Among many forms of Thai poetry, Bolt-8 variety stands out as one of the most well-known. Sunthorn Phu, a great poet, used it his chef-d’œuvre. Naowarat P. and Angkarn K., the famous contemporary poets, just breathe in and breathe out with stanzas of Bolt-8 poetry. Angkarn K. also skillfully used it in his social and political protest, almost daily recently until his death in 2012. No foreigners know Angkarn and his greatness because he has no interest in speaking ‘Tinglish’. And no fake or non-fake “intellectuals of Siam”(mostly ethnic Chinese) mentioned him in their ‘Tinglish’ to the international press because they envy him. It is as simple as that. Most school students can recite few words of Bolt-8 poem. Many songs are written in verses of this kind of poetry. Contemporary fan clubs of this type of poems are abound in Thai poetry website.
Et pourquoi? Perhaps it’s due to Bolt-8 ‘s popular base that Mr.Somyos P., as a professional activist, which means he is fed by being an activist -- as simple as that, has chosen this type of poetry to express himself. Not to say he is envious of Angkarn P., and that he know not all other types of Thai poem. And mind you, I, as the critic, haven’t yet proven that he knows this one.
The following schema shows structure of Bolt-8 in two stanzas (four lines). Letters in parentheses represent optional rhyming syllables;