Sunthon Phu Memorial Day
Description:
More than two hundred years ago, on June 26, 1786, Sunthon Phu was born in Bangkok. He was born in the fifth year of King Rama I. His father was from a small town in Reynong, but after his marriage the family lived in Bangkok. Soon after Phu was born, his parents divorced. His father returned to his town, and his mother remarried and later became a nurse at the royal palace.
Sunthon Phu differed from other noble poets in that he was a simple man. Like all young people of that time, he graduated from school at the temple, entered the service of the royal scribe and became famous at the court thanks to his literacy skills and poetry. King Rama II respected him and consulted him on many occasions about the style and literacy of writing.
Under King Rama IV, he was appointed head of the royal scribes. During these years he wrote many poems, including a lullaby for royal children. He died at the age of seventy.
His most famous works include Nirats (a traveler’s poem), Phra Chaisuriya, Khobut, Sinha Kraiphop, Laksanawong, and Phra Aphai Mani.
Many of his sayings became catchy phrases: “If you are in love, soup with the bitterest vegetables seems sweet, but if love is gone, even sugar seems bitter.”