Fated Couple

Photo Credit: mameawkung @ Pantip

So I started reading a Thai ebook the other day called Bu-pae-sa-ni-wat, which is a Buddhist term for a couple that was together in the previous life, so they’re fated to be together again in the present life, hence the whole “fated couple” term. (On a side note, at the other end of the spectrum, there’s bu-pae-a-la-wat, which is a term used for a couple that’s fated to be star-crossed lovers because they fought all the time in the previous life.) You may be wondering why I’m distracting myself by picking up a novel when I still have 2 lakorns I’m working on — which I haven’t abandoned, by the way — but since it’s an ebook, I can read it whenever and wherever, which is a very convenient way to pass my time when I don’t have my laptop with me to work on my projects.

Anyway, the premise of the novel caught my attention (a modern-day woman gets into a car accident and ends up in the body of a woman living in the Ayutthaya Era (1350-1767)), and while reading reviews on it at Goodreads and elsewhere, including the author’s own Facebook page, I realized it was being made into a lakorn. Apparently it’s been in the works as early as 2012 (maybe even 2011?) — I know, I’m so behind on things — which will star Pope Thanawat and Chompoo Araya as the leads. I found out there was a thread on it at Asianfuse, so I kind of skimmed through the comments. As there were 26 pages the last time I checked the thread, I only read a few pages in the beginning and skipped to the last 2 pages. I was surprised to read that the lakorn, which is based on the novel, will comprise of 2 generations. I’m not saying the sources are wrong because I’ve only read 5 chapters, and even though I did realize it would be a slightly heavy read, I didn’t think it would be a multigenerational saga. I had assumed it would be a lighter read, more in the vein of Om and Pancake’s Tawee Pope than say…Ching Chang, Luke Mai Plian See, or any of those lakorns that deal with second generation stars — minus all the revenge, of course.

So far it’s a pretty good read. Kaedsurang, the heroine, is 25 years old with a Masters in Archaeology and fluent in three languages: English, French, and Spanish, with a smattering of Japanese due to her interest in Japanese idols in her younger days. She has a good sense of humor and loves to eat, which is a major contributor to her weight problem (I’m not sure if she’s overweight, but she’s definitely chubby). After her accident, her soul ends up in the body of a 16-year-old woman-child living during the Ayutthaya Era named Karakaed who has just passed away. Karakaed is young, slender, and extremely beautiful, but she’s also calculating and cruel, which is why her intended, Meun Suntorntaewa (the hero), has no feelings for her. In fact, he hates her with a passion and can’t stand the sight of her. Karakaed’s most recent transgression involved trying to get rid of a love rival, Mae Ying Janwad, which resulted in the accidental death of Mae Ying Janwad’s servant, Daeng. There’s no proof that Karakaed is involved, but Meun Suntorntaewa is convinced she’s behind it, so he puts a spell on her to find out the truth (apparently his family is capable of casting spells and such). The spell he puts on her is kind of a like a truth spell where it causes the culprit to suffer for their crimes, resulting in either death or going crazy. Karakaed ends up dying because of that, and during a brief moment when she’s stuck between the living and the dead, she meets Kaedsurang and bequeaths her all that she possesses — her wealth, beauty, body — so that Kaedsurang can make merit for her. Kaedsurang doesn’t understand what she’s talking about, but right after she’s done talking, Karakaed gets taken away and Kaedsurang is whisked off into Karakaed’s body. When Kaedsurang realizes she’s not dreaming but has actually traveled back in time to 1682, she tries to make the most of it since she doesn’t know if and when she can return to her time and body, but as an academic, she’s thrilled she can get firsthand knowledge of what it’s actually like to live during this time period. She also figures out pretty fast that unlike most time-traveling novels and lakorns, she didn’t end up in the body of a heroine but a villainess. She finds Meun Suntorntaewa handsome and muscular, but being a 21st century woman, she’s not concerned if he marries her or not because she’s used to supporting herself anyway (though she is aware that women from this period have less freedom and less choices). Her main concern is to live day to day until she can go back, but just in case Karakaed isn’t actually dead and is only temporarily being punished for her transgressions, Kaedsurang decides to make Karakaed’s life better in case she comes back. That’s basically where I am.

So you can imagine why I was surprised to hear that the novel/lakorn consists of a second generation. I thought the story was about Kaedsurang and her experience, but I guess it’s going to get into their child/children’s story, too? I guess that means it’s going to be a long read. It’s from the same author who wrote Dao Kiao Duen, and although I haven’t had time to finish the lakorn, I did enjoy what I’ve seen so far.

The character chart at the top (and below) is someone’s dream cast for the lakorn, not the actual cast itself, so please don’t confuse them. For those of you are interested in what all those relationship lines mean, I took the liberty of translating it into English. The names might not be spelled correctly, however, so just take it as a sort of character guide. The orange font looked nice, but it was kind of hard to read, so I used black font instead. Unfortunately, I ended up saving the poster in lower resolution, so I do apologize for that. Where I wrote “paired up,” it could also be translated as “couple,” but since the story didn’t start out with them actually together (that I know of), I went with “paired up” instead.

*Correction: Meun Ratchapakdee should be Meun Reungratchapakdee (or Meun Reungratchapak).