Thanat Preeyanont (Mr)

Proposed thesis title:  Transforming Thailand’s culinary culture: the Hainanese contribution to Thai cuisine, ca. 1850-1950
Supervisor: Professor Maurizio Peleggi

My name is Thanat Preeyanont. I was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand. Unconsciously, the past has drawn my attention since when I did not even know what meaning the word ‘history’ might have. During my childhood, Japanese anime, manga, and action movies were generally entertaining. Yet, movies with historical setting were even more amusing. Famous people’s graphic biographies and World War related books were also my bookshelf staples. Even then I never thought of myself as someone who loves, let alone like, history. I didn’t do particularly well in history classes at school and so never thought I would be a history major in college. I enrolled at the Faculty of Arts at Chulalongkorn University aiming to study German, however, I would find myself taking history major in the second year. It was perhaps during my third or fourth year of my undergraduate studies that I started to realize my inclination towards the past and the academic discipline that deals with it.

While studying history was much delighted, staying on in academia after a BA was not really a plan. Nevertheless, I was fortunate enough to have a splendid teacher who encouraged me to apply for a scholarship program at Leiden University where I could prolong my immersion in history. Following my MA graduation in 2016, I went back to Thailand to gain some work experience. After 4 years of working, I realized that I need to enhance my academic ability and thus felt grateful for the opportunity to pursue a PhD at the National University of Singapore. My proposed thesis focuses on the Hainanese people and their contribution to the creation of modern Thai food culture.