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Sanonoi is one of the
most famous Thai folk tales. Reading about
it will give you not only pleasure but also
knowledge and understanding of Thai culture
and beliefs in the past, some of which,
such as superstitious ideas, can still be
found today. Now, enjoy!
Once upon a time, there was a princess who
was born with a Thai-style miniature house
(or ruen in Thai). Thus she was
named Sanonoi Ruen Ngam, literally meaning
Sanonoi with a beautiful house. Her parents
were king Hatsawichai and queen Ketsani
of Romwisai city.
She lived happily with her parents until
the day she turned 14. A soothsayer had
foretold that she would face bad luck after
14, and would have to leave the city and
then she would meet her soul mate on her
way. If the king should let his daughter
stay in the city, it would cause a catastrophe
for the land.
King Hatsawichai was obliged to let princess
Sanonoi wander into the woods alone. Learning
of this, Indra, the god ruling the first
and second heavens took pity on her. So,
he descended to the Earth to give her a
magical medicine that could bring the dead
back to life.
Day after day, princess Sanonoi roamed aimlessly
through forests. One day, she came across
a dead body of a hideous woman, later known
to be a firewood collector named Kula who
was bitten by a snake to death.
With the merciful heart of princess Sanonoi,
Kula was restored to life by her magical
medicine. She then asked for permission
to serve the princess and accompany her.
Both of them continued walking on and on
and they by chance reached a pavilion that
sheltered a handsome prince who had been
unconscious for 7 years. He was prince Wichitchinda,
the son of king Kalasuk and queen Praphai
of Noppharat city.
Seven years before, while the prince was
15 years old, he accidentally touched the
naga poison left on a rock in a forest,
and had lost consciousness since then. The
doctors in the palace tried everything to
revive him but to no avail. |
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| The
prince accidentally touched the naga poison
left on a rock in a forest. |
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King Kalasuk and queen Praphai
were full of sorrow. However, the soothsayer foretold
that the prince's soul mate would appear to rescue
him in the next seven years. The king then kept
the prince's body in a pavilion. Seven years completed
on the day that princess Sanonoi and Kula met
prince Wichitchinda.
The kind princess used her magical medicine to
restore prince Wichitchinda. While he was going
to recover, princess Sanonoi felt very hot because
of the naga poison that was eliminated out of
the prince's body. She had Kula watch her clothes
and went to take a bath.
Unfortunately, Kula was not as faithful as the
princess thought. In fact, she had fallen in love
with the prince and wished to get him as her husband.
So, she got dressed in the princess's attire and
claimed that she was princess Sanonoi and the
real princess was merely a servant.
This made king Kalasuk and queen Praphai sceptical
because Kula not only had rude manners but she
was also very ugly in appearance. In contrast,
the one who was called a servant had good manners
and was really beautiful. However, the wicked
Kula told them that she had been roaming in the
sun for a long time, so her skin became dark and
coarse.
To test Kula, queen Praphai ordered her to do
work that required delicate workmanship such as
baisi which is a kind of ritual offerings
made from banana leaf. While Kula could not make
it, princess Sanonoi easily finished it. Noticing
this, queen Praphai's doubt increased. Also, the
charming prince felt uneasy about Kula's crazy
love, so he decided to start out on a sea journey.
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| On
the departure day, the crew could not pull the
anchor up. Thus the prince double-checked what
he had forgotten to do. He then announced that
those who would like him to buy goods for them
could give him a note. All ladies in the court
placed their orders including Kula whose needed
items were rings and large baskets. Still, the
anchor was unremovable. After checking, a governess
found that the one missing from the list was princess
Sanonoi, who at the moment was a servant of Kula.
She told the governess that she would like the
prince to purchase her a beautiful miniature Thai-style
house. |
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ungrateful Kula gave the princess a box
containing a cobra and told her that inside
the box was sandalwood. |
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Prince
Wichitchinda arrived at Romwisai city, making
a royal visit with king Hatsawichai, purchasing
goods and got prepared to sail back. Surprisingly,
the ship anchor could not be raised again. This
reminded him that he had forgotten to buy a miniature
house for Kula's servant. The prince then sent
his men to buy it. That was how king Hatsawichai
learned that his daughter was still alive and
gave the miniature house to prince Wichitchinda.
The prince came back home safely and distributed
the goods to everybody. At midnight, all servants
in the miniature house came out to welcome the
princess inside.
Kula knew about this and tried to break it. Fortunately,
it was unsuccessful. Moreover, she was arrested
on suspicion of being a liar. Kind-hearted Sanonoi
told everyone about her story and asked the prince
to spare Kula's life. |
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Sanonoi's
Thai-style miniature house |
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| Later,
the princess got married to Prince Wichitchinda.
After that, both set off for the princess's homeland,
Romwisai city. Unfortunately, they were shipwrecked.
Princess Sanonoi reached the land first and wandering
around the jungle. At the same time, prince Wichitchinda
was rescued by a hermit. They found each other
and returned to Noppharat city. |
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Kula |
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After
that, princess Sanonoi became pregnant. The ungrateful
Kula, who always wanted to get rid of princess
Sanonoi, gave her a box containing a cobra and
told her that inside the box was sandalwood. The
innocent princess Sanonoi was easily trapped.
She did not examine it before giving it to the
prince who was very angry with her when he saw
the cobra. The princess was expelled in spite
of her pregnancy.
Princess Sanonoi, accompanied by Kula had to wander
through forests again. Before long, princess Sanonoi
gave birth to a son. But the baby was drowned
by the heartless Kula. Luckily, he was saved by
a god and was raised by a hermit who later named
him Phraiwan. |
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| The
princess did not examine it before giving
it to the prince who was very angry with
her when he saw the cobra. |
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Regarding prince Wichitchinda, after calming down,
he felt guilty that he had punished his wife too
cruelly and began searching for her. Years later,
he met the hermit and found his son, Phraiwan
and knew the truth about what the wicked Kula
had done.
Finally, they found princess Sanonoi. And the
enraged prince decided that Kula deserved death
in the most brutal manner. So he sliced her flesh
piece by piece until she died. Though in the process
she suffered great pains, not a word she uttered
showed that she had admitted her guilt. Without
Kula, the family lived happily ever after. |
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