วารสารปี-40-ฉบับที่-4-resize

ทศพร วงศ์รัตน์ 205 วารสารราชบัณฑิตยสภา ปีที่ ๔๐ ฉบับที่ ๔ ต.ค.-ธ.ค. ๒๕๕๘ Abstract Westerners in the Tale of Phra Apai-manee Thosaporn Wongratana Fellow of the Academy of Science, The Royal Society, Thailand In this article, the author confirms his hypothesis that the “Tale of Phra Apai-manee” by Sunthorn Phu was composed as a historic novel, not just an ordinary fairy tale. In the story, the details about westerners, particularly the English who, from time to time, came to Siamduring the Reign of Kings Rama II-III, had been described in many aspects: trade, politics, friendship, aggression, culture, adventure, etc., indicating that Siam had been gradually threatened by these groups of invaders. While the kings put all their efforts to protect the country, Sunthorn Phu used those incidences to encourage his readers of being superior and to become patriotic to the country. The author concludes that in fact this historic novel had a lot of influence towards the people of Siam during that time. The story made the readers feel strongly against foreigners and aroused awareness among the Siamese people of being controlled by westerners like some neighboring countries. Also the author suggests that it should be recognized as a political fairy tale than just a normal one. A friendly relationship between King Rama III and Sunthorn Phu has been also shown. Keywords : Sunthorn Phu, Phra Apai-manee, invaders from the west, Siam