Book review – Scot Barmé: Woman, Man, Bangkok, Love, Sex and Popular Culture in Thailand
Comic dialogue from the movie magazine Phaaphayon Sayam (Siam Cinema), mid 1922, mocking the nationalist ideology of Nation, Religion and King, especially Teacher: “Students, I hope you remember what I told you about the duty of each and every young man. That duty consists of unwavering loyalty to Nation, Religion and King. Now, I want to ask you something. Imagine that enemy troops Pàaknáam (mouth of the Chao Phraya) to attack. At the same time it comes to my attention that someone is messing around with my wife in my house. Tell me, what should I do?'
All the students stood up and shouted, "Sir, go home!" Teacher: “Very good, that's it! Exactly what I thought too!'
There are books that completely renew my view on aspects of countries, communities and events. The book by Scot Barmé mentioned above, already published in 2002, is such a work. I read it like a thriller in one breath, in a day and a half night.
In the official historiography of Thailand, the first decades of the twentieth century are usually seen as a period of some cultural, social and economic stagnation under the absolute monarchy. The bloodless revolution of June 1932, carried out by a civilian group led by Pridi Phanomyong and a military group led by Plaek Phibunsongkhraam, was therefore seen by many as a bolt from the blue. Most members of the above groups were educated abroad and it would have been mainly, if not exclusively, these foreign and Western influences that were responsible for the 1932 revolution. Indigenous developments could not explain the 1932 revolution.
A few months ago I read in a book by Nidhi Eoseewong, Pen&Sail, which mainly deals with an earlier period in Thai history 1800-1900, that foreign influences cannot take root without a breeding ground for them. Well, Scot Barmé elaborates on this breeding ground in the 1920s to 1932, and a few years after that.
His sources for this are remarkable. He eschews official stories and mainly draws from other goofs such as newspapers, magazines, novels, short stories, film booklets and cartoons. He shows how in those years there was a lively discussion about the status of women against the background of polygamy and prostitution, the relationship between the sexes, the dominant influence of the royalist elite and the class question in general. Remarkable are the many mocking cartoons about the royalist elite. There was much frustration with the Thai social and economic situation, partly due to the Great Depression of the XNUMXs.
Bangkok took on a stronger cosmopolitan character in those years. The abolition of slavery and chore services, stronger economic ties with foreign countries and the growth of education produced a larger middle class that resisted the cultural, social and economic domination of the old royalist class.
I was amazed to read that Bangkok at that time had 100 printing houses that were in fierce competition with each other. Many newly released magazines had a circulation of 3.000, which doesn't seem like much, but still indicates that one in 30 Bangkokians were confronted with new ideas.
So the 1932 revolution did have a strong indigenous breeding ground.
- Scot Barmé, Woman, Man, Bangkok. Love, Sex and Popular Culture in Thailand, Silkworm Books, 2002
- Nidhi Eoseewong, Pen & Sail, Literature and History in early Bangkok, Silkworm Books, 2005 (English translation of a 1982 book)
- Available at: www.dcothai.com/
The cartoon
You see a lecherous gentleman, a phôe:jài, a senior official, sitting at his desk with saliva dripping from his mouth. Kneeling before him is a phôe: nói, a subordinate, offering a beautiful young woman disguised as a doll and possibly his daughter.
Below the cartoon the text: 'My Lord, I have a gift for you'.
From: Katun, February 18, 1926
About this blogger
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Born in 1944 in Delfzijl as the son of a simple shopkeeper. Studied in Groningen and Curacao. Worked as a doctor in Tanzania for three years, then as a general practitioner in Vlaardingen. A few years before my retirement I married a Thai lady, we had a son who speaks three languages well.
Lived in Thailand for almost 20 years, first in Chiang Kham (Phayao province) then in Chiang Mai where I liked to bother all kinds of Thai with all kinds of questions. Followed Thai extracurricular education after which a diploma of primary school and three years of secondary school. Did a lot of volunteer work. Interested in the Thai language, history and culture. Have been living in the Netherlands for 5 years now together with my son and often with his Thai girlfriend.
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A fantastic book! I also have it on my bookshelf and the cartoons from about a century ago show that there was a lot of social criticism at that time (perhaps more spicy than now).
The book can be ordered directly from the Thai publisher Silkworm Books, among others. ISBN 9789749361955. There is also an edition published by an American publisher with a different price, cover and different ISBN: 9780742501577.