Bangkok Haunts is a novel by John Burdett, first published in 2007.

Plot

Detective Sonchai, of the Royal Thai Police, is a former accessory to murder and a former Buddhist monk. A video is mailed to him anonymously. It is a snuff film of Damrong, a woman he once loved obsessively. It turns out Damrong has masterminded her own death, and the recording of it, with proceeds going to her brother, a Buddhist monk.

Themes

Revenge is one of the novel's themes. Damrong takes revenge on her father by informing the police about one of her father's burglaries. The police in the countryside orchestrate her father's death, via the "elephant game" (the victim is placed into a spherical cage, of a type that elephants tend to start kicking, and thereafter stomp on when the sphere gets wedged into the corner of the arena). Damrong has prepared for her father's murder by bringing a camera with an expensive zoom, so that she can take detailed pictures of the execution.

Inspiration for the novel

In the novel's afterword, the author acknowledges inspiration from the following sources: * '' The Damage Done'', by

Warren Fellows Warren Fellows (born 13 September 1953) is an Australian former drug courier who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Thailand in 1978 for his role in a heroin trafficking operation that took place from Perth to Bangkok. In his best-selling ...

* '' Corruption & Democracy in Thailand'', by Pasuk Phongpaichit * '' The Dhammapada'', edited by

Narada Thera Narada Mahathera ( si, නාරද මහා ස්ථවිරයන් වහන්සේ), born Sumanapala Perera (14 July 1898 – 2 October 1983) was a Theravada Buddhist monk, scholar, translator, educator and Buddhist missionary who w ...

* '' The Funeral Casino'', by

Alan Klima Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname *Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * A ...

* '' Guns, Girls, Gambling and Ganja'', by Sungsidh Piriyarangsan and Nualonoi Treerat * '' The Sandhinirmochana Sutra'', as translated by Thomas Cleary('' Buddhist Yoga'') * ''

Very Thai Very may refer to: * English's prevailing intensifier Businesses * The Very Group, a British retail/consumer finance corporation ** Very (online retailer), their main e-commerce brand * VERY TV, a Thai television channel Places * Véry, a c ...

'', by

Philip Cornwel-Smith Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who populariz ...

* '' Welcome to Hell: One Man's Fight for Life Inside the Bangkok Hilton'' by Colin Martin * ''

Welcome to the Bangkok Slaughterhouse A welcome is a kind of greeting designed to introduce a person to a new place or situation, and to make them feel at ease. The term can similarly be used to describe the feeling of being accepted on the part of the new person. In some context ...

'', by Father

Joe Maier Father Joseph (Joe) H. Maier, C.Ss. R., (born 31 October 1939) is an American Redemptorist priest who lives and works in the Khlong Toei slums of Bangkok, Thailand, where he co-founded the Human Development Foundation (HDF-Mercy Centre) with Sis ...

* ''

Bangkok Post The ''Bangkok Post'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. It is published in broadsheet and digital formats. The first issue was sold on 1 August 1946. It had four pages and cost one baht, a considerable amount ...

'', newspaper * ''

Kum Chat Luk Kum may refer to: * Kum, a Slavic form of a godfather or a groomsman, similar to a blood brother * Kum., an abbreviation of the Indian honorific ''Kumari'', used for unmarried women * Kum (mountain), a mountain in Slovenia * Kum, Cantonese form ...

'', a Thai daily newspaper

References

2007 British novels British crime novels Novels set in Thailand Alfred A. Knopf books {{2000s-crime-novel-stub