Sri Thanonchai is a humorous folk tale. This ancient and well-known tale narrates the story of Sri Thanonchai who is intelligent and crafty. The main point of this story was more of a contest of wits between Sri Thanonchai and other people, especially the king. As befitting folk tales, Sri Thanochai was always the winner. There are two short stories of sri thanonchai to show you:     A basket weaving contest and tricking the king into a pond.

             Once, there lived a poor couple in Tawalee City. The husband was Don and the wife was Pree. One day Pree dreamed that she ate garbage while she was pregnant. Next day she went to the Brahman and asked him to interpret her dream. He told Pree “You shall bear a son who will become a sage. Later on, she gave birth to a son, and they named him Sri Thanonchai. When he grew up, he was ordained as a novice. He was very clever. He was also crafty, and he always challenged others, especially the abbot, to solve mental problems and riddles. The intelligence of Sri Thanonchai spread far and wide, and eventually he was invited to become an official. Sri Thanonchai was  well – known among the people as "a trickster."