|
" ก้อ " พันฤทธิ์ ดาวเรือง เด็กวัยรุ่นไทยคนหนึ่งที่ทำให้ผู้คนจากหลายประเทศ รู้จักเขาทางอินเตอร์เน็ต เขาเริ่มสร้างเวปบล็อกแรกในประเทศไทย ตั้งแต่วัยเพียง 12 ปี เป็นอดีตคอลัมนิสต์ของหนังสือพิมพ์บางกอกโพสต์ และเป็นผู้เขียนหนังสือ Gor's Thailand Life
Panrit “Gor” Daoruang is undoubtedly
Thailand’s most famous Internet teenager. He has been writing about his
life growing up in Thailand ever since the age of 12. The blogs about
his teenage years first appeared on his internationally acclaimed ThailandLife.com
website back in 1997. Many people have argued that Gor was probably the
first regular blogger in Thailand. In his online secret diary, he wrote
about his school and home life as well as his holidays around Thailand.
However, what gripped everyone’s attention was the turbulent
relationship with his first girlfriend and his harrowing descent into
drug addiction. By the tender age of only 16, he was discovered by the
Bangkok Post who then asked him to write a weekly column for them about
his life.
Every
week for more than two years, Gor entertained and shocked his regular
readers with the antics of a typical modern Thai teenager trying to
coexist with the strictness of Thai culture. Motorcycle racing, teenage
pregnancy, smoking at school, gambling, drinking and drug addiction
were all covered in shockingly honesty in his weekly column called
Gor’s World. However, he also showed how he valued Thai culture and
customs with his descriptions of his own wedding and the birth of his
daughter, Nong Grace. When he reached the age of 20, Gor ordained for a
short time as a monk. Sadly, just a few months after he left the
monkhood, Gor was arrested by the police for drug possession. Gor had
been addicted to “yaa baa”, or crazy medicine, ever since the age of
15. He had tried many times to quit, but the amphetamine drug proved to
be too addictive. Gor was later sentenced to six years in prison though
this was then commuted to three years as the judge had persuaded him to
plead guilty at the last moment. He is now in Samut Prakan Central
Prison where the guards have recruited him to be a kind of unofficial
translator due to his fluency in English.
Gor
started writing this book when he was only twelve years old. He always
knew that one day he would be publishing his autobiography. He just
didn’t realize that he would be doing that at the age of only twenty
one. As a former drug addict and a High School drop out, Gor has shown
his teachers that he wasn’t a lost cause after all. This book is a must
read for anyone interested in Thai culture or who are thinking about
teaching in Thailand. It is refreshing to be able to read a book about
Thai culture that has actually been written in English by a Thai
person. For the first time ever, here is the story of what Thai
teenagers are really up to in their spare time. Not to be missed!
The
book is available in all good bookstores in Thailand such as Asia Books
and Bookazine. It is good value for money as it also has 32 pages of
colour pictures. Gor has decided to donate 100% of his author fees to a
trust fund which has been set up to pay for the education of his
daughter. Nong Grace started Kindergarten in April 2007 at Gor’s old
school.
For people living outside of Thailand, please visit www.BuyThaiBooks.com to place your order.
For people living inside Thailand, please visit www.PaknamBooks.com where the book will be sent for free by EMS.
For customers of PaknamBooks.com , there are special discounts (up to 30%) for teachers and students in Thai schools.
Title: Thailand Life by Panrit 'Gor' Daoruang
Publisher: Bamboo Sinfonia
ISBN: 978-974-7310-09-2
Retail Price: 395 baht
|