The Problem of Contemporary Thai Literature

Abstract

The contemporary literature of Thailand, like that of any ASEAN country, is struggling hard for survival in an age of technological progress and materialistic gain. As is true of any age, the writer may legitimately feel himself hampered by various factors. In the first place, there are the general difficulties of living among machines; but the purpose of art has always been to create human values in the world of facts and objects. Other obstacles, more specific, however, seem to impinge on the writer’s profession. These primarily have to do with his publishers and his public. The two elements cannot simply be overlooked, as together they constitute the inescapable milieu which shapes and forms the writer’s talent. In the following pages, I would like to examine the present state of Thai literature.