VOICES OF CHANGE

The Phan Waen Fah Award highlights Thai authors pushing the boundaries of political literature

-  THANA BOONLERT

What if a media crew goes to great lengths to construct a coherent short story and event? With this question at heart, Asst. Prof Viroj Suttissima, a lecturer at Bangkok University’s faculty of Communication Arts, illuminates the dark side of media ethics in his short story The Last Night Of A Documentary Filmmaker, winner of the Phan Waen Fah Award in 2024.

The story follows a content creator who assists his senior in compiling footage for a project that, if successful, will land them fame into the limelight. As filming continues, he finds himself in a morally dubious position that raises the question of truth and ethics that underpin documentary filmmaking.

“The idea had been brewing through my mind for some time. What if a content creator goes over to the dark side to the extent that compassion is completely gone? It forms the basis of this short story against the backdrop of a political event [a protest],” he said.

Meanwhile, Rangsima Tancharoen, a teacher at Triamudomsuksanomklao School, explores the dream of Thailand in his award-winning poem A Country We Read Before We Grow Up. In this poem, in an anti-corruption class, a reader asks students to rewrite the country’s future and settle their ideas on a blackboard.

“I was inspired by books. But it took a long time to settle on the idea. Eventually, I wrote it in half an hour before deadline,” he said.

On March 15, two award-winning writers shared their experience at Ratchadamnoen Building to mark this year’s Phan Waen Fah Award, which is running until April 9. The annual literary contest was established by the Secretariat of the House of Representatives in 2002. Its aim is to recognise the role of literature in promoting political and freedom of expression.