Decoding the Authorship of Klong Yuan Phai: A New Hypothesis Identifying “Somdetphra Intharacha”

Abstract

This academic article aimed to present a new assumption regarding the poet who composed Klong Yuan Phai. Previously, scholars assumed that the poet who wrote Klong Yuan Phai might have been either a monk or a high-ranking female member of the Sukhothai royal family. However, the results of the present study, which employed close reading and analyzed information from Klong Yuan Phai, the Local Chronicles of Chiang Mai, and the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya (Luang Prasert Aksoraniti edition), revealed that Somdetphra Intharacha, the son of King Borommatrailokanat, was the poet who composed Klong Yuan Phai. This conclusion was drawn because he participated in every military campaign alongside King Borommatrailokanat; therefore, Somdetphra Intharacha witnessed all the events described in the poem. The findings further indicated that Somdetphra Intharacha did not compose Klong Yuan Phai solely to praise King Borommatrailokanat, but also to restore the king’s honor after his two defeats in the wars against King Tilokaracha. In addition, Somdetphra Intharacha composed the poem out of his admiration for Ayutthaya’s victory over Lanna in the war to reclaim Muang Chaliang (Chiang Chuen) from Lanna’s possession.