Synopsis
Spoil the children.
Mai put her head down and started to cry. Everything was going wrong. Her university tutor told her she would fail, unless her work improved greatly. But creative writing was her strength, wasn’t it? How can this be? The concierge asked when she was leaving, but she wasn’t. Tar, her neighbour two doors up, stopped to ask if he could help. The concierge smiled; Tar was cute. Mai barely noticed. It was all too much.
She wanted to write a book, yes, a book. Modern Thai life with a quirky, humorous twist. She planned to ask her Aunt Ploy to publish it. Say thirty thousand copies to start. Ploy published porn magazines so explicit that buyers got them in brown paper bags. Not to be opened in the bus.
It was a long narrow building. Mai could hear the chug-chug of the printing press at the back. She entered from the side door. God’s Gift to Women met her in a state of almost total undress, ready for work. He was surprised; she didn’t look the part. The middle was a film studio, with screens, cameras, lights and assistants. She blurted out I’m here to see my aunt Ploy.
You know you can write for our three magazines. That is paid work. We need some porn stories. It will take some poetic licence, some getting in the mood, you know. Sorry, but I cannot. When you have finished your book then, bring me a copy. If I like it. I will publish it. Agreed.
Later … People were reading it in cafes, in offices, in shops under the counter, in taxis and in the metro. It was a runaway hit. Thirty thousand copies were not nearly enough. A second printing run followed. Mai and her book became household names.
A knock on the door. Two TV executives came in and asked her to appear on their Good Morning Bangkok program, for say six months. Wildly popular, that led to her own program.
Tar smiled at her again; Mai smiled back. One thing led to another: in time marriage and two children. Thais like to spoil little children rotten with beautiful clothes and toys. It is a national weakness, along with soccer, elephants and chocolate. Time for a follow-up book.
Bio
A man’s a man wrote Berthold Brecht. That covers it for Peter Wright, now writer.