Pretentious. The author (or should I say a cheap salesman/opportunist he claims himself to be?) talks as if he knew it all about Thailand and its way of living or thinking. If you want a glimpse to the real Thai, this is not the book you're looking for.Before I get to the part when I express my deep hatred for the book, I feel more than delighted to point out certain false facts that Burdett includes in Bangkok 8.Disclaimer: I'm Thai and was born into a Buddhist family. Below is the explaintaion from my immediate knowledge of my own culture and religious, which is intended to be clear of any patriotic or egocentric comments. (I rather dare say that I might even be sacarstic about my own country. I was raised and educated in a very Westernized society after all.) Any ambiguity caused by confusing and inadequate English skills is totally on me. My mother tounge is Thai. You can simply ask me if anything is unclear to you.1. ArhatThe Real term is Arhant, of which the closet pronunciation I could provide you with is "Or-ra-han" or "ɔː ra han." I'm not an expert with these phonetic symbols, though. An Arhant is an ancient term used for monks who archieve the higest spiritual knowledge possible for typical monks to acquire when alive. (The higher form is Sodaban, which the Buddha was before he went into nirvana.) This concept of an Arhant is simply very outdated. Arhants live only in the era when the Buddha live as it is required that such noble people will be born only in the lifetime of the Budhha. No monk in this modern society context can archieve Arhant even if he spent his whole life meditating, let alone being an Arhant cop, the concept which totally fucked up my head. This is not from a Thai mindset, my friends, Burdett made this up on his own accord. 2. The nature of choosing between becoming a monk or a copEven if I give in to Burdett that, okay, you can have an Arhant in this era, it is still very unlikely for a Thai mindset to abandon your robe and become a cop. If you're really an Arhant, meaning that you're super religiouos, you'll remain a monk. We Thais are sabai-sabai (meaning we're chill at all times), so trust me any man in his right mind would not trade his monkhood for a lowly-paid cop work. How can one refuse the simplicity life consisting of all-day praying, relatively no work, full stomach, and respect from all hard-headed believers?3. If you meet a ghost, you either pray the "Itipiso" prayer or "Pae Metta" prayer, not the "Four Noble Truths." And if you want to control your sexual urges, the last thing you do is to recite the "Eightfold Paths." This is complete bullshit. Burdett can have his facts checked by any air-head Thais but he did not. Why does this not surprise me?4. The emphasis on the surnameThe name "Sonshai" basically has no significant meaning, which is very weird, as in Thai context, the first name is what identifies a person as an individual. Burdett is very crafty in choosing the surname "Chit-plee-cheap" as it means "the mind that can sacrifice his own life." It sounds suitable for Burdett's "Arhat cop" but really? This is such a Western mindset in putting more emphasis on the surname. I'm well aware that certain family names in Thailand have their significances, for examples, those noble families whose surnames were given by the King or the member of the royal family. But let's face it. Sonchai's mother, Nong, is a whore who comes from Petchabun. How can her surname be given by the royal family or be as significant?5. Looking into past livesYOU JUST CAN'T DO THAT. WTH. Okay, okay, I know even among us Thais, there are still some people who believe in this concept. But if this supertitious talent can really be achieved, one can only has a peek into HIS own past lives. HIS OWN PAST LIVES. You cannot sneak into anybody else's. IS THAT CLEAR MR.BURDETT?6. Possession of Warren's body/mindThis is not a cheap horror films where unfortunate someone is possessed by spirits. Where are we? In the Supernatural season 8? COME. ON. And how can Pichai, who is supposed to be an Arhat, get hold of Warren's body? If he's an Arhat, it's likely that he's on his way to nirvana. He wouldn't be hanging around playing homeless spirit. And Fatima? I don't understand this one bit (even though Burdett claims that only illogical Thais like me can understand the phenomena) If she's not dead yet, how can she, who should be in a spirit form, possess Warren? HOW? 7. The name of a Thai cigarett brand mentioned in the book should be spelled as "Krong Thip," not "Krung Thip" which Burdett tried to stylized it to be very close to "Krung Thep."Other things that disturb me so much:1. Burdett seems to claim that his fellow Westerners got bored of the red light districts after just a few visits but a whore like Sonchai's mother will never get bored of this flasgy lifestyle even after she has retired for years. Why so sexist, Burdett? I'm not even mentioning racism.2. A protagonist with so much contradictions in himself? He's an Arhat but he's also a cop. He won't accpet bribe but he bribes others? A half-blood whose identity can't be settled even after 32 years living mostly in Thailand? He still has identity issue? Oh COME ON. And what is it about brandname clothing and perfume fetishes? It's creepy. And he fears that if he sleeps with Jones, he'll become a prostitute? And his deep love for Colonel Vikorn? What more is his obsession with Pichi, his SOUL BROTHER. COME. ON. There is no such concept in Thai context. 3. The way the characters always mention how Thai they are or how Thai they think.Hmm. Do you Westerners pause in a middle of a conversation to reflect, "Ah, that's so Western of me!" Hmm. I doubt that.4. The way the characters mention Buddha with everything."I'm sure Buddha approve of this.""May Buddha bless him."My ass. This sounds more like "May God bless him."We Thais do not spek like this. All in all, this book is extremly pretentious. Please read it with an open mind. Don't trust Burdett too much. He doesn't have the authority to write this book at all. In certain aspects, though, I admit that he's quite knowledgable. For example, he knows the steets in Thailand. Like what he talks about Soi Sukhumvit 33-39 is true. It really is a Japansese community. And the Supalai complex really is in Soi Sukhumvit 39, toward the end that connects with Petchaburi road. But COME ON specailazing in the streets of Bangkok doesn't grant him the authoirty to write as if he knows all about Thailand and Thainess. I know some comments might be tainted with my hatred for this book and for Mr Burdett himself. I will be back to re-write this when I'm a bit less enraged. But facts are facts. Burdett can't twist it whatever way he likes.With my deepest sincerity.A Thai
Picked this up in the airport in Bangkok and read it on the flight home back to the U.S... Loved it! Great for the plane but it's not world-class literature or anything, yet this novel is surprisingly philosophical and well-reesarched. It is as much about comparing and contrasting the philosophies/cultures/lifestyles of the East vs. the West as much as it is a fun murder mystery set in the slightly overfictionalized seedy streets of corrupt Bangkok, where a Buddhist "arhat" (non-corrupt cop) investigates a murder of a US Marine with a bunch of deadly snakes. Characters include corrupt police colonels, powerful art dealers, "yaa baa" meth smugglers, a partner to be avenged, and a strange murder victim. The protagonist Sonchai is a wily, likable character, born of an American soldier fighting in Vietnam and a Thai prostitute who becomes a mamasan. All the characterization in the book is pretty in-depth and interesting, and Sonchai's sardonic meditations on humanity & society are intriguing and funny. On top of that the story rip rolls along without letting up; there's always something happening and none of it feels like filler. However his pseudo-romance with the female FBI agent assigned to help him is awkward at best (mostly Sonchai rejecting her obvious advances). She is an awesome character in a kick-butt feminist way, but also her mistrust of /difficulty with Thai culture slowly changes as she becomes enlightened by working with Sonchai. He's a good concept for narrator because he, of mixed race and mixed philosophy, straddles the line between East and West.. Anyway, I'd recommend it if you are looking for a fun murder thriller and also an intro to some Thai culture/Buddhism. It was great to read on my way back from Thailand, with my own experiences traveling there still fresh on my mind.
What do You think about Bangkok 8 (2004)?
I'm not a fan of police procedurals, I don't tend to read thrillers or murder mysteries much anymore, and I'm not necessarily fascinated by southeastern Asia. That said, I found this book to be amazing on so many levels. Burdett is an exceptional writer, capturing a remarkable sense of place, crafting complex characters (especially the intriguing first-person narrator), and writing about aspects of the Bangkok sex trade without seeming prurient. With a deft hand, he balances the elements of the novel, including Buddhism, the jade trade, drug trafficking, and the Thai belief system. I wouldn't have picked up this book based on the blurb (since it's not a genre I'd likely read), but thanks to the recommendation of a friend--who also usually avoids books of this genre--I'm looking forward to the sequels.
—Karen
Contains spoilers:I couldn't take seriously for a second this book and its "only honest cop" (wherever) cliche. I lived in Bangkok for 3 years and Burdett's perceptions of Bangkok and the Thais are facile and sneering, laced with cultural chauvinism (the two often seem to go hand in hand), with caricatures rather than characters littering this book. Through the mouth of his protagonist, Burdett expresses pretentious opinions and thoughts you're more likely to find in a pub in Liverpool than on the streets of Bangkok. And when Burdett's protagnoist is not smoking pot, obsessing about clothes, doing the dirty work for his police chief/gangster boss, and subsequently becoming a part time pimp for his mother when she opens a brothel, the reader is also supposed to take seriously the idea that he's a Buddhist savant. One that, because he spent a few months meditating in a temple after murdering his drug dealer, has flashes of supernatural insight that allows him to see other people's past lives and this is supposed to make the reader believe that he's not just another underworld sleaze. The Buddha was very clear that some professions would bar one from obtaining Nirvana, and being a prostitute is one of them. So how is it that a supposedly honest cop, who punctuates his meditation sessions with marijuana, peddles in flesh and pornography, and barely goes through the motions of his police duties when not running his mother's brothel, is supposed to be a spiritualist? He's not an anti-hero, he's just a self-obsessed low-lifer, regardless of whatever spiritual trappings the dime-store novel level author attempts to clothe him in. Yes, I'm rather grouchy today.
—Craig
Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep is the son of a Bangkok prostitute (insert your own inappropriate joke regarding the juxtaposition of the words "Bangkok" and "prostitute" here) and a U. S. soldier. As a result, Sonchai is able to walk in both cultures, but belong to neither, and to understand the differences between the farang (a term used for foreigners) and the Thai mindset. He's also a devout Buddhist, which prevents him from taking part in the openly corrupt practices of the Thai police force. He knows far more about his mother's sex life than anyone should (probably "your mom" jokes have no affect on him since his mom has probably serviced everyone he knows) and is fixated on Western high fashion (to the point he can see a woman's shirt and tell which collection and season it's from). Clearly, he's a complex guy. And now, after the death of his partner, he's seeking karmic revenge against the person responsible for the murder. If he gets high on yaa-baa (meth) along the way and pole dances in a strip club, then so be it. Karma's a bitch, but even it must yield when Tina Turner's Simply the Best comes on the jukebox and demands a pole grind.The murder mystery genre is not one that I usually enjoy, but I couldn't resist the setting--Thailand. Unfortunately, the setting was not enough to really hook me and consisted of what I (in stereotypical fashion, which apparently exists for a reason) imagined a white author writing about the underbelly of the "exotic Orient" would focus on: the sex trade. And it's not that I'm a prude about such things. Instead, it was just that this book contained so much of what I expected that I was, well, kind of bored by it. Everything meant to shock failed: interrogating an erotic performance artist while she shoots darts out of her va-jay-jay, a murder committed by locking the victim in a car full of cobras (cobras who have been hopped up on meth, by the way), the details of a sex change operation, a sadomasochist who comes to Thailand to indulge his darker fantasies, a sex starved blonde FBI agent who just can't keep her hands of Sonchai. Yawn. All of this is fairly predictable and the mystery itself has such a ridiculously laughable denouement that I couldn't feel satisfied with the ending. However, despite its faults, I can't honestly say that I didn't like it. The chapters were short and there were some interesting glimpses into Buddhist thinking (however, I do question how accurate they are) and the Thai response to sex and prostitution as a means of empowering women. I'm sure there are better fictional sources for learning about contemporary Thai culture and, for that reason, I won't be continuing with the other books in the series.Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder
—Amanda
