Ngarmphan's "Kwam Suk Kong Kati" (The Happiness of Kati) is a bittersweet story of a nine-year-old girl named Kati who leads a happy life with her grandparents and cousins, even as she mourns her mother's untimely death. Despite the tragic loss, Kati's fond memories of her mother become the source of her love for life.

The simple, heart-warming tale, which gives readers reasons to be cheerful in times of adversity, is unmistakably a children's book. In spite of this - or rather because of it - Kati won the hearts of the SeaWrite judges, who ranked it above nine other short-listed novels, all of which were written with a mature audience in mind.

The judging panel reasoned that Ngarmphan's book constitutes a perfectly formed literary work, albeit on a small scale, that is accessible to a wide audience regardless of age or cultural background. In other words, this captivating story of an innocent child tugging at the reader's heartstrings deserved the top honour.

That was all very nice. But it did not explain why this year's crop of talented scribes who penned some interesting novels employing more advanced techniques were passed over in favour of this little gem of a book.

It is fair to say that all the other novels are more intellectually stimulating and deal with relevant issues in the harsh reality of modern Thailand.

To many thinking persons and discernible readers, the SeaWrite committee's judgement and its rationale left a lot to be desired.

It can be argued that most if not all of the other books that made the final list would have had a greater impact on the literary scene if one of them had been selected winner. This is not because they deal with grownup issues, but rather because the authors of these books took greater risks to try to entertain, provoke or educate the reader. Let's face it, as a book aimed at children, "The Happiness of Kati" is neither ambitious nor profound.

It may sound cynical but the awarding of the literary prize has become controversial in recent years partly because of the widely-held suspicion that the SeaWrite committee has been lowering its standards by pandering to the popular taste, which gravitates towards simple, easy-to-digest reading materials.

The fact that Kati is already in its fifth edition in the local market and has been translated into five languages apparently did not hurt either.

Compared to all other finalists, Kati is a touchy-feely little book that offends no one. It also has the potential of becoming one of the biggest best-sellers in years thanks to the enormous marketing power of the SeaWrite award, which will provide an additional boost to its already impressive sales figures.

Of course, this is just speculation that may turn out not to have any basis in truth. Everybody has a right to have an opinion about the qualifications of SeaWrite award winners or even members of the judging panel.

 However, it is no coincidence that critics have become much more vocal about the quality of the winning titles and the apparent shifting standards applied by the panel of judges. It is as if the SeaWrite committee feels compelled to hand out an award every year no matter what. This not only diminishes the prestige and credibility of the literary prize, but also undermines the role of the awarding committee as arbiter of the public taste.

When it comes to the literary tastes of Thai people, it must be pointed out that the problem with our reading public is that they are not being challenged vigorously enough.