Wikipedia Trail: From Suvannamaccha to Phra Aphai Mani
Suvannamaccha
I started here because I am working on a story for my project dealing with Suvannamaccha and Hanuman, who became an item during the bridge construction in the Ramayana according to Thai folklore. Mermaids and Suvannamaccha in particular are strongly associated with luck in Thai culture, and banners of her can be found in many public places in older towns.
Macchanu
Macchanu is the son Suvannamaccha had without Hanuman's knowledge. Many years after their dalliance, Hanuman and Macchanu are fighting on opposite sides of a battle and see and recognize each other even without having met. Macchanu is described as a half-fish, half-monkey with serious battle skills. Here's an image of what he supposedly looks like.
Matchanu-class Submarine
The Thai Navy actually used Matchanu (an alternative form of Macchanu) as the name for a submarine, and there were a whole category of mythical-name vessels used way back in the late 1930's, including the HTMS Matchanu, Wirun, Sinsanut, and Phlai-chumphon. These were small and used primarily for coastal defense, each containing four torpedo tubes and a single deck gun and machine gun.
Phra Aphai Manu
I started here because I am working on a story for my project dealing with Suvannamaccha and Hanuman, who became an item during the bridge construction in the Ramayana according to Thai folklore. Mermaids and Suvannamaccha in particular are strongly associated with luck in Thai culture, and banners of her can be found in many public places in older towns.
Macchanu
Macchanu is the son Suvannamaccha had without Hanuman's knowledge. Many years after their dalliance, Hanuman and Macchanu are fighting on opposite sides of a battle and see and recognize each other even without having met. Macchanu is described as a half-fish, half-monkey with serious battle skills. Here's an image of what he supposedly looks like.
Macchanu
Image Source: Detechter
Matchanu-class Submarine
The Thai Navy actually used Matchanu (an alternative form of Macchanu) as the name for a submarine, and there were a whole category of mythical-name vessels used way back in the late 1930's, including the HTMS Matchanu, Wirun, Sinsanut, and Phlai-chumphon. These were small and used primarily for coastal defense, each containing four torpedo tubes and a single deck gun and machine gun.
Phra Aphai Manu
Sunrise on Hat Saikaew, Koh Samet
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Thai folklore has a lot of different elements, but this particular piece, Phra Aphai Manu, is distinct in that it was composed during the time period of western colonization of SE Asia and was composed only by one single poet, as opposed to a gradual expansion on an ancient tale. The image is one of my favorites, and I saw it often when looking up Thai mermaids and Suvannamaccha, and it was nice to know where it actually came from.
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