Pitchaya Sudbanthad (Thai: พิชญ สุดบรรทัด; RTGS: Phichon Sutbanthat) is a Thai writer and essayist. His debut novel, Bangkok Wakes to Rain, was selected as a notable book of the year by the New York Times and the Washington Post.[1][2]
Pitchaya grew up in Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and the American South. He attended Duke University, graduating with a BA in Environmental Science & Policy in 1998. He later received his MBA from New York University in 2009. In 2015, he received a fellowship for fiction writing from the New York Foundation for the Arts.[3] In 2018, Pitchaya received another fellowship for his fiction from MacDowell.[4] He currently splits his time between Bangkok and Brooklyn.[5]
Bangkok Wakes to Rain has been received positively by critics. Tash Aw from the Guardian describes the novel as "an exuberant, meticulously-plotted debut."[6] Ploi Pirapokin from Apogee Journal claims that "Subanthad appeals to those native to the city as well as those who have visited."[7]