Hāng Châng 

Preface

Hāng Châng is a fictional story chronicling the lives of three women - Grandmother, Mother and Daughter. Sophea is the mother of Jiraporn who is the mother of Tangmo. The title 'Hāng Châng' is Thai and means 'The Elephant's Tail'. It refers to a Thai phrase 'ดูช้างให้ดูหาง ดูนางให้ดูแม่' which literally translated is 'When you look over an elephant, look at its tail - to understand a girl, look at her mother'.  This is the closest Thai phrase I am aware of to the English saying - 'Like Mother, Like Daughter'. 

Taken in chronological order, the three stories start with Sophea, then Jiraporn and finally Tangmo and although the timeline stretches from 1962 until 2022, the main events occur from 1980-86, 2008-9 and 2020-22 respectively. However, this is not the way they were conceived. I began with Jiraporn's story in 2009 and entered what is now the first chapter into a short story competition later that year, and remarkably it won. I always felt that it was just the beginning of something else and so proceeded to do absolutely nothing! But I never stopped thinking about it and off-shoots and possibilities kept coming and disappearing in my head. Towards the end of 2023 I found myself with a lot more time and could focus on this project - this is where I am now. 

I want to make three things absolutely clear to dispel any potential misunderstandings - 

Firstly, this is a work of fiction, the events did not happen, are not happening and it is unlikely they will ever happen. Similarly, all the characters are figments of my imagination. There are people and actions in this work that are similar to people I have met and actions I have witnessed, but no person or event is being depicted here - it is a story, nothing more and nothing less. 

Secondly, I am not a mechanic, doctor, lawyer etc. and I do not want anyone to think that the details that occasionally arise in this work profess to be factual. The process of signing a medical consent form, the intricacy of repairing and rebuilding a motorbike and other such components of this tale have been researched and advice has been given by knowledgeable people to make them plausible, but their purpose here is to embellish the story, not to provide a definitive guide. 

Finally, my portrayal of Thailand (and other South East Asian) countries. Having lived here for over 20 years I'm hardly any more enlightened with regard to the culture and ways of life than I was when I first arrived - and that is probably why I love the place. It is so different to 'western', or 'farang', culture that even now hardly a day goes by without me taking a second glance at some interaction, being amazed by a new aroma as I pass through a market, stunned by a unique flavour assaulting my taste buds or being made speechless by a sunset I thought possible only in a computer generated movie. Yet, many aspects of life are so similar as well. There are good and bad people everywhere, there are pro's and con's everywhere, there are days when I get hugely frustrated, and times when a kid working on a stall can smile and make the weight on my shoulders just disappear. I have tried to tell it as I have seen it, Thailand is undoubtable a sensational place to live and visit, but Paradise it is not. Things go wrong, but almost all Thai's want to make things go right. It is the Thai people who have made life here so much richer than I had hoped it could be, and I'm grateful to them all.    

My intention is to complete Jiraporn's story first, then try to assemble the many components of Sophea's story before facing what has become my most daunting task - Tangmo. Here goes ...

Jiraporn's Story