Max Pasakorn

If you came for the Thai BL subtitle translations, welcome. 🏳️‍🌈🇹🇭 But the full story is a little closer to home. I’m Max. I’m a queer, Thai-Singaporean storyteller, award-winning writer, and educator. Whether I’m decoding the romantic tension of Thai pronouns or writing my upcoming memoir about my family’s Thai food hawker stall, my mission is the exact same: to get you deep into the cultural nuances that get lost in translation. If you love deep dives into language, culture, and working-class diasporic stories, you are in the right place. Thank you for being here! ✨

Did someone order up a prize-winning essay?? 🍚🤣 I’m beyond elated to have won the swamp pink prize in Nonfiction for this essay, “Chili Padi Girl in a Chili Padi World”. This work is near and dear to my heart because it’s one where I finally share what it was like growing up in Singapore in the 2000s. I was brought here with my mother from Thailand when I was 5, and this is the story of assimilating into Singapore, of falling in love with food, of learning where I was in the world as a child, and of an ultimate failure to fit in. My mother passed away in 2012 and I’ve discovered since that all my writing grieves by including her in some way. This essay is both a tribute to her but also a testament to how powerful creative nonfiction can be. How this genre allows us to see the world anew. How love continues. This essay was written as part of my Capstone Project at Yale-NUS. I’m especially thankful to Prof @lawrenceypil for being with me throughout that entire journey from start to finish. He saw this work from when it was just a seed, and now it is here today. 🌶️ I’ve excerpted the work here, but please read the full work available on @swamp_pink ’s website: https://swamp-pink.charleston.edu/featured/chili-padi-girl-in-a-chili-padi-world/ (also at my link in bio) — friends who I’ve shared this with have left some glowing reviews. ☺️ #PrizeWinningEssay #CreativeNonfiction #SwampPinkPrize #ChiliPadiGirl #SingaporeStories #ThailandToSingapore #GrowingUp2000s #FoodAndCulture #WritingFromTheHeart #CapstoneProject #YaleNUS #TributeToMom #GriefAndWriting #WritingCommunity #EssayWinner #AsianWriters #MigrationStories #MotherDaughterLove #NonfictionWriters #FoodInWriting #SingaporeLife #SwampPinkJournal #EssayExcerpt #WritingWithPurpose #StorytellingPower

It’s finally time... for our #COVERREVEAL 🎉🎉 In January, we put out an open call in Singapore for writing about heartbreak. Now, we’re very excited to announce (officially!!) that the Perks of Being Dumped anthology is out in print!! A couple enters a sham marriage for five years to buy a BTO flat, then part ways. A well-travelled lover recounts their exciting 20s through seven breakups across continents. A girl writes a scathing note to her ex’s future girlfriend. A drawing session with frogs prompts a teenager to reconsider their feelings for boys. A scheming ‘nice guy’ tries to find a more attractive version of his dead wife using an interdimensional dating service. These local stories, poems and essays all about heartbreak – and the beautiful singlehood that comes after – are collected in this literary anthology edited by @judtheobscure , @zzz.iqin and @maxpsk_writes . Featuring stories, wisdom and advice from writers, this light-hearted anthology full of relatable relationships and the woes that come with them is an enjoyable read for everyone excited about love. Our 34 contributors include: @jane25_lyn @adalimkl @jerroldyam themythofwinter @c0rnstance @chwoweee @buttlicks @pamgolins @josephtanst @decantre @missus.usagi @iphis.24 @see_jack_art @tmyconan @PoetOfJazz @topazwinters @perfectsublimemasters @aj_low_writers @anishadrall @faithhohoho @catchingpenumbras @bobbyoverthere @dariennesim @yapyapxy @felixcheong65 @stephdogfoot @Chloe.cake @kimberlyrayeee @natwangthecat @angshuang — we are so very excited to feature their heartbreak writing ❤️❤️ Orders for the book are now open at @kinokuniya_singapore and Amazon.SG. Links are available in the @perks.ofbeingdumped link in bio! And stay tuned for news of a book launch... coming VERY SOON! 👀

Who knew the language I dreaded learning the most in school would end up giving me the most profound realization about queer intimacy? 🇹🇭👀 If you have ever felt exhausted by having to constantly shift your accent, your vocabulary, or your personality to fit into different cultural spaces... my newest essay is for you. 🔗 Hit the link in my bio to read “A Parade of Scarves” on Substack! 📝✨

Are you officially dating, or are you just Khon Khui (คนคุย)? 👀🇹🇭 When the subtitles just say “flirting,” they miss the most frustrating and chaotic phase of Thai dating! The Khon Khui phase is almost like the Western “talking stage” or situationship—lots of late-night calls, romantic tension, but with no official labels or end stage. You could be Khon Khui forever. Thank you to Thai author Pim Wangtechawat @pim.wangtechawat for breaking this down perfectly! If you want to read a beautiful romance that captures all these cultural nuances, check out her new book I Dreamed of You! 📚✨ 👇 Have you ever been stuck in the Khon Khui phase? Let’s talk about it in the comments! #ThaiLanguage #LearnThai #ThaiDating #BookTok #ThaiCulture

Why is Thai romance so intense? 🇹🇭💕 I sat down with Thai author Pim Wangtechawat @pim.wangtechawat to talk about her new novel, I Dreamed of You, and she perfectly explained why Thai characters are always so dramatic and obsessed with love. It’s literally just our culture! If you love the intensity of Thai BL, you need to add this book to your TBR immediately. 👇 What is your favorite dramatic Thai romance moment, scene or trope? Thanks to @kinokuniyath for hosting P’Pim’s book launch in Thailand!!!

POV: You let a Thai author loose in the Bangkok Book Fair. 🇹🇭✨ From the massive new wave of E-sports BL to incredible local indie presses, the Thai publishing scene is unmatched right now. Send this to your BL bestie to show them what they are missing! 🏳️‍🌈👇 What type of BL are you hoping we see more of soon?

Everyone loves Thai food, but no one talks about the migrant families cooking it. So I’m writing a book about it. 🇹🇭🇸🇬 Huge thank you to NAC @nacsingapore and NLB @nlbsingapore for making this residency happen!

The Other Book Club officially hosted its first book talk at Proud Spaces (@proudspacescentre ) recently and we are pleased to see attendees coming over to listen to a panel on love and heartbreak.

The focus of the talk was on the book “Perks of Being Dumped: a local anthology of heartbreak writing”, which was published in 2024. The panel, consisting of a few editors and contributors to the book, were ready to share their thoughts on love, breakups and the foundation of the book. From Singaporeans’ obsession with HDB in their writing, to reflections on multiple breakups spanning a decade, this anthology that was inspired by Taylor Swift’s concert in Singapore opened its doors to numerous submissions of poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction pieces. We were also treated to the contributors reading an excerpt of their work and the panel’s further insights, inspiration and thoughts through the attendees’ questions. All in all, anthologies like “Perks of Being Dumped” give budding writers the opportunity to be featured, and self expression in any form is essential in processing heartbreaks and being dumped. For the beauty of such expereinces, are the connections we made and the acceptance of our growth in an everchanging landscape. Thank you everyone for coming down for the book talk and we hope to see you at our next event! #TheOtherBookClub #lgbtq #bookclub #booktalk #Feb2026

throwback to our last Powerpoint Party, where @maxpasakorn cancelled the Katong sinkhole… ps: an announcement coming soon to fill the Powerpoint Party-shaped hole in your heart 👁️🕳️👁️ 🎥: @protocol.company

Writing is so hard, man. So why do we keep doing it? Been thinking about this question a lot and here’s my answer.

What even IS love? Everyone has a different answer to this age-old question. On a panel last weekend, I gave my answer. Thank you @theotherbookclubsg for inviting me to share more about @perks.ofbeingdumped this Valentine’s Day month!