Boat in Mid Ocean - A Saga of Migration
Thailand’s Bestseller in 1999 Boats in Mid-Ocean is a sensitive exploration into generations of the author’s maternal family in China and...
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Works & Life of
Chamnongsri L.Rutnin Hanchanlash
Chammongsri L.R.H
“If I keep working, persevering to get closer,
If I try, little by little,
Maybe one day I will reach that Nalikae Island.”
The water looks calm, but undercurrents are strong.
Attachments run deep.
Attachment to what I have, what I am, even though I know it is all illusion
- Touched by Rain Reached by Thunder
Chammongsri L.R.H
Chammongsri L.R.H
Chammongsri L.R.H
Chamnongsri L.R.H
About
Chamnongsri L. Rutnin Hanchanlash
Chamnongsri Hanchanlash was born on 30 December 1939 in Bangkok, Thailand. Her father, Chulin Lamsam, and her mother, Sanguan Wanglee, are of two prominent Thai-Chinese banking families. She spent her teenage years at a small boarding school in England, returning to Thailand at the age of 18 to work as a reporter and columnist for the English-language newspaper, Bangkok World.
In 1962, upon marrying the late ophthalmologist Dr. Uthai Rutnin, Chamnongsri resigned from journalism after working for 5 years at the Bangkok World. She established Rutnin Eye Hospital alongside her husband, to which she presently remains a chair of the board. She furthered her education at Ramkhamhaeng University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree with first-class honours at the age of 42. Following that, she received the title of ‘Khunying’ for her contributions to the Rattanakosin Bicentennial at the age of 44.
Chamnongsri has since lectured at universities, staged public poetry readings, hosted a radio program, and produced video documentaries. The plights of disadvantaged adolescent girls in Northern Thailand led her to set up the Harbor House Foundation in Chiang Rai to help those at risk of abuse, drug and prostitution.
Deeply interested in Buddhism, she has spent long periods in forest monasteries. Chamnongsri is a bilingual writer who writes in both English and Thai. Her works include poetry, children’s stories, short stories, plays, article, critique and biography such as “Like a Boat in Mid-Ocean”, the best-selling saga of a Thai family from its ancestral days in China. Some of her poems and tales have been translated into French and Japanese as well as put to orchestral music for public performances and recordings.
Beside her original work, She has also translated several poems and short stories by Thai writers into English.
Chamnongsri has four children and six grandchildren. She lives in Bangkok with her second husband, Dr. Jingjai Hanchanlash, a business executive and international development expert.
We bring a snapshot of the complete works of Chamnongsri L. Rutnin Hanchanlash through blogs in the website
Awards:
- John A. Eakin Foundation Award, 1981, Where Dusk End (Play)
- National Book Award for Children’s Literature, 2000, Orange-8-Legs
Life & Works
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