Thai music

khunsanuk · January 30, 2007

Sometimes I hate Thai music as it has become a bit of an addiction over the past few years. Often I would like to be able to fill the suitcase with clothes which I tell myself I will buy every trip, but no, the case always gets stuffed full of CD's instead. But not just any old CD's, the music I like falls into three types, Lukrung, Luktung and Morlam. There are other styles such as string (pop), songs for life, kantrum and some northern and southern styles, which I am not very familiar with, but I have no interest in these, as yet.

I have one thing to thank Pattaya for because that is where it all started. Sitting bored as usual in a Soi, I think Soi Post Office, I saw a woman setting up a tape stall. Pattaya having little else of interest to spend money on I thought I would buy a few tapes. Not knowing what was what I picked the ones with the best looking girls on the covers. I was lucky as two of the tapes were real gems; Sunaree Rachesima Sure tape number 5 and Dyew Pempeyom sweet music number one were amongst the purchases. When I got home I could not stop playing them so tried to find out more about the music and its origins. This was not easy as there were not many reference works then on the subject, although this has improved the last two or three years. There are now several sites that discuss Luktung and Morlam, unfortunately most of the ones I have read are misleading, as are the CD notes in English that have appeared recently. I would not claim to know a lot about the subject, I just like listening to it. However, for what it's worth I will try to outline the origins, differences and some of the amazing singers of these three musical styles.

Note: When you see this sign imprinted on a picture, it means there is a sound attached to it. Just click on the image to hear it.

Lukrung

Lukrung means child of the city, this is city music for the sophisticated townie types, sometimes called upper class Luktung. If like me you do not understand a lot of Thai it can be difficult to tell the difference between a Lukrung song and a Luktung song, especially when the Lukrung is sung in a more modern style. The subject matters are somewhat different though as explained to me by a singer in Khon Kaen: "Lukrung about love song only, very nice sometime sad but not same Luktung. Luktung about real life, can be tragic, people can get killed or maybe hang themselves in a Luktung song. Luktung can be rough like life, Lukrung more romantic song na".

Lukrung goes back to the 1940's with the music being played with western instruments; you will never hear any folk instruments with this sound.

I have only been to a couple of old style Lukrung concerts and it seems to be a bit of a dying style as almost all the people in the audience were well off people older than me in their 60's and 70's. Young people don't seem to appreciate it, not surprising really as at these gigs it is still sung the way it used to be with a sort of palm court orchestra of about six musicians, quite nostalgic but not very marketable. Lukrung songs are still recorded but I don't think many are still being written.

One of the most famous modern Lukrung singers is Olawee Sajanon on the Grammy label; she has a lot of CD's going back to about 1990. She is much played in Thai restaurants in the UK. Olawee has a very beautiful voice but I have never seen a concert of hers advertised. Recently though Olawee has been singing string and Luktung Issan, I guess she recorded all the Lukrung songs judging by her number of CD's.

Luktung

Academics say that Luktung evolved from other central Thai folk forms such as lam tad, pleng choi and pleng puen bahn. It was influenced by Issan migrants giving rise for example to the Suphanburi sound. Luktung is now often considered to be Issan music but its origins are in the central area; Luktung means child from up country, sometimes called child of the rice fields. This is the most popular form of Thai country music, which became more popular than Lukrung city music, especially as more people migrated from Issan into Bangkok from the 1960's. Luktung was and still is a binding force for Issan people as many of the songs are about hardship, lost love, the heartache of being away from home, attempts to get on in the big city, and love of course! Luktung can be funny as well as tragic.

How far Luktung goes back I am not sure but it had widespread popularity from the 50's onwards. The music was given the name Luktung in 1964 by a TV programme. One thing Luktung definitely is not is an offshoot of Morlam, Morlam is a true folk style of Lao people. Luktung is a synthesis of modern styles over a few decades, whereas Morlam is centuries old.

One of the most influential and popular singers from the early days was Surapol Sombatjalern (see image to the left) whose songs are still sung and recorded today ('Got Jakrupan' for example). Surapol is sometimes called the Thai Elvis, maybe something to do with his popularity with the ladies. His first big hit was in 1952 called 'Tears of the laotion girl'. He was shot and killed by a love rival in 1968.

In the 60's and 70's two other influential stars were Ponsri Waranuch and Sayan Sanyar, both still singing today. If you listen to recordings from this time you will notice how crude they are, even by the standards of the time. Although some of the songs are wonderful, I find most of these earlier recordings difficult to listen to.

Then came along a lady who all Thai women seem to love as much due to way she was abused by her husbands as for her voice. Pumpuang Duangchan was not her real name; most country singers change their names for good luck. She left school so early to help out the family by working in the fields that she never learned to read or write.

Pumpuang's real name was Rampung Jitharn, although she started singing as Nampung in the 70's. Her career really took off after her first TV appearance in 1978 and it was around this time that her career was transformed by composer and teacher Wichien Khamchareon. He did a serious remould on her. Not only did he change her style of songs from ballads to 'electronic Luktung'. He also is said to have had her change the type of costumes she wore and even the dances. The music now included rock rhythms and created, not only a new look Pumpuang, but a new style Luktung as well.

Her private life did not mirror her singing life, her second husband being no better than the first. Her husband could have been the original 'thai man no good' as he later cheated Pumpuang out of almost everything, including the house!

Pumpuang became very famous and successful and played to Hi So audiences with concerts at the Dusit Thani Hotel. With this success Pumpuang started to make Luktung more acceptable to upper class Thais, as it had been generally looked down on as music for the poor uneducated folks. Her most popular albums are from 1984-1987. Tragically she died aged only 31 in 1992 and was so popular and loved the she was granted a royal funeral by His Majesty the King. 150,000 people are said to have attended the funeral in at Wat Tapkradan.

You can go to this Wat, located near Suphanburi, to see her dresses and shoes amongst other things. Many people go to ask her spirit for lucky lottery numbers. You can give her waxwork a 'mali' (garland) and pray to her. I would not go as far as calling it a cult though, as some academics have. If some religions have their saints though, then why not Luktung?

It was thought that with the gap left by the untimely death of 'Rachinee Luktung' that Luktung might go into a decline, especially as string music was starting to take off. Happily this did not happen as many great singers filled the gap. The outstanding singer of the early 90's was Sunaree Rachesima whose first recordings for sure are classics. Her rich tones are ideal for the ballads she is famous for and she has wisely largely stuck to these when other singers have made the mistake of recording songs, which have not suited them.

Yui Yatt Yeer is a bit guilty of this with her recent Dance lud loke and Melody Issan CD's. Yui was singing before she was 10 and started out singing Pumpuang numbers, so good at it was she that she was called baby Pumpuang. The story went round that Yui was Pumpunag's secret child, something some Thais still repeat today. Yui like most great singers has a very individual sound and like Sunaree you could never mistake her for anyone else. Yui is one of Luktungs great talents but as with many child prodigies her best may already have been achieved.

Also from the 80's was another girl with an amazing voice: Dyew Pempeyom, sadly now retired due to getting married around 1992 after making some lovely recordings of classic Lukrung and Luktung songs on the Nisa label. You can still find her tapes at the 3 for 120 Baht stalls; I bought one at Asoke BTS station in Sept '03. You can pick up some good stuff at these stalls; CD's are three for 200 Baht. They only have old material, which you rarely get any longer in the shops. Her 'pleng waan' number 1 CD is the best; she also went on to record quite a lot of Chinese songs. (Update) I have just bought a new Pempeyom VCD the first one ever with just her, seems she has taken up singing again. She looks almost as good as she did 10 years ago, so I expect she has had a bit of maintenance work done; she is still very beautiful. She just released a two-volume set of love songs, all old stuff I think. Strangely although the VCD has a Grammy logo on it, 'elephant music' and 'Tiger music' logos also appear, never heard of the last two.

Just had an interesting conversation with a local waiter who told me Yui was Pumpuangs 'secret' daughter after all. Seems he heard it from someone just back from Thailand, so it must be true. I asked him what Yui says about it and he had to admit that Yui says Pumpuang is not her real Mum but she still looks up to her as a Mother. Well there you are then Yui is not Pumpuang daughter, yes she is the waiter said but she cannot say so because it's a secret! Pretty poor secret if it was true.

Better not forget the blokes, and from the 90's one of the most talented is Monsit Khomsoi on the Sure label. His song 'Gluwar' is one of my favourites that I always ask for in a karaoke, just wish I could sing it. Monsit is definitely jai dee being a genuinely nice guy and happy to go out of his way to please the fans. No wonder he always has a smile on his face.

On Sure is a singer he often appears with, who is without doubt the most gorgeous woman ever to grace the Luktung stage. Fon Thanasunthorn started out with a string album (the fool), but it did not do very well. Her first couple of Luktung albums for Sure are must haves having such great songs as 'Jai orn' and 'Ab rak kow'. I recommend getting the VCDs to... er... appreciate her properly. Fon is held in high regard as a good role model for young ladies and has won a sort of GTG award last year as well as best Luktung singer. She studied hard and long to get a degree while she was developing her singing career. She seems to be a very nice lady, does her bit for charity but does not go on about it, unlike some.

The Sure label have some great singers who have recorded several albums together under the name Cha Cha Cha, this is Luktung sung in overdrive as the name suggests.

A word here about what is expected of a Luktung singer, which goes for Morlam also. The performers keep closeness to the audiences and are expected to put themselves out to interact with the crowd, to shake hands, sign autographs and not to act like a big shot. If a Luktung star wanted to kill their career overnight all they would have to do is start walking around with a couple of body guards to keep the fans back, they would soon get booed off the stage. I am told this happened to Jintara when she was young and not used to handling the crowds, she refused a handshake or an autograph and the stage was pelted, she did not do a concert for a while after that! So I had better mention a couple here that I consider not worthy of the title Luktung singers.

If you go into a record store in LOS and ask for a Luktung or Morlam CD the chances are you will have Jonas Anderson or Christy Gibson pointed out to you as being a falang yourself the Thai assistant for some reason thinks this is what you will like. This pair have been singing about three or four years and have a couple of CD's out each. Jonas is Swedish and Christy Anglo Dutch. Now there is nothing wrong with falangs having a bash at singing Thai country songs or bragging about how much charity work they do, but I think these two have a very unpleasant side to them.

They grew up in LOS in a Children of God commune now called 'The Family'. If you don't know what that is they are a wacky Jesus cult who until the 1990's publicly advocated sex with children and unswerving loyalty to the leaders who style themselves king and queen. Christy admitted in an interview with the Bangkok Post two years ago that the charity work is undertaken for the family and that part of the profits of the recordings (usually 15%) goes towards the cult. If you want to give money to kiddie abusers (they claim to have given this up) here's your chance but I won't be buying any more of their material. Also, the way I have seen Christy behave on stage when the cameras are not on her, rules her out as Luktung. Sadly the Thai's seem taken in by these two missionaries.

For some reason the recording giant Grammy seems to attract a few moans usually along the lines of how they are ruining music. I cannot see this myself as they have certainly improved the pay and conditions for singers. Most of the huge stable of singers are string of course but they have some of the best Luktung singers including Siriporn Ampaipong, Mike Piromporn, Got Jakrupan, Luknok Suppaporn and new girls Tai Oranthai, Waranuch Puttachart. They do not promote any Morlam singers though, although Siriporn does sing Morlam I don't think she has recorded any since she has been with them. Grammy definitely has its own sound; I just wonder if they restrict what their stars can and cannot record, maybe this is why Jintara Poonlap left them to sign up with master tape.

Thai music seems to be evolving all the time, just as Morlam Sing appeared in the late 80's in response the growing popularity of string, so Luktung has developed with a cross over sound called Luktung Prayuk (Luktung Issan), which is Luktung with a Morlam flavour, if only by the use of traditional Lao instruments.

This often leads to songs mis-described e.g. 'motor cy han' as a Morlam or sing song when it is Luktung Issan style. Grammy have been banging out a lot of this sound recently on Siriporn Ampaipong and Mike Piromporn CDs. I was going to have one of these to listen to but we cannot leave out Siriporns greatest hit and surely the anthem of Issan, 'Bo rak si damn', not recorded by Grammy this is a Morlam song which, unusually for a Morlam release, was a widespread hit when it came out in the early 90's

There are so many great Luktung singers old and new, and it would take forever to mention them all, but a few of the others are Sotsai Rungphothong, Deang Jitakorn, Ying Yong, Apaporn Nakonsawan, Joy Sirilak, Gai Phanipha, Dao Maytreya, Pamela Bowden, Amporn Weanpetch, Ekachai Sriwichai, Kasem Komsun - there's hundreds of them so go and have a listen.

Morlam

Morlam should mean magnificent but it means expert song. This is not Thai music from the central area, but Lao music that is sung to traditional instruments (now includes electronic) and goes back hundreds of years. It is not popular all over Thailand, as is the case with Luktung, and even in Issan it is more popular in some areas than others. Around the Surin, Sisaket, and even Buri Ram, areas you are more likely to find other musical styles more popular day to day.

There are several styles of Morlam and I thought I knew them all, these being:

Morlam Cing
Morlam Phoot Thai
Morlam Glawn
Morlam Ploen
Morlam Mu
Morlam Tang Wai

Added to this list Thais tell me there are regional variations in the way a style might be performed, some the regional differences being:

Lam Khon Kaen
Lam Kalasin
Lam Ubon
Lam Salakham

I must admit to being a bit confused as to what is what when listening to Morlam, although it is fairly easy to tell Cing, Phoot Thai and Glawn apart, the others are more difficult to pin down. To clear things up I emailed John Clewley in Bangkok; John is a writer of some authority on the subject having written in the rough guide to world music. His reply was:

'The list you have is partial and needs some additions. Dr.Terry Miller does it like this:

1. Recited genres (probably the origins of lam singing) called an nungsu (often done by a monk) and pa-nyah (traditional courting Poetry).

2. Mor lam, divided into 5 groups;

Lam pun: solo singer & khaen accompaniment, singing epics.

Lam glawn: six genres of two or more singers & khaen, best known is lam glawn

Tet: based on Buddhist sermons (similar in sound to glawn and quite spellbinding if you get to hear it).

Six theatrical genres involving troupes - inc. most common today,lam mu and lam ploen.

Spirit ceremonies - lam pi fah.

As you point out, there are many other names and provincial variations (lam wiang, lam song etc). Only d contains recent innovations as all the others are traditional, dating back more than 100 years (some like pa-nyah may date back centuries).

The two most common contemporary genres are lam mu ('group' mor lam, Starting c. 1950s) and lam ploen (joyful or spontaneous lam, c. 1950s), both of which are theatrical shows based initially on likay (precursor to lam mu was likay lao) from the Siamese. The genres here are like comic operas/operettas from the West. Eventually, these styles led to the revue type mor lam/luk thung shows we get today, although lam ploen can still be found and a variant is still hugely popular in Laos. In fact, much contemporary mor lam has been based on Lao genres, esp. lam Saravane, from the southern Lao town of same name. The shows can contain a variety of lam singing styles. And of course, mor lam sing, which came along in the late 1980s in response to the in roads made by 'string' pop bands.

I hope this clears up some confusion for you. Laos, which boasts the khaen as its national instrument, is also interesting as there are many genres still being played in Laos that have already disappeared in Thailand.'

So there you have it, nobody could accuse Morlam of not having a rich and interesting, if somewhat confusing heritage. John has been writing about the music of the area for 15 years and is one of very few falang sources who knows their stuff. He sometimes writes reviews in the Bangkok Post.

How does the sound of Morlam differ from Luktung? One difference is in the language, some, many or all the words are Lao so that a Thai might have no more idea of what the song is about than you do. Morlam can have a driving rhythm, rap like lyrics or two or more singers competing (glawn). It can be a large orchestra, several singers and 100 dancers, or it can be just a Morlam (expert singing the lam style) and one mor khaen (expert player of the large bamboo mouth organ). It can take the form of a spirit healing ceremony (Morlam pi fahn) or be Buddhist monks chanting in the Morlam style. You can see how much more it is than something like string or even Luktung music.

Singers

Time to mention a few singers; there are lots of important Morlam performers who I have never gotten round to listening to, and many more I do not know enough to write anything about, so I'll just limit this to the few that I have heard and seen.

Jintara Poonlap

I was once sitting at a beer bar in Bangers when this weird sound came on the stereo, what's that racket I thought, sounds like a cat being tortured. It was a Jintara song, the girl explained it was Morlam, I'd never heard of it and thought it sounded pretty awful. Then they put on 'Bo rak si damn' by Siriporn, mm I kind of got to like that one. The more I listened to other things the more I got to like it and now the cat torturer is easily my favourite and I have seen her perform 16 times, she's an amazing singer and performer, and gorgeous of course.

Jintara started out as a young teenager singing with a small group called Mek Khala in Roi Et. She was spotted by a DJ when she took part in a singing contest and the Khon Kaen silk fair and was soon signed up by Grammy. She later left Grammy for Master tape, but I don't know what year that was. You can still get Grammy tapes and the odd CD but most of the material available is on Master tape. Including compilations, there must be about 40 CDs, I have 45 but some of those are CD as well as VCD. The latest caused some comments, as the cover is an exact copy of the Beyonce CD cover.

Her first big hits were 'Took lok aok rong rean' and 'Warn puen kean jod mai'. The latter is a sad Luktung song, which is really is something special when sung by Jintara, hauntingly beautiful. She has also appeared on TV in a Luktung historical drama; 'Nai Hoy Tamihn'.

Like many top singers Jintara has her own travelling concert troupe with about 50 dancers and of course the unfathomable comics. They tend to do one show more or less the same for a season then arrange another in the off period when it's raining. During the wet season she is more likely to appear at indoors locations like Issan Tawang Deag. The big concerts are the best of course but they can be lengthy occasions with the star of the show coming on last.

A contempary of Jintara Poonlap was Honee Sri Issan, Honee was from Kalasin and Jintara from nearby Roi et. They were about the same age and about as successful when tragically Honee was killed in a car accident in 1992. In the last two years her material has been re released as well as a memorial VCD that includes a biography. Honee was an outstanding beauty, and a great singer and dancer. Her big hit was 'Numta loan bow tee non', which is really a Luktung song. There is supposed to be a museum about her in Kalasin, but I have never met anyone who knows where. I did contact TAT in the UK about it, but they did not know where Kalasin was and had never heard of Roi Et either!

Banyen Rakken

Banyen is now about 57 and has been appearing on TV since the 70's I believe. I first saw her on a web site described as the queen of Morlam. What that old girl, they must be joking I thought. I soon changed my mind when I heard her sing, she is absolutely spell binding and the best Morlam dancer I have ever seen. She also sings Luktung although not always as well as Morlam and her songs include some latin numbers, strange but very enjoyable. Banyen's songs are often hypnotic and she weaves the Morlam sounds around as well as she does her hands. I have no idea how many CDs she must have released over the years but there are certainly a lot still available, her VCDs are a joy to watch and she sometimes records with other performers like Angkanag Kunasai.

You won't see Banyen strutting her stuff in a pair of jeans, her VCDs are like fashion shows with the number of costumes changes, and apparently she designs most of them herself.

Nok Noi Ulraiporn

Although Nok Noi is not a really great singer her show is the biggest and the best. When I saw her she had about 200 dancers but I met an ex-dancer of hers in Thermae (class place) who told me at one time she had 300. If you have not seen this type of show the sight of 100 girls on stage going through a Busby Berkley like routine all decked out in feathers, or dressed up as flowers is one of Thailand's most amazing sights. Much more entertaining than watching a few tattooed bar girls shuffling around poles looking as if they wished they were someplace else. Nok's troupe includes two famous male singers whose names escape me, as well as minor girlie singers who back her up and do the Morlam glawn bit. The crowds at her concerts are the biggest I have seen at a paying concert with no chance at all of getting near the stage.

Other important performers you might want to look at are Pornsak Songsang, Dogfa Petcuhpan, Duenpenh Umnuayporn, Job and Joy, Chawarewan Damnern and Surasak Donchai. The last name is a great Phin player. I wish I knew more about the musicians behind the singers, this is one of the few I could name.

If you have read this far you are either very bored or have some interest in Thai music. I have added a few links which might be worth looking at but have left out a few that I think are misleading, and also omitted the Jonas and Christy site.

If anyone has any to add or comments/information please contact me at thai38@yahoo.co.uk

Peter

I can honestly say that ethaicd are now the best site to order from. For one thing they do not have the $20 minimum postage that the others impose. This means you can order one or two disks without the cost becoming too high. They also answer emails, which I have found the others do not always manage.

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