สำนักงานราชบัณทิตยสภา

The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume IV - 2012 132  The English translations of selected S.E.A. Write award-winning works have appeared in The S.E.A. Write Anthology of Thai Short Stories and Poems ; ASEAN Short Stories and Poems by S.E.A. Write Awardees 1999 ; Old Truths, New Revelations ; and The S.E.A. Write Anthology of ASEAN Short Stories and Poems — The 30 th Anniversary . These volumes were aimed at promoting good understandingandmutual respect amongASEANnations. Since theworks are inEnglish, it is hoped that they will also interest readers all over the world and make international literary circles aware of the distinctive as well as common cultures and aspirations of ASEAN countries. At present the genres of literature translated into Thai are short stories and novels. Romance, detective story, mystery and science fi ction are the most popular. A large number of people are addicted to Chinese martial arts or gung fu novels in translation. With the invasion of Japanese movies and soap operas, the trend has shifted to the translation of Japanese literature into Thai, especially the “manga,” the Japanese word for “comics,” consisting of comics and print cartoons, popular among people of all ages in Japan. With the trend of Korean romance becoming prominent among Thai youngsters, new translators emerge in a large number. Their works are often met with criticism that they lack linguistic ef fi ciency and appeal only to young college and school girls. The texts often lose their original meanings and fl avors in the process of translation. Apart from English, Chinese and Japanese texts, there is a rise in the number of texts dealing with philosophy being translated into Thai from the European languages like French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. On the other hand, there are fewer works by Thai authors translated into other languages. Apart from the selected works included in The Anthology of ASEAN Literatures and The S.E.A. Write Anthology of Thai Short Stories and Poems , the popular novel Khu Kam by Dhamayanti has been translated into English as Sunset at Chao Phraya and also into Japanese as the hero of the story is a Japanese naval of fi cer who meets and falls in love with a Thai girl during World War II in Japan-occupied Thailand. Si Phaendin (The Four Reigns) , a novel by the late Prime Minister of Thailand Mom Rajawongse Kukrit Pramoj, depicts the life of the principal character, Mae Ploy, from her childhood to death spanning four reigns. The readers can follow the Translations of National Literature: Existing Translation Works as Means to Promote Better Understanding among Nations