Liang is seated in a rocking chair, holding a one baht coin in his hand, flipping it up and down again and again. The old Chinese man is thinking of all the joys, sorrows and obstacles in his life.

            This is the key character in Prabhassorn Sevikul’s award-winning novel. Lod Lai Mungkorn, which tells the story of penniless Chinese immigrants in Thailand who slaved away, governed by a sense of diligence and morality, to finally achieve financial success.

            The life of the Chinese community in Thailand is one of Prabhassorn’s favourite themes. The writer and diplomat turned 60 this month, and he can look back over the past 40 years to his vast contribution in the world of literature, which includes more than 50 novels,150 short stories and 200 poems.