Below the surface

       Sadly, Thai literature is little known outside Southeast Asia. What few books come to Western minds about the Realm were penned by farangs (i.e. Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon;A Woman of Bangkok by Jack Reynolds). For that matter authors from Japan, China and India are only marginally better known overseas.
       To the extent that Prabhassorn Savikul rings a bell, it is from his distinguished career in the Thai Foreign Service, from which he retired after 40 years. He took to writing short stories and for a spell was President of the Writers' Association of Thailand.Letter from a Blind Old Man is his most recent work, comprising 10 short stories, the title referring to one of them.
       This is a thin volume of 133 numbered pages, with two blank pages between each story. Perusing it, this reviewer realises that he writes by indirection.Prabhassorn has something to say and does so offhandedly. Thais and expats will pick up on it because they live here and share the experiences of the personae, but readers abroad might not.
       His perspective is that of an old man witnessing the ongoing modernising in the Land of Smiles and nostalgically recalls the time it supersedes. Change isn't synonymous with progress. What disturbs him mostly is that the elderly,though hardworking for decades and who fought in past wars, are treated as
       doddering fools now and forgotten in death.
       Their children left the farm for the big city,never to return. The cottage industries which were the mainstay of the economy have given way to factories, mom and pop shops to 7-elevens, rice paddies to condominiums, bahtbuses to the Skytrain.The populace is clamouring for TVs, computers, mobile phones.Politicians lie. The rich only care about getting richer.
       None of which the author rants about.Perhaps his is the style of his Foreign Office reports, couched in politically correct language. His references to the street demonstrations of the 1970s, put down with bloodshed, are meaningful to us but not to outsiders. The underlying current of these stories is why is there no empathy for those who fell trying to bring about democracy?
       The Thais, once noted for their kindness and patience, are in the process of losing both. After initially displaying politeness, sales personnel turn rude. The senile are laughed at to their face. Bus drivers treat their passengers with contempt. Activists disappear. Selfishness is the order of the day, greed is their watchword.
       Perhaps this reviewer is overstating Prabhassorn's theme, yet I don't think so. It's there, just below the surface. For which Letter from a Blind Old Man is an irritating read. He also takes odd topics and goes off on free association trips.An ear turning up at the Lost & Found.Van Gogh's? A skull, etc. It's not a profound book yet offers some insights.