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Thai writer on her debut novel inspired by dad’s work in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City
- Pim Wangtechawat’s magic-realist novel is partly inspired by her father’s work in Kowloon Walled City. Gemma Chan may adapt it for Netflix
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Inspiration for Thai-Chinese author Pim Wangtechawat’s debut novel came from a source close to her heart. Her father.
“My dad Sukit was born in Thailand, but was sent to Hong Kong to study when he was about seven and returned there in his twenties,” says Pim, via video call from her home in Bangkok.
She loved hearing stories of his school days in Hong Kong, but it was the tales of his time in Kowloon Walled City, the enclave known as the City of Darkness because of its reputation as a hub for drugs, gambling and brothels, that grabbed her attention.
“He worked alongside Jackie Pullinger in the Walled City,” she says, referring to the British teacher-turned-missionary who has been helping Hongkongers kick their addictions through prayer since 1966. Pullinger set up youth clubs in the Walled City, and in 1997, founded the St Stephen’s charity.

“My dad helped addicts get off drugs and would sit with them while they were detoxing … he still has friends who are former addicts,” says Pim of her father, who today is a pastor and founder of the New Dawn Vineyard, a church in the heart of Klong Toey, site of Bangkok’s biggest slum.
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