Searching for a soul mate

When Montanee "Jo" Tantisuk tried to convince Thai publishers 10 years ago that a story about soul mates in past incarnations would sell well in the Land of Smiles, she met nothing but problems.

Today, not only is "Rao Ja Kham Wela Ma Phop Kan" a bestseller - it's now in its 23rd reprint - but the story has also attracted the attention of both TV and movie producers.

Last week, the author re-launched the pocket-sized book at the Se-Ed bookstore on the fourth floor of Siam Paragon Shopping Complex. This time, it comes with a CD featuring a single song that has the same title as the book but comes in four versions - original, piano, karaoke and demo. Also included is a karaoke music video and a behind-the-scenes special feature.

"I thought about doing a compilation of greatest hits for soul mates such as Savage Garden's 'I Knew I Loved You', but changed my mind and went for a new song instead. Before coming up with the words, I listened to the melody 50 or more times so I could remember all the notes. Everybody says it sounds like a soundtrack," she says.

With lyrics by Montanee and music by producer North Boy, the five-minute-29-second track is performed by acoustic guitarist Tawan "Poy Portrait" Chawalittamrong with 104.5 Fat Radio's DJ Rachawin "Koy" Wongwiriya on vocals.

Montanee says she found the song surprisingly difficult to write.

"It wasn't just about putting the right words to music. Firstly, I wanted the words to be understood by those who might not have read the book first. Secondly, I wanted them to stay in the listener's mind. And lastly, they had to sound sincere. I told the producer that the music should be pop, but with feeling. I spent two full days just writing the opening line," she recalls.

"Rao Ja Kham Wela Ma Phop Kan" is a translation of "Only Love Is Real: A Story of Soulmates Reunited" by psychotherapist Dr Brian L Weiss. Montanee picked it up in a bookstore back in 1996 while in London shooting the TV programme "Sonthana 45 Minutes". The subtitle, "A Story of Soulmates Reunited", caught her eye.

But having the book published in Thailand proved almost impossible. She finished the translation and sent it to a publishing house, which held on to it for two years. Then it was mislaid. It was finally printed in 1998 by Dokya.

Much to the publisher's surprise, demand was such that the book was rapidly reprinted nine times. Dokya passed it to its sister company Double Nine, which put it through another 14 reprints.

In October 2005, the author set up Montanee Publishing, believing that the story told in the book could reach out to more people and perhaps even salvage lives.

"I knew the publishing business is risky and the chances are we'd make a loss, but so far we've done okay because we're sticking to the sufficiency economy philosophy," she explains.

"I'm grateful to my fans for their support and most importantly for their love."

The novel tells the story of two of Weiss's patients - a beautiful woman named Elizabeth, who began past-life regression therapy for grief and relationship problems, and the charismatic Pedro, also suffering from grief. Their descriptions of past lifetimes showed a stunning similarity of detail and emotion. So much so that Weiss concluded they must have loved each other and lost each other across time and over different lifetimes.

What is Montanee's definition of love?

"Love is compassion. We can't love anybody if we have no compassion. It starts with the willingness to sympathise with other people. This is the discovery that's led to the happy life I live now," she says.

The author took the opportunity of the launch to donate Bt10,000 to the Home for Blind Children with Multiple Disabilities.

"When things were bad, I used to ask 'why does nobody love me'. But experience has taught me to focus on how I can give more love to others," she says.

The book "Rao Ja Kham Wela Ma Phop Kan" comes as a gift set with CD and costs Bt299 at all major bookstores.

Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul

The Nation