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Last Updated: Mar 9th, 2009 - 12:41:34 |
I've written seveal times in my Phuket Gazette column "Lanta Letters" about the apparent exploitation of twelve year-old Thai boy Kay Sayluu by a Swedish publishing company that’s partially funded by Swedish state grants.
The relationship between Kay and LL Forlaget Publishing began shortly after the December 2004 tsunami when Kay’s family house and two long tail boats were smashed by the waves.
Swedish author Johanna Starkenberg-Frojd and photographer Anna Rehnberg arrived on the island looking for a real life survivor’s story and found Kay (and family) a perfect subject. A subsequent Swedish-language book entitled “Kay from Koh Lanta” was published and currently sells online for 96 SEK (387 Baht).
The family never signed an official release form of permission to publish Kay’s story but trusted that the benefits would eventually flow back to them. The publisher promised Kay a trip to Sweden which never materialized but the family assumed a small amount of the books proceeds would be forthcoming to help jump start Kay’s education.
Locals helping the family continue to send messages to the company trying to resolve the issue with no response and the Swedish Embassy in Thailand declines to comment on the story. But residents will not let the issue rest because, they say, it only right the publishers honor their promise to and show they are not deliberately manipulating tsunami victims for financial advantage.
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