Comments on: Thai cinematic war with Burma

By: Jon Fernquest

Jon Fernquest — Sun, 27 May 2007 15:41:33 +0000

"Why is Burma referred to as “Hongsawadee” in the Movie “Naresuan”? As far as I know Hongsawadee was the Mon kingdom in South Burma which itself was hostile to the Burman who ruled from Taungoo. And it was in fact the Taungoo rulers who attacked Ayutthaya." Hongsawaddy = Hanthawaddy = Pegu The Burmese were displaced from Ava near Mandalay to Toungoo after a Tai invasion in 1524-27. Burmese Toungoo began a series of attacks against Pegu starting in the early 1530s after the Tais took Prome which is roughly parallel with and close to Toungoo, posing a threat to Toungoo. The section "Toungoo’s Southward Expansion Against Pegu (1535-1539)" (pages 105-115) in my paper: Fernquest, Jon (2005). “Min-gyi-nyo, the Shan Invasions of Ava (1524-27), and the Beginnings of Expansionary Warfare in Toungoo Burma: 1486-1539,” SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 3, No. 2, Autumn 2005 (available here). BTW Naresuan's ideological employment dates way back to the nineteenth century before Prince Damrong according to the book: Nidhi Eoseewong (2006) Pen and Sail: Literature and History in Early Bangkok, Silkworm Press For contention between Burma, Lao, Lanna, and Ayutthaya over control of Northern Thailand during Naresuan's regime, see my paper: Fernquest, Jon (2005). “The Flight of Lao War Captives From Burma Back to Laos in 1596: A Comparison of Historical Sources”, SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 2005, pp. 1-26 (available here). For a bizarre analogue of Naresuan (Thai-Burma) in Thai-Lao relations see the paper on so-called Nakhon Ratchasima "resistance hero" Grandma Mo in this book: 2002, Cultural Crisis and Social Memory: Modernity and Identity in Thailand and Laos (ed. with Shigeharu Tanabe) Richmond, Surrey, UK: Routledge Curzon.

By: Aung Kyaw

Aung Kyaw — Sat, 26 May 2007 05:51:46 +0000

Louis – Hongsawadee (in Burmese, it’s Hanthawadi/Hanthawaddy) was the capital of the Mon kingdom and is now in present-day Pegu (Bago). The Burmans conquered the Hanthawadi Kingdom in the 1500s and ruled it until being defeated by the British. I believe Burma’s referred to as Hongsawadee in the same way that the Burmese call Thailand “Yodaya”, which comes from the city name of Ayutthaya.

By: New Mandala » “In Thailand we respect the king. Nobody dares to make a copy.”

Fri, 25 May 2007 09:44:44 +0000

[...] the lively discussion generated by the recent New Mandala post on “Thai cinematic war with Burma”, many [...]

By: fall

fall — Thu, 24 May 2007 04:46:06 +0000

Are we talking about film critic or box office success?
True, “300″ flop or “Gladiator” flare might or might not related to lack of historical knowledge, or just because it come out the same time as “Naresuan”. But I doubt if “Gladiator” is not dark, it’s certainly gloomy enough.

Or the reason of Burma’s bashing spree might related to underlying social superiority feeling that modern Thai had culturally conquered Burma. Same reason Hollywood WW2 films like bashing German and Japan.

By: Louis

Louis — Wed, 23 May 2007 14:41:10 +0000

Fall – this is possibly similar with “Apocalypto” which poses to the general western audience the great task of dealing with mesoamerican ancient culture of the Maya. But a quick look into the webboard of Pantip seems to show that there is an appreciation of that film (http://www.pantip.com/cafe/chalermthai/topic/A5423478/A5423478.html).
That “300″ is not a big hit in Thailand must not necessarily mean that it is due to a missing historical knowledge. As far as I know “Gladiator” or “Braveheart” have been quite popular in Thailand. But having spoken to some Thais in my environment I have heard that they do not like the comic style of the film, being mostly dark. They would like to have the film photographed in a natural way.
I reckon that “The Curse of the Golden Flower” is going to be popular in Thailand as well – if they are not tired with the stunts that does not seem to evolve over the years…

****

Another thing: Why is Burma referred to as “Hongsawadee” in the Movie “Naresuan”? As far as I know Hongsawadee was the Mon kingdom in South Burma which itself was hostile to the Burman who ruled from Taungoo. And it was in fact the Taungoo rulers who attacked Ayutthaya.
Can any historian of you provide with an answer?

As I haven’t seen the film yet I might miss some other important parts of it that might clarify my answer. But on the Thai section of the Naresuan website there was no mentioning of Taungoo.

By: Jon Fernquest

Jon Fernquest — Wed, 23 May 2007 11:04:15 +0000

"In my opinion, historic-base film depend on audience knowledge of history" If it is a mass market Hollywood movie, for sure. And also Naresuan has a religious status now in Thailand. There is a Naresuan shrine on Doi Wao in Maesai and I know people who worship him (or "pay respect" to him). But if you want a really interesting new movie, that addressed a topic that hasn't been addressed yet, really this is the best book that I can see: Paths to Conflagration: Fifty Years of Diplomacy and Warfare in Laos, Thaland, and Vietnam Mayoury Ngaosyvathn & Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn [link] Also a tragic story that pits the Chinese and the Burmese against Tais is the story of Si Lun-fa in Yunnan around 1400 in my paper [link]. Also the late 1980s Thai-Lao bloody border skirmishes might make for an interesting documentary. I've never seen any information on it.

By: fall

fall — Wed, 23 May 2007 01:36:41 +0000

In my opinion, historic-base film depend on audience knowledge of history. Because war with Burmese is the only major battle victory that Thai mass audience can relate their historical knowledge to. That’s why “300″ have not been a hit in Thailand.

Make a film about war with Lao and they go “Huh?”. Try make one where Thai fight in WWII on the Axis side…

By: A Tinya fan

A Tinya fan — Tue, 22 May 2007 15:36:17 +0000

Thailand’s very own Propaganda and Public Enlightenment (ring a bell?) through the Arts (or the lack thereof).

By: Pig Latin

Pig Latin — Tue, 22 May 2007 14:27:42 +0000

Diego, do you mean ‘grand design’ like Triumph of the Will? http://imdb.com/title/tt0025913/

By: Diego

Diego — Tue, 22 May 2007 13:22:53 +0000

In Handley’s “The King never smiles”, he mentioned about the use of historical films such as Suriyothai to ingrain the importance of the monarchy (read: Chakri dynasty) in Thai consciousness. He also discussed the relationship between Than Mui and the monarchy. Perhaps King Naresuan is an expression of the same grand design: the manufacture of consensus for the monarchy.