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  • News & article

    An Anglo-Isan mash-up

    Life, Apipar Norapoompipat, Published on 29/06/2017

    » There's always something enticing about traditional beats. It's something different from all the music played on the radio -- something authentic compared to all the boring, gentrified sounds. And that's what Will Robinson felt when he first heard the sound of a phin guitar many years ago on the streets of Sukhumvit.

  • News & article

    Remember the Raja

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 26/10/2021

    » Pornsak Songsaeng, the 'Raja of Molam' from Isan, died of a heart attack in Nong Bua Lam Phu province on Oct 17. He was 60 years old. Pornsak was one of the most famous Isan music stars, and his funeral was attended by many of his fans as well as many of the big names in the entertainment industry.

  • News & article

    Enjoying the delicate sound of thunder

    News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 10/10/2021

    » Something you get accustomed to in Bangkok at this time of the year is the distant sound of thunder, Mother Nature's way of reminding us of her power and also not to forget the umbrella if we are going out. I emphasise "distant" because the "flash, bang wallop!" thunderclaps directly overhead can be extremely scary and dangerous. But observing thunder and sheet lightning from a comfortable distance can actually be quite relaxing, almost like listening to the timpani tuning up at the Albert Hall.

  • News & article

    Out of the shadow of the Cold War

    Life, Published on 24/09/2020

    » The Cold War saw the birth of the persuasive power of cinema. In the early 1950s, the United States decided that psychological warfare was needed to thwart communist threats in Southeast Asia and so it set up a propaganda unit to produce movies, documentary films, cartoons and pamphlets to provoke a red scare among the people. The United States Information Services (Usis) was also active in Thailand during this decade of sinister geopolitics. Its main responsibility was to produce a number of narrative and documentary films which would be screened around the country to promote American-style democracy and caution people against the deadly dominance of communism.

  • News & article

    A shining star in the North

    Life, Tatat Bunnag, Published on 24/01/2020

    » After the hugely successful releases of the first three films, Thi-Baan The Series, one of a new breed of upcountry films, has just released the first spin-off movie of its franchise Thi-Baan The Series x BNK48, featuring teen pop idol group BNK48.

  • News & article

    What we watched in 2018

    Life, Published on 26/12/2018

    » The great and the good from the silver screen, TV screen and phone screen.

  • News & article

    Mourning three legends

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/08/2019

    » Three legends died recently, each one of whom made important and distinctive contributions to their own musical cultures -- molam producer and impresario Theppabutr Satirodchompu, South African musician and bandleader Johnny Clegg, and New Orleans songwriter, pianist and bandleader Art Neville.

  • News & article

    Indonesia mourns as tsunami death toll climbs

    Reuters, Published on 01/10/2018

    » PALU, Indonesia: The toll from an earthquake and tsunami soared to 832 confirmed dead on Sunday, with authorities fearing the numbers will climb as rescuers grappled to get aid to outlying communities cut off from communications and help.

  • News & article

    First they came for those who 'twerk'

    News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 17/06/2017

    » The police this week visited several cultural spaces, to appreciate the art and to mete out censorship. Next they'll give out art prizes -- to those who toe the line and serve the official ideology -- like the propagandistic communist states did in the last century.

  • News & article

    From the field to the protest

    Life, Chris Baker, Published on 21/09/2015

    » The Thai music known as luk thung (son of the field) is difficult to define because it borrows from everywhere and evolves over time. To the ear, however, it is unmistakable. That's a result of its two dominant rhythms, one from Thai folk music, the other from Latin America and an undercurrent of melancholy from the genre's archetypal song about the country boy far from home thinking of the village and the girl back there. Ethnomusicologist James Mitchell defines it simply as "Thailand's most popular music".

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