jvt22222
May 2nd, 2008, 08:36
The Shadow Country тАУ a land in the north of Thailand, where Lao and Thai language mingle in an impoverished place, where life is lived at a minimum, and the ambitious escape to the big cities to push carts, man temporary stalls, work in bars, and possibly eke out a life better than that they were born to.
What is it like for an intelligent, sensitive young boy to be born and raised there? Our speaker will be the acclaimed Thai author PIRA CANNING SUDHAM. Khun Pira was born, and started life in an Isan village in Buriram Province.
At the age of fourteen, his parents gave him to a temple in Bangkok as an acolyte. Once there, he quickly became aware that he had been born in the poorest part of Thailand - and that some Bangkok Thais who wanted to show their contempt said he was not Thai, but a stupid, impoverished Lao-speaking ethnic from Isan.
To get money for schooling he sold juice on the streets, and later religious items. He was an avid student, and was successful in working his way to Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, and untimely received a scholarship to a New Zealand University.
He studied, particularly English, in New Zealand, and later in Australia where he did his first writings in English. He later studied and wrote in England.
His writings stem partly from defiance of having lived a suppressed life in the 1960's-70's under despotic regimes, and partly from a driving force, fueled by his first-hand experiences of the dire life in Isan, social injustice, and the unthinking rote learning methods of the time.
Khun Pira will discuss the background of his books in this context, and what led him to choose a near solitary life back in his home village - where he funds scholarships for needy students, and teaches poor children at a private school he built in 1997.
Khun Pira's books have become a powerful voice for the powerless of Isan. He has published 2 books under the collective title of Shadowed Country - "Monsoon Country" and "The Force of Karma." He has also published "Tales of Thailand", "The People of Esarn", and other books and articles.
Pira last talked to us in February 2006 тАУ his return visit was requested by several of our members, and we have asked him to discuss the current state of Isan economic and educational developments.
What is it like for an intelligent, sensitive young boy to be born and raised there? Our speaker will be the acclaimed Thai author PIRA CANNING SUDHAM. Khun Pira was born, and started life in an Isan village in Buriram Province.
At the age of fourteen, his parents gave him to a temple in Bangkok as an acolyte. Once there, he quickly became aware that he had been born in the poorest part of Thailand - and that some Bangkok Thais who wanted to show their contempt said he was not Thai, but a stupid, impoverished Lao-speaking ethnic from Isan.
To get money for schooling he sold juice on the streets, and later religious items. He was an avid student, and was successful in working his way to Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, and untimely received a scholarship to a New Zealand University.
He studied, particularly English, in New Zealand, and later in Australia where he did his first writings in English. He later studied and wrote in England.
His writings stem partly from defiance of having lived a suppressed life in the 1960's-70's under despotic regimes, and partly from a driving force, fueled by his first-hand experiences of the dire life in Isan, social injustice, and the unthinking rote learning methods of the time.
Khun Pira will discuss the background of his books in this context, and what led him to choose a near solitary life back in his home village - where he funds scholarships for needy students, and teaches poor children at a private school he built in 1997.
Khun Pira's books have become a powerful voice for the powerless of Isan. He has published 2 books under the collective title of Shadowed Country - "Monsoon Country" and "The Force of Karma." He has also published "Tales of Thailand", "The People of Esarn", and other books and articles.
Pira last talked to us in February 2006 тАУ his return visit was requested by several of our members, and we have asked him to discuss the current state of Isan economic and educational developments.