Le Petit Prince
Khun Noi: Le Petit Prince in Sukhothai Dialect – Lai Sue Tai Script
The book “The Little Prince” (Le Petit Prince), widely regarded as “the most important work of the century in France,” was written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944). It has been translated into over 380 languages in 62 countries. The first Thai translation was published in 1969 by Amphan Otrakul, and there have been no fewer than eight other translations since.
The book “Khun Noi” is a new translation into the Sukhothai local dialect. The translation is written in the “Lai Sue Tai Script of the Sukhothai era” by Kiang Chamni. He based his work on Ariya Paitoon’s Thai version of “The Little Prince,” the Lao version “Thao Noi” by Sisaleo Sawaengsuksa, and compared them to the original French manuscript. The purpose of this translation is to “converse across space and culture” (France – Central Thailand – Sukhothai dialect) and “across time” (77 years since the first publication – contemporary local dialect – Lai Sue Tai Script of the Sukhothai era). The work utilizes the “Ram Charuak” font, which was invented and developed by Lieutenant Colonel Chown Watthapanich.