[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ theme_builder_area=”post_content” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” text_font=”Arial||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Luk Thung is a style of country music popular in Thailand\u2019s impoverished North-East: Isan. Its\u2019 roots go actually back to Thai music that evolved in the thirties in central Thailand. Wikipedia has a good article on this.<\/span><\/p>\n Today it is the music of the Isan people, especially the many migrants who work outside of Isan. The themes it presents at quintessentially \u201ccountry\u201d. Lyrics typically deal with love, hard work, money troubles, homesickness etc., whatever you would find in any American western country song. <\/span><\/p>\n Luk Thung is usually performed by a single singer surrounded by a line of back-up dancers in matching uniforms that exercise a type of calisthenics.\u00a0 It is sung with a distinctive country twang, as is the case for American county music. And it can move any true Isan country boy or gal to tears.<\/span><\/p>\n Bangkok has a large population of immigrants from Isan. They work as hotel maids, kitchen staff, cleaners, bell hops and any other low-level employment including, unfortunately, the sex trade. More about the Thai sex trade in another post.<\/span><\/p>\n For these people, Luk Thung is a way to connect to their home. A few venues in Banngkok, like for example \u201cISAN Lam Sing\u201d serve this need. Rarely visited by tourists, \u201cIsan Lam Sing\u201d is a picture of true Thailand, significantly different from the Kingdom of Smiles fa\u00e7ade that is usually presented to foreigners.<\/span><\/p>\n A large rectangular hall has a stage at one end where a band with a mix of modern and classical instruments plays incessantly. In the centre of the stage is a sort of archway through which one performer after another shows up, sings one song and goes back. Every now and then a helper strolls across the stage to distribute new note sheets to the band. The audience is sitting along long tables. There is room for a few hundred people.<\/span><\/p>\n Thee show starts around 8 or 9, but things don\u2019t really get going before midnight. The straight-backed chairs are rather uncomfortable, but don\u2019t worry, you won\u2019t spend much time sitting anyway. Once things really get going, people stand, dance in the aisles and sometimes even on top of the tables. <\/span><\/p>\n The sound system has only two settings: \u201cLoud\u201d and \u201cvery loud\u201d. Most songs are well known, and many in the audience sings along. The performers circulate among the audience, allowing for selfies and encouraging consumption of drinks. <\/span><\/p>\n The standard drink is Lao Kao, what Thais call \u201cMekong Whiskey\u201d, even though it is made from sugar cane and therefore is a rhum, rather than a whiskey. When you enter the hall there are already one or two bottles on every table waiting to be opened. Water and ice are also provided.<\/span><\/p>\n In taste and strength, i.e. alcohol content, Lao Kao is somewhere between moonshine and paint remover. I strongly recommend making use of the abundantly served water and ice to dilute the stuff. Otherwise getting up the next day could be a real challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n The audience is 99.9 percent Thai, mostly from Isan. As a \u201cfarang\u201d, a foreigner, you will stick out like a sore thumb. But everyone is very friendly, makes eye contact, gives you a way (the Thai greeting by holding the hand together and bowing the head) and the performers circulating among the crowd make a point of greeting you and toasting with your glass. They may be wondering how much the farang can take. They may try to drink you under the table, but in a friendly, non-aggressive way.<\/span><\/p>\n On certain songs you can see some in the audience wiping away a tear or two. Working in a menial job far away from home is hard on anyone. These people make little money, send much of it home to support their family, and save for moths to afford bus fare home. For them \u201cIsan Lam Sing\u201d is the closest thing to home they can afford. At THB 100 (less than USD 3.-) cover charge they can feel a little bit at home in a foreign place.<\/span><\/p>\n There is a lot of heart in Thai Luk Thung. Don\u2019t let anybody take that away.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Luk Thung is a style of country music popular in Thailand\u2019s impoverished North-East: Isan. Its\u2019 roots go actually back to Thai music that evolved in the thirties in central Thailand. Wikipedia has a good article on this. Today it is the music of the Isan people, especially the many migrants who work outside of Isan. 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