Sangthong Kamnerd Prasang: A case study of Suwannasang Chadok Sangtong Royal Writings and Kamnerd Prasang Tale

Abstract

Sangthong has been a folktale that has been widespread in Thai society and some other areas in Asia for a long time. It appeared in many forms and many styles of writing. This article’s aim was to study and compare the various versions of Sangthong that were produced in different times. Those versions were Suwannasang Chadok, Sangthong in the royal version and The Tale of Kamnerd Prasang which has never been studied before. This article studied the purposes, forms, characters’ names, scenes, and storylines. The findings found that the purposes, forms, characters’ names, scenes, and storylines of each style have both similarity and differences in adaptation, enhancement of contents, and cutting off some stories according to the purpose of the authors. This study shows the inheritance and producing of the tale of Sang Thong that happened throughout the years and also indicated that this tale is a masterpiece and would not be lost in time.