As New Condition. Kuala Lumpur 2001 240 pp., 130 x 195 mm, pbk. Weight 0.250 Kgs. Kanha Surangkhanang's novel The Prostitute made quite a stir when it first appeared in Thailand in 1930s, not just for the quality of the book but also because it was considered to be inappropriate for a young woman of a respectable family to be writing about such a subject at all. Not only was it a risky proposition to write about prostitution at all but Kanha dared to show that even the high and mighty can be just as flawed and fallible as those in lowly positions in society. The issue of moral equivalence was considered outrageous among many sectors of Thai society at that time and this book is important in being part of a social realism movement that brought to an end that overly developed sense of deference, if indeed it can be said to have ended even now. The Prostitute tells a simple and often-repeated tale: a young and na๏ve country girl is seduced by a supposedly high-society Bangkok mandarin and travels with him to the big city; it is soon made clear to her that he is not what he claimed and that, alone and unaware of where she is, she has no one else to whom to turn. Having stayed for a while (unknowingly) in a brothel, the madame insists she pays for her food and keep before she is allowed to leave. Her only option is to become a prostitute to earn some money to pay back this debt - but she can never earn quite enough to free herself from the life she has been forced to inhabit. Reun, the young woman at the centre of the book, also has the fortune or misfortune to fall in love with a rich man who believes he loves her too. The relationship is of course impossible and his family sends him away, alas before Reun can bring herself to reveal that she is pregnant. She spends several years having to work to support her child, together with her friend Samorn, whose health fails her and she dies, which fate foreshadows Reun's own. There is little doubt at any stage of the novel, which is just over 200 pages long, about what will happen at the end. The plot is not really the point of the book but it is the treatment, realistic as it is, of the life that a woman such as Reun must live and how, in the often repeated refrain, 'sin must support virtue' - that is, the work that she does is despised and causes her to be treated with contempt, yet many outwardly respectable people are happy to take the money from her, indeed cheat her, yet they are treated with perfect courtesy and respect.\n\nLike many other examples of Thai literature, this is a simple tale written in a plain way, translated in authentic style by David Smyth. Plainness shades into caricature on occasion and the emotional involvement with the characters can only be slight, given their lack of depth or development. Nevertheless, for anyone interested in understanding Thai society, this is an important book to read. Kanha Surangkhanang is one of the most well-known and respected Thai authors of the twentieth century and she was awarded the title of 'National Artist' in 1986.
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