THE PEOPLE & CULTURE
ARTS
updated Carabao’s affi nity for Thai folk melodies and rhythms. But the past
decade has moved these bands into ‘classic’ rock status and Bakery Music
was bought by a conglomerate. The alt scene lives on in Abuse the Youth,
Class A Cigarettes, Slur, Tattoo Colour and Apartment Khunpa and a host of
bands infl uenced by punk, reggae and other international genres.
The revived disco sound of Groove Riders has brought down the tempo
but upped the funky factor. Their hit ‘Disco’ has become a wedding-song
staple. Hugo Chakrabongse was a popular Thai TV actor and minor royal
when he gave it all up for music. He has since resurfaced in the US as a
songwriter for Beyoncé and was recently signed to Jay-Z’s record label.Dance & Theatre
Thailand’s high arts have been in decline since the palace transitioned
from a cloistered community. Some of the endangered art forms have
been salvaged and revived. Folk traditions have a broader appeal,
though the era of village stage shows is long gone.
Thailand’s most famous dance-drama is kŏhn, which depicts theRama-
kian, the Thai version of India’s Ramayana. Dancers wear elaborate cos-
tumes and some characters are masked. The central story revolves around
Prince Rama’s search for his beloved Princess Sita, who has been abducted
by the evil 10-headed demon Ravana and taken to the island of Lanka.
Every region has its own traditional dance style performed at temple
fairs and provincial parades. School-aged children often take traditional
Thai dance lessons. Occasionally temples will also provide shrine danc-
ers, who are commissioned by merit-makers to perform.
Most often performed at Buddhist festivals,lí·gairr is a gaudy, rau-
cous theatrical art form thought to have descended from drama rituals
brought to southern Thailand by Arab and Malay traders. It contains
a colourful mix of folk and classical music, outrageous costumes, melo-
drama, slapstick comedy, sexual innuendo and up-to-date commentary.
Puppet theatre also enjoyed royal and common patronage.Lá·kon lék
(little theatre) used marionettes of varying sizes for court performances
similar to kŏhn. Two to three puppet masters are required to manipulate
the metre-high puppets by means of wires attached to long poles. Stories
are drawn from Thai folk tales, particularly Phra Aphaimani, and oc-
casionally from theRamakian.
Shadow-puppet theatre – in which two-dimensional fi gures are manipu-
lated between a cloth screen and a light source at night-time performances –
has been a Southeast Asian tradition for perhaps fi ve centuries originally
brought to the Malay Peninsula by Middle Eastern traders. In Thailand it is
mostly found in the south. As in Malaysia and Indonesia, shadow puppets
in Thailand are carved from dried buff alo or cow hides (năng).Cinema
When it comes to Thaicinema, there are usually two concurrent streams:
the movies that are fi nancially successful and the movies that are con-
sidered cinematically meritorious. Only occasionally do these overlap.Music
Sources» (^) E Thai Music
(www.ethaimusic.
com) is an online
music store with
transliterated lyrics
» (^) 365 Jukebox
(www.365jukebox.
com) tracks
popular hits
on Thai radio
stations, includ-
ing Fat FM 104.5
(alt-rock), Seed
FM 97.5 (T-pop),
and Luk Thung
FM95.0 (lôok tûng
and mŏr lam)
Thailand
Playlist
» (^) That Song
(Modern Dog)
» (^) The Sound of
Siam: Leftfield
Luk Thung, Jazz &
Molam in Thailand
1964–1975 (Sound-
way Records
compilation)
» (^) Made in Thai-
land (Carabao)
» (^) Best
(Pumpuang
Duangjan)
» (^) Romantic Com-
edy (Apartment
Khunpa)
LOOKING FOR LIVE MUSIC?
Bangkok is the source for a nightly dose of live music with clubs specialising in cover
bands, jazz and rock jam sessions and DJ spin scenes. The Hua Hin Jazz Festival is a
well-regarded aff air and the Pattaya International Music Festival recruits domestic and
international talent. Pai has hosted a reggae festival that complements the town’s hip-
pie-haven reputation. Chiang Mai has a small collection of live-music venues, including a
cosy ‘songs-for-life’ club that was once the mainstay of the musical scene.