The French author who received critical acclaim for her first historical novel "Le ministre des moussons" ("Phaulkon of Ayutthaya") eight years ago is all set to thrill Thai readers again with her latest work, an account of the life of King Taksin the Great, founder of the Thon Buri Kingdom.

For "Taksin, le roi des rizieres" ("Taksin, King of the Rice Fields"), launched last week at the Bangkok Book Fair, Claire Keefe-Fox has not followed the conventional research routes. Instead, she has based her work on the religious archives of French missionaries.

She spent five years going through a multitude of references and says her main sources were a PhD thesis penned by a French researcher specialising in ancient Siamese history, the translation    of various chronicles and references she found in the National Library in Bangkok.

Some 10 to 12 French missionaries stayed on in Siam throughout King Taksin's reign, says Keefe-Fox, and were deeply devoted to the people.

"The religious archives can be found in France because the missionaries wrote letters back to Paris telling of their everyday lives. They speak of the days when Ayutthaya was invaded and sacked by the Burma, of the revolt against of the Burmese and their contacts with King Taksin," says the author, who works as an interpreter for French President Jacques Chirac at the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

However, she was unable to find any descendants of the missionaries to interview while conducting her research.

She became interested in King Taksin while writing about Constantine Phaulkon, counsellor to King Narai of Ayutthaya, and felt it would be interesting to make a comparison with Napoleon Bonaparte.

"There are remarkable parallels between the two men and I thought the French would be interested in reading about King Taksin, who lived more or less during the same period," she says.

Both men, she notes, were officers and took a military approach in rebuilding their countries following social upheavals - in the case of France by the revolution and in the case of Ayutthaya after it was destroyed by the Burmese.

"They recreated the legal system and reorganised the religious orders, the economy and education. So they were very universal men," she adds.

Keefe-Fox's novel starts as the Ayutthaya period is drawing to an end and describes the war with the Burmese, how Phya Taksin fought in battle, how he established the royal capital in Thon Buri, restored the spirits of the populace and dealt with the scarcity of food after the war, all the while fighting off his enemies. The book ends with the April 1782 coup d'etat and his execution.

This extraordinary chapter in Thai history has long fascinated the Thais.

"I believe what I found in the documents is the truth, as the French missionaries had no interest in saying anything else. They give examples of how King Taksin was really out of control. And I think King Rama I remained his friend until he no longer could - it reached the point when he had to choose between friend and the country and he chose the country. It was probably a difficult decision. And I don't believe he [King Thaksin] became a monk, although it's tempting to think so," Keefe-Fox notes.

To give the story a smoother flow and also make it easy to understand for foreign readers, Keefe-Fox has created a fictional character, Mathieu Charles de Cavier.

The young Frenchmen, a former adjutant to Louis XV of France, arrives in Ayutthaya a few years before the country falls to the Burmese and acts as narrator.

"I use him to explain to the French something about the country because it is easier to do it that way. The book is historical fiction, a novel, told through my eyes.

"It's my interpretation of the documents. The dialogue is invented and one character is invented. But otherwise, it is as accurate as I can make it using the documents. It is history seen through the eye of a foreigner.

"I hope it acceptable to the Thais because foreigners sometimes make mistakes."

But Keefe-Fox doesn't think there is anything offensive in the book.

"When I wrote it I tried to be as sympathetic to King Taksin as I could. And I am sympathetic to him because I think he was a great genius, militarily and administratively.

"When he became ill I think it was  tragic for him and his friends as well. I believe that I describe him as a man who was tremendous and who loved his country deeply. And I believe that was the case."

The French version has not yet been released. The Thai translation was undertaken by Klauymai Keawsonthi, who also translated Keefe-Fox's first novel.

She is currently working at the Thai Embassy in Paris. The novel is published by Nanmeebook and available at all leading bookstores for Bt298.

Kupluthai Pungkanon

The Nation