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116  The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume IV - 2012 I-nao as a drama, and not a poetic tale for reading, was “because at that time King Borommakot enjoyed watching dramas. It is possible that it was not long after Lakhon was fi rst known and performed. Perhaps the two royal daughters had the duty to oversee the training of the royal drama troupe. They might have heard from their ladies-in-waiting that the Mayong drama from Malayu, often performed the story of Inao because it was a story that most Malayu people esteemed. The princesses requested that they told the story. Seeing that the story was indeed fi t for drama, they tried to make it into a Thai drama. When King Borommakot saw the drama composition, he was pleased and granted permission to perform the drama of I-nao as another drama in the repertoire (Prince Damrong, 1965: 103-105). Khwam Song Cham (Memoir) Prince Damrong composed this book while he was residing in Penang after the change of the government from absolute monarchy to democracy in 1932. Those who read this book will see that his Memoir is more concerned with history rather than his autobiography. This book gives a lot of information about life in the Grand Palace, for example, the education for young princes in those days; King Mongkut’s biography in detail, from the time before he ascended the throne to the years after; events during the succession from King Rama IV to King Rama V; and happenings during the early years of King Rama V’s reign. Apart from giving information about the life and events from the various periods of history generally known from historical texts, there are also some parts in the Memoir that make the readers feel that they have participated in the events, and undersand the actual thinking and outlook of the people at that time. There is one story that Prince Damrong relates quite amusingly. It is the story of “ice” which was strange and new at that time. “… One strange thing was the ice. It seemed that it was made in Singapore recently. Someone often sent a block of ice covered in sawdust to the King. Whenever the King received the ice, he distributed it to princes and high-ranking government of fi cials. Those who had just seen it, children such as myself, liked to chip it into small pieces, keep a piece in my mouth and feel the coldness quite enjoyably. Those who were older did not like it so much. They often complained that eating ice gave them Prince Damrongrajanubhab and Thai Literature

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