A Study on Tarm Sadet Sai Yok as an Innovative Verse Journal

Abstract

This article investigates Tam Sadet Sai Yok (escorting the royal excursion to Sai Yok), a literary work by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) of Thailand, as an “innovative verse journal” through close reading and descriptive analysis. The study reveals that the innovativeness of this verse journal Tam Sadet Sai Yok, is characterized by its use of a female narrator, which transforms the traditional narration of verse journals where authors and narrators are males. Furthermore, the author also mocked and satirized the norms of verse journaling, resulting in “non-traditional” verse journal writing and an informative presentation of the journeys by indicating the “date” chronologically. This unique way of verse journaling demonstrates the author’s attempt to present innovative things to challenge the taste of contemporary readers, especially royal women. More specifically, their attention to traditional verse journals primarily focused on sentimental descriptions and melodramas with repetitive plots was shifted toward informative journals.