Today’s Google Thailand Doodle pays homage to Ratchanee Sripaiwan, the deceased creator of Mana and Manee, the famous characters in old Thai textbooks associated with the childhood of many Thais.
Today would have been the 86th birthday of Ratchanee, who authored the official Thai-language textbooks. Although the Thai teacher passed away in 2014, many Thais who grew up reading her textbooks still have fond memories of the adventures of Mana and Manee.
Siblings Mana and Manee were the lead characters of Ratchanee’s Thai textbooks, which were used to teach Prathom 1 – 6 students from around 1978 to 1994. The stories consisted mainly of easy Thai words in order to teach children how to read.
Mana and Manee gained fame in the internet age a few years ago, when snapshots of the old textbooks circulated online, reminding 70s and 80s kids of the funny stories they learned as children.
As adults, many now agree the stories sound a bit ridiculous, but in the best and most nostalgic way possible.
This is an excerpt from the 21st chapter in the textbook for Prathom 1 students:
Dad reads a book at the table. Manee carries a mango and walks to Dad.
Manee: “Daddy, Manee wants to go horse-riding with Mana. Can I go?”
Manee eats the mango in her hand. Dad said “Manee, come sit here. Don’t spill.”
Aside from becoming internet memes, Mana and Manee have also become LINE stickers, which the creator has named “Memories of Childhood.”
Related:
#HisoPrathom: 18 kid status symbols from the ‘90s (Thai edition)
