Tales from the haze-choked South
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The imaginations of 47 poets and fiction writers drift on the smoke from Indonesian forest fires
SIRIWORN KAEWKAN, who won the Silpathorn Award in literature in 2007, used to love hanging out in Satun with his writer friends, vacationing in the port town of Tammalang. That was until the annual haze from forest fires in Indonesia got so bad that it choked off any chances of enjoying their stay.
Blanketing the Thai South every September and October, the smoke isn’t going away. Despite pleas and complaints at home and abroad, Indonesia’s lucrative rubber business is steadily clearing away natural-growth forest. The haze causes chronic health problems wherever it drifts and grounds airlines.
It’s a huge issue in the South, and now it’s inspired a book of poetry and prose.
Siriworn, who hails from Nakhon Si Thammarat and often addresses social and political issues, has just released “Khwam Kod Arkas Tam” (“Low-pressure Area”), a compilation of work by 47 writers.
“The title has nothing to do with the weather,” he says. “I asked the contributors to interpret the problem of the haze using ‘low-pressure area’ as the theme. Each piece in the book alludes to actual natural phenomena.”
Siriworn and Rueangkit Rakkanchanan’s Pajonphai Publishing launched the 510-page book recently at the B2S shop at CentralWorld with a poetry reading, paintings on auction and the band Maleehuana performing.
Siriworn, 48, says he originally imagined including just 10 writers, “but we got more people interested with the help of Rattanachai Manabutra, who’s involved with a group of writers in Phuket. More than 100 writers who’ve experienced the haze conditions were ready to contribute, but we had to limit it to 47.”
His pals Apichart Chandaeng and Jadej Kamjorndet, a 2011 SeaWrite Award winner, were sure to be featured, having been with Siriworn in Satun when the idea for the book was conceived.
The other contributors include Yingyong “Eed” Ophakul, Chiranan Pitpreecha, Chamlong Fangchollajit and Khathawut Thongthai from Maleehuana. Siriworn’s short story “Khwam Sa-ard Aiem” is the longest in the book at 60 pages.
“It starts with a city that’s been covered in the haze for months, and when it clears the people think it’s been magically cleaned,” he says. “But an old man always insists it’s no cleaner than it was and warns everyone they shouldn’t be so fixated on surface cleanliness anyway because it’s just an illusion.
“My friends and other writers have said I’m still thinking about politics, but I believe it will come down to the reader’s own interpretation.”
The book carries a tall price at Bt425, making it the most expensive ever released by Pajonphai. Siriworn admits he gave the matter some thought, considering that so many readers have turned to the Internet’s free content.
“But if I don’t sometimes overlook the income factor, good literature just won’t get published. It’s risky, yes, but I don’t agree with the culture of print-on-demand because it ignores all the readers outside the cities who don’t use the Internet.
“I wanted to print 2,000 copies for distribution across the country,” he says. “There were those who argued that it should be 500 copies on the shelves of just the most popular bookstores. If we do 2,000 copies, though, it stands to cover all the writers’ fees. I want them to survive too!”
Siriworn is cynical about the major publishing houses. “They don’t care about the writers. They pay them off and then discount their books because they don’t want them wasting space in their warehouses. Discounting the price is how they clear out their stock. That won’t happen to the books we publish.”
