SUNTHORN PHU was born in the fifth year of the reign of King Rama I,on June 26, 1786. Soon after he was born parents divorced and his mother became the wet-nurse of a princess in the royal palace.
Young Phu spent his early years in the palace received his education in a monastery. Upon leaving school he worked as a government clerk but the only work that was congenial to him writing verse. In this he was adept even as a young boy, then he showed his talent by writing a long poem based on story Khobutra which, however, was left unfinished.
The youthful poet fell in love with Chan, one of the ladies of the palace. But it a forbidden love and considered a heinous crime, for which they were both imprisoned. On his release in 1806, Sunthorn Phu left the capital pay a visit to his father in Rayong who had entered the monkhood. On his way, he wrote his first great poem, Nirat Muang , in which he described his journey and wrote of his love for lady Chan. During his visit to his father he fell gravely ill had to return to Bangkok where he reunited with Chan and married her. His happiness was fulfilled when a son was born to them.
Phu began drinking too much which caused frequent arguments and Chan left him for another man. But he immortalized her name in verse with poem Nirat Phra Bat. In 1809, King Rama I died and King Rama II who succeeded him recognized Phu’s exceptional talent, being a poetical himself. Phu was given a position at courtand often consulted and advised the King who at that time was writing his Ramakien.
Although Phu’s was invaluable to King Rama II, due to his drinking problem and unruly nature, King Rama had to imprison Phu once again. This proved be a blessing in disguise as during his imprisonment he conceived the idea and started work on one of the greatest imaginative works ever , the Phra Abhai Mani.
The greatness of Sunthorn Phu lies in his simplicity and sincerity of expression. He wrote from his heart not his . But in Klon poetry, he was past master and his works remain unsurpassed. His works, mixed with romance, pathos and humour have earned him title he rightly deserves as the People’s Poet.

Links:
http://www.thaistudents.com/literature/sunthornphu.html
http://www.sunthornphu.org/
http://www.talkingmachine.org/Suthornpho.html
http://www.sriwittayapaknam.ac.th/sunthorn.html