The bookworm

Paul Robilliard holds a Bachelor of Arts from Australian National University. He also speaks Arabic and French, and books are one of his great passions.

While the ambassador is keen to get a sense of Thailand by travelling to places like Buri Ram, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, and the Deep South, he always finds time to read.

Robilliard estimates that he has around 4,000 books scattered in three different locations — his home in Canberra, his parents’ home in Tasmania and some here in Bangkok.

“Books are quite bulky and heavy so I couldn’t take as many books as I like. So I choose to bring books that I have bought but haven’t read or finished,” said the ambassador, who admitted he prefers handling books to reading gadgets.

Naturally, he read more about Thailand before coming here. And reading for work is normally about diplomacy and regional situations.

What are the books foreigners should read to understand Thailand?

Siam Mapped by Thongchai Winichakul may be considered a dry book but actually it explains the evolution of Thailand, originally Siam, and how it evolved from various pressures from neighbours and colonial powers and how Thailand’s borders were settled.

This is a book to understand Thai history and what it means to be Thai or how Thais think today.

Australians may not understand the concept [of Thailand] as its border is defined by its coastline — just two islands — while Thailand is like many countries in the rest of the world, such as in Europe and Africa, where borders are a flexible thing.

What are the books we should read to understand Australia?

It’s always very hard to suggest just one book, but I think it goes down through works of fiction. Look at Peter Carey, Tim Winton, Tom Keneally and Patrick White. They capture Australia in a rare way that you can’t find in non-fiction.

What are you reading now?

Normally I read three to four books at once. But The Pursuit Of Power by Richard J. Evans is an interesting one. The famous English historian is usually known for his work on Nazi Germany but this one he wrote about the history of Europe from 1915-1940.

As a diplomat, it’s always important to have a strong sense of how diplomatic history has evolved. We need to be a little modest; many problems we face today in international relations and diplomacy are similar to those diplomats in the past faced. Fact or fiction? I read a lot of fiction. I try to keep up as much as possible with contemporary fiction and try to fill up gaps with the things that I haven’t read in the past. So I read quite a lot of 19th century English and Russian literature. I’m very eclectic in my reading, so I read a whole range of different things including crime and detective novels.