Today is the nineteenth anniversary of the 2006 coup, and Napat Treepalawisetkun’s new fantasy novel ความฝันของชายผู้กลายเป็นดาวฤกษ์ (‘the dream of a man who became a star’) explores the impact of that event on Thai society. In the book, ‘impact’ is taken literally, as a giant meteorite strikes the country in September 2006. The celestial object is a metaphor for the disruptive effects of the coup, though the book is also one of several recent novels that refer to the 1976 massacre at Thammast University.
The book will be released next month, a day before the anniversary of the Thammasat incident. Napat previously directed the film We Will Forget It Again (แล้วเราจะลืมมันอีกครั้ง), which addressed another tragic political milestone: the killing of protesters at Ratchaprasong in 2010. In Napat’s short drama, a victim of the crackdown returns as a ghost, a trickle of blood running down her face, to be reunited with her surviving daughters.
The book will be released next month, a day before the anniversary of the Thammasat incident. Napat previously directed the film We Will Forget It Again (แล้วเราจะลืมมันอีกครั้ง), which addressed another tragic political milestone: the killing of protesters at Ratchaprasong in 2010. In Napat’s short drama, a victim of the crackdown returns as a ghost, a trickle of blood running down her face, to be reunited with her surviving daughters.
