Princess' daughter produces moving tribute to her mother

MOURNING THE PRINCESS / LITERARY WORKS, CONDOLENCES, COMMEMORATIVE COINS

ROYAL BOOK SET SELLING OUT FAST

Princess' daughter produces moving tribute to her mother

Story by PIYAPORN WONGRUANG

Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, in a sleeveless blue dress, smiles broadly in the picture on the white cover of a book set, Saeng Nueng Kue Roong Ngam (One light is a beautiful rainbow).

The new two-book publication sits next to one of the late Princesss' best sellers, The Princess Mother, on the counter of a bookstore in Lat Phrao. There aren't many copies left. Like other bookstores, people are now looking for the set, hoping to get one as a keepsake of the memory of the Princess.

One of the sales staff said the store had put in two separate orders for collections of the books over the last few days, and more than 100 have already been sold.

The set, comprising two separate books, is priced at 1,000 baht.

The store has also received several calls for advance orders for the book.

Another book store in the Lad Phrao area, B2S, has also received similar requests. Salakjit Padungkit, the manager of the store, said customers had either walked in or made calls to the store trying to find out about buying a copy of the much sought-after books.

She said the store had run out of copies but had ordered more, which should be arriving soon.

''We are waiting for the new supply,'' said Ms Salakjit.

The books were put out by the late Princess' daughter Thanpuying Tasanavalaya Sornsonggram, who wanted to do something for her mother on her 84th birthday in June last year.

A team at the Amarin Publishing Service department, including Pattrawan Pultawekiat, the department's Editorial Director and also the books' content editor, were assigned to prepare and produce the books.

They were given the task of ensuring the publication was easily understandable and properly reflected the character of the late Princess.

The team, with advice from Thanpuying Tasanavalaya, eventually came up with the concept of the two-book set.

Over a nine-month period, Ms Pattrawan read dozens of books about the Princess in order to understand her ideas and her life.

As a result of her and the teams' efforts, the books came out in two separate copies. One is Saeng Nueng (One Light), which conveys accounts of the Princess' personal life, and the other, Kue Roong Ngam (Being a beautiful rainbow), with stories about her character and work.

''The books are special in themselves because they are something that her daughter and grandson wanted to do for her. They contain content which explains the Princess through various aspects and roles in her life with close supervision and comments from the Thanpuying.

''The work was also a great lesson in my life,'' said Ms Pattrawan.

Saran Boonprasert, an independent pictorial book editor, said the books have additional value as a chronological record of the monarchy over the years.

They would be a source of information for historians in the future, he said.

Arunya Buddhinan, president of the Rewat Buddhinan Foundation, who ordered copies, said she wanted to keep them in memory of the Princess. They are precious and she wanted her loved ones to have them too, she said.