Short Stories set in Thailand plus top tips from the author (“This is Thailand. Fine lines are what we do best”)

• Book: Selected Short Stories Of Thailand
• Location: Thailand
• Author: William Peskett

Review Author: tripfiction

When short stories are brought together, it can be a good way to channel hop through a culture and country. And this is just what William Peskett achieves in this collection. Whether it is a brief look at the personalities and lives of the ubiquitous market stall holders across the country, or the farang (western man/foreigner) who are similarly evident at all levels, or indeed some of the ordinary people who live and die in Thailand – he captures the colourful mix of culture and peoples.

And what of the sex industry with which Thailand is sadly so often equated? Yes, he does look at the bar culture, the bar-fining (prostitution is in fact illegal, but a bar customer can pay the bar for the privilege of having a bar girl accompany them) and the proclivities of some of those in search of the sexual thrill. However, it is tastefully explored and is more of a curiosity, delving at times into the world of sex change and lady boys.

But the stories are more than just a prurient exploration. Each story examines the relationships between people, often men and women, often jaded, people scamming and on the make. It is difficult to stave off pessimism at some of the relationship interactions, the disregard and lack of care that pervades many of the stories. Essentially the writing reflects the love affair that develops between those looking in on Thai life and the between the Thai people themselves – stoic, loving, exploitative and ultimately human.

The cover is eye-catching in both colour and theme, and leaves the potential reader in no doubt about where this book will take you. One small disappointment in my copy was that there is a map of “Story Locations in Thailand“. Unfortunately the printing is so fuzzy that it is difficult to determine many of the places. (However I understand from the author that this is now rectified in subsequent editions).

Peskett’s old schoolfriend, Robert Johnstone writes an acclamatory Foreword where he says from their early encounter aged 12: “I couldn’t have predicted then that fifty years later he [Peskett] would have written a body of short stories that took the lid off the encounter between Thailand and the West…” Very true.

This review first appeared on our blog where the author shares his top ten tips for a visit to Thailand.

Back to book