Luk Kreung and the Construction of Thainess,Prince Chula

Luk
Kreung
and
the
Construction of Thainess
Cultural studies have explored the relationship between farang
and Thai national identities or Thainess. These studies put
forward that since the 1950s and the beginning of the 21st
century, foreign influences have intensified to intimate
levels of cultural and physical hybridization. Thus, in the
form of Thai-farang or luk kreung, foreign otherness seems
to have become an object of cultural intimacy in Thailand.
Luk kreung & Thainess
We may say that as a post-Vietnam War era phenomenon, cultural
intimacy between Thai and farang have increased, hence
exceeding the forms of cultural contact in previous
generations. Thus, interracial marriages have become a
widespread social phenomenon since then, although these kind
of unions, and hence luk kreung people, have been known since
the Ayutthaya period.
The half-Thai Prince Chula Chakrabongse & his
English wife Elizabeth Hunter (photo credit:
viola.bz)
In earlier times, i.e. prior to the later decades of the 20th
century, interracial marriages were generally limited to small
groups of people. These were persons who were in the main
cultural contact zones (e.g. Christians, Chinese) and
who worked closely with Europeans.
Ekaterina Desnitskaya, Prince Chakrabongse
Bhuvanath and son Chula (photo credit:
commons.wikimedia.org)
Nevertheless, there were some rare cases in which Thai and
European unions occurred among royals or the elite. For
instance, think of Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanath (Prince of
Bisnulok) and his Ukranian wife Ekaterina ‘Katya’ Desnitskaya
and their half-Thai son Prince Chula Chakrabongse.
Prince Rangsit, his wife Elisabeth and their
three children (photo credit: songkran.eu)
Another prominent example is the racially mixed marriage
between Prince Rangsit Prayurasakdi and the German lady
Elisabeth Scharnberger. They had three children, two sons and
a daughter called Princess Charulaksana Kalyani Rangsit.
Princess Charulaksana Kalyani
Rangsit (born 7 August 1924)
(photo credit:
wikimedia.org)
Seissenshi,
In fact, there were a few Thai men of royal descent who
married Western women at the beginning of the 20th century.
For instance, there was Lady Ludmilla Ivanovna Barsukova from
Russia who was married to General Mhomjao Thongtekhayu
Thongyai. They had four children together and stayed in Hua
Hin. Lady Ludmilla, who is probably of Russian royal
lineage, lived in Thailand until she died in 1980 at the age
of 90. Her Thai name was Mhom Mali.
Lady Ludmilla & Mhomjao Thongtekhayu Thongyai
with their four children in Hua Hin, 1921
(photo credit: returnthai.com)
Thai-farang relationships first became a common social
practice since the 1960s when American GIs were stationed at
the US military bases in upcountry Thailand. Hence, some of
them formed relationships to Thai women who mostly stemmed
from the countryside. As a consequence, a remarkable numer of
half-Thai people were born who also became a prominent topic
in novels, movies and TV series during the 1960s and 70s.
The most significant novels dealing with Thai attitudes to luk
kreung were Sifa’s ‘Khao nork na’ (1976, Wild Rice or
literally translated ‘Rice Outside the Paddy Field’) and
Botan’s ‘Phuying khon nan cheu Bunrort’ (‘That Woman’s Name Is
Bunrort’) which was published in 1981. You might recall my
previous article about ‘Luk kreung and Concepts of Mixed Race
in Thailand’, then you know that the luk kreung from the
Vietnam War era were not regarded as desirable.
The Siam Renaissance – luk kreung as
representatives of Thainess (photo credit:
viki.com)
However, this perception has changed since the 1980s.
Generally, it seems that Thailand has discovered Thai-farang
as representatives of a modern form of Thainess. For example,
the movie ‘The Siam Renaissance’, starring Thai-French
actress Florence Faivre, deals with this subject. The movie
reveals how the concept of the powerful West is stripped of
its foreignness in order to become part of modern Thai
identity.
The Thai-ization of the farang in the Siam
Renaissance (photo credit: 2g.pantip.com)
What is more, cultural anthropologist Jan R. Weisman argues
that the luk kreung boom reveals the Thai fascination
with half-Thai people, a phenomenon related to issues of
modernity, sexuality and race. In this way, Thai-farang is
presented as being cosmopolitan, thus being able to act on a
global stage. Hence, the general popularity of Eurasian luk
kreung have also strengthened the allure of farang in popular
culture that manifested first in the late 19th century with
the Siamese strive for ‘siwalai‘ or ‘civilized’ things.
Summing up, we may claim that the present popular cult of the
European-Thai luk kreung shows that they are very important in
constructing a modern Thai identity which is also referred to
as Thainess.
Yours, Sirinya
(Reference: Rachel V. Harrison & Peter Jackson eds. The
Ambiguous Allure of the West. Traces of the Colonial in
Thailand, 2010)
Prince Chula Chakrabongse of
Siam: Writer & Motor Racing
Enthusiast
Prince Chula Chakrabongse of Siam (จุล​จักร​พง​ษ์), born in
March 1908, was a half-Thai member of the Siamese Royal Family
and the House of Chakrabongse. He was the grandson of King
Rama V of Siam and the only son of Prince Chakrabongse
Bhuvanath (Prince of Bisnulok) and his Ukranian wife
Ekaterina ‘Katya’ Desnitskaya who was a nurse. She is also
referred to as the Russian princess of Siam.
Ekaterina Desnitskaya, the young
prince & Prince Chakrabongse
Bhuvanath
(photo
credit:
commons.wikimedia.org)
In fact, Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanath spent his youth in
Russia. He spoke and wrote Russian perfectly, since his
father, King Chulalongkorn, sent him abroad. The King’s aim
was to modernize Siam. In 1906 he married ‘Katya’
Desnitskaya in Constantinople. King Chulalongkorn, however,
very much disapproved of his son’s marriage to a European
lady and thus refused to meet his daughter-in-law.
Prince Chula Chakrabongse
About two years later, Prince Chula was born in Bangkok in
the Parusakawan Palace. It is said that King Chulalongkorn was
very happy about the birth of his grandson, in particular
because the small prince looked very much Thai and less
European
Prince Chula was given the title ‘Mom Chao’ which
means ‘His Serene Highness’. However, later his uncle, King
Vajiravudh, gave him a higher rank. Since then he is called
‘Phra Chao Worawongse Ther Phra Ong Chao’ (His Royal Highness
Prince).
Young Prince Chula Chakrabongse
(photo credit: bbc.co.uk)
Prince Chula spent most of his youth in Britain. There he
attended Harrow School and returned to Thailand at the age of
23. In 1938 he got married to the Englishwoman Elizabeth
Hunter and they lived in Cornwall during the 1940s and 50s.
Prince Chula & Elizabeth Hunter
(photo credit: viola.bz)
Their daughter, Mom Ratchawong Narisa Chakrabongse, was born
in 1956, 18 years after they got married. In fact, Narisa
Chakrabongse is the mother of our Thai ‘royal rocker’ Hugo
Chakrabongse Levy. Thus, Prince Chula is his grandfather
Hugo Chakrabongse – Prince Chula’s
grandson (img.kapook.com)
Prince Chula was very enthusiastic about motor racing. Hence,
in England he was also supervising a racing team with the name
‘White Mouse Racing’. His younger cousin, Prince Bira (Prince
Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh), drove for him. Chula’s White
Mouse team also bought an English Racing Automobile (ERA) for
Bira in 1936. Thus, he became one of the most important
exponents of this class of international racing. 50 years
later, Prince Bira’s and Prince Chula’s racing car
(‘Romulus’) was brought back to Thailand as the following
video illustrates.
In addition, Prince Chula was also a writer and thus the
author of some historical books concerning the Chakri dynasty.
He wrote both in English and Thai. His most important works
are Chao Chiwit, a book which is supposed to be one of the
essential books that Thai people should read and Lords of
Life: the paternal monarchy of Bangkok, 1782-1932 which is the
history of the Chakri dynasty. This book was first published
in 1960.
Books by Prince Chula
(simanaitissays.com)
What is more, the Prince also wrote the biography of racing
Champion Dick Seaman in 1941 and his own autobiography called
‘The twain Have Met : An Eastern Prince Came West‘ (1956).
However, seven years after publishing his autobiography,
Prince Chula died of cancer in Thailand.
Summing up, we may claim that Prince Chula Chakrabongse was
talented as a writer and enthusiastic as a motor racer. In
addition, he was a Siamese Prince of mixed Thai and European
heritage (‘luk kreung’) which was unusual and rare at
that time. However, he seemed to have felt at home both in
Britain and in Thailand.
Yours, Sirinya