From Dust To Dust: A Journalist's Memoir
By Supara Janchitfah
Kobfai Publishing, 2016, 207 pages. 200 baht
Available at Se-Ed and Chulalongkorn University's book shops. For online purchase (free postal delivery) go to www.facebook.com/kobfai/
'I don't want to befriend death. Yet it comes knocking on my door. There are so many reasons we cannot become friends. I still have too many good friends from my previous work places and at the Bangkok Post. I have too many villagers who give support and I have missions to complete."
The paragraph is the beginning of From Dust To Dust: A Journalist's Memoir by Supara Janchitfah, former reporter at the Bangkok Post and stage-four cancer patient. Supara began writing the book two and a half years ago after she was diagnosed with cancer.
The book is divided into three sections: her humble background as a daughter of poor Chinese immigrants and landless orchard growers; her time at this newspaper in the 1990s to early 2000s where she bagged numerous awards and received the Reuters Foundation Scholarship to study at Oxford University; and lastly her struggle with cancer.
The gem of the book is Supara's retrospection on her two decades being a journalist. Supara -- teasingly called "Princess of the Poor" in the office -- went after stories of injustice, social inequality, small people's hardships, land grabbing, human rights violations, Deep South violence, corruption and exploitation of natural resources by the powers that be. In the book, she offers critical thoughts on problems plaguing mainstream news reporting such as self-censorship, interference from politicians and commercial interests, and professional ethics.
As a reporter, Supara's work was nail-bitingly tough. But surprisingly, From Dust To Dust is entertaining. It is written in snappy conversational tone, peppered with self-effacing humour and vivid prose, especially her description of the orchard at her home and her dilapidated former school.
From Dust To Dust is a story of an impressive individual who never gives up on anything in life. It's an ideal gift for those who look for inspiration, and I also wish to see this book required reading in journalism schools.
Exploring Bangkok: An Architectural and Historical Guidebook
By Robin Ward, Li-Zenn Publishing, 303 pages, 2014
Available at Asia Books and Kinokuniya, 800 baht
Don't all buildings look the same in Bangkok? Besides a few outstanding ones, the modernity of our architecture can feel anonymous. But look closely. Pay attention and you'll see that the city is blessed with a hodgepodge of old and new -- ancient traditional Ayutthaya architecture brought by the Chakri Dynasty, European-style buildings commissioned in Thailand during the reigns of King Rama V and King Rama VI, right to modernism.
Robin Ward is a Scottish-Canadian architecture critic, graphic designer and writer. He has known Bangkok for over three decades, yet never found a guidebook for the city's architectural treasures. So he has written one.
Exploring Bangkok introduces 333 architectural projects, and they are categorised into eight neighbourhoods: Rattanakosin Island, Chinatown, Bang Rak, Chao Phraya River, Thon Buri, Suriwongse, Silom and Sathon. The book is intended as a guide for walking tours, cycling tours, as well as a trip on the mass transit system (BTS, MRT and Chao Phraya Express boat services). It comes with user-friendly maps, making it a perfect companion for architectural enthusiasts, design students and professional architects and residents who wish to see the tree in the thick forest.
Architecture Of Lanna
By Nithi Sthapitanonda (In co-operation with the Faculty of Architecture & the faculty of Fine Arts, Chaing Mai University)
Li-Zenn Publishing, 303 pages, 2016
1,600 baht
National artist and renowned architect Nithi Sthapitanonda has visited many towns in the North such as Chiang Mai, Chaing Rai, as well as foreign neighbouring towns that share architectural traditions such as Chiang Tung in Myanmar, Luang Prabang and Vientiane in Laos and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, China. Architectural similarities among these places roused his curiosity that later inspired him to write a book exploring the cultural roots of Lanna architecture.
The book was published this year to mark the 700th anniversary of Chaing Mai, known as the capital of the Lanna Dynasty. Despite its high-quality photos and stunning drawings by Nithi, Architecture Of Lanna is also a thorough academic reference for enthusiasts and students on design and culture. The book touches on various aspects of the history of Lanna, architectural development and the rise of modern buildings at Anantara Chiang Mai Resort, Kaomai Lanna Resort and Hotel, The Rachamankha, 137 Pillars House, or the Lanna renaissance such as Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai province and the luxury hotel Dhara Dhevi Chaing Mai.
Jib Burma, Tarm Ha George Orwell; Prawadsard Rawang Bantad Nai Rarn Namcha
(Finding George Orwell In Burma)
By Emma Larkin
Translated into Thai by Suphatra Bhumiprabhas
Matichon, 2016
270 baht
In one of the most famous travelogues on Myanmar, Bangkok-based journalist/writer Emma Larkin recounts the year she spent travelling through the country by using the life and work of George Orwell as her compass.
Fluent in Burmese, Larkin travelled from Mandalay and Rangoon to poor delta backwaters and up to the old hill-station towns in the mountains of Burma's far north. The writer visits the places where Orwell worked and lived. Despite the catchy title, the book is more about the tale of a country and a people cut off from the rest of the world, and even from one another by the ruling military junta and its vast network of spies and informers.
Myanmar is no longer an Orwellian State. But the book is more timely than ever for Thai society as the Thai military started a coup and introduced surveillance and censorship that reminds us of Orwell's 1984.
