Lives of Thai Temple Boys is a cross-cultural coming-of-age collection of stories based on the author's experiences in the late 1950s and early 1960s as an adolescent temple boy from the South of Thailand then living at a Buddhist temple and going to school in Bangkok.
Although they very much embody aspects of the culture of Thailand, these stories are also universal and recognizable for the human emotions and relationships they portray. Maitree Limpichart writes insightfully and with the humor, surprise, and irony for which he is well known. It has been remarked that one can see in Limpichart's writing similarities to the short stories of the American author O. Henry.
The subject matter is intriguing and wide-ranging as a sampling of the stories illustrates: the quirkiness of a feminine boy (Order and Propriety in the Temple), conflicting Thai and Western notions of nudity (Life at the Water Faucet), parental death and loss (A Telegram from Home), perseverance and dedication (The Remarkable Mr. Ying), and the personality who stands out and marches to the beat of his own drummer (Ai Neuk and More About Ai Neuk).
Originally serialized in magazines, these stories were first published in book form as a collection in 1976. The book was selected by the Thai Ministry of Education to be included on a supplemental reading list, and since 1976 has been reprinted 36 times. To date, more than 700,000 copies have been sold in Thailand. It remains a favorite among young adults and adults of all ages.
This translation seeks to preserve the nature and feeling of that culture and allows the reader to venture into and experience life in an unfamiliar setting. Each chapter begins with an illustration of the story to come and focuses on a fascinating personality and an aspect of temple-boy life from which poignant, humorous and sometimes universal lessons of life may be drawn.
These stories have never before been translated or published in English.
MAITREE LIMPICHART (Author) is a well-known and prolific author, a past president of the Thai Writers Association, a former Director of Public Relations for the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority and a one-time candidate for the Thai senate. Born in the southern province of Nakhon Sri Thamarat, Mr. Limpichart holds an undergraduate degree from Sukhothai Thammathirat University. Over a long and distinguished career as one of Thailand's most popular authors, he has written numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, including 20 novels, some 17 collections of short stories, 3 memoirs (of which A Man in Saffron Robes is his most popular) as well as numerous picture books for children, travel books, essays and magazine articles. Today he writes popular columns for the influential Thai newspapers Siam Rath and the Daily News, and has begun to publish works that combine his talent for the written word with his artistry in painting and sketching, such as his acclaimed Muek Dam Bon Kradat Khao (Black Ink on White Paper). He has two daughters and a son and lives with his wife Pakpring in Samut Prakan province near Bangkok.
STEPHEN LANDAU (Translator) was born in New York City. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from The City College of New York and Hunter College of The City University of New York. He has done post-graduate studies at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, where he studied Thai under Manas Chitakasem and the late Peter Bee, and the Geography of Southeast Asia under the late Charles Fisher. He first went to Thailand in 1967 as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer teacher of English and taught there for almost two years at the Khukhan School in Si Sa Ket province. He later served as a staff member and program manager in Peace Corps training programs in Thailand and Hilo, Hawaii. He was formerly on the staff of The City University of New York and was an IT executive with JPMorgan Chase. He lives in Greenburgh, New York with his wife Neide.
