An interview with the author...
his secrets revealed

Bill Andrew Hicks, you've just had "Thai Girl", your first novel published. They asked me to interview you because as an old friend I've a better chance of getting you to drop your defences and tell me like it is. So, Andrew, did you enjoy writing "Thai Girl"?

Andrew Yes, every minute, mainly because I love Thailand. So I very much hope it comes across as an affectionate portrayal of the country. Of course you can't paint a complete picture unless you're critical at times, but I hope Thais won't be offended by the book. Many of the things the characters talk about over a beer are quite controversial and could ruffle local feathers.

Bill You mean the government may not like it?

Andrew No, I didn't mean that. They tolerate free expression, and anyway the action takes place at the time the Thaksin government was just coming to power... remember that Ben, the central character, has a massage in Bangkok on election day. And anyway the present government is in fact responding to the problems raised in the book.. It has an active social order policy... cutting bar opening times and so on. Overall I think it's a positive picture of the country that must be good for Thailand. Bangkok sounds exciting and vibrant and Koh Samet and Koh Chang come across as tropical paradises, so most people reading the book would want to come here... and I don't just mean men! Though I'd have some sympathy if a Thai complained about yet another foreigner writing superficially about things he couldn't really understand and banging on about the go-go bars and prostitution yet again.

Bill So why another Thai sex story then?

Andrew Always a journalist, Bill, with awkward questions like that! No, it's not that genre at all. It's about fresh-faced young kids having new experiences and learning about a new culture. They're not sex tourists. Of course they're intrigued by the Bangkok bar scene... who isn't. But they do develop a responsible attitude to it, especially the main character Ben. So you can't call it a sex novel, Bill. There are no sex scenes... and after all Fon, the "Thai Girl" keeps Ben at arms length, doesn't she?

Bill Does she? Maybe that's the big question.

Andrew Well, if it is, I'm not going to answer it. I'm only the author. It's the reader's interpretation that matters.

Bill So, Andrew, what's "Thai Girl" all about then?

Andrew There's hundreds of ways to answer that one. Studying English lit at school, I always used to think a novel had a subjective core created by the writer as God that the reader somehow had to analyse and understand. Having had a shot at writing a novel myself, I now don't think that's so. I knew what I wanted to achieve, but I've little idea if I've succeeded. So it's me who's keen to ask readers what they think the book's about; to tell me what it says to them. Objectively, the book may mean different things to different people, and what matters most is their view, not mine. I knew what I wanted the book to be about, but I'm not sure what comes across to the reader.

[Click on Readers Forum and tell the author what "Thai Girl" means to you.]

Bill Andrew, you're a lawyer through and through... why not answer the question! What's the book about?

Andrew Sorry Bill! Let's kill all the journalists! No, I hope "Thai Girl"'s a good story that readers will enjoy... that's always number one. I wanted it to be an easy read, so I went for a simple time progression with no fancy flashbacks, for a manageable number of distinctive characters, not like in The Beach, and an accessible style. I never understand why authors like to keep readers guessing... being obscure isn't clever. And the main themes of "Thai Girl" are pretty obvious, aren't they?

Bill So you're still not going to answer my question.

Andrew Ask me another, Bill.

Bill Okay then... is the book autobiographical?

Andrew Thanks, I'm glad you asked me that one! Well, I can answer it at different levels. (Laughter.) But no, really Bill, what do you think? Whatever anybody writes has to have been experienced or observed to some extent and even intuitive guesswork is based on experience, isn't it.

Bill You're hedging again.

Andrew No, really, I'm not. Which character could be based on me anyway? Ben, the young undergrad, Maca the Aussie, Odin the ladyboy? Come on! Anyway you said the interview was to be about the book and not about me. But no, the book's not my own story if that's what you mean.

Bill Okay then, tell me where you got your characters from.

Andrew Ben and Emma are invented, with a bit of inspiration from a young couple I met who were obviously having problems. Travelling puts huge strains on relationships and there are lots out there finding the stresses really difficult. I wanted to put that in the story because it's a story about backpackers.

Bill And what about the others.

Andrew Maca and Chuck are inspired by several delightful characters I've met. Clarissa and Stig you couldn't exactly invent, could you. And who else is there? Odin, who runs the Pleasure Dome restaurant on Koh Chang... well he's just about every ladyboy restaurant owner you've ever met anywhere in Thailand. I love him... especially the bit where he writes Ben's postcard in Thai to Fon and does everything he can to sabotage their affair.

Bill And what about the "Thai Girl", Fon? You haven't mentioned the masseuses.

Andrew I was just coming to them. So what can I say? I don't like Thai massage in a bleak little room in the city, but lying on a beach with the waves coming in, it's wonderful. And because I was travelling alone, a massage on the beach was always sociable. I echo my characters' comments that it's hard to get to talk to Thais... or do they echo me! But an hour's massage is a wonderful opportunity to talk and I've heard many life stories on many beaches, including of course Koh Samet and Koh Chang. You can learn so much from them and they do open up if you show interest. They're usually tight-knit little communities of farmers wives who keep a close eye on each other so it's very relaxed and they aren't offering any extras... anyway the ones who usually do the best massage are the big hefty ones! So in answer to your question, particular characters aren't based on a single real person... each one is an jig saw puzzle of impressions gained over a long time from many people in many different places.

Bill So you kept notebooks about them all as you travelled?

Andrew Yes, recording quirky people, snatches of conversation... that sort of thing. And also little cameos like the woman who comes up to Ben on Koh Samet desperate to escape the isolation, the death's head taxi driver, the American orchid buyer. You couldn't write about a tarot lady or a Thai fortune-teller without having seen them perform. Once when I was sitting in the lobby of a Bangkok hotel, I saw a girl come in and ask something at reception, then look distressed by the answer she got. The moment stuck in my mind and became the idea for Ben and Emma missing each other at the Regal in Bangkok. Emma standing at the top of the hotel steps, the wind ruffling her clothes, unsure what to do... that's real life.

Bill So what about the bar scenes? How did you do your research on that?

Andrew Research? (Laughter.) No, I don't really like sitting about in bars... never have. Not in England nor anywhere else. Some men use bars as a way of meeting people but I'm not a night owl. I'm not being squeamish about the girlie bars but it's not my thing. Partly because I don't like alcohol in the tropics... too dehydrating. But no, you don't have to do research really... it's all there in front of you staring you in the face. That's perhaps why bar scenes are inevitable in a book about travellers discovering Thailand... it's a big part of the place. Of course I've chatted to men here who've been around a bit and I've read books. And I've got friends who do academic research into the sex industry, one on public health aspects, the other a sociologist. So a writer can easily extrapolate and invent from there on.

Bill He can, can he? You were pretty cagey about my autobiography question.

Andrew No I wasn't. I issued an outright denial. (Laughter) Though to be honest the one bit that could be called autobiographical was the bar crawl with Jack Russell. Remember Jack took Ben round the bars and showed him his favourite places? When I was writing in Bangkok, an old friend took me on a trip like that for the sake of my education. But we both stayed sober and went home to bed quite early... and I don't mean together!

Bill So where did you get Jack Russell from?

Andrew Flying from London to Hong Kong via Bangkok in 1994 to give a series of lectures at Hong Kong University I sat next to a man who, every winter kisses his wife goodbye and goes out to Thailand for a few weeks to warm his cockles. Utterly bizarre! He stuck in my mind because he was gloating so much about all the money he was making from his old peoples' home. Hope he's gone bust by now!

Bill But you made Jack Russell quite a sympathetic character.

Andrew Yes, I felt I'd painted the sex tourists as a bunch of grotesques... in danger of caricature. Though let's face it that's what most of them are, sad characters who don't stand a chance at home so have to come over here and pay for it. But they're human too... it's tragic to be that ugly, no woman'll go near you. So I wanted a more sympathetic sex tourist to balance it a bit... and also to present the sex workers in a more positive light. Prostitutes are despised but I suspect they perform a valuable function if they make lonely men happy for a while. There's merit in that. Jack Russell says they set him up to cope for another year's work with his old people, and he allows them their dignity and values what they do for him, even though he pays.

Bill So did the guy on the Bangkok flight tell you all this?

Andrew No, I made it all up. Jack sort of talked to me as I wrote and he came up with this novel idea of sex workers being in a caring profession, same as his own work with old people. It wasn't that difficult to get Jack to talk about it.

Bill Jack and Ben do an awful lot of talking. And so do all the others on Koh Samet and Koh Chang. Is that realistic?

Andrew Well Bill, I set out to portray travellers in Thailand and I've spent many moons with them all over South East Asia, and that's exactly what they do. What else is there in an evening at the beach but to get into a huddle and talk. Alcohol helps and away you go. It's such a privilege... to have time to talk with all sorts of people you'd never otherwise meet or find anything in common with. In fact the differences are the best thing. Nobody ever seems to notice I'm a generation older and they take everyone as they find them. I've enjoyed some amazing brief friendships, partly because of travelling alone and partly because you know you'll never see the person again and can say exactly what you like. That's what I've tried to put across in the novel. Those long dialogues are just how it happens. At least, I hope they are.

Click on Readers Forum. "Maca and his mates have verbal diarrhoea!" What do you think about their long discussions? Boring or what?

Bill And what about the September Eleven debate on Koh Chang. They come up with some pretty elaborate and witty wisecracks about the 'war on terrorism'. Like Stewart's line talking about the US that 'The hamburger's mightier than the sword.' Is this all realistic?

Andrew Well, I hope the readers'll tell me what they think about that. But the travellers I seem to meet are highly intelligent and well-rounded people, the outward-looking types who manage to escape their own societies. And the range of opinions on the 'war on terrorism' expressed by my characters pretty well mirrors the travellers' views I've heard in Thailand. So in a way, I'm only reporting... just like a journalist.

Bill But you could be accused of being rabidly anti-American.

Andrew Me? What did I do? First point, Bill, as I said, the characters roughly reflect the views of the people I've met around Thailand. I don't think a single American I've talked to here has ever supported Bush's policies post September Eleven. So my American character, Chuck doesn't support Bush either, though he loves his country and he's very distressed by what's happening. Ben and Darren do support the Bush/Blair axis though, so there's a balance of views expressed. You asked about my attitude to America. That's not important is it? It's the book we're discussing. And please don't identify me with my characters' opinions... it's like when actors who play obnoxious people get attacked in the streets. But no, in fact I'd say I'm pro-America and the Atlantic alliance. It's a part of my culture... the English speaking world and all that... they're Rome to our Greece and so on. And the pacification of Europe in 1945 and the post-war settlement was an alliance which shouldn't be too easily forgotten. But that doesn't mean I support Bush or the current trends in America. I like Americans personally, so I hope I created a sympathetic character in Chuck... he's a nice guy; sensitive and complex. So it's not necessarily me criticising America in the book even if some of my characters do... and even if it is me, a sincere friend's the best of critics. Anyway a book's boring if it doesn't challenge the reader with some provocative ideas, isn't it.

"That's a complete cop-out, Mr Hicks, you blaming it on your characters. The book is rabidly anti-American and you wrote it." Click on Readers Forum and have your say.

Bill So in writing these long dialogues, you're showing travellers as they are then. The book also portrays Thailand and describes its problems in much the same way, doesn't it.

Andrew Yes. As I said, a travel novel should both be about travellers and the country they're travelling in, and about the interaction of the two. In Thailand, agricultural decline, the drift of migrant workers to the cities, women working in the bars and being used by the tourists... these are some of the big issues. I hope travellers in Thailand is the basis for a good story and provides food for thought. No book's morally neutral, I think... unless it's a poor book.. I particularly enjoyed writing the bit where Ben travels with Fon to her home in Isaan and learns about the problems of rice farming.

Bill You've criticised other travel novels for saying nothing about the country they're set in and having silly, melodramatic plots. But at the end of "Thai Girl", Ben and Emma just overlook their differences and get on the plane and fly away. As a conclusion to the plot, isn't that the other extreme?

Andrew I hope readers aren't disappointed with the ending. I suppose some may be. I thought of writing alternative final chapters that readers could choose between... Ben has a row with Emma at the airport, tears up his ticket and goes back to find Fon. Or at the departure lounge, Fon's waiting there for Ben and declares her love and they fall into each others' arms etc, etc. Guess that's how the film'll probably have to end! But for me, that'd be a cop out. For a story that tries to say something as opposed to being an escapist fantasy, I think my ending's the probable one. It's like it actually is. What do people do after a holiday romance? They get on the plane and fly home. And what do nice middle class lads do with the rest of their lives? They become solicitors and accountants! I should know that!

Bill Bit depressing isn't it. You weren't after writing a feel-good novel then?

Andrew That wasn't the priority, no. Though as I keep saying, you tell me... How did you feel as you read it? There's quite a lot for anyone to feel good about in it isn't there?. Most people feel good reading about being in Thailand. But no, you're right, I didn't want to write a load of romantic mush.

Bill So if it's not got a blood-curdling plot and it's not a mushy romance, what is it?

Andrew If it's not plot-based, maybe you could call it character-based. I hope the characters are strong enough for the reader to identify with and care enough about to read to the end. And I suppose, even more, it's issue-based, if there is such a thing. But we've talked about that already.

Bill Do you think your readers will identify with Ben?

Andrew I can only hope so. From friends who read early drafts for me, there seems to be an interesting split between the sexes. Women may think him a complete arsehole while the men like him for being a bit of a lad but think Emma's a bit of a pain. He isn't that nice to Emma is he, but he isn't vicious either. Maybe just immature, unable to deal with her emotional side. I was pleased when I heard friends arguing about Ben and Emma quite heatedly, as if they were talking about real people they knew. And I wanted Ben to be normal, fairly ordinary if you know what I mean... so that male readers could see themselves in his shoes. He's a nice sort of lad from a good background, quite conventional really... not like Maca or Chuck who are odd-balls. But he's a lively sort of guy and definitely not boring. I hope that once the reader gets inside his head, they can identify with him and his passion for Fon.. Surely his romantic obsession for her makes him a sympathetic character even to female readers. And he's an attractive guy, so given the availability of women around him, his devotion to Fon is quite appealing, isn't it?

Bill Well, I'm not a woman, but, yes I found myself rooting for Ben. Though does he behave responsibly towards Fon?

Click on Readers Forum. "Ben's a bastard to Emma... or Emma's a complete pain?"

Andrew Maybe your question suggests the earlier one you said I ducked. What's the book about? In a nutshell, could it be the vulnerability of poor Thai people in their contact with tourists? I'd love to know what my readers think.

Click on Readers Forum and say what you think the book's about.

Bill So tell me something about the writing process. We've heard about your notebooks.

Andrew It was a matter of constructing a plot, chapter by chapter, and piecing together the scenes such as the cameo moments I've mentioned, writing the book through to the end, and then writing it again... and again and again. Every time I went back to it, I tweaked a lot of stylistic things to get the language flowing better, avoiding repetitions and so on. I found the popular style, big on dialogue, extraordinarily difficult and didn't take to it easily. My critics'll have to tell me if I took to it at all.

Bill So what about the ending, the Epilogue? What happens... or is going to happen to the triangle of characters, Emma, Ben and Fon?

Andrew It's over to you, the reader, the interpreter of the book to decide what'll become of them. Is Ben's letter to Fon the cold shoulder? Now he's accepted a training contract to be a solicitor, is his middle class life on rails with no room in it for her? Or is he just biding his time? Could he get himself posted to his firm's office in Bangkok? Nothing in life or literature is certain... except that personally I feel sorry for Fon.

Bill So is that what the book's about?

Andrew Like I've said, that's for you the reader to decide, Bill. But thanks for asking the questions. I hope I answered them okay.

"Does Ben just dump Fon, or is he biding his time before he gets back with her?" Click on Readers Forum and say what you think.