Just a few days left before the annual Songkran holiday starts here in Thailand. And make no mistake about it; this is the biggest, grandest – and of course, wettest – holiday of them all. Three days of seemingly non-stop splashing, spraying, squirting and screaming. The upcoming water madness aside, another given about Songkran is that it puts everybody in an amazingly good mood. This week the smiles are bigger, the vibe more upbeat, and the pace of life slightly more hurried as people prepare for the upcoming holiday. Many Thais will have extended time off from work and school, thus hordes of people will be leaving Bangkok in droves to visit family and friends in other provinces. The result will be massive lines at bus and train stations, as well as bumper-to-bumper traffic on roads heading north. In the wake of this mass exodus Bangkok transforms itself into a pleasant city, free of traffic jams and chaos. Enjoy that brief tranquility while it lasts!
On my day off last week, I set out on a Mor Lam quest. More what? Mor Lam is a style of Thai country music that is very popular in the northeast part of the country. Originating from Laos, Mor Lam has been adopted by both rural and city-dwelling Thais and is now as much a part of the social fabric as roasted chicken and sticky rice. Despite the domination of pop music here in the kingdom, the vibrant sound of Mor Lam still thrives. If you ride in taxis around Bangkok it would be nearly impossible to escape exposure to Mor Lam or Luk Tung, another popular brand of upcountry music. I always enjoy listening to Mor Lam but I didn’t have any at home to play, so I resolved to fix that situation by making a few purchases. But what should I buy? I knew the names of a few Mor Lam singers, such as Jintara and Chalermpon, but I really didn’t know much of anything else about the genre. I checked out a few websites, hoping to gain a big of knowledge and was rewarded by visits to Monsoon Country and the Morlam Luktung site (see links to both sites at my “Favorites” links).
Armed with knowledge from my research I boldly made tracks to the Mall Bangkapi and some of the music retail shops scattered around the complex. By the time I was done, I had purchased CDs by Rock Salang, Chalermpon Malaikam, Banyen Rakkaen, and Pornsak Songsaeng. I had really wanted to get something by Jintara Poonlarp, considered the queen of Mor Lam, but I couldn’t find any good compilations and wasn’t interested in paying the extra money for a VCD. I just want to hear the music; I could care less about watching the singers perform.
While I was at the Mall Bangkapi I also dropped by the tiny but well-stocked Jedi Music Shop. I bought a compilation of hits by an excellent Thai singer-guitarist named Nakarin “Pang” Kingsak. Pang has been around for over a decade and doesn’t release albums all that often, but they are always of high quality. I also picked up a cheap double disc compilation of hits by Raptor, the old Thai pop band fronted by teenagers Louis Scott and Joni Anwar (well, they were teens ten years ago when they recorded this stuff!). It was one of those guilty pleasure purchases; cheesy pop music that I still find addictive.
When I went to the Mall Bangkapi, of course I took the klong boat. When making eastbound or westbound trips across this traffic infested city, the canal boats are the only way to go. Like the bus fares, the price for boat tickets has also risen in the past year but it’s still a bargain and a great way to beat traffic. The downside is that the klongs are horribly polluted and the water often smells like rotting garbage. Trust me: you don’t want that stinky liquid splashed on you. Not only will the odor seem like a skunk has squirted you, it’s liable to eat holes in your clothing, too. Murky water aside, I still find the boats are a pleasurable and relaxing way to commute, and help to make Bangkok the unique city that it is.
