Issue 6: Summer/Monsoon 2024
Editors: Peera Songkünnatham and Tyrell Haberkorn
Cover art: Summer Panadd

Agenda: Find value in far-fetched fantasies of justice

Rolling out!

Written by StarlessNight
Illustrated by KamdZ
Translated by the publisher

Reincarnate This Time, Could I Build A Better Country?

Written by Songkha
Illustrated by Mimininii
Translated by Peera Songkünnatham

Children Have Dreams
เด็กๆมีความฝัน

Written by Duanwad Pimwana
Translated by Peera Songkünnatham

A laborer dreams much the same
กรรมกรก็ฝันเฉกเช่นกัน

Written by Sorayut Aiemueayut
Translated by Juria Toramae

Melayu as is felt
มลายูที่รู้สึก

Written by Suphot Dantrakul
Translated by Tyrell Haberkorn

Suphot Dantrakul and the Material of Revolution
ความคิดทางชนชั้นกับการปฏิวัติแบบเพ้อฝัน

Written by Kittiphol Saragganonda
Translated by Tyrell Haberkorn

A Tale of Cruelty
ทารุณนิทาน

Written by Prontip Mankhong
Translated by Tyrell Haberkorn

The Glorious Warrior
นักรบแสนงาม

Past Issues

Issue 1: Mothers
Issue 2: Con-sti-ti-ti-ti-ti-tew-tion
Issue 3: Madman, Madwoman, Madhuman
Issue 4: How Obscene!?
Issue 5: Yours Truly, Ratsadon

About Sanam Ratsadon

Founded in 2021 by a group of volunteer translators, Sanam Ratsadon offers glimpses into Thai political history through stories that capture the resilience, creativity and voices of commoners.

As an online platform for Thai historical sources in English translation, we collect and promote the writings, art performances, and oral histories that shed light on the lived experience and the linked fate of ordinary people past and present. Each issue carries a theme.

Why Sanam Ratsadon?

Sanam Ratsadon means Commoners Field. We take this name from pro-democracy activists’ subversive renaming of Sanam Luang, an open-air, historical site located in the heart of old Bangkok. Conceived as a royal field [‘Luang’ literally means ‘royal’], the common people from the middle and lower classes had at various points in time used and enjoyed Sanam Luang for various purposes: as a public space to fly kites, picnic, spend leisure time, sleep, cruise and sell sex, and also to stage political rallies. In recent years, it was fenced up and reserved mainly for state and royal functions. In September 2020, protestors from various activist groups placed a democracy plaque in the field to reclaim it for the masses. That symbol of resistance disappeared overnight. 

Sanam Ratsadon is a tribute to the generations who have fought for democracy in Thailand. This website showcases the contest for meanings in public spaces. It also tells and explores Thailand’s history as it questions and builds it from the points of view of commoners.