"In late February (2025), Ajarn David, author of the bilingual book Poems from Sakon Nakhon, will launch a series of poetry readings in Thai and English on TikTok. "
Thailand Poetry Readings
Y
saan Books is pleased to announce that Ajarn David will be reading from his book "Poems from Sakon Nakhon" in a new series of videos to be posted on TikTok.
Ajarn David just recently set up a TikTok account @ajarndavid to be used especially for this new series of Thai poetry readings.
"Poems from Sakon Nakhon" features Thailand-inspired poems written in English and then translated into the Thai language (along with English transliterations of the Thai). The poetry reading series will feature videos of Ajarn David reading the English and Thai versions of the poetry in separate videos with supporting multimedia.
Bangkok Poetry Slams
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hile every once in a great while there have been Bangkok poetry slams, Thai poetry readings are not something that have taken off much in Thailand, be they in English or the Thai language.
One big reason is that Thai poetry is traditionally highly structured with an aim toward having the poems chanted or sung. Such poems are difficult to write and aren't really conducive for spoken word events at public spaces, much less poetry slams.
Spoken word events generally feature "free verse" poetry, which has yet to gain a wide audience in Thailand. Ajarn David's Thai poetry is written in free verse, and he hopes his video readings on TikTok will inspire more Thais to write in free verse and for venues to begin holding spoken word events, as well as poetry slams for young people in Thailand.
About Ajarn David, Poet in Thailand
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ack in the 1990s, Ajarn David took part in dozens of spoken word events and poetry slams in the United States, winning many of them and publishing two books of poetry.
He has lived in Thailand for over 20 years. "Poems from Sakon Nakhon" is his first book of poetry since 1996, when he stopped writing poetry to travel Europe before eventually accepting a teaching position at the University of West Bohemia, in the Czech Republic.
He moved to Thailand in 2002, and has worked at several universities over the years, including Mahidol University in Bangkok. He currently is a lecturer at Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University.
Thai Poetry Readings on YouTube
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or those older listeners who don't have the TikTok app on their phone, Ajarn David is also posting poetry readings in a slightly different video format on our YouTube Channel: @YsaanBooks.
You can listen to Ajarn David read a very short Thai poem, almost like a haiku, from "Poems from Sakon Nakhon" in the video below.
