Breaking new ground

Sor Sethabutr

Being the grandson of a famous Thai renowned for his mastery of English can impose its special burdens.

'M' Kampier Setabutr (เอ็ม-คามภีร์ เสถบุตร) is the grandson of Sor Sethabutr, an engineer turned politician who created an impressive English-Thai dictionary while held as a political prisoner on Tarutao Island.

The dictionary, the largest ever written at the time of its publication 56 years ago, is still in use today, even though its author is long deceased.

A Bangkok-based analyst, M, says that thanks to his surname, he is recognised almost everywhere he goes, which is flattering. However, ever since he was young, teachers have also expected him to shine in English, just as his grandfather did, which put him under pressure.

M says while he was studying in his second year of economics at Chulalongkorn University, he wrote 'he don't' rather than 'he does' in an exam paper. His English was so bad that even he started to feel embarrassed, so he decided he had better do something to improve it.

M took courses at a language school, and went to English language camps where he looked after students from international schools who spoke good English. He read newspapers, watched movies and listened to songs, until finally his English started to improve. He realised that the secret to success was to keep pushing himself until English became an everyday part of his life.

He also spent time in England, just as his grandfather did before him, which helped improve his language skills further. However, he says that studying overseas that does not guarantee success in English, as plenty of Thais return from trips abroad whose English has barely improved.

On the other hand, some Thais never leave home, but work in tourist areas as guides or waiters in bars. They are forced to use the language, and can end up with good English without having to incur travel and study expenses overseas.

M says that although English no longer poses the obstacle to him that it once did, the learning process never ends.

'About the argument that you should try to pronounce English the way the English do ...I don't think it is as important as being able to make yourself understood,' he says. 

'I am not as familiar with English as my grandfather was, but I think language is about more than that. It is about the act of friendship and sincerity in communicating with people and forging understanding. We can't do without that, either.'

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I read a biography of Sor Setabutr (สอ เสถบุตร) once, compiled by one of his former wives. The man was truly accomplished, and lead a life most extraordinary - which Shutter director Parkpoom Wongpoom has been trying to turn into a film.

His family was poor, but by virtue of hard work he earned the top place nationwide in scholarship entrance exams to the prestigious Suan Kulab school in Bangkok. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree, with honours, in geology and engineering from Manchester University in England.

After his return he served as director-general of the Comptroller-General's Department, before advising the King as a deputy privy councillor. In 1933, a year after Thailand's first coup d'état which installed Phot Phahonyothin as prime minister, Sor Setabutr was sentenced to life as a political prisoner, in Bang Kwang prison, and on Tarutao and Tao Islands.

He served 10 years and 11 months, amid the risk of malaria and food shortages, before being pardoned. It was during that time that he wrote his dictionary, though how he managed such a mammoth and painstaking task given the meagre academic resources at his disposal on that island I do not know.

After being freed from jail, he worked as editor of several newspapers, in Thai and English, before entering politics. He became a member of parliament for Thon Buri, and served as a deputy minister of agriculture under the government of Major Khuang Abhaiwongse. He died in September 1970, at the age of 67.