Immortality reimagined

Why would a vampire want to give up immortality?
When this question was posted on a Facebook page that serves as a community for aspiring authors, many followers replied that it could be because a vampire falls in love with a human.
Dr Parimmaphatra Waithayawongsakul, an aspiring author, disagreed with that reason but the post sparked the idea for her first novel, Tonmai Khong Vampire (The Vampire And The Tree).
“I disagreed with the idea that a vampire would give up immortality even if it fell in love with a human. It does not make sense since vampires may view humans as nothing more than a source of food and not something they would love enough to give up their life for. That was how I came up with the plot of a story about a vampire,” explained Dr Parimmaphatra.
The Vampire And The Tree is a story of a nameless female vampire who has a female tree fairy as a friend. What they both share in common is immortality. For thousands of years, the nameless vampire travelled the world, explored various places and returned to share her journey with her sole friend who is unable to move, as the fairy lives in an acacia tree with deep roots.
The nameless vampire is an unusual one since she never consumes blood and prefers fruit instead. Dr Parimmaphatra revealed that the character of the tree fairy was inspired by the Tree of Ténéré in Niger, Africa.
“I believe that a brutal, bloodthirsty vampire character does not fit the story. This nameless vampire is a nice creature. Normally, she does not unnecessarily involve herself with humans. She prefers to be an observer and watch the world with curiosity,” she explained.
“Before creating the tree fairy character, I searched for living things that have long lifespans. I discovered that trees can live for 5,000 to 10,000 years and a tree seemed like the perfect fit for a character. Acacia was inspired by the Tree of Ténéré which was a solitary acacia tree in the Sahara Desert in Niger. There was nothing around it. People who crossed the Sahara Desert used it as a landmark. Unfortunately, the tree was destroyed by a truck driver in 1973.”
Due to her creative storytelling and exquisite writing, Dr Parimmaphatra, under her pseudonym P.J.Primphat, came first in the 2024 Chommanard Book Prize for The Vampire And The Tree.
As the winner of the competition, which was organised by Praphansarn Publishing and Bangkok Bank, Dr Parimmaphatra received 100,000 baht. She will also receive royalties for both the Thai and English editions of her book.
“When I received a message on Line that I was one of the eight finalists, it felt like a dream. I had never won participating in writing competitions, so I did not expect to receive an award. When I won, I was on cloud nine,” she said.
The Vampire And The Tree is described by the publishing company as a fantasy novel which skilfully intertwines the story of a vampire with philosophical concepts of Buddhism. The vampire embarks on a solitary journey across the world to seek the meaning of life. After travelling for thousands of years to the ends of the earth, the vampire comes to realise that if she does not explore her inner self and remains attached to impermanent sensations of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, immorality is meaningless.
Growing up in a home filled with books, Dr Parimmaphatra developed a love of reading from a young age. She read a wide variety of genres, not limiting herself to just young adult literature. The short story compilation Mine, by National Artist Arjin Panjaphan, was a particular influence on her writing.
“Arjin’s stories are so realistic with vivid descriptions. I admire his writing style and the way the stories end with a little twist. His style had a profound impact on my writing,” Dr Parimmaphatra said.
Dr Parimmaphatra had always dreamed of being an author and publishing her own novel. However, her parents wanted her to become a doctor. She followed their wishes and eventually graduated from the Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University. She is proud to be a doctor as it is a meaningful profession which offers great value and purpose.
After being a full-time paediatric cardiologist for years, Dr Parimmaphatra decided to freelance and worked with over 10 hospitals. She spent her free time taking a writing course created by the famous author Pry Pansang. The course gave her confidence that she had the potential to write.
“The course broke down my fear of writing. There was a group chat where participants could share their writing pieces and this exposed me to a diverse range of writing styles and ideas. It was truly eye-opening and give me the courage to write,” she said
Dr Parimmaphatra incorporated ideas from her experience as a doctor into her novel. For example, in a chapter titled Muang Rai Rang (City Of Emptiness), the city is a place where everything seems to be unreal. When animals or objects are touched, they break into tiny particles before reforming again.
“This chapter was inspired by echocardiography, which is the use of ultrasound to examine the heart. Ultrasounds are sound waves with frequencies beyond the range of human hearing. This made me question how much we can trust our senses. Can we really call things that we cannot see or hear ‘nothing’? Additionally, there is a hospital scene which was inspired by modern medical treatment, but it is portrayed with a more fantasy approach,” Dr Parimmaphatra said.
The Vampire And The Tree can be read in three different ways — for entertainment; as a social commentary with satire; and/or a metaphilosophy piece. However, the novel includes many words readers may not be familiar with and they may have to look them up in a dictionary. If the novel was created for entertainment, why did it include many difficult words?
Dr Parimmaphatra explained: “We need to separate the complexity of content from the beauty of language. Usually readers don’t want to read literature with complicated content or symbols that require interpretation. This novel doesn’t require much interpretation. It can be read for enjoyment. In terms of language, as a writer, I want the language to be as beautiful as possible.”
Currently, Dr Parimmaphatra is working as a research assistant at a hospital in Shiba, Japan, where she has been for the past four years. With many plots in mind, she spends her free time writing.
“After winning the Chommanard Book Prize, I felt pressured to work on another book. Since each book has its own strengths and weaknesses which cannot be compared, I will try not to put too much pressure on myself and will strive to do my best for each. I currently have plots about sci-fi and Boy’s Love [BL]. The BL plot was developed for a competition, but it was cancelled. I will develop this plot into a novel instead,” said Dr Parimmaphatra.