentioning here is that Dr.Banomyong disputed the
change of the name "Siam" to "Thailand". He argued that this change is
fundamentally racist. It raised the problem of minorities and disintegration among
peoples. The present movement of "Search for the identity of Thainess" must be
aware of such pitfalls.
Dr.Banomyong was not a politician who can do anything to achieve his
aim. Rather, he was a statesman who guided his life by morality. He never followed
the main stream of politicS' if it led to evil, though it could have cost him his life.
Thus it is the obligation of Thai intellectuals to try to restore his name, to vindicate
his merit and to renew the spirit of Pridi Banomyong.
Ms. Pakawadi Werapaspong
Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

255
Journal of The Siam Society
I
fJlH..!lll t'flJI~'ill'fl~l~l.WUHI'Iifl liT~JlflCltJlOJi'WJUl 'Vl'H'nlJ'nlJ
Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana (editor) Yunnan 250 pp., 1986,
Thai Watana Panich.
Yunnan edited by H.R.H. Princess Galyani Vadhana is the most recent
book written in Thai1 on the Tais in Yunnan, a southwestern province in the
People's Republic of China. The book which is the result of Her Royal Highness's
second visit to the province comprises two main parts. The first depicts the events
during the visit together with. remarks of the events by each member of the team.
The style of this first part is similar to that in A Dozen In China, the book after Her
Royal Highness's first visit to China.
The Second part includes articles by the renown scholars of the team2 on
various aspects, for example, the Tai languages in Yunnan, legends of the Tai
tribes, Buddhism in Yunnan and the ancient city walls. Articles on the Tai
languages give the general outline of the two Tai languages in Yunnan: Tai Lii and
Tai Neua. More importantly, the articles show that the knowledge of the two
languages can shed light on Thai etymology. This, in turn, should be beneficial to
the readings of the inscriptions and other documents in the Sukhothai period. Also,
the legend of Muang Mao, Lanka Sip Ho should prove valuable sources that may
give some significant clues to the many questions in early Thai history.
Although a very short visit did not permit Hans Penth to examine all the
ancient walls he wanted to and therefore, could not come to any conclusion, his
article "the City Walls" has led an interesting way to be pursued by any researcher
who may have more time and be allowed to study in the area.
Underlying in the book is the attempt to touch on the origin of the Tai race
which is the controversial topic among Thai as well as the Chinese scholars. In
recent years, scholars with evidence interpreted from Chinese chronicles, from the
slabs and old legends have seemed to agree that the Nanzhao Kingdom is not the
Tai Kingdom. Yet the question of the Tai original whereabouts cannot be settled.
Several Tai Kingdoms such as, Muang Mao Long, Sipsongpanna and Lanna can be
identified as Tai Kingdoms but one cannot decide the historical relationships of
1. There are 3 articles written in English by Hans Penth.
2. Her Royal Highness has deliberately included researchers in various fields in the team to make the
visit academically significant, not just a plain visit.

256
Volume 74 (1986)
these kingdoms. Neither can one be certain of the question whether Dehong,
Sipsongpanna, the southern part Of Guangxi, or the northern part of Thailand is
the homeland of the Tais.
Yunnan has not given any answer to the question as it apparently cannot
after such a short visit. Yet considering this fact, the book deserves an applause for
it can give several significant points for researchers in the fields of Tai linguistics,
history, Tai scripts etc. to contemplate and to study further.
Ms. Pranee Kullavanijaya
Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

257
Journal of The Siam Society
11.1 t! " 4111
ffJJfiUJD.I JJ.U.U·Hl\II'Ul\WJJ ~fff!a
Sulak Sivaraksa, Interviews with H.S.H. Princess Chong Chitra Thanom Diskul
Bangkok 1986, pp.224.
Ever so often a new book appears charting the life of one of the numerous
grandchildren of King Mongkut (there were over four hundred of them). Often
these biographies are only of interest to the afficionado of Siamese royalty, but in
the case of Princess Chong Chitra Thanom Diskul there is an interesting and
important story to be told, for this lady was the eldest and the favourite daughter of
her father, Prince Damrong.
Sulak S•ivaraksa knew her well, and in the years before her death in 19-78
had weekly meetings with her during which she recounted to him her life as
secretary and confidante to her famous father. Mr. Sivaraksa has transcribed some
seven tapes of interviews which he had with the princess and the first seven
chapters of the book amount to her personal memoirs of five reigns. The reader is
taken on a voyage through the home life of Princess Chong, firstly in the Wang
Pathusamyod, her life in the Grand Palace, the Dusit Palace and later her father's
home, the Wang Voradis.
Through these recollections a vivid reconstruction of life in the inner circle
of government and the Royal Family is given, as Prince Damrong had a long and
important career, firstly under his half-brother, King Chulalongkorn, and later
under King Vajiravudh and King Prajadhipok. He was amongst the most trusted
advisers of King Chulalongkorn and he was responsible for setting up the present
day Ministry of the Interior as well as fostering numerous administrative reforms at
a crucial period in Thai history. Prince Damrong was also an authority on the
history of Thailand and its neighours and was the author of a voluminous output of
works on historical subjects.
The book also provides an insight into the family life of a princely
household in Siam in the early years of this century, a way of life which has now
disappeared. The reader would have been assisted by the inclusion of a family
tree, for the frequent references to members of the princess's family are often
confusing. Princess Chong was the fourth of the thirty-four children of Prince
Damrong- her mother, Mom Nuam Diskul na Ayudhya, was of the Rojanadis
family, as was Prince Damrong's mother, Chao Chom Manda Choom, a wife of

258
Volume 74 (1986)
King Mongkut. As is so often the case in Thai families ·the matrilineal links are as
important as the patrilineal ones.*
Mom R~Uawongse Narisara Chakrabongse
Chakrabongse House, Bangkok
* Sec .. Gcncnlogy of the Diskul Fnmily'' hy H.S.H. Princess Mnrayart Kanya Diskul (Bangkok, 1984).

259
Journal of The Siam Society
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t.l"i~

260
Volume 74 (1986)
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LUU€!~ il'VIli1

THE SIAM SOCIETY
UNDER ROYAL PATRONAGE
The Society's home : 131 Soi 21 (Asoke), Sukhumvit Road
Telephone : 258-3491, 258-3494
Mail address : G.P .0. Box 65, Bangkok, Thailand
The Siam Society was founded in 1904, under the patronage of His Majesty
the King, as an organization for those interested in the artistic, scientific and other
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The Natural History Section of the Siam Society, which was organized in 1913,
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PUBLICATIONS OF THE SIAM SOCIETY
Journal of !he Siam Socie1y, per number (before vol.67 part I) ..
(from vol. 67 part I onward) .
The Na1ural HislOI'Y Bullelin of !he Siam Sociely, per number (before vol.28)
from vol. 28 onward .......
Commemorative reprint volumes published on the Society's 50th anniversa ry:
Vol IV. Lop Buri. Bangkok and Phukel, 1959.304 pp.
Vols. V & VI , Rela1ions wi1h Burma, 1959. 207 & 228 pp .. resp.
Vol. VII. Relcaions wilh Por/Ugal. Holland and !he Vmican, 1959 ............... . .. .... .. ..
Vol. VIII Relalions wilh France. England and Denmark. 1965.258 pp.
John Black, The Lojly Sanc/Uary of Khao Phra Vihiir, Toge1her wilh !he lnscriplions of
'Khao Pmh Vihiir'. 2nd ed., 1976. ill .. 88 pp.
Richard Davis. A Norlhern Thai Reader, 1970. 91 pp.
Prince Dhani Nivat. Arlicles Reprinled from !he Journal of !he Siam· Societv, 1969.
194 pp. ................................ .... ............................. ..
G.E. Gerin i. Ch ulakalllamangala: The Tonsure Ceremony as Performed 111
Siam,
(hard)
1976 reprint of the 1893 edition. 243 pp.
{ (soft)
AB. Griswold. Wa/ Pra Yiin Reconsidered. Monograph NO.4, 1975. 120 pp.
Mattani Rutnin. ed .. The Siamese Th ea/re: A Colleoion of Reprinls ji·om !he Joumal
of 1he Siam Society, 1975. 291 pp.
Pimsai Amranancl. Gardening in Bangkok, 2nd ed. 1976. 169 pp ....
Tej Bunnag a nd Michael Smithies. eds .. In Memoriam Phya Anuman Rajadhon,
1970. 397 pp.
Co/lec/ed Ar/icles in Memory of I-I.R.I-1. Prince Wan Wailhayakorn, 1976 .. .. .. ... .... ...
Sirichai Narumit. Old Bridges of Bangkok, in English and Thai . 1977. 176 pp.
Albert H. Banne r and Dora M. Banner. The Alpheid Shrimp of Thailand. 1966.
168 pp.
Florae Siamensis Enumeralio ..
Angkarn Kalayanapongs. Naowarat Pongpaibool and Witayakorn C hiengkul.
Three Thai Poe/s, in collab. with Thai PEN Club and Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa
Foundation . 1979. 47 pp.
K.I.Matics. A Hils/Orv of Wa1 Phra Chelupon and lis Buddha Images, 197

The Discourses at Versailles of the First Siamese Ambassadors to France 1686-7,
Together with a list of their presents to the Court, 1986, pp. 96, ill. Translated,
edited and introduced by Michael Smithies ...................................................... ..
Thai Pottery and Ceramics. Collected articles from JSS 1922-1980., 1986, pp.
300, ill, introduction by Dr. Dawn F. Rooney .................................................. ..
The Archaeology of Peninsular Siam. Collected articles from JSS, 1905-1983, 1986.
Introduction by Professor Stanley J. O'Connor. Ills ........................................... .
Old Phuket. Collected articles from JSS, 1905-6, 1986. Introduction by H.E.
Monsieur Gerard Andre. Ills .........................................................................
Caron and Schouten, A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and
Siam (1671), 1986. Introduction by Dr. John Villiers. Ills ................................... ..
Yl"l~1"l1~fhll£l n"ll-!...,~u~·m.Jiu nvwuumf llil:: Warren Brockelman. fl11tJI/1ftlf
n1JJ'IIJW1uum'Yifr7no1uuimnfWJu1ti'~fiJJIIil::tmYffiio, 1985, 324 -,{4,
150/6.-
380115.-
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10015.-
Society members are allowed a discount of 20% on the above prices. The prices do
not include postage. Orders and enquiries should be addressed to the
Administrative Secretary, Siam Society, G.P.O. Box 65, Bangkok 10501, Thailand
This kingdom was known as Siam until 1939, when its name was
changed to Thailand. Then it reverted to the original name again in
1946. Two years after the coup d'etat of 1947 it was decreed that the
country would be called Thailand, and it remains so officially.
The Siamese, Cambodian and Laotian Buddhist Era seems to be one
year later than that of Burma, Sri Lanka and India. In fact this is not so.
The difference is that while the latter regards the year of the Maha
Parinibbana as B.E.I, the former takes it to be the first anniversary
after the Master's Passing Away. For example this year is B.E. 2529
according to the Siamese, Cambodian and Laotian Calendar, but it is
B. E. 2530 according to the Burmese, Ceylonese and Indian Calendar
e PRINTED IN THAILAND BY SAHAMITR PRINTING CO., LTD. TEL. 271-0755-7, 271-0764

THE SIAM SOCIETY
New Publications
August 1986
The Marquis de Bcauvoir. A Week in Shun 1867
T he o ri ginal English translat io n o f IX70. possibl y hyde Beauvoir himse lf. o f an ex tract from his Voyage
au/our du Monde, toge th er with 10 handsome photographic engravings from the original complete
French edition, and an introducti o n. pp.xi + \I I + 10 ills Price Bt \10 (members). Bt 120 (non-members)
September 1986
Tile Mons - Collected Articles from .ISS
Five articles on the earliest kn ow n inh abit

THE SIAM SOCIETY
THA I POTIE RY AN D CERAMICS
The most recent publicati o n of the Siam Socie ty ca me out in October and is a massive volume
o f 325 pages of text and 236 pages o f illustratio ns, bein g a collecti o n of all the a rticles to
appear in THE JOURNAL OF THE SIAM SOCIETY on the subject o f THAI POTIERY
AN D CERAMI CS between 1922 and 1980.
The volume has a specia ll y writte n introducti on by the well-known cera mi cs histo ri a n
DR DAWN F ROONEY and incl udes vital contri butions to the subject fro m such expe rts as
W.A. Graham , Regina ld Le May , Praya Nakon Prah Ram , Kraisri Nimma nahaeminda,
C ha rl es Nelson Spinks, Wilhe lm G. Solheim , Pensak Chagsuchinda Howitz, and Jo hn C.
Miksic.
The illustrati o ns were those featured with the o ri ginal articles and have been re produced with
the latest techniques in photo-enha nce me nt to achieve the best results possible in the
circumsta nces. The original typefaces o f the texts have been ke pt , which, th o ugh it mi ght not
ma ke for uni fo rmi ty of printing style, does provide an a uthe ntic text.
T his handsome ha rdback volume , with an attractive coloured dust-jacket, is now available to
Sia m Society me mbe rs and the gene ra l public, and is a majo r contributio n to the popular
subject of ceramics.
"This volume serves as a pe rmanent record o f the earliest, chance discoveries of ceramics in
T haila nd , the presentatio n and developme nt of theori es and the results of scie ntific testing and
salvage excavations. This collecti o n of articles on Thai Pottery and Cerami cs will undo ubtedl y
find an established place in the fie ld o f cerami c lite rature. " (Dr Dawn F Rooney)
PRICE: M e mbe r Bt300 ( N o n - m e mbers Bt380)
Postage B t 15 per copy

Details of dust jack~ts of the 3 most recent puh!icarions of the Socie,y
The Marquis de Beau voir, A Week ·n s·a.m 1867
The original English translation o · 1370, possibly by de Beauvoir himself, of an extract from his
Voyage autour du Monde, together with 10 handsllrne photographic engravings from the original
compiete French edition, and an introduction. pp. xi + 91 + 10 ills. Price Baht 90 (members),
Baht 120 (non- em ~s)
The Mons - ollected Articles from JSS
Five articles on the earliest known inhabitants of present day Thailnd, two by Halliday, the
"father of Mon stadies", and one each by Seid~ fadcn , Smithies and Forster, covering the years
1913-1973, with an introduction. pp. 8:2 .'f!' ills. Price Baht 10(1 (Members), Baht 130
(non-members)
The Discourses at Versailles of the First Si.am,ese Ambassadors to France
1686-7, together With the list of their prese ts to the Court
The original French text of 2C speeches given y the representativ.!s of King Narai sent to Louis
XIV, reproduced in facsimile , together v1ith a translation in English, the list of presents in a
facsimile of the French, also with an English translation. Edited, translated and introduced
Professor Michaei Smithies.
illustrated Price Baht 120 {members) Baht 150 (ncm-members)