When his retirement from diplomatic service came in October 2008, Prabhassorn Sevikul never thought about taking a rest.
As one of the country's famous authors, the former diplomat had planned to dedicate the rest of his life to writing.
"But hardly did I experience a hectic time either as a diplomat or a writer. I always had things to do either before or after retirement, without feeling overly busy," Prabhassorn said, sharing with Life the secret that enables him to multi-task.
However, Prabhassorn has found his life uncharacteristically busy partying since last month, after the Ministry of Culture named him a National Artist in the field of literature.
Since then, family members and friends _ both at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the writers' community _ have thrown parties for him. His schedule is full until next month.
The series of parties speaks volumes about Prabhassorn's quest and his long wait for this most prestigious award _ bestowed to only the country's indisputable top artists. Despite being a best-selling writer, his name had been omitted from the National Artist's list so many times. Many writers were of the view that he should have become a National Artist much earlier.
Prabhassorn started writing in the late 1960s and has since attained a number of literary awards to his credit. He was accepted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1969, the full-time job which permitted him to spend time in various countries _ Germany, Chile, Laos, New Zealand, Turkey and Greece. The globe-trotting background has defined the cultural diversity, the uniqueness of his works _ more than 50 published novels, 150 short stories, over 200 poems and seven non-fiction books _ many of which are best-selling.
Indeed, the Writers Association of Thailand and senior writers led by National Artist Chatchai Visessuwanphum, the author who is known by the pen name "Panomthien" and his popular jungle adventure series Phet Phra Uma (Jewel of Uma Deity), had constantly proposed Prabhassorn's name for the National Artist award for many years.
Finally, the Ministry of Culture granted him the award that officially put him in the rank of legendary Thai writers.
Prabhassorn said he felt a surge of joy and was speechless after receiving a telephone call from Cultural Minister Sukumol Khunploem who informed him directly of the award.
The author admitted that he had quietly waited for the award for too many years and already felt the much coveted prize might elude him forever.
"I do not know how I can walk through such a long road in life. But all I know is that I never ever walk alone," Prabhassorn said, thanking his friends and family members, especially his wife, Chutima, also a writer.
Apart from busy party events (at least for the time being), the National Artist is splitting his time between old and new roles.
As expected, he is writing novels _ one among them, titled Loy Kor (Struggling in the Flood Water), depicting the life of the Thon Buri community residents affected by last year's massive flood is being published in Sakulthai, a popular weekly women's magazine.
And the former diplomat is still undertaking diplomatic work albeit through writing. To promote the Asean group, he has written four novels that focus on the culture and history of countries in the regional bloc. The first of the series "Ja Fan Teung Ter Took Kuen Tee Mee Sang Dao" (Dreaming in Starry Nights) about Indonesia is already available in book shops. The other three novels about the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia and Singapore will be released this year.
Apart from writing novels, Prabhassorn is a newcomer to the radio host community. He is the host of a Sunday night show on FM 92, from 10-11pm, and a show on FM 96.5 every Wednesday, 9-10pm. He also treads journalistic waters by penning columns every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for Kom Chad Luek daily newspaper.
The writer has also secured his place on the internet, a new role he embraced over three years. On his website, www.psevikul.com, Prabhassorn has provided a writing workshop for young writers.
Prabhassorn found the internet a phenomenal way to do research.
"Young writers are more knowledgeable thanks to the internet. If they want to know something, they just Google."
But the internet also has a downside.
"Yet, these young writers do not know the breadth and depth of information. They just get the information but do not really know how the data was derived. They also don't know how to get information from other sources besides the internet. Perhaps life is too easy for them."
As a writer whose works are selected by the Ministry of Education as compulsory reading in literature class, Prabhassorn finds the prose and narrative style of young writers "fragmented".
"Their sentences are short and lack connectiveness. Perhaps this young generation of writers no longer reads long sentences and prose anymore."
