Ukrainian-born nurse Kateryna Ivanonva Desnytska became a Thai princess at the turn of the 20th century as wife of the Siamese prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanath. This story, with echoes of that of King Chulalongkorn and his English tutor Anna Leonowens (immortalized in The King and I) , has obvious potential for artistic adaptation: it was made into a ballet in 2003. A few years earlier, it provided the basis for a historical novel by V Vinicchayakul, the pen name of Vinita Diteeyont, a prolific Thai novelist. In her version, A Passage to Siam: A Story of Forbidden Love, only recently translated into English by Lucy Srisupshapreeda, Kateryna becomes the young Englishwoman Catherine Burnett.
Set a few years earlier and in a different reign, the novel quickly diverges from the original. The heroine, unlike her inspiration, is already married when she meets her Prince. Catherine marries British military officer Arthur Lindley for the adventure he promises.
The first reason was that she would be able to leave her narrow life in the village. The second was that she would be able to see faraway lands that she would otherwise never get to see, like India, China, or any of the other countries that Arthur had told her about. Which country it was did not matter, only that she would get to experience what was beyond the horizon.
Traveling to Siam to join her husband already posted there, she meets a young Thai captain and prince who goes by the name of Justin, thanks to a British officer who felt that name was easier to pronounce than his Thai name, Vijjuprapha.
After studying in the UK for a decade, Justin is on the same ship to Siam as Catherine and by the time their ship arrives, they have fallen in love. When another English woman barges into Arthur’s apartment just after Catherine arrives, it doesn’t take long for Catherine to learn that Arthur has been unfaithful which gives Catherine the impetus to leave her marriage and run to Justin. Despite his Royal family reservations and opposition, Justin follows his heart and marries Catherine.
The couple soon find that love is not enough as they suffer one tragic death of a child after the other. Justin’s mother thinks that Catherine is cursed. When Justin’s father dies, his mother won’t let Catherine attend the funeral. Justin’s mother convinces him to take a second wife and marry Bua, a young woman who lives in the inner court of the royal family and his mother’s original choice, after he’s been married to Catherine for five years. He understands that Catherine is not expected to carry out the duties of a Thai wife.
She could not crawl in front of his mother or help her with the cooking and the housework, she could not give her a grandchild that would look like the rest of the family, she could not welcome guests with a tray of betel, and she could not participate in ceremonies at the temple because she believed in a different religion. But his new wife would be able to do all these things because she was Siamese.
Justin doesn’t tell Catherine about his second wedding. She finds out the hard way when a new house is being built for Bua. Just as she couldn’t stand for Arthur to be unfaithful, she cannot condone Justin taking another wife. After some twists and turns, both Catherine and Justin end up back in England after King Chulalongkorn or Rama V begins his reign, opening Thailand to the west.
In a case of life imitating art, A Passage to Siam’s publisher, Narisa Chakrabongse of River Books, is herself the true-life Kateryna’s only grand-daughter. Vinicchayakul, who herself did graduate study at the University of Northern Colorado, shows great empathy for Catherine and her cultural differences in this engaging story based on one that is not nearly as well-known as that of The King and I. Now with Srisupshapreeda’s translation, English readers can get to know it better.
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