Letters from Thailand

By Botan

Book Overview

When the original Thai version of Letters from Thailand appeared in Bangkok in 1969, it was promptly awarded the SEATO Prize for Thai Literature. This new English translation reveals it as one of Thailand's most entertaining and enduring modern novels, and one of the few portrayals of the immigrant Chinese experience in urban Thailand.

Letters from Thailand is the story of Tan Suang U, a young man who leaves China to make his fortune in Thailand at the close of World War II, and ends up marrying, raising a family, and operating a successful business. The novel unfolds through his letters to his beloved mother in China.

In Tan Suang U's lively account of his daily life in Bangkok's bustling Chinatown, larger and deeper themes emerge: his determination to succeed at business in this strange new culture; his hopes for his family; his resentment at how easily his children embrace urban Thai culture at the expense of the Chinese heritage which he holds dear; his inability to understand or adopt Thai ways; and his growing alienation from a society that is changing too fast for him.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9747551675
• ISBN13: 9789747551679
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Silkworm Books
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.2" x 7.6"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Excellent

An enjoyable and thoughtful story with the structure being letters written from Thailand to China. In the course of these letters the reader learns much about culture, both of China and Thailand, as well as the immigrant experience of Asians within Asia. The story is written in a clear, sincere style that will hold any reader's interest

<< Beautiful epic >>

This novel depicts the life of a Chinese migrant who escaped the utter poverty of rural China for greener pastures in Thailand. Tan Suang U's story is told as a compilation of letters he wrote to his mom in China in a period of 20 years from his arrival in Bangkok in 1945.A typical tale of rags to riches. Typical of many "ugly Chinamen", Tan's observations and criticisms of Thai culture are candid and unrefined but also refreshingly honest. Proud of his culture which emphasis honest hard work and frugality, he is destined to be disappointed as within just one generation, his family's cultural identity is lost. Botans writing style is fluent, brilliant, vivid and full of color. This book won the Siatu literature prize in 1970 and it is one of very few novels that were translated from Thai.I know it is out of print for a long time but it is worth waiting and looking for.

Fascinating cultural look at Thailand and its Chinese Immigr

This is the equivalent of A Bintel Brief which depicts Jewish immigrants to the U.S. The letters are said to be based on an actual Thai-Chinese immigrant's letters to his mother in China, which went undelivered but were read by her postman.

story of a chinese family assimilating in Thai culture

This a wonderful story of a Chinese family assimilating in Thai culture. Story is based on the letters written by the main character Suang U, living in Thailand to his mother, in China. It is a great book. Every one should read it.

wonderful book

It is a very good book. Once I started reading I could not put it down until I finished reading it.