A review by misspalah
A Good True Thai by Sunisa Manning

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

“Det clears his throat. “I realised when you were taken away that I can’t be mad at you. It’s not fair, because you can’t understand my love for the King. It’s something you’re born with. It can’t be explained to outsiders; it’s in us, lodged in us, from birth. I mean, you climbed over the gates into his palace. He saved your life during the protests. And you still don’t understand. It doesn’t matter what we’re trying to change. We can only do it with him. You’re in his country, living in his house.”Lek nods, wondering. She doesn’t feel reverence, not in Det’s subterranean way. The current king says he believes in democracy, so she knows that the constitution will be completed, and that the prime minister appointed by the palace, Sanya, will step aside for proper elections. Beyond that—nothing. Lek could shake the King’s hand and not tremble. She would be a human in contact with another human, that’s all. It isn’t the same as the reverence Det describes at all. What does make Lek pause is Det’s certainty. She’s humbled by it. She recognises it. It’s faith, like those nuns and their foreign grace.”

• A Good True Thai by Sunisa Manning

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"A Good True Thai" is a novel set in Bangkok, Thailand, during the early 1970s. The story takes place under a military dictatorship, and the main characters are Det, Chang, Lek and Dao which will come much later into this equation of friendship. Det is a student struggling with his mixed identity which is somehow a combination of a high-born sort of royal family from his maternal side and commoner which is from his father side . Chang is Det's best friend and a passionate activist fighting for democracy but somewhat understand that for the protests to work, he needed all the help that he can get including using Det’s connection. Lek is a wealthy young woman who becomes more politically engaged through her relationship with Det and Chang.

As the political situation in Thailand intensifies, Det, Chang, and Lek become more involved in student protests against the military regime. They demand an end to military rule and refused to be ruled by the dictator again. The novel proceed with Det, Chang and Lek ran into the jungle and associated themselves with communist soldiers so that they could have what they envisioned for Thai Society  to be equal and to dismantle the elite society. Idealism was crushed, friendship was torn down and the lives were destroyed - that was the aftermath of  a brutal crackdown on student protesters at Thammasat University. All of them faced the harsh realities of political repression. The ending was a sober one as the struggle for democracy is crushed, it still provides a sense of hope as the characters and the Thai people continue to carry the spirit of resistance and the desire for a just society. I actually find this novel boring and quite slow despite it did pick up its pace after the first 100 pages. I love Dao as she has much more resolve and certain in what she wanted to do compared to all these city-born characters. Overall, "A Good True Thai" provides a poignant and compelling look at a critical period in Thailand's history, highlighting the personal stories behind the political events. If you have no idea about Thailand’s political situation and would like to know more about it, i would say this book is quite informative and enlightening on the given topic.