82-559: Kamsuan Samut ( Thai : กำสรวลสมุทร , pronounced [kām.sǔan sā.mùt] ), translated into English as Ocean Lament , is a poem of around 520 lines in Thai in the khlong si meter . It concerns a man who leaves the old Siamese capital of Ayutthaya and travels in a small boat down the Chao Phraya River and out into the Gulf of Thailand . Along the way he laments over his parting from
164-629: A Pali word for ocean. This title appears in Chindamani , a literary manual from the 17th century CE. P. n. Pramuanmarg first associated this title with this poem in 1959. In the early 19th century, the poem was referenced by other poets, Phraya Trang and Narin In, but remained unpublished and little known. By 1950, there were six samut thai manuscripts in the National Library of Thailand and others in private possession. These vary in wording, spelling, and in
246-612: A dominant language in all aspects of society in Thailand, Thai initially saw gradual and later widespread adoption as a second language among the country's minority ethnic groups from the mid-late Ayutthaya period onward. Ethnic minorities today are predominantly bilingual, speaking Thai alongside their native language or dialect. Standard Thai is classified as one of the Chiang Saen languages—others being Northern Thai , Southern Thai and numerous smaller languages, which together with
328-565: A "masterpiece", "(an example of) heightened realism and sensuality", and "one of the most widely imitated nirats in the 17th and 18th (centuries)". Thai language Thai , or Central Thai (historically Siamese ; Thai: ภาษาไทย ), is a Tai language of the Kra–Dai language family spoken by the Central Thai , Mon , Lao Wiang , Phuan people in Central Thailand and
410-533: A four-way distinction among stops and affricates . The maximal four-way occurred in labials ( /p pʰ b ʔb/ ) and denti-alveolars ( /t tʰ d ʔd/ ); the three-way distinction among velars ( /k kʰ ɡ/ ) and palatals ( /tɕ tɕʰ dʑ/ ), with the glottalized member of each set apparently missing. The major change between old and modern Thai was due to voicing distinction losses and the concomitant tone split . This may have happened between about 1300 and 1600 CE, possibly occurring at different times in different parts of
492-417: A lover who he calls Si Chulalak, perhaps the name of a royal consort. The reason for his flight and his destination are not explained. The extant poem ends abruptly, although there might have been a longer variant. The work is considered a precursor or pioneer of the nirat genre of Thai poetry. The authorship, dating and original title of the poem are unknown and have been subjects of academic debate. The poem
574-533: A major change from the 13th century during the Sukhothai Kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries and the Ayutthaya Kingdom that succeeded it when rice growing intensified with the introduction of floating rice , a much faster-growing strain of rice from Bengal . The southern swamps meanwhile changed radically from the 18th century when King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke moved the capital of Siam to Bangkok, and
656-515: A pen-name of the historian and litterateur MC Chand Chirayu Rajani, in 1959; by Dhanit Yupho, the former head of the Fine Arts Department , in 1960; by Lalana Siricharoen in 1970; by Sujit Wongthes and a team from the Matichon publishing group in 2006; and by Winai Pongsripian in 2010. Dhanit’s edition was included in the Fine Arts Department ’s 3-volume Wannakam samai ayutthaya (Literature of
738-624: A process of canalisation and cultivation began, especially as Thailand began to export rice from 1855. The Tha Chin River is the major distributary of the Chao Phraya River. The expanse of the Chao Phraya and Tha Chin Rivers and their distributaries, starting at the point at which the distributaries diverge, together with the land amid the triangle formed by the outermost and innermost distributary, form
820-533: A provincial intellectual who came under the patronage of the Bangkok court, published an elaborate version of the Si Prat story and the composition of this poem, adding a lot of detail and drama without citing any sources. In the early editions of the poem and the early textbooks on Thai literature, the poem was titled Kamsuan Siprat ( กำสรวลศรีปราชญ์ [kām.sǔan sǐː.pràːt] ), the lament or wailing of Si Prat, and
902-521: A relic of the original landscape. As so much has been cleared or altered the potential for creating large protected areas to preserve original habitat no longer exists. However much wildlife does remain in the rice fields and steps may be taken to preserve these as urban and industrial development on the plains is ongoing and the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand has very little control or planning over this. Particular threats come from
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#1732869903981984-525: A syllable that formerly began with a voiceless consonant (including glottalized stops). An additional complication is that formerly voiceless unaspirated stops/affricates (original /p t k tɕ ʔb ʔd/ ) also caused original tone 1 to lower, but had no such effect on original tones 2 or 3. The above consonant mergers and tone splits account for the complex relationship between spelling and sound in modern Thai. Modern "low"-class consonants were voiced in Old Thai, and
1066-429: A wide range of techniques and devices to express his love and appreciation of the distant beloved. In their classical form, nirat are poems based on a journey where sights, events, and place-names along the way trigger an association with a parted lover. The genre was popular in the 19th century, especially in the work of Sunthorn Phu . In this poem, around half of the place-names mentioned trigger an association with
1148-487: Is at a single location that covers less than 10 km (4 sq mi). The endangered dwarf loach , another species bred in large numbers for the aquarium trade, has been extirpated from most of its range in Chao Phraya. The critically endangered Siamese tigerfish has been entirely exirpated from Chao Phraya and Mae Klong, but small populations remain in the Mekong basin. Many other species that either are prominent in
1230-500: Is based on the register of the educated classes by Central Thai and ethnic minorities in the area along the ring surrounding the Metropolis . In addition to Central Thai, Thailand is home to other related Tai languages . Although most linguists classify these dialects as related but distinct languages, native speakers often identify them as regional variants or dialects of the "same" Thai language, or as "different kinds of Thai". As
1312-507: Is based on the dialect of the central Thai people, and it is written in the Thai script . Hlai languages Kam-Sui languages Kra languages Be language Northern Tai languages Central Tai languages Khamti language Tai Lue language Shan language others Northern Thai language Thai language Southern Thai language Tai Yo language Phuthai language Lao language (PDR Lao, Isan language ) Thai has undergone various historical sound changes. Some of
1394-424: Is missing, possibly because verses have been added or been lost. There is no critical edition comparing the variations in the manuscripts. The first printed edition appeared in 1950, edited by Chanthit Krasaesin. He used nine manuscripts, and reported: Each one is different, in wording and meaning ... every manuscript is faulty in one way or another ... some verses are beyond my wisdom to understand ... The language
1476-496: Is the language of poetry, which enormously increases the difficulty of interpreting the meaning. After reading, I did not understand fully and had to surmise and research in old books of a similar age ... I still have to use some estimation and guesswork as well. As such there has to be some things wrong, some right as a matter of course. Several other editions followed: by Phra Worawetphisit, the long-time dean of Thai literature at Chulalongkorn University, in 1958; by P. n. Pramuanmarg,
1558-479: Is the language of television, education, news reporting, and all forms of media. A recent research found that the speakers of the Northern Thai language (also known as Phasa Mueang or Kham Mueang) have become so few, as most people in northern Thailand now invariably speak Standard Thai, so that they are now using mostly Central Thai words and only seasoning their speech with the "Kham Mueang" accent. Standard Thai
1640-665: Is the major river in Thailand , with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand . On many old European maps, the river is named the Mae Nam (แม่น้ำ), the Thai word for "river" (literally, "motherly water"). Irish surveyor and cartographer James McCarthy , F.R.G.S. , who served as Director-General of the Siamese Government Surveys prior to establishment of
1722-462: The Ayutthaya , nobles swept away to Burma after the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, there is a story about a court poet, Si Prat , who was exiled from Ayutthaya to Nakhon Si Thammarat as punishment for romancing a court lady. When he then romanced one of the governor’s wives, the governor condemned him to death. Just before his execution, Si Prat pronounced a curse: “Let this sword that kills me later kill
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#17328699039811804-404: The Chao Phraya River which were cut off by shortcut canals dug in 1542 and 1635 respectively. He argued that the poem must predate those canals. As a result of these findings on the language, route, and lack of historical sources, academic opinion now rejects the Si Prat story. The editions by Sujit Wongthes in 2006 and Winai Pongsripian in 2010 both adopt the title Kamsuan Samut and argue that
1886-644: The Gulf of Thailand . In Chai Nat , the river then splits into the main course and the Tha Chin River , which then flows parallel to the main river and exits in the Gulf of Thailand about 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Bangkok in Samut Sakhon . In the low alluvial plain which begins below the Chao Phraya Dam , there are many small canals ( khlong ) which split off from the main river. The khlongs are used for
1968-500: The IUCN ), but Cryptophaea saukra is critically endangered and Caliphaea angka is endangered . There are few areas of wetland protected as national parks, but these are mostly very small. The Chao Phraya basin is home to around 280 species of fish, including about 30 endemics . By far the most diverse family is Cyprinidae with 108 species. The mainstream of the Chao Phraya River has about 190 native fish species. In general,
2050-517: The Ping River (with its principal confluent, the Wang River ), and the Tha Chin River . Each of these tributaries (and the Chao Phraya itself) is augmented by minor tributaries referred to as khwae . All of the tributaries, including the lesser khwae, form an extensive tree-like pattern, with branches flowing through nearly every province in central and northern Thailand . None of the tributaries of
2132-518: The Ramayana tradition, and Sudhanu and Samutthakhot from the Paññāsa Jātaka . A sample verse (77): I think back to the two of us trysting, my jewel, the taste of betel, mouth to mouth, the scent of your sandal rousing through to dawn, me unfazed by flesh on fire, you fanning hard. From the late 18th century, the poem was associated with a court poet named Si Prat . In the testimony of
2214-645: The Royal Thai Survey Department , wrote in his account, " Mae Nam is a generic term, mae signifying "mother" and Nam "water," and the epithet Chao P'ia signifies that it is the chief river in the kingdom of Siam." Herbert Warington Smyth , who served as Director of the Department of Mines in Siam from 1891 to 1896, refers to it in his book first published in 1898 as "the Mae Nam Chao Phraya". In
2296-457: The Si Prat story is a myth. Thai-language studies have focused on the issues of dating and authorship with little attention to other aspects of the poem. Western-language studies have focused on the poem’s role as a pioneer of the nirat genre. In a 1972 article and 1974 thesis, Manas Chitakasem wrote: Khlōng Kamsuan Sīprāt has thus served as the model for Khlōng Nirāt composition. It emerges as
2378-463: The water quality of major rivers flowing into the upper Gulf of Thailand has seriously deteriorated, and the lower Chao Phraya contains bacteria and nutrient pollution from phosphates , phosphorus , and nitrogen . Nutrient pollution causes algae to grow faster than ecosystems can handle, harming water quality, food resources for aquatic animals, and marine habitats. It also decreases the oxygen that fish need to survive. PCD rated water quality at
2460-477: The Ayutthaya era), published in 1987 and 2002. The male speaker is evidently of elite rank. A mass of servant girls “fill the bank” when he boards the boat to leave Ayutthaya. In two places, he addresses his parted lover as Si Chulalak ( Thai : ศรีจุฬาลักษณ์ ), which was the official name of a royal consort, but also could simply mean “fine-featured.” There is no other usage of distinctive language that identifies
2542-571: The Chao Phraya delta . The many distributaries of the Chao Phraya delta are interconnected by canals that serve both for irrigation and for transportation. The lowland areas of the Chao Phraya watershed in central Thailand have been designated as the Chao Phraya freshwater swamp forests , a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion , an area about 400 km (249 mi) north to south and 180 km (112 mi) wide. The original swamp forests have almost entirely been removed as
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2624-709: The Chao Phraya extend beyond the nation's borders. The Nan and the Yom River flow nearly parallel from Phitsanulok to Chumsaeng in the north of Nakhon Sawan Province. The Wang River enters the Ping River near Sam Ngao district in Tak Province . When measured from the most commonly accepted source, which is the confluence of the Ping and Nan River in Nakhon Sawan, the river measures 372 km (231 mi). However, when measured from
2706-615: The Chao Phraya is a major transportation artery for a network of river buses, cross-river ferries, and water taxis ("longtails"). More than 15 boat lines operate on the rivers and canals of the city, including commuter lines . The principal tributaries of the Chao Phraya River are the Pa Sak River , the Sakae Krang River , the Nan River (along with its principal confluent the Yom River ),
2788-508: The English-language media in Thailand, the name Chao Phraya River is often translated as river of kings . On the basins of Chao Phraya River rose the earliest civilizations in the south east Asia, most notably the ancient Mon kingdom and the civilization of Dvaravati from the 7th century to the 11th century, the river played a crucial role in the Lavo kingdom that existed on its left bank in
2870-500: The Khmer system first before the Thai borrowed. Old Thai had a three-way tone distinction on "live syllables" (those not ending in a stop), with no possible distinction on "dead syllables" (those ending in a stop, i.e. either /p/, /t/, /k/ or the glottal stop that automatically closes syllables otherwise ending in a short vowel). There was a two-way voiced vs. voiceless distinction among all fricative and sonorant consonants, and up to
2952-609: The Northwestern Tai and Lao-Phutai languages, form the Southwestern branch of Tai languages . The Tai languages are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family , which encompasses a large number of indigenous languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Guangxi south through Laos and Northern Vietnam to the Cambodian border. Standard Thai is the principal language of education and government and spoken throughout Thailand. The standard
3034-484: The Thai-speaking area. All voiced–voiceless pairs of consonants lost the voicing distinction: However, in the process of these mergers, the former distinction of voice was transferred into a new set of tonal distinctions. In essence, every tone in Old Thai split into two new tones, with a lower-pitched tone corresponding to a syllable that formerly began with a voiced consonant, and a higher-pitched tone corresponding to
3116-571: The Upper Chao Phraya valley, Chao Phraya maintained its role in the kingdoms that succeeded the Lavo kingdom, forming the bases of the Ayodhaya kingdom, that was later incorporated into the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 14th century, which itself was precursor of modern Thailand (known formerly as Siam), the river became very significant after the establishment of Rattanakosin (Bangkok) in 1782 on its east bank,
3198-977: The aquarium trade or important food fish are native to the Chao Phraya basin, such as the climbing perch , blue panchax , Asian bumblebee catfish , giant snakehead , striped snakehead , walking catfish , banded loach , several Yasuhikotakia loaches, tinfoil barb , Siamese algae eater , silver barb , pearl danio , rainbow shark , Hampala barb , black sharkminnow , Leptobarbus rubripinna , long pectoral-fin minnow , bonylip barb , Jullien's golden carp , blackline rasbora , scissortail rasbora , Tor tambroides , finescale tigerfish , marble goby , Chinese algae eater , giant featherback , clown featherback , giant gourami , several Trichopodus gouramis, iridescent shark , several Pangasius , Belodontichthys truncatus , several Phalacronotus sheatfish, several Wallago catfish, largescale archerfish , smallscale archerfish , and wrestling halfbeak . The Thai Pollution Control Department (PCD) reports that
3280-615: The aquatic fauna of Chao Phraya and Mae Klong show clear similarities, and they are sometimes combined in a single ecoregion with 328 fish species. Despite their similarities, there are also differences between the aquatic fauna of Chao Phraya and Mae Klong; the latter (but not the former) is home to a few taxa otherwise only known in major Burmese rivers: the Irrawaddy , Salween , and Tenasserim . The aquatic fauna in Chao Phraya–Mae Klong also show clear similarities with that of
3362-405: The characters as royal. The introduction celebrates the city of Ayutthaya for the glory of its temples and palaces and the achievements of past kings. Five charming verses celebrate the city as a haven for lovers to meet in the evenings. At verse 13, the speaker boards a boat to leave Ayutthaya without saying farewell to his lover. The reason for his departure is not explained. From here onward
Kamsuan Samut - Misplaced Pages Continue
3444-419: The conversion of rice paddies to large-scale production of prawns by pumping in seawater, and the use of pesticides to eliminate the introduced snail, Pomacea canaliculata , which damages rice plants. There are populations of threatened birds, including colonies of breeding water birds such as the world's largest populations of the near-threatened Asian openbill ( Anastomus oscitans ), and other birds such as
3526-432: The critically endangered giant barb (wild populations have been extirpated from Chao Phraya, but remain elsewhere), critically endangered giant pangasius , and endangered giant freshwater stingray . The critically endangered red-tailed black shark , a small colourful cyprinid that is endemic to Chao Phraya, is commonly seen in the aquarium trade where it is bred in large numbers, but the only remaining wild population
3608-428: The descriptions typical of a literary traveler. At Khom Phreng ( Thai : ขอมเพรง ) he recounts the tale of a curious accidental death which gave rise to the village’s name. At Chamangrai ( Thai : ฉมงงราย ), he sketches the scene of a fishing village and a busy fresh market. At Bang Nai Yi ( Thai : บางนายญี่ ) he describes his boat crew getting drunk The nirat -like passages are not the only devices deployed to display
3690-475: The distinctive feeding of a Bryde’s whale , as well as dolphins and several species of fish. In the Gulf, he encounters a storm which damages the boat and makes him fear for his life. After he makes a plea to the gods, the storm recedes. In the final verse, he instructs his lover: Keep this letter under your pillow, beloved. Don't just read it for fun. Let it be your companion in bed, Every night, my love, every night. (tr. Manas Chitakasem) The poet uses
3772-473: The divide roughly corresponds to a long section of the political border of the country today. Southern portions of the divide's boundary correspond less to the nation's political border, because isolation in this area was prevented by the ease of transportation along the lowlands surrounding the Gulf of Thailand, allowing a unified Thai civilisation to extend beyond the watershed without issue. The slightly higher northern plains have been farmed for centuries and saw
3854-419: The eastern shore of the Gulf. The destination of the journey is unknown. The speaker records fauna seen along the way including deer, buffalo, wild ox, rhinoceros and several species of birds. He also comments on the watery landscape of lakes and creeks, the low sky, gardens full of flowers and fruit, masses of jasmine, the flatness of the plain, the coastline, and the surface of the sea. In the Gulf he describes
3936-480: The fish species known from the Chao Phraya–Mae Klong, only about 50 are absent from the Mekong. There has been extensive habitat destruction (pollution, dams , and drainage for irrigation ) in the Chao Phraya basin and overfishing also presents a problem. Within mainland Southeast Asia , the only freshwater region with similar high levels of threat is the lower Mekong. It has been estimated that only around 30 native fish species still are able to reproduce in
4018-434: The irrigation of the region's rice paddies. The rough coordinates of the river are 13 N, 100 E. This area has a wet monsoon climate, with over 1,400 millimetres (55 in) of rainfall per year. Temperatures range from 24 to 33 °C (75 to 91 °F) in Bangkok. The lower Chao Phraya underwent several human-made modifications during the Ayutthaya period. Several shortcut canals were constructed to bypass large loops in
4100-473: The language of the poem resembled works dated around 1500, such as Thawathotsamat and Yuan Phai , rather than works of the Narai reign. In his 1959 edition, P. n. Pramuanmarg pointed out that there was no mention of Si Prat in any historical source from Ayutthaya or Nakhon Si Thammarat , and suggested the story was a romantic fiction. On grounds that the beloved has the name of a royal consort, he argued that
4182-515: The local patois as pronounced in Guangdong Ayutthaya , the old capital of Thailand from 1351 - 1767 A.D., was from the beginning a bilingual society, speaking Thai and Khmer . Bilingualism must have been strengthened and maintained for some time by the great number of Khmer-speaking captives the Thais took from Angkor Thom after their victories in 1369, 1388 and 1431. Gradually toward the end of
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#17328699039814264-596: The location of Bangkok on the east bank of Chao Phraya River ensured protection to Siamese kingdom from the Burmese invasions coming from the West. The Chao Phraya begins at the confluence of the Ping and Nan rivers at Nakhon Sawan (also called Pak Nam Pho) in Nakhon Sawan province . After this, it flows south for 372 kilometres (231 mi) from the central plains to Bangkok and
4346-569: The longest source, which is the origin point of the Nan River in the Luang Prabang Range , the river measures 1,112 km (691 mi). The expanse of the Chao Phraya River and its tributaries, i.e., the Chao Phraya river system, together with the land upon which falling rain drains into these bodies of water, form the Chao Phraya watershed . The Chao Phraya watershed is the largest watershed in Thailand, covering approximately 35 percent of
4428-440: The mainstream of the Chao Phraya River. The catfish Platytropius siamensis is endemic to Chao Phraya and Bang Pakong , but has not been recorded since the 1970s and is considered extinct . Recent records of the near-endemic cyprinid Balantiocheilos ambusticauda are also lacking and it is possibly extinct. Three of the largest freshwater fish in the world are native to the river, but these are all seriously threatened:
4510-543: The middle Mekong (the lower Mekong fauna more closely resembles that of the eastern Malay Peninsula ). It is believed that the upper Mekong was connected to Chao Phraya (rather than present-day lower Mekong) until the Quaternary , which explains the similarities in their river faunas. This included the Nan River basin, a tributary of the Chao Phraya, which is home to a number of taxa (for example, Ambastaia nigrolineata and Sectoria ) otherwise only known from Mekong. Of
4592-627: The most historically significant and densely populated settlements of Thailand due to their access to the waterway. Major bridges cross the Chao Phraya in Bangkok: the Rama VI railroad bridge; Phra Pin-klao near the Grand Palace ; Rama VIII , a single tower asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge; Rama IX , a semi-symmetric cable-stayed bridge; and Mega Bridge , on the Industrial Ring Road. In Bangkok,
4674-547: The most significant changes occurred during the evolution from Old Thai to modern Thai. The Thai writing system has an eight-century history and many of these changes, especially in consonants and tones, are evidenced in the modern orthography . According to a Chinese source, during the Ming dynasty , Yingya Shenglan (1405–1433), Ma Huan reported on the language of the Xiānluó (暹羅) or Ayutthaya Kingdom, saying that it somewhat resembled
4756-513: The mouth of Chao Phraya at Bangkok's Bang Khun Thian District as "very poor", worse than in 2014, and their findings indicated large amounts of wastewater were discharged into the river from households, industry, and agriculture. In addition, 4,000 metric tons of plastic flows down the river into the Gulf of Thailand every year. To counter this, Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) signed an agreement with The Ocean Cleanup organization to deploy an Interceptor Original, one of
4838-554: The much-hunted Schomburgk's deer . Today we can only guess at the original habitat and wildlife by comparing it with neighbouring countries. It is believed that the area would have consisted of freshwater swamps inland and salty mangroves on the coast and the river estuaries. The swamp would have been covered in Phragmites marsh grasses. Today there is a small area of this remaining in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park ,
4920-611: The nation's land, and draining an area of 157,924 square kilometres (60,975 sq mi). The watershed is divided into the following basins: To the west, the central plain of Thailand is drained by the Mae Klong and the east by the Bang Pakong River . They are not part of the Chao Praya system. The landscape of the river basins is a very wide, flat, well-watered plain continuously refreshed with soil and sediment brought down by
5002-428: The number and sequence of the verses, suggesting that the work may have survived in fragments, subsequently reassembled, but all the manuscripts appear to stem from the same original. After an opening verse in the rai meter , the remainder is in khlong si meter , mostly in the bat kunchon (elephant line) variant. In this form there is usually a rhyme linking one verse to the next. In around 14 places, this link
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#17328699039815084-415: The period, a language shift took place. Khmer fell out of use. Both Thai and Khmer descendants whose great-grand parents or earlier ancestors were bilingual came to use only Thai. In the process of language shift, an abundance of Khmer elements were transferred into Thai and permeated all aspects of the language. Consequently, the Thai of the late Ayutthaya Period which later became Ratanakosin or Bangkok Thai,
5166-436: The person who had it kill me.” When the Ayutthaya king wanted to have Si Prat return and found out he had been killed, he indeed had the governor executed. This story does not mention the poem. However, by the early 19th century, the Bangkok poets, Phraya Trang and Narin In, assumed that this poem was written by Si Prat on his journey into exile at Nakhon Si Thammarat . In 1919, Phraya Pariyati Thamthada (Phae Talalakshmana),
5248-511: The plain has been converted to rice paddies, other agriculture, and urban areas like Bangkok. Much of the wildlife that once inhabited these plains has disappeared, including a large number of fish in the river systems, birds such as vultures, the Oriental darter ( Anhinga melanogaster ), white-eyed river martin ( Pseudochelidon sirintarae ), the sarus crane ( Grus antigone ) and animals such as tigers , Asian elephants , Javan rhinoceroses , and
5330-437: The poem is couched as a message to the lover. He travels southward in a boat with a small crew. Some believe the boat is named Khading thong , Gold or Bronze Bell, which appears in verse 109. Along the way he names around 40 places of which around 30 can be identified. He passes down the Chao Phraya River to the estuary and out into the Gulf of Thailand . The last identifiable places are Sichang Island and Bamboo Island on
5412-405: The poem was written by Boromracha , the son and successor of King Trailokkanat (1448–1488)), between 1482 and 1491, and he identified the poem with Kamsuan Samut , a title found in Chindamani , a 17th century literary manual. Manit Wallipodom, head of the archaeology section of the Fine Arts Department , traced the place-names found in the poem, showing that the boat followed two long loops in
5494-423: The representative of a new genre in Thai poetry in which the poet clearly seeks to express his personal experience of love separation and longing during an actual journey. Gilles Delouche also identified Kamsuan Samut as the origin of the nirat genre. Paul McBain wrote that "The poem is considered the archetypal nirat poem, one which has been imitated again and again." The poem has been variously described as
5576-449: The river, shortening the trip from the capital city to the sea. The course of the river has since changed to follow many of these canals. Provinces along the Chao Phraya include, from north to south, Nakhon Sawan Province , Uthai Thani Province , Chai Nat Province , Sing Buri Province , Ang Thong Province , Ayutthaya Province , Pathum Thani Province , Nonthaburi Province , Bangkok , and Samut Prakan Province . These cities are among
5658-494: The rivers. The lower central plain from the delta north to Ang Thong Province is a flat, low area with an average of two metres above sea level. Further north and into the plains of the Ping and the Nan the elevation is over 20 m. Then the mountains that are the natural boundary of the Chao Praya watershed form a divide , which has, to some degree, historically isolated Thailand from other Southeast Asian civilisations. In northern Thailand
5740-484: The royal vocabulary according to their immediate environment. Thai and Pali, the latter from Theravada Buddhism, were added to the vocabulary. An investigation of the Ayutthaya Rajasap reveals that three languages, Thai, Khmer and Khmero-Indic were at work closely both in formulaic expressions and in normal discourse. In fact, Khmero-Indic may be classified in the same category as Khmer because Indic had been adapted to
5822-490: The speaker’s love for the parted lover. Other devices used are: showing jealousy of other men or gods enjoying her charms during his absence; recalling her physical beauty, especially the slimness of her waist, the flatness of her belly, and the beauty of its “navel flower”; remembering their love-play; calling on gods, spirits, trees, animals and the sky to convey his messages to her; wishing to divide his body into two parts so one can remain with her; and admiring other women along
5904-421: The speaker’s lover. Some trigger a physical memory and appreciation. For example Bang Khadan ( Thai : บางขดาน ), the “Village of Planks,” reminds the speaker of her flat belly. Others recall an event. For example, Mango Village ( Thai : กรยนสวาย ) reminds him or her hands slicing a mango for him. These passage occur mostly in the early part of the poem. Other place-names are just mentioned in passing. Some prompt
5986-535: The terminology "low" reflects the lower tone variants that resulted. Modern "mid"-class consonants were voiceless unaspirated stops or affricates in Old Thai—precisely the class that triggered lowering in original tone 1 but not tones 2 or 3. Modern "high"-class consonants were the remaining voiceless consonants in Old Thai (voiceless fricatives, voiceless sonorants, voiceless aspirated stops). The three most common tone "marks" (the lack of any tone mark, as well as
6068-418: The three tones of Old Thai were split have since merged into five in standard Thai, with the lower variant of former tone 2 merging with the higher variant of former tone 3, becoming the modern "falling" tone. หม ม หน น, ณ หญ ญ หง ง ป ผ พ, ภ บ ฏ, ต ฐ, ถ ท, ธ ฎ, ด จ ฉ ช Chao Phraya River The Chao Phraya River
6150-423: The two marks termed mai ek and mai tho ) represent the three tones of Old Thai, and the complex relationship between tone mark and actual tone is due to the various tonal changes since then. Since the tone split, the tones have changed in actual representation to the point that the former relationship between lower and higher tonal variants has been completely obscured. Furthermore, the six tones that resulted after
6232-508: The urban/rural divide, is partly mutually intelligible with Lao , Isan , and some fellow Thai topolects . These languages are written with slightly different scripts, but are linguistically similar and effectively form a dialect continuum . Thai language is spoken by over 69 million people (2020). Moreover, most Thais in the northern (Lanna) and the northeastern (Isan) parts of the country today are bilingual speakers of Central Thai and their respective regional dialects because Central Thai
6314-555: The vast majority of Thai Chinese enclaves throughout the country. It is the sole official language of Thailand . Thai is the most spoken of over 60 languages of Thailand by both number of native and overall speakers. Over half of its vocabulary is derived from or borrowed from Pali , Sanskrit , Mon and Old Khmer . It is a tonal and analytic language . Thai has a complex orthography and system of relational markers . Spoken Thai, depending on standard sociolinguistic factors such as age, gender, class, spatial proximity, and
6396-489: The way but ultimately finding them less beautiful. Several of these techniques are also found in Thawathotsamat from the same era. The speaker repeatedly describes the physical distress caused by his parting from the lover, particularly felt by his stomach, intestine, kidney and liver, but also by his breast, eyes, and teeth. The speaker draws comparisons with other stories about parted lovers including Rama and Sita from
6478-440: The wintering black kite ( Milvus migrans ). Endemic mammals that remain are the limestone rat ( Niviventer hinpoon ), Neill's long-tailed giant rat ( Leopoldamys neilli ), and the near-endemic Thailand roundleaf bat ( Hipposideros halophyllus ). The Chao Phraya basin is home to about half a dozen endemic dragonflies and damselflies . The conservation status of most of these in unclear (they are rated as data deficient by
6560-449: Was a thorough mixture of Thai and Khmer. There were more Khmer words in use than Tai cognates. Khmer grammatical rules were used actively to coin new disyllabic and polysyllabic words and phrases. Khmer expressions, sayings, and proverbs were expressed in Thai through transference. Thais borrowed both the Royal vocabulary and rules to enlarge the vocabulary from Khmer. The Thais later developed
6642-456: Was dated to the reign of King Narai (1656–1688) or King Sua (also known as Sorasak or Suriyenthrathibodi, r.1703–1709). The story of Si Prat was further elaborated to have Si Prat writing his final curse with a toe in the sand while blindfolded and tied to a stake. This verse, as recorded by Phraya Pariyati Thamthada without any provenance, became one of the best known excerpts of old Thai poetry. In 1947, MR Sumonachat Sawatdikhun proposed that
6724-423: Was once attributed to a court poet named Si Prat in the reign of King Narai (r. 1656–1688), but this is now considered doubtful. The poem was first printed in 1950. It is considered a gem of old Thai literature because of the intensity of the poet's expression of loss and the elegance of the verse. Kamsuan ( Thai : กำสรวล ) is a word of Khmer origin meaning sorrow. Samut ( Thai : สมุทร ) comes from samudda,
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