We had the pleasure of interviewing JJJ000YYY, one of our Songkran 2023 contest winners! Join us as we learn more about what inspired her entry "Dancing in Circles", the main character, and some aspirations relating to Thai New Year.

What are some things that influenced your contest submission?

A few things influenced the story. I grew up going to the wat and participating in a lot of Thai community culture events which included doing traditional Thai dance on stage during Songkran. I still vividly remember the chaotic process of getting ready for a dance and the amount of people in the community that would help with hair or make up or just pass by and just give encouraging compliments in Thai. Also pinching, a lot of pinching. I'm also queer and wanted to incorporate that aspect into the story too. It definitely started out as a panic moment as I tried to sort out my feelings for a friend and it definitely is reflected in the character.

Tell us about the main character of your winning entry. What inspired their creation?

So Kannika definitely came from a place of my early experiences of queerness and how I would feel if I had to perform again in front of the Thai community. She is self assured in her ability to perform but all that confidence goes away when it comes to unknown territory like wanting to date another queer person and what it means for her which I think a lot of people can relate to when it comes to interpersonal relationships in general.

What were some challenges you experienced while writing your entry?

Definitely names. Naming Eri was a hard process to go through since there's a lot of culture that comes with Thai names in general. Not many people know this, but a lot of Thai people tend to have their legal name and a "silly nickname" given when the person is still young. The silly nickname could be something relevant to the person or it could be something that seems really random to an outsider. I decided to go with Eri since it was a more likely name that a trans person would pick for themselves and Eri might've been uncomfortable having any links to him prior to his transition.

What was one thing you learned about Songkran for this contest or wish you could have learned in preparation of your entry?

I learned pinching is a normal thing in Thai culture. I wrote it into my story and had to question if this was just a thing my community did or if it was a cultural thing. It's definitely a cultural thing as pinching is just a form for cute aggression (and they do it for people of any age if they think you're cute enough) so it was a relief to learn that everyone within arms reach of the Thai community eventually goes through the pain.

The contest is about celebrating Songkran. What is one thing your character did that you wish to try?

Probably Thai dancing in front of a crowd again. I don't know how I would do with Thai dancing after being out of practice for so many years. I still remember the dance moves and so forth but it's different when there's an audience to watch. I want to say my fear of stage fright is over but I won't really know unless I do it again.