Ten years ago, Asia Books still had a book-publishing branch and, in 2002, quite a few books by local and international writers residing in Thailand saw their way on the bookshelves. On of these books is Chalida – A Thai Family Drama by Salisa Pinkayan, a brief novel about the lives of the rich and famous.
Salisa Pinkayan is a Western educated Thai writer and journalist who was born in 1972. She studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire, in the United States and graduated with a degree in economics from Northwestern University. In 1994, she returned to Thailand where she completed a master’s degree at Chulalongkorn University. Chalida is her first published novel and, in 2002, a Thai translation was also published by Nation Books.
Chalida is structured in three parts, each taking place at large time intervals, and mainly deals with Chalida’s family life. The book opens with the main character bleeding profoundly after she had just sliced open her wrists. All the reader wants to know is why she did it.
It took Salisa about twelve months to actually write the novel, but that was after years of turning the idea in her head. Asked why she writes in English, the author confessed that because she was born and educated in the States, her English language abilities are much better than her Thai: “I can express myself much better in English than in Thai.”
We are transported back to the time when Chalida, the eponymous character, was only a young girl of eleven years old. She loved reading her favourite books and playing with her little sister in the seclusion of a vast compound on the banks of Chao Phraya River in the heart of Bangkok: “A high, cream-colored cement wall enclosed the grounds, keeping out intruders and unwanted noise from the busy river. Yet the towering trees and shrubs inside created an illusion of a forest that extended to the horizon.” The compound was located in the part of Bangkok referred to as the ‘old city,’ a district centered on the Grand Palace. It was what today we call the Rattanakosin Island, the historic center of Bangkok.
But tragedy looms in every corner of the garden and in every room of the many houses in the compound. Chalida is not only motherless, but her father is also absent most of the times and, even when he’s at home, he is distant and has an unreachable allure. So, the two girls are left in the care of their aunt, who insists on giving them a proper education and good social standing as important members of the Thai elite society.
Salisa Pinkayan
For Chalida, “her home was a sanctuary” and, indeed, a child could not have desired more from life. But the sprit of her mother is always with Chalida and, “Somewhere in the compound, she hoped to discover the reincarnation of her mother, who she knew was watching over her and loving her.” The mystery of what had happened to Chalida’s mother and the unearthing of the truth is what keeps the reader hooked to the book.
Chalida’s family, the Rattakarns, not only is of high standing and number among their members one ex-prime minister, they also have a lot of secrets to protect. One of the secrets religiously kept from Chalida is her maternal grandfather’s and her own father’s involvement in the pro-democracy crackdown which took place during her grandfather’s time as the prime minister of Thailand, when her father was the supreme military commander.
In what are obviously references to the real events of October 14, 1973 — when students from Thammasat University took to the streets of Bangkok demanding the military government to step down — the Rattakarns approve the order to open fire on the demonstrators, resulting in hundreds of deaths and wounded. When Chalida finally finds out about these events and when her teacher talks about the demonstrations during the history lessons at school, she has a nervous break down and is sent to school abroad.
Just like the main character, Chalida, the author was also educated abroad. “In contrast to me, who lived my entire life in the States before coming to Bangkok, most Thais educated abroad go when they’re much older so they’re used to Thai society. For me, it was a culture shock. The high society especially astounded me. They were like celebrities who’s daily lives were spread across the pages of the magazines. They showed the world how many pairs of shoes they had and laid them out to be photographed. I just found it so ridiculous. But what I found even stranger is that Thais are obsessed with their hi-so’s as Americans are to movie stars.”
If the first part of the book is a mini family saga, the narrative in the second part shifts its focus from social injustices in Thailand to a love story with erotic overtones in England. We now meet Chalida ten years later, finishing off her undergraduate studies and preparing for a master’s degree. She falls in love with the perfect guy but is unable to maintain a healthy and strong relationship with him and, eventually, ends up marrying a man she feels disgust for, but someone whom her family considers a good match. Sacrificing her happiness for the sake of her family’s name, Chalida develops an eating disorder and becomes more and more depressed.
Once again, the tone of the third part of the book changes with the discovery of Chalida’s late mother’s diary. The readers are finally made privy to the reasons why Chalida’s mother died and what role Chalida’s aunt and grandmother had in this whole tragic affair. On top of that, the real extent of her grandfather’s decision to open fire on the pro-democracy demonstrators comes to light. It is at this moment that Chalida realizes that her “life of thirty years is meaningless, illusionary, and devoid of substance.”
After writing a final letter addressed to her own mother, entry that she pens in her mother’s diary, Chalida slit her wrists and “closed her eyes and waited for the wings of infinite freedom to rescue them both.”
Salisa Pinkayan is now working on her second novel which should be published next year. Her new book is about the boundary between the rich and the poor in the Thai society. “They live their lives side by side but there is a line which must not be crossed. In my new book I write about a situation where that line is crossed and what happens when these sacred, unspoken rules are broken,” said the author.
Apart from writing and literature Salisa also likes yoga, tennis, travelling, and ancient ruins.
Initially published in “Bangkok Trader” (November 2012, Vol. 6, No. 12)
