The Dragon's Pearl: Growing Up Among Mao's Reclusive Circle is a 1994 autobiography by Sirin Phathanothai with James Peck.

The book tells the story of how in 1956, when Bangkok-Beijing relations were tense at the height of the Cold War, Thailand was trying to survive the power struggle between China and the United States in Asia.

The new Thai government desperately needed American money for its unstable economy, yet it could not ignore the threat posed by China, which had just demonstrated its strength in the Korean Peninsula.

Then, in an unforeseen turn of events, Sirin becomes a Communist Party heroine by saving two children in a fire -but she was required to announce that her deed was inspired by the teachings of Chairman Mao Zedong.

A joint Thai-Chinese production made a TV mini-series adaptation that aired in Thai, Chinese and Japanese television.