Preserving the "Khmer Surin" heritage: a man's solitary struggle

By Sarah Oliveira Cambodia.Ka-Set.inf0
13-06-2008
Phum Ponn (Surin, Thailand), 15/04/2008. Chaimongkol (right) and Thong Luang (left) glancing through a Khmer language learning textbook © Vandy Rattana Today, one to two million “Khmer Surin” live in several provinces of what is present-day north-eastern Thailand. Khmer is gradually left aside as Thai is coming to be the main language, and Chaimongkol Chalermsukjitsri has set himself the goal of teaching Khmer writing in the villages of Surin. The Thai citizen, who makes no secret of his Khmer descent, is leading an against-the-current struggle to prevent this heritage from being completely forgotten. No culture without language “If what I have done is good, then preserve it.” The inscription, found on a stele in the Surin province and dating back to the reign of King Jayavarman VII, has since become Chaimongkol's motto. Ten years spent elaborating maps of north-eastern Thailand for the Bangkok Geographic Information System have helped him realise the importance of the heritage left by his ancestors: pre-Angkorian and Angkorian temples, barays (water reservoirs) and ancient roads... To Chaimongkol, however, the primary source of a culture is its language. And his observations are indeed cause for concern: with the exception of a few monks, very rare are those among the “Khmer Surin” people who can write the language. Young people living in the countryside more or less understand Khmer but now usually favour the use of Thai... “There is no culture without language”, Chaimongkol insisted. “And organising our annual Surin Elephant Festival is just not enough. If we cannot speak Khmer any more, it is like having a pretty box in front of you, and only finding a scarecrow inside.” Today, the only place in Thailand providing Khmer writing classes is university. “Instead of standing here and feeling sorry for the vanishing of our language, I prefer trying to change things”, Chaimongkol explained with determination. In February 2007, he opened, as part of a voluntary project, a small school in Phum Ponn, a village located in the Surin province. The village made available to the teacher and his classes a blackboard and a television for them to watch Khmer language learning DVDs and little by little, Saturday mornings have become the perfect time to learn Khmer for 25 keen students, aged 9 to 44 years old. “Khmer is somewhere in their DNA” The hardest part of the process is to convince parents that it is important for their children to learn how to write Khmer. Thong Luang, one of the elders in the Phum Ponn village, used to teach with Chaimongkol, and recalled that after the 1962 International Court of Justice in the Hague ruling (which stated that the temple of Preah Vihear came under the sovereignty of Cambodia) the Thai had burnt ancient writings in some pagodas of Surin. Ever since that episode, monks have not dared teaching Khmer. According to Cambodian historian Michel Tranet, the main vectors of “Thaisation” are modernisation, television and schooling. Chaimongkol admitted that some “Khmer Surin” even felt ashamed of speaking their own language, fearing the scorn of other people or being called a “peasant”. “They have lost their pride because they have been vanquished and dominated”, Michel Tranet observed. “But who are the ones who write History? The victorious ones, always.” Tim, a 32 year-old affable young woman wearing thick glasses, attends Chaimongkol's classes and can now read Khmer tales. “They learn fast, I think they have it somewhere in their DNA”, the teacher said with a hint of humour. “It is not easy for the youngest ones”, Tim added, “because they can't speak Khmer very well.” If she has a chance to, Tim hopes to teach Khmer in the primary school where she is currently working. This is also Chaimongkol's mission in the long run: seeing regional state schools make the Khmer language an optional subject in their curriculum. “Then, I will be able to retire and live with my mind at ease in my garden”, Chaimongkol declared, hopeful. But the task is demanding, and although school headmasters have shown enthusiasm, no measure has been taken yet. “ I don't know if it is because they are not proud or brave enough...”, the teacher wondered. Another trick in the equation is the fact that “Khmer Surin” people who can read Khmer and altogether teach the writing are very few. Walking a tightrope Chaimongkol's story is quite atypical. If he had not previously worked in a refugee camp on the border, he would never have learnt how to write Khmer, to start with. “When I taught at Site II, people laughed when they heard me pronounce certain words, so, together with a friend, I decided to learn how to write the Khmer language.” After two years in Phnom Penh, he was finally able to manage the language, juggling with the Surin and Cambodian accent. The 1997 clashes forced him to stop attending History classes, which he had been able to pay for by assisting a Thai journalist based in the Cambodian capital city. He remembers that in Phnom Penh at that time, a few students used to consider him as a “traitor”. But in fact, it is truly because of his love for Khmer culture that Chaimongkol chose to earn a living with casual jobs so as to be able to spend his weekends teaching Khmer writing. To him, claiming the independence of Surin or its incorporation into Cambodia is out of the question. “How could we possibly demand that? Cambodians can't even rule their country properly. Most are not aware of what it means to be Khmer...” Chaimongkol knows he is walking a tightrope here, and although he does not talk politics in his classes, the language could be considered as a much political matter, but Chaimongkol feels yet protected by the Thai Constitution. The few grey hairs scattered in his beard prove that he has now entered the age of wisdom. “At the age of 20, I was studying. At 30, I started a family. And now that I am in my forties, I am not afraid of anything. This land used to be ours, so we should at least be able to preserve our language! Our children already spend many hours a day learning Thai at school; we are only asking for a few hours of Khmer!” A struggle against language death Historian Michel Tranet sees Chaimongkol's project as a much honourable initiative. “ But it is only a drop in the ocean!”, he observed. To him, the “Khmer Surin” people are “a dying people” and “Thaisation” is an inevitable and irreversible process. “Why would 'Khmer Surin' continue to speak Khmer when they need it less and less? Speaking Thai, the official language spoken in their country, ensures their future”, he pointed out. “I am aware that I am going against the tide here”, Chaimongkol admitted, “but it is because I am convinced that if we do not save the Khmer language, we will soon encounter problems”. Chaimongkol is not at all disheartened by the lack of money to back up his initiative, and although he is looking for funds, he refuses to receive money from either the Thai or Cambodian authorities, which to him is a guarantee of independence. “A Bangkok university contacted me to inform me that if I taught Khmer using Thai writing, the authorities could finance my project”, he revealed. But if others accepted, like Thong Luang, recently, Chaimongkol is willing to resist. “It is as good as learning English by writing Thai!”, the teacher said with provocation. I do not despise Thai writing, but leaning Khmer by writing Thai... what is the point here? If one decides to learn Khmer, it is for the purpose of learning Khmer and nothing else!”, he stressed, adding that the pronunciation of many Khmer words cannot be transcribed in an accurate way into Thai writing. Chaimongkol collects in his office all sort of books - in Khmer, Thai, English – regarding all things more or less related to Khmer culture. A few books with fine bindings have been presented to him by Princess Bopha Devi. He hopes that one day he will have enough funds available to create a cultural institute with events and conferences organised in partnership with other cultural organisations in Cambodia, “a little like the exchanges between the Alliance Française in Bangkok and the French Cultural Centre in Phnom Penh”. On the one hand, this would allow Cambodian students to come and teach Khmer for a few months in Phum Ponn or do some research there, and on the other hand, Chaimongkol's students could do a discovery trip to Phnom Penh - and if some of them are willing to do so, they could even continue their studies in the capital with scholarships. Through the preservation of the Khmer language in north-east Thailand, Chaimongkol's aim is to simply establish a bridge of friendship between the “Khmer Surin” people and Cambodians, brothers living on both sides of the Dangrek mountain chain.