Phraya Anuman Rajadhon (Thai: พระยาอนุมานราชธน; RTGS: Phraya Anuman Ratchathon, also spelled Phaya Anuman RajadhonorPhrayā Anuman Rajadhon; December 14, 1888 – July 12, 1969), was one of modern Thailand's most remarkable scholars. He was a self-trained linguist, anthropologist and ethnographer who became an authority on the culture of Thailand. His name was Yong Sathirakoses (Thai: ยง เสฐียรโกเศศ, RTGS: Sathiankoset); Phraya Anuman Rajadhon was his noble title. He also took his family name, Sathirakoses, as a pen name by which he is well known.
His prolific work and his interest in a multitude of culture-related fields, from folklore to sociology, set the foundations for a long-lasting cultural awareness among young Thai scholars.[1]
Moved by an innate curiosity and having an eye for detail, Phya Anuman Rajadhon observed and took notes on Thai society at a crucial time when much of the traditional culture was being overwhelmed by modernity. As years went by he studied in depth the language,[6]popular customs, oral tradition, social norms and the value system of the Thai people.
He worked in different locations, including the Oriental HotelinBangkok, during his youth and middle age. In the years when Phya Anuman Rajadhon worked as a clerk at the Thai Customs Department, he befriended a Mr. Norman Mackay, who helped him to polish his broken English.
He had no academic titles and did all the training he needed for his research and compilation work on his own.
Phya Anuman Rajadhon took a special interest in popular culture. Many of the ancient habits of Thais that he recorded and described would have died unnoticed if they had not been put down into writing by him. Often his descriptions were accompanied by illustrations.[7]
As a writer he wrote novels under the pen name Sathirakoses. He also wrote works on important Thai cultural figures, including a biography of Phra Saraprasoet '(Trī Nākhaprathīp)' (1889–1945), a likewise dedicated author and commentator in the field of Thai literature. He knew Phra Saraprasoet well, as they worked together as co-translators of many works.[8] One particular work which he co-translated into Thai with Phra Saraprasoet was "The Pilgrim Kamanita", a novel by Danish Nobel laureate Karl Adolph Gjellerup about a young Indian merchant's seek for truth and his encounter with Lord Buddha. The translation was admired for its beautiful Thai prose and was selected as one of the textbooks for the Thai secondary school curriculum.
Recognition came to Phya Anuman Rajadhon only towards his later years, when he was invited to universities to give lectures and began travelling abroad. He was given the post of President of the Siam Society and ended up becoming one of Thailand's most respected intellectuals, both in the last years of his life and posthumously.[9]
Popular BuddhisminSiam and other Essays on Thai Studies, Thai Inter-religious Commission on Development and Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation, Bangkok 1986
Thet Maha Chat, Promotion and Public Relations Sub-Division, Fine Arts Department, Bangkok 1990
Life and Ritual in Old Siam: Three Studies of Thai Life and Customs, New Haven, HRAF Press, 1961
Five papers on Thai custom, Southeast Asia Program, Dept. of Far Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1958
Some traditions of the Thai and other translations of Phya Anuman Rajadhon's articles on Thai customs, Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development & Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation, Suksit Siam, Bangkok 1987
The Nature and Development of the Thai language, Thai Culture, New series; no. 10, Thailand; Fine Arts Dept., Bangkok 1961
Thai Literature in Relation to the Diffusion of Her Cultures, Thailand Culture New Series; no. 9, Thailand; Fine Arts Dept., Bangkok 1969
Thai Language, National Culture Institute, Bangkok 1954
Chao Thi and some traditions of Thai, National Culture Institute, Bangkok 1956
"Phra Cedi", Journal of the Siam Society, Bangkok, 1952
Thai Literature and Swasdi Raksa, Thailand Culture Series; no. 3, National Culture Institute, Bangkok 1956
Introducing Cultural Thailand in Outline, Thailand Culture Series; no. 1, Thailand; Fine Arts Dept., Bangkok 2006, ISBN974-417-810-8
"The Story of Thai Marriage Custom", Thailand Culture Series, no. 13, National Culture Institute, Bangkok, 1954.
Loy Krathong and Songkran Festivals, The National Culture Institute, Bangkok 1953
