Most of these essays by William Warren, who has lived in Bangkok for 40 years, concern aspects of life in Thailand, about which the author has written copiously. There are also glimpses of other countries in the region.
Warren begins with a demolition of Anna Leonowens, the heroine of the book and then the film "Anna and the King of Siam" and the hugely successful musical "The King and I," which to the displeasure of the Thais has recently been remade as a film.
The Thais revere King Mongkut (the monarch in "Anna"), who reigned from 1851 until 1868 and put Thailand on the path toward modernization. It seems that Anna's history was inaccurate.