Former Khon Kaen senator Rabiabrat Pongpanich is well known for her sermons to the country's wives. Her most famous slogan, taken from a Thai proverb, is sia thong tao hua, mai yom sia pua hai krai, literally "it's better to lose a chunk of gold as big as your head than it is to lose a husband". And now she's preaching to them in her first book "Kong Nah Mia Luang" ("The Frontline of the Principal Wives").

One of the foot soldiers on this frontline, Rabiabrat chronicles the important events in her life that have turned her into the social critic she is today. As the eldest child of the family in a small town in Khon Kaen province, she had to take care of her siblings as well as her studies. She eventually made her parents proud, graduating with honours from Thammasat University.

She jumped into the limelight after she was elected senator four years ago, and began a vocal campaign against the threats to traditional values in everything from music videos and lyrics, to books and fashion shows.

Since then, she's been a fixture of public life with the media eager to get her traditionalist take on every new trend or event.

Despite her name on the cover, the book has been ghostwritten, the facts and opinions squeezed from her life and presented as if Rabiabrat is talking directly to her readers.

Just Speak Out!

By Kulnadda Pachimsawat

Published by Nation Books

Available at leading book stores, Bt185

Like most Thai kids, young Kulnadda "Nina" Pachimsawat used to be afraid of speaking English. But in time, she learned that speaking a foreign language wasn't that scary. In her first book, "Just Speak Out!", television news presenter Nina shares her life experiences from her childhood through to her time as a university student in the United States, all the while giving practical advice on speaking English. She manages to keep her story flowing while inserting tips here and there.

Keeping the tone light and comical are her comical examples of misuses. Like when she reported to a lecturer that her girl friend had a problem with her "testicles" instead of her "intestines".

Nina also highlights mistakes in English that Thais often make. "Can you send me home?" is one example her - her farang friend couldn't understand what she was asking. It should have been, "Can you take me home?"

Although this is not a must-have book for students of English, the writer's gimmick of mixing her life story with advice on speaking English is a clever one. The book is sure to please her TV fans. Unlike other celebrity's books, Nina's biography has the added attraction of its "edutainment" approach.

by Worm boy