New Book of Thai Love Poetry Offers Rare Bilingual Experience

Ysaan Books has announced the publication of Under the Weeping Fig (Thai Poems of Love & Loss), a new bilingual poetry collection by Ajarn David, a university lecturer and long-time resident of Thailand.

Set against the landscapes of Northeast Thailand, the collection brings together 72 poems written in both Thai and English. Unlike conventional bilingual works, the poems were not translated from one language into another. Instead, both versions were created simultaneously, allowing each language to express the same emotional moment in its own natural way.

This approach results in a reading experience that moves beyond translation. The Thai and English poems do not mirror each other line by line but instead offer parallel expressions shaped by the structure, rhythm, and emotional tendencies of each language. The effect is a deeper engagement with the subtle differences in how love, longing, and memory are experienced and communicated.

The poems are grounded in specific places across Isaan, including the Mekong River, Chiang Khan's riverside promenade, and forest temples in the Phu Phan mountains. These settings provide more than atmosphere-they anchor the emotional life of the poems in lived experience.

Throughout the collection, Ajarn David draws on over two decades of life in Thailand, incorporating elements of Buddhist sensibility, everyday routine, and the understated ways affection is often expressed in Thai culture. The poems favor simplicity, short lines, and plain language, reflecting a belief that emotional clarity often emerges through restraint rather than elaboration.

The collection also contributes to the evolving form of modern Thai free verse. While rooted in respect for classical traditions, the poems explore contemporary structures that rely on rhythm, breath, and natural speech patterns rather than formal constraints.

The book of love poems concludes with an epilogue set in the forests of the Phu Phan mountains, where a period of retreat and reflection brings the themes of the collection into quiet resolution.

Under the Weeping Fig is part of Ajarn David's broader Thai Way Series, a body of work dedicated to presenting Thai culture, language, and ways of thinking to an international audience. Across titles such as Why Thailand, Poems from Sakon Nakhon, and Life Lessons from Isaan, the series explores the values of kindness, humility, balance, and mindfulness that shape everyday life in Thailand. Together, these books form a cultural bridge-inviting readers to move beyond surface impressions and engage more deeply with the perspectives that define Thai life.

The book is published by Ysaan Books, based in Sakon Nakhon, and is available internationally on Amazon in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle editions. In Thailand, the paperback is available through Ysaan Books' official stores on Lazada and Shopee.

Visit their website at https://ysaan.com

Ysaan Books
214 Moo 7, Tambon Phang Khwang
Amphur Meuang, Sakon Nakhon 47000
Thailand

Press Contact: Angsuma Tappila

Ysaan Books is a publisher and small literary press located in Sakon Nakhon, Thailand. Our mission to promote the arts, culture, and people of Northeast, Thailand via poetry, literature, and non-fiction - in particular bilingual essays, poetry, and short stories written in both English and Thai.

This release was published on openPR.