An Introduction to Thai Juvenile Literature

Virine Hutasangkas, PhD

Thai literature can be difficult to access for non-Thai speakers; Thai juvenile literature, with its narrower readership, can be even more inaccessible. This introduction summarises the history and development of Thai books for young people since its advent as a genre in the 18th century.

Before mechanical printing, people in Siam wrote in paper folded books (Samut Khoi). Western-style bound books were introduced to Siam by European diplomats and missionaries, along with printing techniques, during the 17th century. Unfortunately, the invention of typography took a further two centuries. Moveable type for the Thai syllabary was launched in the mid-19th century by an American missionary, Dan Beach Bradley, who published the first monthly periodical in Thai, The Bangkok Recorder (1844—1845; 1865—1867). Bradley also printed the first Thai-language book, Chindamani, in 1879. Written at the end of 18th century, most specialists consider this to be the first juvenile book in Siam/Thailand.

The Thai juvenile book industry was established some 30 years after these milestones. The Government and Ministry of Education promulgated laws at the end of the 19th century to encourage the publication of juvenile books through the foundation of a state publishing house. The first publications comprised three series of academic books: Little Wai and Little Feud (1910)

Samut Khoi

Chindamani

featured the adventures of two boys teaching Siamese geography; Creation of Poetry compiled extracts from Thai poems; and, Moral Tales included Buddhist Morals (1904), Moral Tales (1910), and Æsop’s Fables (1912). Like other books printed by the Ministry of Education, these three collections were distributed to schools, but not commercially available.

The state-dependent publication of juvenile books in Siam slowed between the First World War (1914—1918) and the end of the Pacific War (1941—1945). However, the Ministry of Education had not forsaken its mission to educate young Thais. The first juvenile leisure books, released at the beginning of the 1940s, met with great success and went on to inspire private publishers to develop the genre following the Pacific War. The participation of private editors stimulated the juvenile literature market and marked the beginning of an era of continuous growth.

Despite the rapid development of the juvenile book industry, the market has always been dominated by educational and moral books catering to intermediary adults (adults who buy books for children), such as parents, teachers, and librarians. Their priorities lie in subject matter that is not harmful to young readers. As the decision-makers for children and students in their charge, the emphasis of Thai juvenile books consequently has been “suitable” content that promotes universal social values (kindness, generosity, honesty, etc.) and Thai social priorities (filial piety, obedience, traditional culture, etc.). Intermediary adults and the Government have always shaped conventional juvenile book publication in Thailand. In 1955, a song entitled Children’s Responsibilities was released by the Government to remind Thai youth of their post-war societal responsibilities: frugality, protection of tradition, and hard work. This illustrates how intrinsic these values are to juvenile books published during that era. These values became the criteria for “good juvenile literature” in Thailand. In pursuit of moral education, adult writers address the protection of Thai tradition through text and graphic depictions of Thai artefacts. Surprisingly, Thai juvenile books, even recent ones, rarely show images of modern Thailand; in cases where such portrayals are included, modernity and technology are invariably depicted as demonic forces threatening to destroy the beauty of Thai culture and the traditional way of life.

However, young Thais in the late 20th century and early 21st century have been more exposed to translated literature, and therefore seek similar innovation in the Thai juvenile books market. Finding this nearly non-existent, they have created their own literary genre with an online distribution platform. Since the beginning

of the 21st century, the internet has become an open forum for teen and young-adult amateur writers, with nationwide household access. A new literary community has emerged, finding expression through online forums, blogs, and poetry and fiction websites. Writers can upload their work in instalments; readers follow such stories and leave comments as feedback; editors trawl such websites for interesting manuscripts. From love stories to comic strips, the popularity of online literature has soared because of its fresh, modern storylines and realistic language. Printed versions of online debuts have enjoyed enormous success in the Thai literary market. Young people are stepping into the roles of creators: they write as they want to read, filling a glaring gap in the mainstream Thai juvenile literature market. Nevertheless, online literature is still viewed askance by traditional Thai literature specialists, who disparage this new literary form and its language aesthetic. The reactionaries cling to the imprisonment of young Thais in the same safe themes and archaic writing techniques reminiscent of the period between the wars. If the role of juvenile books is to enrich young people’s knowledge and experience, the narrow vision of some adult writers indicates that Thai juvenile literature is failing in its universal mission.

Thailand is denying both modernity and reality—thematically and stylistically. The restrictions of traditional literature are tough to break. As a juvenile literature enthusiast, I would love to see the market enriched with change and variety. Death, poverty, homosexuality, psychological problems, and other pertinent topics are rarely addressed. I hope to see young people exposed to such issues through Thai juvenile books in the 21st century.

Virine Hutasangkas is currently a lecturer at the Department of French, Faculty of Humanities, Chiang Mai University. She obtained her PhD in Modern Literature (Children’s literature) from Université de Tours, France. Her main interest is comparative literature (children and young adult) under various themes such as immigration, intercultural translation and multiculturalism. She loves pancake.