Mr. Cheng's Silver Coffeepot. 2011 New Asian Writing Short Story Anthology

Mr. Cheng’s Silver Coffeepot is New Asian Writing's second anthology of short stories that comprises the fictional work of forty-five writers from around the world who set their stories in a distinctive Asian context. The title page of each story is illustrated with the abstract work of Alan Van Every, a Bangkok-based artist from New York.

'Mr. Cheng’s Silver Coffeepot,' the opening short story by Trirat Petchsingh from Thailand, deals with the common practice of (rich) Thai men to have a mia noi, a second wife, usually much younger than the man himself. This is the case of Mr. Cheng, a successful businessman from Bangkok, who spends his lunch hours with his mistress, “a young northern girl of sixteen.” The title refers to Mr. Cheng’s vision that “the girl’s tiny breasts… were just the size and shape of the lid of the coffee pot at home,” a vision which, towards the end of the story, resurfaces in the most unexpected place.