At just 25, Panu Trivej is the youngest writer to make it as a top 10 finalist in the SeaWrite Awards 2006, with his second book "Orphan of Heaven".

"This is the first time I've submitted my writing to the SeaWrite Awards. I don't think I'll be the SeaWrite winner, but I am glad to get into the final round.  It's an opportunity for me to expand my vision and get to know more people," says Panu.

"Orphan of Heaven" concerns five characters with completely different personalities, goals, and problems, though they come from the same family. According to the author, these differences are explained by the fact that each personality can be categorised according to the five elements of nature: earth, water, wind, fire and gold.

"I want people to recognise the different personalities in each other and get readers to respond to the uniqueness of each character," says Panu.

Waters are calm and reserved in their emotions, earths are committed to principles and beliefs, golds are quick and talented but also emotionless, winds can communicate well and bring people together, and fires are emotional artistic types.

"There are many characters in my writing. I think sometimes Thai novels stick to just one character which makes the story linear and uninteresting."

Panu started writing as early as Grade 12 after being inspired by Wanich Jurunggidanan's book "Soi Daew Kan".

"I like Wanich's style of writing, which is simple and straightforward. Reading the book, I felt it was a miracle that writing could move the reader to laughter, excitement, and tears," says Panu. Inspired, he started out by writing several short stories of his own. One of these was published in the now-defunct Open magazine.

While Panu's been lucky at such a young age to get this book published, he points out that it took seven years before his first novel was accepted for publication.

"You need a lot of patience if you want to be an author," he says.

 Panu started out by translating "The House of Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer, but his biggest break came in winning the Nanmee Books Young Thai Artist Award 2005 with his first book of short stories, "Wannagam Tog Sra". Exploring the subject of relationships, the book provokes questions about achieving fame without having love.

Next, he penned "Orphan of Heaven", which the same publisher happily accepted.

Despite being a writer of fiction, Panu received the King's Scholarship in sciences to pursue a bachelor's degree in physics, graduating with honours from the California Institute of Technology.

He's currently studying for a PhD in atmospheric sciences at UCLA, with the idea, he says, of learning something that could benefit society.

"I listened to the bracing address of His Majesty the King, who said this subject is what we'll need most in the future since Thailand is an agricultural country. Atmospheric science is crucial for agriculture."

Such a broad knowledge of sky and earth came in handy in the writing of "Orphan of Heaven", which he set on the same Caribbean islands where he did research for his PhD.

Not content with short stories and novels, Panu has focused on scripts and screenplays more recently. He directed a short play for UCLA Thai Culture Night and won the best-screenplay Sodsai Award in 2002.

"I'm writing more screenplays that involve a lot of characters. They'll span everything from drama to comedy to thrillers."

Taking the advice of authors Wanich Jurunggidanan and Chart Kobjitti, Panu has honed his novelist's craft through his avid reading of the works of others.

"Thais don't read a lot of books, but the other problem is writers don't read books either. We're more into talking or telling stories, rather than writing," he says.

Evidence of the young wordsmith's multiple talents is not hard to find. He's been a Thai representative for the Physics Olympics for three consecutive years.

"In my free time I do ballroom dancing, play the saxophone and exercise."

 Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra

 The Nation