An earful

Thanya’s Facebook post on 25 July, which was later removed

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Ecofeminism in Thai Literature
Thanya Sangkhaphanthanon
Nakhon Press: 2013

When the former prime minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra, fled the country in late July, Thanya Sangkhaphanthanon, professor of Thai literature at Mahasarakham University, posted a poem on his Facebook page. Called “Khadi hu” (“The case of the ear”), the four-line poem used kham phuan (a Thai rhyme using flipped words) to refer to the former prime minister of Thailand as a “vile vagina”;

ang ruang huu lob nii taam phii chaai
huu khun pii chang raai luea pra-maan

(Using your ears as an excuse to flee the country like your big brother/ How immeasurably vile are the ears of Ms Pi [flipped, the ear becomes the vagina])

Unsurprisingly, the poem triggered a national outcry. Many felt that Thanya’s misogynistic language disqualified him from his title of National Artist, his position on the country’s premier literary board, his SEA Write Award and his academic position as professor of Thai literature. Some went so far as vowing to burn the author’s books and even calling for punitive measures.

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