Return of luk thung: The old Thai country music revival continues
A new exhibition at the Museum of Siam celebrates Thailand's recent luk thung revival
Luk thung heroes old and new performed at the exhibition opening.Is it just us, or are we in the midst of an old luk thung (Thai country folk) music revival?
No doubt spurred on by the success of Mae Mai Pleng Thai and Zudrangma Records, the old luk thung revival continues this month with a new exhibition at the most down-with-the-kids museum in town: the old city’s Museum of Siam.
The soundtrack to eight out of 10 Bangkok taxi rides is celebrated in Luk Thung: The Phenomenon of Thai Country Music, which runs until June 20. The exhibition kicked off last week with a tuneful -- if subdued -- little jamboree on the museum’s trim lawns. A crowd of about 100 sat in front of the atmospherically floodlit building, munching free little bowls of noodle soup as luk thung stars, like the delightful Tai Orrathai, warbled beside traditional or Vegas-style dancers dressed in feathered plumes.
The exhibition itself is a small, somewhat superficial shrine to the genre, short on text (a blessing for foreigners, as it’s all in Thai) and long on luk thung videos and listening stations, including one housed in half a taxi. One room displays on racks the crisp suits and cabaret-style costumes; the other is hung with eye-poppingly colorful old LP sleeves and movie posters from hit musicals like Mon Rak Luk Thung.
Most intriguing of all, there’ll be weekend panel talks on subjects like “The implementation of Luk Thung style in contemporary music” and “Reinventing Molam tempo to the urban sound”, though you can expect these to also be in Thai. See the Museum of Siam’s Facebook page for more.
No doubt spurred on by the success of Mae Mai Pleng Thai and Zudrangma Records, the old luk thung revival continues this month with a new exhibition at the most down-with-the-kids museum in town: the old city’s Museum of Siam.
The soundtrack to eight out of 10 Bangkok taxi rides is celebrated in Luk Thung: The Phenomenon of Thai Country Music, which runs until June 20. The exhibition kicked off last week with a tuneful -- if subdued -- little jamboree on the museum’s trim lawns. A crowd of about 100 sat in front of the atmospherically floodlit building, munching free little bowls of noodle soup as luk thung stars, like the delightful Tai Orrathai, warbled beside traditional or Vegas-style dancers dressed in feathered plumes.
The exhibition itself is a small, somewhat superficial shrine to the genre, short on text (a blessing for foreigners, as it’s all in Thai) and long on luk thung videos and listening stations, including one housed in half a taxi. One room displays on racks the crisp suits and cabaret-style costumes; the other is hung with eye-poppingly colorful old LP sleeves and movie posters from hit musicals like Mon Rak Luk Thung.
Most intriguing of all, there’ll be weekend panel talks on subjects like “The implementation of Luk Thung style in contemporary music” and “Reinventing Molam tempo to the urban sound”, though you can expect these to also be in Thai. See the Museum of Siam’s Facebook page for more.
