Page 95 - Ancient Kingdoms: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam

?SP =TNP 8Z_SP] by Rani Manicka (Fiction) This story is the sometimes-tragic, sometimes-
hopeful saga of Lakshmi, who leaves Sri Lanka at 14 to marry an unknown man and becomes
the matriarch of a sprawling family in 1930s and 1940s Malaysia.

8d 7TQP L^ L 1LVP by Peter Carey (Fiction) What happens if you make up a fake identify only to
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a literary hoax gone sideways.
?SP 3L]XZYd >TWV 1LN_Z]d by Tash Aw (Fiction) Set in World War II Malaysia the plot centers
around the reputation of Johnny Lim, who neighbors think is a hero but whose son thinks
he’s a crook.

?SP 2L]OPY ZQ 0aPYTYR 8T^_^ by Tan Twan Eng (Fiction) A slow-paced story about Yun Ling and
her relationship with a master gardener who agrees to help her create a memorial to her sister.
Only one problem—the gardener is Japanese and Yun Ling’s sister died in a Japanese camp.

Suggested Movies

Thailand

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in each other is set in Hong Kong of the 1960s, most of the exteriors and street scenes are
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Cantonese with subtitles.

The Beach (2000, Drama) An American backpacker in Thailand searches for an idyllic secret
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paradise or a purgatory?

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, Classic) The dramatic story of the dangerous construction of
a railway bridge by British POWs under the control of the Japanese army during WWII.

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The King and I (1956, Musical) A colorful and fun production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein
musical that is loosely based on the life of Anna Leonowens, the British governess to the
King of Siam (modern-day Thailand). The same story also inspired two other (non-musical)
movies: ,YYL LYO _SP 6TYR ZQ >TLX starring Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison (1946) and ,YYL LYO
the King starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat (1999).

Laos
Rescue Dawn ! /]LXL ?SP SL]]ZbTYR ML^PO ZY _]`P WTQP ^_Z]d ZQ LY ,XP]TNLY ʭRS_P]
pilot shot down over Laos during the 1960s and his subsequent escape from his captors.

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