Jacques de Coutre on Southeast Asia: Insights from the 16th and 17th Centuries

Prof. Peter Borschberg lectures from the podium at the Siam Society.

Siam Society.  Bangkok, Thailand.  November 19, 2013.  Professor Peter Borschberg, a member of the history faculty of the National University of Singapore, is such a good lecturer and story-teller, that he can make even the most obscure or arcane subject come alive.  His thoroughly entertaining and historically interesting tale of the travels of a Flemish native, Jacques de Coutre, between 1593 and 1603, captivated the surprisingly large audience at the Siam Society.  De Coutre’s autobiographical account of his travels in Southeast Asia, was never published during his lifetime and was

only discovered buried in some European archives in the 1970s.  De Coutre’s writings have been translated by Prof. Borschberg and are the subject of his recent book.  I was tempted to buy the book, but I’ve so many unread books waiting for me, that I didn’t want to add to the list. 

Noted academic and author Chris Baker introduced Prof. Peter Borschberg.