The Concepts of Travel and Views on Nature in the Thai Travel-Related Literature from Ayutthaya Period to the Reign of King Rama 5 of Rattanakosin Period

Abstract

The research article aimed to study the concepts of travel and views on nature in the travel-related Thai literature from Ayutthaya period to the reign of King Rama 5 of Rattanakosin period. The study employed the qualitative research by means of interpreting the documents, with an emphasis on the literary texts, the types of literary texts based on Niras as well as the archives of travel records in both proses and verses. While the time scope of literature was set from studying the travel-related literature dated back to the start of the written record in Ayutthaya period until the modernization period of the country. The research results found that there were three characteristics of the concepts on travel and views on nature: 1) nature as a female, 2) nature as a destroyer, and 3) nature as a protector. The traveling from Ayutthaya period until the reign of King Rama 5 of Rattanakosin period was full of difficulties, in which one of the obstacles of traveling was the nature itself that a traveler had to struggle through in order to reach the destination. With the awareness of nature in both positive and negative perspectives, it was found that the views on nature as a female had led to the positive concepts of nature, namely, nature as a protector of a traveler; while the negative concepts of nature had a view towards nature as a destroyer that brought dangers and obstacles upon traveling. Nature would protect or destroy human partly depended on the human himself; if his behavior was good and moral, and respected nature, nature would protect him throughout the traveling until reaching the destination safely; but if human was immoral, greedy, and destroyed nature, he would be destroyed by nature as well. This kind of concept had been influenced by Buddhist beliefs, including the indigenous traditional beliefs, spiritual beliefs, as well as various beliefs in different travels.