In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 25 December 1930
- Birthplace
- Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
- Country
- Thailand
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- Stories published as Lao Khamhom
- Pen name
- Lao Khamhom
Why this life matters
His career joins the making of stories with earning a living on the land. Revisions and translations show that a short story can continue to change long after its first appearance.
Timeline
Key moments
National recognition
Named a National Artist.
Work before and alongside fiction
Khamsing studied journalism at Chulalongkorn University, worked for Naew Nah and entered forestry work in Chiang Mai in 1952. In 1956 he began assisting a Cornell-affiliated researcher in Thailand. These jobs preceded the stories associated with his pen name, Lao Khamhom.
Sources for this section: [1]
Stories and the pressures of political life
The CMU appendix places the beginning of his pen-name publications in 1958 and associates him with Fah Bo Gan. It describes farming and a pause in writing under Sarit, followed by a return to stories in 1960, and records his National Artist designation in 1992.
An interview-based account describes his departure after the violent suppression of 1976, disillusionment with the Communist Party of Thailand, and movement through Laos to Sweden. Later accounts disagree over the precise year of his return to Thailand.
A story with more than one publication life
Aan Publishing’s editor’s note traces The Deva to a story published as Oh, Father in 1997. Khamsing subsequently revised and retitled it. Domnern Garden prepared an initial English translation in 2007; Tyrell Haberkorn later served as translation editor. The bilingual edition appeared in 2016.
The sequence identifies several kinds of labour. Revising the Thai story, drafting an English version and editing that translation are connected activities, but their dates and responsibilities should remain distinct.
Sources for this section: [3]
Rural experience and a continuing readership
His interview recollections connect literary work with a rural upbringing and the choices made during exile. They are personal testimony, not a complete public chronology.
Together with the later publisher’s account, they show a career that continued through interruption, return and revision. The writer is neither confined to the first collection nor replaced by the political events around it; the changing story remains part of his contribution.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Khamsing Srinawk
- Who made the English version of The Deva?
- The publisher credits Domnern Garden’s initial translation and Tyrell Haberkorn’s later translation editing.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Chart Korbjitti
Compare fiction concerned with judgement and ordinary lives.
- Pira Sudham
Compare another literary treatment of rural northeastern Thailand.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Chiang Mai University Library, 2005 thesis appendixAppendix: Lao Kamhom biography
Not the full thesis or other authors’ adjacent biographies. Its return-year claim conflicts with later interview-based evidence.
- 2. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and DissertationsKhamsing interview account
Not a full-thesis read. Interview memory differs from CMU return chronology; erroneous elections wording is not adopted.
- 3. Aan PublishingThe Deva: credits and editor’s note
No 88-page story read. Publisher explains successive story/translation/revision events.