Thailand’s Poetic Past Rediscovered

Five historical Thai poems ranging from erotic epics, love-laments to violent battles, once concealed within the confines of the ancient Thai language, will now be accessible in English for the very first time, marking their integration into world literature.
Eminent scholars Dr. Chris Baker and Dr. Pasuk Phongpaichit, will present five long poems dating back to 1500 CE on the themes of love, loss, and landscape at The Siam Society on March 2nd. Together they have written extensively on Thailand’s history, political economy and current affairs including A History of Thailand and a full translation of the epic poem Khun Chang Khun Phaen.
Although poetry remains a niche interest today, familiarising yourself with ancient rhymes can offer fresh perspectives on life– or for expats, it can add a romantic dimension to their experience of the physical environment in their new home.
“The poems are really rather good, and it’s a great pity because they are locked in a language that very few people can read for pleasure,” Baker said. “It’s nice to give people that chance.”
“Most Thais do not read them, except in parts at school, and those tend to be rather misleading,” says Baker. “The poems are very grown up. Two of them are erotic classics, and have to be cleaned up before they are taught to children. Another is a bloodthirsty war poem.”
This poetry event will also include the launch of their translations of “Nirat Hariphunchai” and “Ocean Lament.” The former is a poem about a pilgrimage to a Buddhist reliquary at Lamphun, where the author shows his devotion to religion and his beloved. The second details the author travelling from Ayutthaya down the Chao Phraya, marvelling at the landscape and lamenting a lover left behind. Both works are pioneers of the literary genre ‘nirat’, a traditional poetic genre that typically relates to themes of travel, yearning and separation.

The poems are really rather good, and it’s a great pity because they are locked in a language that very few people can read for pleasure.
That would bring their total count of translated poems to five, having previously published Yuan Phai in 2017, the oldest work of Siamese literary work depicting a 1475 battle. In addition, they translated “Lilit Phra Lo” and “Twelve Months in 2020.
Baker points out that while these poems do not fit the conventional image of national literature as endorsed by cultural gatekeepers, they stand out for their exceptional poetic quality and the depth with which they convey the authors' emotions. “They are rather exceptional as pieces of poetry, and expressions of writers’ feelings and emotions,” he mentions.
Interestingly, many of the readers of the English-language translations are Thai, as the original Thai text is so archaic that it’s incomprehensible to anyone but scholars, explained Baker. “The way it's presented here is also different to how it was taught in school.”
The most famous out of the five poems is “Lilit Phra Lo,” which has been heavily edited for educational purposes and scrubbed clean of any controversial content. Many Thais who have encountered them briefly in school might be surprised and intrigued by the unabridged “adult” version. “The climax of the story is quite literal – a detailed threesome spanning 750 lines, equivalent to half the length of a Shakespeare play,” explains Baker.
He once recalled presenting the poems to esteemed Thai scholars in English. As he recited the climatic scene – a provocative threesome – one of the Ajarns reacted indignantly, exclaiming “That’s not the poem I know!”
While poetry, especially old works, may not have a wide readership today outside of scholarly circles, some expats seek such material to gain insight into Thai culture from a perspective distinct from mainstream history.
“Much of that contrast can be attributed to the fact that Thailand was a society where powerful emotions could be openly expressed,” says Baker. “In a more modern interpretation of Buddhism, there is an emphasis in suppressing emotions to prevent negative outcomes. However this wasn’t the case in the past, when there was greater acceptance and exploration of emotions.”