Rice Without Rain

Set in Thailand during a water drought in 1976, Chinese American author Minfong Ho’s young-adult, historical novel, Rice without Rain (1986), follows Jinda and her family of rice farmers who live in a poor village. When revolutionary students from Thammasat University, Sri and Ned, visit Jinda’s farm, spreading communist ideals, Jinda’s father, Inthorn, stands up against his landlord and becomes a political prisoner. Traveling with her new friends to Bangkok to protest for her father’s release, Jinda witnesses a political student rally turn into a bloody massacre. Along the way, Jinda, not able to hide her romantic feelings for Ned, must decide whether to pursue a life with him or return to her rural family farmland. Kirkus Reviews called Rice without Rain a “valuable, memorable portrait of a little known country”; Time Magazine said, “an easy read but tremendous impact.” The title derives from a Thai folk song.

Narrated in the third-person omniscient perspective, the story begins in rural Maekung, Thailand in 1976. Jinda, a 17-year-old peasant girl, lives with her father, Inthorn, on the family rice farm. Jinda and her sister Dao, who lives with her husband, Ghan, toil in the rice fields during a time of intense drought, which has produced the worst crop Jinda has witnessed in her life. As a result, tax rates are too high for farmers to pay their landlords. While working in the fields, the girls are distracted by the cries of Oi, Dao’s daughter, who is so malnourished that her belly is distended and her hair has begun falling out. Dao tries to nurse her child, but is also too malnourished to do so. Jinda and Dao head to the river to bathe, where a group of travelers with urban accents approaches them. The travelers ask the girls for shelter, but Jinda refuses, despite being attracted to one of the boys. The travelers are students from Thammasat University in Bangkok. Their group includes Sri, a young medical student, and Ned, a handsome communist advocate whom Jinda is instantly attracted to. Although reluctant at first, Jinda’s family allows Sri, Ned, and the other students to stay in their village for the summer.

As the family harvest fails to yield enough rice crops, Inthorn is confronted by the village landlord, Dusit. Since Inthorn cannot pay rent in full, Dusit demands Inthorn give half of his rice crop as collateral. Ned, the communist student, encourages Inthorn to stick up for himself and refuse to give Dusit half of his crop. Hesitant at first, Inthorn soon adopts the student’s communist views. Meanwhile, Sri treats sick locals with her advanced medical practice, ruffling the feathers of Mau Chom, the village healer, who uses Buddhist meditation and other traditional methods to heal the sick. As the summer progresses, Ned and Jinda grow closer, forging a romantic relationship. Ned continues to voice his political beliefs in support of communism, ultimately emboldening Inthorn to join the resistance and revolt against Dusit. Instead of giving Dusit half of his rice crop as demanded, Inthorn stands up for his rights, giving only what he considers a fair portion of his crop to Dusit. A melee ensues because of Inthorn’s defiance, causing Inthorn to flee from the police. While escaping, Inthorn is shot in the hand before being caught and arrested. He is sent to jail.

In jail, Inthorn is chained, caged, and treated as subhuman. Jinda ventures to Bangkok to find Ned to ask for his help in releasing Inthorn from jail. While in Bangkok, Jinda plans to give a speech at a large student rally at Thammasat University. However, on October 6, 1976, she witnesses the real-life event known as the Thammasat University Massacre, in which 46 students are killed before her eyes. The violent chaos resulting from the military coup forces Jinda and Ned to separate. Later, Jinda returns to her village in Maekung, where she learns that Inthorn has died in jail from the infection of his wounded hand.

At home, Jinda also finds that her niece, Oi, has passed away from malnourishment and that Dao is pregnant with her second child. However, Dao has run away to live with the baby’s father and Inthorn’s enemy, Dusit, chasing her dream of material wealth. Dao’s plan backfires when Dusit kicks her out of his home for being too "overweight" in her pregnancy. Facing great hardship, Jinda takes charge as head of the family. Ned eventually returns to Maekung from Bangkok to find Jinda. However, Ned’s devotion to the communist revolution supplants their teenage romance. Jinda, seeing the destruction the revolution has caused, would rather stay in her rural village to live peacefully and raise a family. Since Jinda and Ned do not see eye to eye on their respective futures, they decide to split up and go their separate ways. At the end of the novel, the farming tax rate is reduced from 50% to 25%. Despite the tragedy she has witnessed, Jinda finds hope at the end of the story with the arrival of a promising new rice crop. As the rain begins to fall, putting an end to the drought, Dao gives birth to her second child.

In addition to Rice without Rain, Ho has written several books, including Sing to the Dawn, Tanjong Rhu and Other Stories, The Clay Marble, The Two Brothers, Hush! A Thai Lullaby, Maples in the Mist, Brother Rabbit, Gathering the Dew, Peek! A Thai Hide and Seek, Journeys: An Anthology of Short Stories, and The Minfong Ho Collection. Ho’s selected works have been translated into Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, and French. Ho was raised and educated in Thailand before moving to Ithaca, New York, to attend Cornell University.