Title: Chui Chai
Author: S.P. Somtow
Date of First Publication: 1991
Place of Publication: Ultimate Frankenstein
Type: Short Story
Characters: No Character
Themes: ANDROID; QUEER FRANKENSTEIN; WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS; RACE/POLITICS; POSTHUMAN; BYRONIC HERO; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER
Critical Summary: Russell, an ordinary American working for a brokerage firm visits Bangkok several times during the 80s. Although he’s there for business, he greatly enjoys the sexual businesses that line the streets and alleys of Patpong. On one of his business meetings with a female scientist, Dr. Frances Stone, he gets setup. Instead of collecting money from the doctor, Russell ends up loaning money to her. She gets him to cooperate by distracting him with the appeal of the Thai beauty, Keo. A dancer and hooker, Keo seduces Russell with her traditional Thai dance of transformation—the Chui chai. After signing the papers, Russell and Keo share a most sexual, yet deeply spiritual night together, but at the end of the night, Russell notices that although she is beautiful, Keo’s skin is actually a shade of yellow with dragon-claws for hands. Regardless of the shock Russell encounters with this creature-girl, once he leaves Bangkok, he cannot get her out of his mind. Her scent, looks, words, and the way she made him feel that night lingers in him. Once he arrives home, Russell decides to try to live an ordinary life with an ordinary wife and children. He joins a support group because he is highly addicted to himself and his thoughts. When he happens to hear a story about Keo and Dr. Frances Stone from one of his friends in therapy, he cannot help but wish to find the mysterious creature-girl again. After being tested positive for AIDS, he divorces his wife and leaves his children. He returns to Patpong to find Dr. Frances Stone, for she is his only hope to find Keo. Because the doctor needs another loan, she agrees to show Russell her lab, where she has kept Keo and all her other experiments. Keo has already died from AIDS, but the doctor has recycled her body parts amongst several different creatures. Upon seeing Russell’s face, Keo instantly draws her affections to him, this time, with her body parts attached to several different beings who begin to surround Russell. Russell feels complete and explains how connected he feels to her, and that even though these beings are in fact the living dead, they are not gruesome, and have the ability to love and be loved.
In a sort of queer way, this short story connects to Mary Shelley’s original Frankenstein with how this scientist used the many different body parts of different post-living beings to create new life. This android theme is extremely apparent in the end of the story when Keo’s different body parts are attached to different creatures, but all seem to follow the commands of Keo’s heart because she is irrevocably in love with Russell. The way Russell is addicted to the idea of being loved, and quickly attaches his feelings to this creature-girl Keo, reflects the way the creature in Frankenstein wants to be loved and wants the doctor to give him this mate. Although the scientist and creature are both males in Frankenstein, this short story makes the scientist and creature both women, bringing a queer and feministic approach to modern version of Frankenstein-inspired story. The way the male main character of the story is highly dependent on these women to lead him to where he needs to go to find this woman and feel loved is the kind of power Mary Shelley had when she herself was the creator of Victor Frankenstein and the creature.
Administrative Notes: Written by Jena Curtis, CSUF; Matthew Vu (editing)