The Thai Wife Book Trailer #5 A story of love, loss and betrayal to a background of displaced people surrounded by hope.

by Meridith Mckinnon

How did I make the trailer? Did I use my own photos?
Some of my followers may have seen the book trailer on YouTube. What a technical feat for me! I was very impressed with myself and loved making it!

The idea first came to me after seeing other author’s trailers and I loved them. Also the fact that when I wrote my book I can honestly say that every scene, every chapter has been a movie in my head. I could picture the movement, the place and the dialogue all as a movie. Who played my character roles? Ah, they are also in my head, often characters that I had met in the past, in Thailand but I have also thought of actual actors ​...

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... and one that keeps reoccurring to me is Craig McLauchlan! I think because I watched an episode on ABC where Anh Do painted Craig McLachlan and I instantly saw the male protagonist, David, in him. A genuine type of Aussie guy who also has another, perhaps darker, side to him. But that's in my imagination!
So the trailer began with a draft of words. What did I want to say about my book, how much did I want to give away? Then I delved into my old albums to find photos to go with the written dialogue. At first I did this because of copyright, I felt that I needed to use my own photos, and so glad I did!
First off, the street photos. This is the actual main street of Kamphaengphet in 1979 when I lived there as an exchange student. This is the view from my bedroom window … the scene where Lek looks down and sees her father … the shops with the metal roller doors.
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​Then the bamboo cages. This is a photo, again from 1979, of a bamboo hut which is similar to the cages found in more recent times and used for human traffickers. Isolated and in dense forest, the cages are hard to find.

​The female protagonist in my book, Lek, who is the Thai wife, saved  many displaced people in her fight against human trafficking and the next slide depicts characters that live in her street. Like Hae, the fruit man, the elderly women have been saved by Lek from traffickers who otherwise would have killed them and buried them in mass graves.

​Lastly the photo of the river that divides Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) the Moei River.  The place where Lek hides until taken.

All this fell into place nicely and then I had to find music royalty free which was on YouTube. This took me hours! Finding the right piece to set the mood meant a lot to me and I needed it to be just right. When I showed my son for the first time his comment was on the music! Yes!
The book trailer has been an achievement of mine that I hope people have enjoyed. It sets the mood that I wanted to achieve in the book.
This is my story of love, loss and betrayal to a background of displaced people surrounded by hope.
Follow this link or click on the YouTube icon on this site for The Thai Wife book trailer.
https://youtu.be/a810I6T0y48