A right royal read

When Subhatra Bhumibrabhas said she wanted to translate The King In Exile: The Fall Of The Royal Family Of Burma by Sudha Shah, people warned that the prospects weren't that bright. Why, they said, would Thai readers want to read about the late Burmese king who lived in exile and died almost a century ago? Subhatra, former journalist and now media activist whose interest in Myanmar dates back years, shrugged off such caution and followed her heart in translating the book into Thai.

The King In Exile: The Fall Of The Royal Family Of Burma

tells the story of King Thibaw, the last monarch of Burma, after he was dethroned in 1885 when the country was losing the war against the British Empire. The book focuses on King Thibaw and his feisty Queen Supayalat during their exile in India, as well as the tragic downfall of their royal descendants. The book succeeds both as a piece of history writing and its focus on the human story at the heart of the drama.

The translated work, called Rachan Phu Plad Pan Din Mua Myanmar Sia Muang, has become a big hit. The publisher, Matichon Books, had to reprint the book twice in a single month when the book was launched late last year. Now the book is being published for the fourth time.

Subhatra chats with Life about the new perspective of Myanmar that the book will offer. 

The book has been reprinted four times already. What makes Thai readers want to read about the life of the last king of Burma?

The world knows very little about the royal family of Burma and what happened to their descendants. Records about the royal family ended in 1885 when the British Empire abolished the monarchy. No one knew about their life in exile in Ratnagiri in India and little was known about their destinies when their descendants returned to Rangoon afterwards.

The author, Sudha Shah, unearthed new information from national archives in India and England. She also interviewed the remaining clans of the royal family. Memoirs, letters and records of daily life of British-appointed supervisors [who accompanied the royal family] shed light on how the monarchy lived in exile, and especially how they reacted and how they thought.

What do you think was the factor that brought about the end of the Burmese monarchy?

King Thibaw lacked the ability to evolve and adjust. For me, the shortcomings came from xenophobia — the deep hatred towards British Empire to the point that they refused to send their four princesses to get a British education. On the contrary, the Siamese monarchy had the ability to adjust and evolve. King Thibaw was in the same age bracket as King Rama V. Both princes had strong and successful fathers. But Thibaw had never been considered as an heir to the throne at all. He had never been groomed, and his succession to the throne was unprepared and accidental when the father abruptly died and Thibaw became king through his ambitious and manipulative mother-in-law. King Rama IV, on the other hand, spent years grooming his son to become King Rama V, and also recruited and fostered a clique of loyal protectors to work for his son.

How did you find King Thibaw as a historical figure to study?

The more I read about him, the more I had compassion towards King Thibaw. He was portrayed as weak, a man with many shortcomings, but the book gives an insight into his mindset and his decision-making. Of course, the monarch in exile lavished a lot of money in donations and traditional rituals, but it was the way they were groomed to perform their roles. The book gives us detailed knowledge of Burmese history and the context of Western imperialism, but I feel I am getting to know more about the family and I feel close to them. 

What about Queen Supayalat? She has a major role in the book too, as well as their four princesses.

People often blame Queen Supayalat for the downfall of the Burmese monarchy. But the power-hungry and ambitious queen ruled over Thibaw even when he was no longer king. I found the book rather sad and heartbreaking especially the part that concerns the destiny of the king's descendants. One of his four daughters got married to a security guard and the other three to men of lower status and most of them took advantage of their wives and took their money. Real life can indeed be more interesting than fiction.

What will Thai readers experience from this book?

Thai readers will not find any wars with Siam because the real enemy of Burma in this book was the British Empire. Readers will learn facts, not fiction, so there will be no heroic figures and villains, just ordinary human beings with flesh and emotional wounds. You can also take it as a tale of a family, indeed as the first generation of Burmese diaspora. It is a story of a family who once lived at the top of the pyramid and found their life spiralling downward. 

For everyday readers, it is not difficult to identify with this book as it is also about a family of children who suffered because their parents clung to the past and were unable to change. Despite lots of facts, the book is highly readable thanks to the author's vivid prose that will help readers see the splendid life of the Royal Court of Burma and witness the life of the last king of Burma and his descendants.