Art Education WS 11003

51 Give food offerings to a Buddhist monk is traditionally a succession. The importance of culture and tradition Culture is the most important issue in the nation. The nations that lose their own cultures and traditions, they shall not remain a nation. The nation without cultures and traditions even if there are the winner in war but they will lose culture and tradition, which is absolutely defeated. This is because those who have been defeated in culture and tradition, they do not realize why they fall for example, Tartar had conquered China and set up the Hung Dynasty to rule China, but finally Chinese which had stronger culture and tradition had absorbed Hung Dynasty into Chinese. Therefore, it is concluded that culture and tradition are the most important as mentioned below: 1. Culture and tradition can indicate the differences of people, group of people or communities. 2. It makes people different from animals. 3. It helps understand everything that we have seen, but how we interpret it depend on the cultures and traditions of the communities resulting from learning and cultural transferring; for instance, Thai people saw the rabbit inside the moon but Australians saw a big cat’s eye looking for prey. 4. Cultures and traditions determine the four requisites such as clothing, food, housing and medical treatment which are different in each culture such as the basic costume of each nation, food, house style, faith in medications or the belief in the mysterious things of each nation. 5. Culture and tradition determine the emotional feeling and emotional control; for instance, Thai men will not cry in front of the public when they feel sad or regretful.

52 6.It determines some of the actions in the community whether they are appropriate or not. Some action in one society is acknowledged appropriately but it is not acknowledged in other societies. For instance Westerners, both of men and women, shake their hands and embrace each other for greeting. Thai people use their hands to pray to each other and say “Sawasdee” and prefer not to touch their hands especially with more senior people. Japanese people take a bow for greeting and Maori tribes from New Zealand greet each other by sticking out their tongue etc. It can be seen that the creators of culture and tradition is human. Society occurs because of human. Culture, tradition and society all come together. Each society has a culture and if the society is large or more complicated, there are more cultural and traditional diversity. Culture and traditions of each society may be the same or different due to the differences in faith, race, religion and habitat etc. Characteristics of culture and tradition In order to understand the meaning of the word “Culture” deeply, the characteristics of a culture can be described as follows. 1. Culture is the behavior resulting from learning. Humans are different from animals that they are capable of thinking. They learn to organize their lives for their well beings and know how to solve problems which are different from the animal that they learn from memory only. 2. Culture is a heritage of society transferring their learning from generation to generation both directly and indirectly for a continually long period of time.. Human being convey culture through language. 3. Culture is a lifestyle or a custom of human’s ways of living. If they are born in any society, they have learned and absorbed the culture of the society they live in. Therefore, the cultures of each society are different. 4. Culture is not static, human has invented new things and improved properly for the changing situation and for the suitability and the survival of the society. For example, in former times, Thai women did housework but the men worked outside to support the family. In contrast, at the present time social conditions are changed. Women need to work outside to earn more money to support their family as well. The role of women in Thailand society has changed.

53 Thailand tradition: It is a tradition that has been highly influenced by Buddhism. But the influence of other religions, Brahmanism and the evacuation of foreigners like the Chinese, affect Thailand tradition as well. Thailand beautiful traditions that have been carried on are different depending on people’s faith, commitment to Buddhism and intelligently living in harmony with the seasons and the nature of the locals in each region around Thailand such as: The northern part “Bodh Luk Kaew” tradition of Tai people or ethnic tribe in northern Thailand at Mae Hong Son province. The north-eastern part “Bun Bang Fai” tradition of Yasothon province. The central region “Tum Kwan Kgaw” tradition of Ayutthaya province. The southern part “Hare Pra Khen Thart” of Nakhon Sri Thammarat provice. Thailand custom and civilization have brought about tourism, which are well known and impressive for foreigners. It is a precious heritage that all Thai people should conserve and carry it on forever. Useful hint What is the festivals ?................ The festival is the specific period of time to organize the religious ceremony and local festival. It focuses on setting the date, time and opportunities of each society to organize celebration activities. The important factors are seasons and faith causing festivals.

54 Ancient remains and antiques The ancient remains is the place that belongs to the ancient, the ancient buildings, the archaeological sights such as the ancient city, the ancient palace, the old pagoda etc. Almost every province in Thailand has ancient sources to study and learn to inherit the pride in the ability of ancestors such as Wiang Kum Kam at Chiang Mai, Ban Chiang archaeological site Phra Nakhon Dhiri in Phetchaburi province, Yutthahadtee pagoda, the pagoda built to commemorate important events including ancient palace etc. The old city of Ayutthaya, is an important archaeological site in Thailand. In each archaeological sites may contain valuable antiques such as appliance, pottery, weapon, sacrifices etc. In various areas, there may be antiques such as an ancient boat, ancient houses, a sculpture, art works since ancient times or a work created by ancient artists. The equipment that had been used ancient times may become obsolete in the present but they may be valuable antiques in such as the stone for crushing medicine, the stove equipment used for curing new maternity, the ancient rice mill, fig-leaf worn by little girl, bracelets, hairpin, the equipment used in ancient occupations etc. Antiques means movable properties (property not attached to the land) that are archaic. Whether an invention or natural occurrence or part of the archaeological site, corpse, animal remains of which the age or the characteristic of the invention or the evidence about the history of movable property is useful in art history or archaeology.

55 Antiques at Bann Baton at Narathiwat provence. Benefits of ancient remains and antiques can be summarized as follows. 1. Show the history of the country The country with a long history must have old age of ancient remains and antique as well. Therefore, ancient remains and antique can be compared as national evidence. 2. Show honor and pride of the people in the nation. Ancient remains and antique indicate the development of the society, intelligence and the quality of life of native people in the past. As the nation has much older age of ancient remains and antique, the people in the nation would have pride in various sides the evolution of the nation. 3. Related events in the past and present together. Ancient remains and antique are the evidence which passed through a long period of time. Nowadays people can get to know them through the past of their nation, which can be used to improve, develop or to solve the mistake in current situation or imitate and improve for better things in the future. 4.Use to educate the mind of the people’s mind in the nation. The ancient remains and some places can tell the sacrifice of their ancestors. Some places reminded the people in the nation and other places are holy places. The ancient remains and antique are not natural resources which can exist but it is a cultural resource, that humans use intellect, knowledge and ability to generate them in the ancient times. The location and article inheritance passed to our generation became the ancient remains and the antiques. Similarly the buildings and articles that we have created today the ancient can be remains and the antique of the people in the future. For that reason the ancient remains and the antique are the historical evidence that tell the history of their ancestors in different levels of the society. Throughout the small groups to the village, the city and nation and continue to our period. Therefore, we should participate in preventing the ancient remains and the antique from being destroyed. Do not remove, scratch or drill the ancient remains and do not store, trade or

56 processed the antiques. Please remember that the conservation of the ancient remains and the antique is the duty of everybody. Useful hint The ancient remains of Thailand that have been registered for the world heritage consist of 3 locations. 1. Sukhothai Historical Park and satellite town (Sisatchanalai Kamphaeng Phet) Sukhothai has a rectangular city plan with about 2 km. in length, about 1.6 km. wide. Inside there are 26 remaining traces of palaces and temples. The biggest temple is Wat Mahathat. 2. Ayuthaya Historical Park Ayutthaya is the capital of Thailand in the past from the year 1893-2310 B.E. which was flourished empire that can be considered as the most prosperous empire in Suvarnabhumi region. From the survey, it found that there are at least 200 places of the ancient remains. 3. Ban Chiang archaeological sites, Udon Thani province. Which is one of the major archaeological sites causing us to know people’s ways of living in pre- historic in Thailand which reflects the development of culture in many ways. Ban Chiang culture covers times more than a hundred archaeological places in the Northeast which were densely populated areas many thousand years ago.

57 Activities 1. Students write a short essay about the cultural traditions or important festivals of your province. Then discuss it in class. 2. Students gather in groups to visit the ancient remains or the museums. Then discuss in class. 3. Having studied this chapter, the learners do the following exercises: 3.1 Explain the importance of culture and tradition. 3.3 How can students be able to preserve ancient remains and antiques.

58 Chapter 2 Folk Music Essence Understand and have moral, ethics and admire the beauty of folk music. Be able to appropriately make a critical analysis. Expected Learning outcomes Understanding the basics of folk music and can describe, create, conserve, criticize, analyze melodiousness of folk music appropriately. Scope of Contents Topic 1 Characteristics of folk music Topic 2 Thai folk music Topic 3 Music wisdom Topic 4 Value of folk music Topic 5 Development of folk music Topic 6 Value and conservation of folk music

59 Topic 1: Characteristics of folk music Folk music is traditional music of social groups all over the world. Folk music is often sung along together. Therefore, it may refer to “Folk song”. He characteristics of folk music is typically as follows. 1. The song as well as how to sing and play the song are usually passed on by words, singing or performing. Recorded note music is not traditional style of folk music. However, in the present time some of folk music has been passed on by the note of music already. Thailand folk music can be seen in the song of Ruea and Antiphonal song. These songs have been played since ancient times music notes were not recorded or taught. 2. Folk music is often used to play along with other activities; it is not just composed for listening or appreciateing in the art of music. It can be seen that lullaby composed for singing and making a child to sleep mode. Rice harvesting songs are used to sing in the rice harvest festival at the completion of the mission, farmers need to relax together. There are boat songs used to sing along with sailing the boats in flooding season. 3. The format of folk music is simple; there are usually 2-3 main melodies. Sing it with changing the lyrics. The Rhythm of the song is usually repetitious again and again. It can be said that folk music is focusing on the lyrics or amusement of musical composition such as dancing or Thai dancing. 4. Characteristics of melody and rhythm is in consistent with the activities or amusement; for example, lullaby songs have slow and cold rhythm because the aim of the lullaby is to relax the children and make sleep. On the other hand, in Thai folk dance song the melody and rhythm will be fun and exciting because it encourages everyone to come out for jolly dance. 5. Singing style of folk music is a natural. It does not focus much on the quality of the voice or techniques. The sound is typically used in folk singing no matter what nations they are it comes out from the throat not from the stomach or the head, which is the style for their singing art songs. 6. Most of musical instruments used in folk music are special in each local. There is a sign or a symbol to let us know which local tribe or language thy belong to. For example, folk music of the Northeast uses “Khaen” a kind of reed mouth organ in northeastern Thailand, “Pong lang” a type of musical instrument like round logs tied together by size and sound sequences as well as the “Ranat” but larger. In the North there is “Sung” which looks like “Krachappi” in the

60 cavity shape, flat, round with ventilation holes in the middle with 4 wires, “Salor” is a stringed instrument which has 2-3 strings like “ Sor au”. Folk music can be found in every country. This type of music should be studied and collected as a part of the national culture. For instance, the academic musicians in Hungary, Kodaly and Bartod, had garthered Hungarian folk music to teach new generations. There are also many composers taking melody of folk music to their primary melody of the songs they have composed such as Bartod and Dvorak. There are many different types of music. Some of them do not need much knowledge and understanding but we can access and enjoy it. However, there are certain types of music with sophisticated contents. People who can access to these types of music have to study seriously. This types of music are musicart such as Western music or classical music and various national music. Since this type of music theory, content as well as performance is thoroughly complicated, those who would like to access or appreciate this type of music must study the details of the music concerning musical features, music history or style of music. It will make them have listening basis of the particular song. However, only studying it is not sufficient, whoever wants appreciate this type of music must always listen to it. The appreciation of music cannot be taught because the feeling occurs in the individual mind of people. Teaching is just a guidance. Listening to music along with learning the content of the music can help listeners more appreciate in music by themselves. Folk music is the music that passes knowledge verbally, learning it through listening rather than reading. There are not written notes; it is the cultural inheritance of the people from the past to the present. The music activity helps relax from work and create group entertainment of the people of local residents. This will cause love and unity in the local heritage to the younger generations and. becomes the identity of the local successor. Topic 2 : Thailand’s folk music Thailand’s folk music can be divided according to the different regions of Thailand as follows: 1. Central folk music including the categories of musical instruments: plucking, bowing, striking and blowing. Plucking instruments are such as Thai zither and spinet. Stringed instruments are treble fiddle and alto fiddle. Rhythmic instruments are the alto xylophone (Ranat

61 ek), the alto bamboo xylophone (Ranat thum), gold xylophone (Ranat tong), small alto bamboo xylophone (Ranat thum lex), gong (Khong), “Mong” double gong with different treble sound, small cymbal, cymbals and wooden rhythm clappers. Blowing instrument such as flute (khuli), pipe (Pi). Dominant feature of central folk music is Pi Paat (orchestra consisting chiefly of the gamelan) which is integrated with the royal music. Development of pipe, drums, xylophone, gong wong and add more instruments to become large orchestra. The singing is similar to Royal Pi Paat resulting from of transferring of culture between people and the royal . Instruments in the Central part Three – stringed fiddle Three-stringed fiddle is the fiddle that has the most beautiful shapes used in Thai band since the Sukhothai period (B.E.1350). Three-stringed fiddle tune the sound between four pairs of strings used to play in the royal ceremony. Later it is composed into the orchestra. Treble fiddle The treble fiddle is another type of stringed instruments played by the fiddle bow with a sound box made of hardwood, stretches the front with a snake skin and has audio channel on the opposite side. Its long handle made by hardwood about 60 cm. long. There is a knob on the upper. Treble fiddle used the silk shear string or ligament string. There are two strings with different

62 sizes. The fiddle bow is about 50 cm. long between the string. Treble fiddle has treble sound and it is used as the main instrument in the stringed instruments. Alto fiddle Alto fiddle is a stringed instrument, its sound box is made of coconut shell. The front side is stretched with cow’s leather, the audio channel is on the opposite side. The long handle is made from hardwood. The upper side has a knob for stretching the string. Fiddle string is made of silk shear. The fiddle bow is between the strings. Length of long handle is about 60 cm. and the fiddle bow is about 50 cm. long Alto fiddle has low bass sound. It can be played along and alternatively with the treble fiddle. Thai zither Thai zither is a stringed instrument used to play by plucking. Usually the height is about 20 cm. and 140 cm. long. The body made of soft wood, dig as a hole with 3 strings first and second string are made of silk shear. The third string is made of brass. It can be plyed by the left hand pushing the string to make high or low sound and the right hand plucking the strings which are made from ivory.

63 Flute/khlui Thai flute is a kind of the Recorder. There are the control to break the wind flow causing of sound from itself . Unlike the Chinese flute or piccolo, Thai flute has a lot of sizes such as “Khlui” with bass tone, “Khlui phiang aw” with medium tone, “Khlui lib” with treble tone and the one with more treble tone is “Khlui kruad or khlui lib krud”. Thai flute is a musical instrument in string ensemble and Thai orchestra. Pipe/ Pi Pi is a blowing instrument with a tongue made of palm leaves to be a sound generator, which has had quadruple or double-reed similar to the oboe. There are several types such as Pi nok, Pi nai, Pi klang and Pi mon. he most prominent is Pi nai. Pi nai has only 6 holes for wind force but can be played up to 22 tone and can imitate people’s voice clearly.

64 Alto xylophone/Ranat ek Ranat ek is a higher tone xylophone consisting of bars made of bamboo or hardwood such as Chingchan wood 21-22 bars stripe tied together into piece of xylophone and hang it on the sound box called xylophone track of which its shape is like a boat. Ranat ek’s function to conduct the band by playing exquisitely. It is usually played in 2 styles one is struck with hard xylophone hammer called “Pi Paat Mi Khang” and the other is struck with a soft stick called “Pi Paat”. The soft stick of Ranat ek is lined up from low tone to high tone, from left to right and tuning by using beeswax mixed with lead powder attached below each head and at end of the xylophones. Alto bamboo xylophone/Ranat thum Ranat thum is made of bamboo or hard wood with 19 bars. Its shape is similar to Ranat ek but lower and a little wider. Ranat thum is used to play jollily with Ranat ek.

65 Gongs/Khong wong yai Khong wong yai is the main instrument of the gamelan/Pi phat and Thai orchestra/Mahori used to play the main melody There are 16 tuned bossed gongs consisting of two major part. Gongs are the source of sound made from alloy. It look likes round cups, sort out from big to small gongs, low tone to high tone. At the top bosses used to strike and under the bosses filling them with lead mixed with beeswax to counterbalance of high or low tone as needed. Rattan frame/Ruan Khong made of rattan: Made of rattan,the diameter is approximately 1 inch coiled up and secured with the hardwood lathed in to grille pattern and has sharpened serrated bamboo to stick the structure of gong. To bind the gong with the rattan frame, leather string can be used with special knot. Khong wong lek Khong wong lek is smaller but higher in pitch than Khong wong yai. Both instruments are played in the same manner, but Khong wong lek can be played faster and more ornate variation on the principal melody also change the melody from Khong wong yai. Khong wong lek has 19 tuned bossed gongs.

66 Goblet drum/Thon, Timbrel/ Rammana Thon : The shape look like a small tom-tom made of wood or baked clay. It is stretched the leather taut with the leather rope. The body’s length is about 34 cm.. It becomes narrow in the middle; its diameter is 12 cm and the opposite sides of the drumhead are like cylinder shapes which are similar to the loudspeaker. It is used to play with Rammana. Rammana : is a small frame drum. The diameter of the drumhead is about 22 cm. It is used in the stringed instrument (Khruang sai) ensemble. Double-headed drum/Klong khaek Klong khaek is a double-headed drum used to play in both gamelan and Thai orchestra. Sometimes it can played in the stringed instruments. Both drumheads are played with hand. There are two types of Klong khaek, Klong khaek tua phu has a higher pich and Klong khaek tua mia has a lower pitch. There are two types of Klong khae; Klong khaek tua phu with a higher pich and Klong khaek tua mia with a lower pitch.

67 Klong song na Klong song na is a Thai barrel drum which looks like Poeng mang khok. It is stretched with the leather round the body and used to play in gamelan and sometimes in Thai orchestra. 1. Northern folk music In the early days there were the Percussion instruments such as the hollow timber used to worship a spirit. Afterwards it has been developed by stretching the leather on the top of the piece of hollow woods and it becomes to the instrument called Drums. Later, with the development of the drum patterns are different like the drum that is stretched on the top with the leather, only at one side such as Rammana, Glong yao, Glong aeo. And the drum that is stretched on the top with the leather at two sides such as Glong mong zheng, Glong song na, Ta phon mon. In addition, there are the percussion instruments made of metal such as Gong, Ching/Castanets, Chap/Cymbal. The blowing instruments are such as Khlui/Flutes, Ya ae, Pi nae, Pi mon, Pi surani. Bowed string instruments such as Salo luk ha, Salo luk si and Salo sam sai. And plucked string instruments are such as Phin phia and three sizes of Sueng: Sueng noi, Sueng Klang, Sueng yai.The dominant feature of Northern folk music is taking all categories of music instruments to be integrated.especially in the accents and melodies that sway with the atmosphere and softness of nature. There is also a mixe of culture of various tribes linked to the royal court culture and the music can be played both in courts and in locals with the unique characteristics.

68 Northern music instruments Salo Salo or Talo is the stringed bowed instrument played with fiddle using the liberal fiddle bow. The Salo body is the source of the sound made with coconut shell cut and covered with thin wood. The vocal tract is at the backside. Salo bow is made with teakwood or other hardwoods. It is usually about 60 cm. long, the knobs on the front preferably made into two strings but there are some having three strings. At first silk shear is used for a string and after that the wire or the bicycle brake cable are used. It is assumed that the word “Salo” comes from “Sai lo” or the bicycle brake cable of the Northern language and finally convered in to “Salo”. There are 3 size of Salo: Salo lek, Salo klang, and Salo yai sam sai. Sueng Sueng is another plucked instrument played by pluck. It is made of teakwood or hardwood. The vocal tract is at the front . Choose the pitch by Luk sueng or Nom (A small timber on the neck of Sueng). It is played with the thin horn and had 2 strings made of steel wire such as wire or brass (At first silk shear was used as a string).

69 Khlui/Flutes They are similar to those of the Central region. Pipe/Pi Pi is a single reed. The reed is made of metal like the reed of Khaen ( Lao reed mouth organ). The body is made of blowgun (Mai sang). At the end of one side it is buried with the metal reed. When playing it is kept in the mouth to blow at the end of this side. Another side holes are lining up into 6 holes to force the sound. It is played with both hands to produce the melody. There are 3 types of Pi that are the large size called “Pi mae”, the middle size called “Pi kleang” and the small size called “Pi koi”. It is played in the band called Chum pi band or Pi chum or it can be played with the Sueng and Salo.

70 Pi nae Pi nae looks like Pi chanai or Pichawa but it has a bigger size. It is a kind of double reeds made of hardwood. It is also has holes to force the sound similar to Pi nai. It is played together with Gongs, Ta lot pot and Klong aw such as playing along with the Thai’s Northern dance. There are two sizes, the small size is called Nae noi, the big size is called Nae luang. Phin phia Phin phia or Phin Fhia and sometimes called Fhia or Phia. The body is made of coconut shell. When playing, stick the coconut shell closely to the chest, move on-off to achieve the desired resonance. Initially the young men of the North used to play long with the singing when they are courting women. There are currently very few players.

71 Glong teng thing Glong teng thing is a two faced tabular drum, made from hardwood such as rosewood or soft wood like Mai ka noon. The drum head stretched with the drum holder. It is used to mixed with other musical instruments to composed of rhythm. Ta lot put Ta lot pot or Ma lot pot is a two faced tubular drum. Its length is about 100 cm. , the drumhead stretched with the leather, tied up with the leather robe to press the sound. Its width is about 30 cm.,its narrow side is about 20 cm. The body is made of hardwood or softwood. It is played with sticks covered with the padding, used “ki ja” (Ground cook rice mixed with ashes) to weigh at the drumhead.

72 Glong tingnong Glong tingnong is the biggest drum. The body is about 3-4 meters long.It is used to give the signal at the temple and play a long with the parade and Thai traditional dance accompany with Ta lot pot, Pi nae, Chap yai and Khong hui. It is played with the sticks and when being played, it has to be carried. Glong sabat chai Glong sabat chai is the drum existing centuries. In the past, it was used to strike out at the war for the luck and morale of the soldiers in the battle for the victory. The melodies used to strike Glong sabat chai are 3 melodies which are Chai pa ri, Chai di te and Cha na man.

73 2. Folk music instruments of the Northeast : It was evolved over thousands years ago starting from the use of local materials to imitate the sound of nature, sound of the wind blew shaking the leaf, sound of the water fall or rain drop, most of which are short sounds without reverberation. Later it has been made of natural local materials such as leaves, surface of wood, swamp panic grass, bamboo to make the long flutter sound. In the third period, it began to use the leather and cuir as the melodic music instruments with more beautiful shapes such as Krap khu/Clapper, Ranat/Alto xylophone, Khong/Gongs, Glong/Drums, P/Pipe, Phin, Pong lang, Khaen etc. They have been integrated in to Northeast folk music band with special characteristics according the 3 areas which are the northern part of the Northeast and the central part of Northeast, they are admire Northeastern folk music (Mor rum), which has to be played with Khaen/Mouth organ and Phin harmonized with the singing . For the southern of Northeast, they admire the instrumental music of the southern part of Northeast which is Khmer lineage. They also admire classical Thai orchestra band and Thai grand orchestra band. People in each group play these kinds of music joyfully. These are used to play for the amusement, with the performance and in the ceremony such as Lum pi fa which are played with the Khen to curative treatment and the traditional funeral of Northeastern part which useTum Nong band to play. The significant feature of the Northeastern folk music differ from other regions.

74 Northeast’s instruments Huen Huen is the semi plucking and blowing music instruments. It is made of bamboo or metal, grooved at the middle in to the reed. When playing Huen, put it into the mouth and pluck at the end of one side with the thumb finger or fore finger. Use the cheek pouch to be the vocal tract causing of high pitch or low pitch sounds. It can be plucked imitating a real voice of human pronouncing the vowel sound. This instruments is played in the Lahu tribe called Pia. This kind of instrument is not only in Thailand but also in all parts of the world such as Mongolia, Papua new Guinea, Africa and Europe. It is a type of ancient musical instrument that should be studied.

75 Khaen/Mouth organ Khaen is a musical instrument that is most recognized of the Northern part of Northeast and the Middle part of Northeast excluding the Southern part of Northeast that is under Khmer influence. Khaen is a perfect instrument with a history dating back to thousands of years. Khaen is made of blowgun (The small bamboo). It’s a metal reed,which is made of tin, silver, copper attached together into “Taokhaen” (depressed area for blowing the breath on middle part of Khaen). Khaen had many dimenstions such as Khaen 7, Khaen 9. Beside Tao khaen at the top there are holes to control the sound. To blow at the front of Tao Khaen, both hands are used to hold the Tao Khaen little slantingly. Khaen is a musical instrument that is played both in chorus melody and making rhythm itself, which has a miraculous style. The phonology of Khaen is both Diatonic and Pentatonic with levels of amarelle that can played both in Western and Thai styles including the same level of the sounds.

76 Wot Wot is the wind instrument that has no reed. It’s a circular panpipe caused by the wind blowing through a reed wood, Hia wood/Ku kaen wood or bamboo. The side of the hole of wot made is of small reed wood, short or long orderly arranged by heigh or low pitch of sounds. The pipe is stuck around a bamboo that is used to be the core attached by Kigsod. There are 6-9 pipes about 25cm. long. When blowing, we have to spin around to make the desired sound. Phin Phin is the plucking musical instrument, comprising 2-3 strings that make musical sound. The part of Phin body uses the same piece of carved wood; there is the tunable fret. The string is made of metal especially the wire of the bicycle brake. The plectrum made of flat animal horn. Pong lang Pong lang is the percussion instrument that is only a striking instrument of Northeastern part by playing together with Khaen, Phin and other percussion instruments or can be played solo. Pong lang body is made of hard wood with different sizes arranged with the sequence of sound tied together with a strong rope into bars of xylophones. At the end of the side with high pitch tied

77 with the branch and the other side with low pitch drop down stretched with the player’s thump or other materials. The instrument is generally played by two players sitting on either side, one is playing the melody, the other is playing drone accompaniment. Pong lang’s stick is made of hardwood, its shape is like a hammer played with both hands. Pong lang has no standard size. Jakhe Kabue It is the important musical instrument of Cambodia orchestra, is a plucking zither with 3 strings. In former times, the strings were made of silk yarn but now the bicycle brake cable is used. The player uses his or her left hand on the fret board while plucking the string with right hand. Grajabpi It is a plucking string musical instrument, by using the plectrum that is made of animal horn, the vocal tract is made of jackfruit wood or teak wood. At the top of the arm 2 tuning pegs and the strings are inserted into the holes. The player uses his right hand to strike the strings while using the left hand for pitching the piece.

78 Saw Kantrum It is a bowing string musical instrument made of wood; the sound box is covered with snake skin. The sound box is on the oposite side of the head. Two metal strings are stretched tightly across the length of the stick, which is about 60 cm. long. There are the tuning pegs located on external surface of the fiddle and tied with rope. The different sizes of Saw depending on the purpose of the creator. The Saw is made in 3 different sizes. They are Tro-chi (small size), Tro-ek (medium size), and Tro-thom (large size). Klong-Kantrum It is a kind of one faced drum made of hollow wood with skin covering the face and stretched tightly by the rope. It’s found as a percussive instrument in the Kantrum ensemble.

79 Pi Salai or Pee Chanai It is accompanied with Kantrum ensemble. It’s a kind of double reed like Pi nai. Krab-khoo Krab-khoo is a pair of hard wooden bars similar to Krab-sepa of the Central region but is smaller. It is used as a percussion in Kantrum ensemble. It is made into pairs a set and played with both hands. 3. Southern region’s folk music: it has a simple style of the invention music instrument from the local materials. It is assumed that the traditional folk music of Southern part came from the Sakai tribe. They used various of bamboo sizes, cutting into different sizes with the bamboo cut into straight line or slantingly at the end, covered with leaves or spathe of plants. It is used to play accompanying with singing or dancing. Then it has been developed in to musical instrument like Horn, Wooden rhythm clappers and type of drums. For example, Rammana has been

80 influenced by Malay, Glong chatri or Glong Tuk that played accompanying with Manora dancing, which was influenced by India as well as the blowing instruments like Pi nok, bowing string instruments like Saw duang, Saw au including the growth of performing arts and music of Nakhorn Sri Thammarat. It can be said that the performance in Krung Thunburi period is influenced by the Central region. The Southern folk music is also played accompanying with other performance such as Nora music, music of shadow play, the main instrument is Drum, Mong, Ching and other composition musical instruments. The musical instruments of folk drama are Rammana, Mong, Ching, Krap, Pi and Ronggeng music that had been influenced by the dance from Spanish or Portuguese since Ayutthaya period, accompanying music instruments are Violins, Rammana, Khong or some band including the Guitar. Ronggeng music is popular among the Thai’s Muslims of Thailand-Malaysia boundary. The characteristics of the Southern folk music had been influenced by neighboring countries of many races because of the unique combination that differs from the other regions in the particular rhythm and hasten, constant and energetic styles. Southern Music Instruments Thap Thap is an important musical instrument for providing the changes of rhythm and also for supporting rhythms of Nora ( Southern dance drama ). Thap is like Klong yao but much smaller , the length is about 40-50 cm. The body is made of hardwood of a jackfruit tree. A single drumhead is covered by a thin leather made from langur’s skin or cat’s skin attached to the body

81 by cloth strings or rattan strings. Thap is always played in pairs, one has slightly lower pitch called Luk Thoeng” and the other has slightly higher pitch called “Luk Chap”. Glong nora Glong nora or glong nang is used to accompany the Nora dance or Nang ta lung (Shadow puppet) performance. Generally, the diameters of the drum in both sides are about 10 inches and the height is about 12 inches. Glong nora is made from the core ofJack fruit tree since it is believed that it maks a good sound. The drum head is covered with cow’s leather or buffalo’s leather but the calf’s leather is better, attached with the wooden pegs or in Southern language are called “luk sak” stretched tightly with the drum head and there are two legs made of bamboo wood stretched with rope attached to the drum. It is played with a pair of drum sticks. Glong nang that is played accompany with the shadow play is smaller; its diameter is about 6 inches and about 9 inches in height.

82 Mong, Ching/ Small Cymbals Mong is a musical instrument that has an important part to play both in melodies and rhythm. Because the Nora and the shadow play need to sing in harmony with the sound of Mong which has 2 levels which are bass sound and treble sound. The treble sound is the most important called “ Seang Khaw Mong”. The Mong stick is covered with the rubber or yarn to make the sound soft when being played. Ching/Small cymbals are musical instruments that are played accompanying with Nora or Shadow play. The musician needs to play to match with rhythm and singing. In former times they preferred used the large cymbals about 2 inches in diameter but currently the small cymbals with its diameter about 1.5 inches made of thick brass are used. Pi This instrument is important to enhance the audience to be in a sense of euphoria and make the performer dance with delicate styles. The body is made of hardwood or other heartwoods such as Lead tree, Mango tree, Mi ruk par or Plum mango tree. Kanphuat pi (the components of Pi which cause of noise when blowing it’s stuck with Pi body) is made of copper and the reed is made from palm leaves which are usually taken from the single palm tree because they believe that it will make melodic sound.

83 Trae Phuang or Krap Phuang Trae phuang or Krap phung is a percussion instrument used to provide rhythmic punctuation made of hardwood, sized 0.5x2x6 inches.Make a hole in the head on both ends and embroider with a rope before piling up ten pieces. At the back of the axle of Trae, it is made of metal. Topic 3 Musical Wisdom The value of music Music is the human creation that represents their emotions to environment, nature, and ways of life reflecting the livelihood, traditions, culture, along with the wisdom of the indigenous people in various eras. Therefore, music is regarded as one of the historical evidence to which can be referred. Furthermore, music is considered as the cultural heritage that is worth preserving in order to further maintain the national identity. Expressing particular emotional states and being applied in everyday life, music has many benefits and is used for emotional development, such as, The benefits of music 1. Help to entertain and relax. 2. Help to calm down and focus on doing activities efficiently. 3. Help in the area of learning development by integrating with other subjects for utilization in each area. 4. Work as a medium to connect relationships and use as activities that are done together with families or friends such as singing and dancing together.

84 The conservation of musical works Musical works composed by artists in different eras represent the wisdom of their ancestors and artists. Moreover, the musical works can tell its civilization and express its national identity. Thus, they are worth preserving and shall be passed down and further developed in order to build pride and become the cultural heritage. There are various ways to preserve and pass down the musical works. The simple ways for students to exercise are as follows: 1. Study the origin of musical bands that you are interested. 2. Collect and record musical works of interesting artists for using the information on further studies. 3. If there is a chance, you shall visit the museum regarding the music exhibition in order to study the information or the history and the evolution of music. 4. Attend music activities, for instance, music performances and memorial exhibition of artists. 5. If there is a chance to take a course for a musical instrument, especially local musical instruments, you should pay attention in lessons for passing the music down. 6. Take an interest in your own local music and others. The core…folk songs Folk songs produced by local people have been passed down by oral tradition through hearing and memorization without writing down. It is noted that the origin of traditional folk songs were not only composed by native people or verbally transmitted, but also written by royal courts. However, the songs from the royal courts were passed down by verbal memorization and became the folk songs. Similarly, the case study of Ramthone is the example of regional melody combination which plays in the local melody line. The characteristics of folk songs are its simplicity. The remarkable features of folk songs are its simplicity. If there is any allegory, it will be easy to interpret, for example, “พอพ่ีควา่ํ มือไป นอ้ งก็หงายมือมา...” “พีน่ ึกรักแม่ตากลมเอย...” From the above statement, young people could understand the meaning. Its melody is not careless but perfectly simple which is clear, sharp, and beautiful altogether. Likewise, if this were the definition, it would be the beautiful definition. In spite of a few words, readers can imagine

85 and sense them. In everyday life, we may have a conversation with people who beat around the bush and are difficult to comprehend. Meanwhile, if the other rearranges the sentence and cut unnecessary words, it is much easier to understand. The folk songs are like the latter person. The simplicity of singing and playing Folk songs have maintained the characteristics of traditional human which may show the lack of improvement and evolution. In fact, singing accompanied by many musical instruments is also melodious. On the contrary, singing without or with a few musical instruments such as playing guitar together with fiddle can create beautiful melody as well. There are various options to choose from. However, folk songs is similar the latter option due to people’s way of life. Consequently, folks or song writers easily compose a song without much preparation. The factors that help to rhythm a beautiful song are expressions, and hands. Sometimes, the simple rhythm instruments are accompanied a little such as wooden rhythm clappers, Thai small cymbals, and drums. Lullabies and Pleng Pad Kwai are verbally drawn out the notes to create mood and atmosphere. Pleng Ten Kum Rum Keaw is used a sickle and rice stalks as performance props. Pleng Ruea is accompanied with wooden rhythm clappers, Thai small cymbals, and chorus to make the rhythm more joyful. Pleng Choi and Pleng Puang Malai is used only hand-clapping. Lumtat is accompanied with timbrel. The most important things of chorus are to sing featuring each other in order to make the song more joyful. Emphasis on the amusement Thai folk songs emphasized on two areas that are to convey a message into a double- meaning and to except the miserable things, for instance, Pleng Choi of Watkoh Publishing House. When a male singer started singing an introduction, a female singer would reply that “พีเ่ อ๋ยพ่ีมาถึงจะมาพ่ึงของรัก แมห่ นูยงั หนกั น้าํ ใจ ไอต้ รงแอง่ ในห่อผา้ พีเ่ อ๋ยแกอยา่ ไดห้ มาย พ่ีพ่งึ เงินจะกอง พพี่ ่ึงทองจะให้ พ่ีจะพ่งึ อีแปะ จนใจนอ้ งแกะไมไ่ หว (เอ่ชา)”

86 A male singer said “ทาํ ไมกบั เงินกบั ทอง สมบตั ิเป็นของนอกกาย พ่จี ะพ่งึ หนงั มาหุม้ เน้ือ จะไดต้ ิดเป็นเยอ่ื เป็นใย (เอช่ า) In the between of amusement and misery, the first one must be selected likewise folk songs. When lyrics have been compared, a message that describes the miserable feelings is less than an amusing message. Sometimes, the grief brought into a song is made up in order to change the audience’s mood, for example, Pleng Ruea when an ex-husband came back home and was depressed because of the deserted house. While the song described about the change and lonesome that a male singer can manipulate the audience’s compassion, he couldn’t help adding a playful message, such as, “............................................. พศิ ดูครอบครัวมนั ใหช้ วั่ ลามก มนั ช่างสกปรกไมร่ ู้จกั หาย หมอ้ ขา้ วก็กลิ้งหมอ้ แกงกก็ ลิ้ง ฝาละมีตีฉ่ิงอยทู่ ่ีขา้ งครัวไฟ ไอค้ รกกะบากกเ็ ล่นละคร สากกะเบือก็นอนเป็นไข้ .............................................” The similarity A folk in Bangpae, Ratchaburi sang a part of Pleng Choi which ended the song that “เรามาเล่นกนั เสียแตล่ มปาก พอเลิกแลว้ เราก็จากกนั ไป...” Similarly, a folk in Bang Luk Suea, Nakhon Nayok sang their own Pleng Rabum Ban Na in the introduction that “เอ๋ยพมี่ าวนั น้ี กช็ วนแมเ่ ล่นระบาํ วา่ กนั คน (แม่เอย๊ ) ละคาํ ไมเ่ ป็นไร เราเล่นกนั กนั กแ็ ตล่ มปาก พอเลิกแลว้ เราก็จาก จากแม่จากกนั ไป...” Why did the singers from different places sing the songs whose lyrics were similar or almost identical? In fact, there are many folk songs which contain similar messages. Therefore, the study showed that folk songs composed along the Chao Phraya river and nearby rivers had built the formation which shared something in common through its transmission from person to person or group to group and became the harmonized composition. The common types of folk songs are widely divided into contents and sequences of words. According to the contents and sequences, the types of retaliating songs, short and long versions, and the contents of both types may be categorized as follows;

87 The long version of retaliating song consists of Pleng Ruea, Pleng Rabum Choarai, Pleng Puang Malai, Pleng Yhoei, Pleng Nah Yai, Pleng Ten Kum Rum Keaw, Pleng E-Seaw, Pleng Rabum Ban Na, Pleng Pad Kwai, Pleng Thepthong, Pleng prob Kai, Lumtat, Pleng Aew Klao Saw, Pleng Choi etc. Most of these songs have to be sung by skillful or professional singers who can retaliate against each other continually. In order to extend songs, they have to make up stories or create a set of plays. Therefore, we have the big sets of these songs as a prototype that comprises of; Ruk Nah Pa Nee set, Su Khor set, Ching Chu set, and Tee Mark Pua set etc. The pattern of all long versions of retaliating songs containing begins with the Wai Kru Chant, then the introduction to call girls joining the songs, and respond songs or called “retaliting” which may last the whole night long. The short versions of retaliating songs or short lyrics are comprised of Pleng Pistan, Pleng Rabum, Pleng Ten Kum Rum Keaw, Pleng Songkohlumpuan, and Pleng Chuk Kradan etc. This type of songs is suitable for amateurs who sings only four to five lines each and ends the song. Furthermore, it offers opportunities to simply join singing. Lullabies are considered as a short lyric as well. Anyone can sing the short lyrics, thus it can be sung without formalities or composing a big set determined the sequences of plays. You can start by forming a group or singing. The similarity of lyrics caused a male singer pick up line of one song to add into the other with unawareness. It is noted that a male singer can sing in various melodies besides his favorite songs. As a result, it is simple to exchange words. Therefore, we may discover the similarity of sequences or description among the songs by passing down through a singer’s mind. On the other hand, the common types of folk songs were written in poems containing a rhyme in which the last syllable of verses sounds the same such as the sound of Ai or the sound of Ar. The technical terms of songs called Li poetry, La poetry, Lee poetry, and Loo poetry etc., for example, Pleng Ruea, Pleng Choi, Pleng Ten Kum Rum Keaw, and Pleng Puang Malai etc. This style was created because it was easy to rhymes a song. If the versification of the song is composed in a difficult language, it will effect on singing. The common vowel used in the songs is Ai.

88 Topic 4 Value of Folk Music Folk music is literary heritage, which was composed by anonymous villagers. Folk song be composed by a person who is an adept at verse making and a quidnunc, but accidentally or deliberately the song was beautiful and profound to listeners. Therefore the song got spread throughout and eventually no one knows who was the composer and when was the song composed. Folk songs were composed with simple but profound words. This is what makes folk music valuable because it is truly one type of art. Phra Choa Worawong Thoe Krom Mhuen Pittayalongkorn once told a story that he tried to compose rhythm song and granted to the villagers who can read to sing. But he noticed that it would be better to let the villagers composed their own song. He then asked the villagers, how was the song? All came up with the same answers that the song was full of difficult words and if you want to court a rural women they wouldn’t understand these difficult words and they wouldn’t know how to respond. This shows that folk songs used words that are easy to understand but have good point and it doesn’t need any difficult words to spice up the song. Type of folk music We can categorize folk music into categories such as categorized by the length of the songs, short or long. The example of short songs are Pleng Rabum, Pleng Pistan, Pleng Songfang, children’s song, Pleng Chuk kradan, Pleng Khaosrong, Pleng Hae Nangmeaw, Pleng Hinlele. Songs with long lyrics are Pleng Choi, Pleng Ruea, Pleng E-seaw and so on. The song can also be categorized by the pattern of a poem, which is to organize songs into the same prosody and same type. Poem can be categorized into three types, which are End Rhyme Poem, songs with continuous terminal rhyming vowels such as Pleng Choi, Pleng Lumtad, Pleng Rabum Choarai, Pleng Rabum Banna, Pleang Nahyai, Pleang E-seaw, Pleng Songkohlumpuan and Pleng Thepthong. All of these songs have the same rhyming in the end. Though .hen it is put into songs the last three verses should rhyme and relate to each other such as Pleng Ruea, Pleng Ten Kum Rum keaw, Pleng kortan and Pleng Aew Klao saw.

89 Song that doesn’t belongs but has similarities such as children’s song, Pleng Rabum, Pleng Pistan, Pleng Songfang, Pleng Chukkradan, Pleng Tengumrumkeaw, Pleng Padkwai, Pleng Probkai, Pleng Hyoei. To categorized into retaliating songs and normal songs. Retaliating songs are Pleng Choi, Pleng E-seaw and etc. and Normal songs are songs that can be sing alone or duet or songs that does not need retaliation such as Children’s song, Pleng khortan, Pleng Chukradan, Pleng Song fang (usually is a short songs) Reason we choose to categorize this way was because it is easy to understand and it complies to each other. Each song is related to one another respectively. Songs that are performed during festival and seasonal such as Pleng Nhayai is used during khatin Phaba season and rainy season. After Khatin is harvest season, during this season people usually sing Pleng Keaw Khoa, Pleng Song Koh Lumpuan, Pleng Song Fang, Pleng Chuk kradan and Pleng Ten kum rum keaw. After the harvest season, its Songkarn festival, songs performed are Pleng Pistan, Pleng Rabum Ban Rai, Pleng Puang Ma Rai and Pleng yhoei. Songs that can generally be perform with no timeline and can be sing anytime are Song for children, Pleng E-seaw, Pleng Rabum Banna, Pleng Phad Kwai, Plean Prob Kai, Pleng Thepthong, Lumtad, Pleng Aew Kloa Saw, Pleng Khor Tan and Pleng Choi. Central Region 1. Dialogue song is retaliating between men and women by singing. To perform courting we called the leader of both side for men and women “Por pleng Mae pleng”, who are highly experienced which makes the performance lively and not dull. This kind of performance comes in varieties of form, which have different style, lyrics and opportunity. Sometimes they might include music as well as dancing to emphasize on the lyrics such as Lumtad, Pleng Choi, Pleng E-seaw, Pleng Puang Ma Lai, Pleng Ruea, Pleng Yhoei, Pleng Sha ChaoHong and etc. 2. Pleng Karn Tum Ngarn is a true characteristic of villagers. Moreover, using music to ease up the tiredness is an intelligence way to cheerfully continue with their work especially agriculture work. The singers respond to each other and sometimes they used normal words to mimic or tease such as Pleng Keaw Khao, Pleng Song Fang, Pleng Chuk Kradan, Pleng Song Kum Lumpuan and Pleng PanFang. The singers also cheerfully clap their hand to match the rhythm.

90 Northern Another type of singing is by using words, accents and rhythm together with Pi-So which are called Rark So or Khor So. For “ So U Saow” such as retaliating between men and women, usually is a poem that was written in advance and then memorized to sing. Only on some occasions that the verses are responded back without memorizing and those that can do such things need to have high experience. The song or lyrics that are used usually came from literature called Phra Law, Noi Jaiya and etc. Way to sing is to utter along with the rhythm and then stop in some part but the story still continues. There are several ways to write poem of the northern part of Thailand such as “KumRum” which is a poem with continuous alliteration verses. Some of the poems were passed on as oral tradition and then memorized into different style such as some are memorized as folk literature. North Eastern There are several songs that sing differently such as Klon Lum that the Mor Lam Klon will memorize the words and use it as lyrics to sing often accompany by the Khaen. There are different kind of Klon Sue Khwan which was developed from the Brahman ceremony such as Sue kwan Boa Soa kin dong, Sue kwan dek, Sue kwan luang and etc. Moreover, there is “Phayha” or “Paya” which was sung by using one phrase that does not base on rhyming words but based on the words that are use in daily life combine together to form short Phahya. This had turn into prosody that is in folk literature such as Phaya Rueng Tao Hueng. Southern part of Thailand “Pleng Bok” or “herald song” is a Poetic song that is used in significant singing to express the wit of a poet. Even if the objective of the song’s meaning is to tell story or spreading news to people but the way Pleng Bok is sing and perform is not boring at all. There are 2 styles, which are short version with chorus and long version (to sing a very long song) with chorus. Pleng Bok band will have Por Pleng or Mae Pleng, chorus, Ching (small cymbals), Krap (clapper), Pi, Khlui (bamboo flute) and Glong Thab (goblet drum). Pleng Bok does not have or need any dancing because people will only focus on the poem telling the story. 8 Commandments of folk song in Thailand 1. Most of Thai folk songs are played by teenagers, which are separated into two groups. One group is all men and the other group is all women. People perform folk song to court about love and most of the time they didn’t prepare the poem. Traditionally when the men lead the song the

91 women response, the lyrics in which the women response express their welcome and sing a poem music which show how they are politely protecting themselves as a traditional Thai women. Every Thai both living in Thailand and other countries know that interaction between men and women during the performance of live poem is part of tradition, which have been practice from generations to generations. Before there’s a tradition that forbid young people from seeing each other privately but if they use poem to communicate then courtship is allowed to be perform directly to each other. In northern part or northeastern part of Thailand, men and women used local philosophy called Phahya (During Sukhothai era a stone inscription was inscribed as Praya) to interact between each other. In northeastern part of Thailand before it was developed like nowadays, they strictly followed their tradition, so if any youth didn’t use philosophy that are poems to interact with each other they will be reprimand by the society as a coward, wouldn’t dare to Long Buang (didn’t dare to start a relationship) and those youth that didn’t get married because they didn’t know how to respond by using live poem, this is called Tok Buang. 2. Singing Thai folk song expressed the harmony and joy which is in comply with Thai’s ancient culture custom that was hand down from generations to generations. This is how the artist expressed their feeling for art. 3. Singing Thai folk song, the leader of the men side is called Por Pleng and for women side is called Mae Pleng. Usually, Por Pleng and Mae Pleng are senior relatives of both men and women side. It is normal for Por Pleng and Mae Pleng to seek for the opportunities to enhance their skills about married life and sexual relations. These kinds of thing intelligently occur in the lyrics of the folk music poem. It can be said that Thai people have been teaching their youth about sexual relations and give sex education through folk songs long before the western does. 4. Before they start their poetry performance younger will pay respect to the senior by saying apologize poem, incase they might offend the senior during their performance either physically, mentally or verbally as well as ask for forgiveness. After paying respect to the senior the singers will turn their face towards the audience presenting themselves, showing modesty with polite and gentle words and that they are sorry if in any case their live poetry is not smooth and euphemistic. We can see that Thai people are gentle, polite and modest. 5. According to the tradition when self-presenting ceremony and modesty ceremony end both side will greet each other with intimidating words.

92 6. When there is an opportunity to sing folk song to each other, it is traditional to allow the women to fully responded back to the men as live poetry. The women are allowed to perform live poetry showing their love or hatred openly and it will not be considered as spoiling one’s reputation. This tradition derived from ancient time, allowing women to show their equal rights or even leading the men. 7. There is another ancient Thai tradition worth mentioning is when the performance of folk song ends, it is respectful for junior folk singers to apologize to the senior folk singers because during the live poem performance some words or some action might offend the senior. If one’s know that their live poetry folk song are not within the standard then one should seek knowledge and skills from the expertise, prepare, practice and when they’re free from doing their work at the farm, men will respectfully asking for advice from Por Pleng and a women will ask advices from Mae Pleng. To prepare and practice several months in advance before the important day of performing, the women might be a little bit shy but they’ll be ready to confront the men and ask questions, perform courtship and she will also be ready to response to every style of live poetry. Folk song that was sung will be memorable to those who listened and pay attention. Even though other civilization might influence that individual and it might not be hard for such person to comply with those traditions. But it will not be easy for that individual to divert to the new phenomenon if the prototype of folk song that was sung had entered into one’s ear, touched their heart and flow in their veins. Topic 5 Development of Thai Folk Song 1. Background of Thai Folk Song The origination of Thai folk song is mysterious since the tradition was carried on from generations to generations without any written document. However, it is assumed that such culture has existed in Thai society for a long time. An example of this includes a Thai cradle song that was originated from babysitting of Thai mothers. The background and the development of Thai folk song can be summarized below. 1.1 Ayutthaya period: in early Ayutthaya period, there was a northern Thai tradition called “Khab Soh” which appeared in Tawa-tosamas (Poem of the Twelve Months) and Lilit Phra Lor literatures. In addition, the “Pleng Long Ruae” which is a song chanted by males and females while paddling a boat could also be found in the royal law registered in the period of

93 the King Trailokkanat. Then in the late Ayutthaya period of Somdet Phrachaoyuhua Borommakot, there was “Pleng Thep Thong” which is a song chanted in the celebration of Phra Buddhabat Saraburi temple. This was mentioned in Punno Wathakamchan of Phra Mahanak, Tha Sai temple. 1.2 Rattanakosin period: this is the period where varieties of Thai folk song evidence can be found. During the reign of king Rama I – king Rama V, it is considered to be the “Golden Age” of retort music which was witnessed in royal ceremonies. In addition, there were compositions of new songs such as Pleng Choi, Pleng E-Saew, and Pleng Song Kruang which were popular during the period. In the early Rattanakosin period, it is evidenced that Pleng Thep Thong, the oldest retort song carried on from Ayutthaya period, was chanted in the royal cremation ceremony of King Phraphutthayotfa Chulalok‘s parent. Furthermore, as mentioned in Phra Chetuphon temple’s inscription, there was “Pleng Prob Kai” which was chanted in the temple celebration during king Rama I reign. Both songs are also referred to in various literatures such as Oon-rood, Inao, and Khun Chang Khun Phaen. During the reign of Phra Bat Somdet Phra Nangklao Chao Yu Hua, a number of retort songs were mentioned in a poem for royal ceremony called Thawathosamat (twelve months) that Sakwa, Pleng Krueng Thon, Pleng Prob Kai, and Dok Soi were chanted in Loi Krathong festival. However, when it comes to the reign of Phra Bat Somdet Phra m Klao Chao Yu Hua, those popular traditions became unpopular because of “Aew Lao”. King Rama IV was concerned that other Thai traditional plays would be lost, so there was a prohibition towards Aew Lao. In the reign of Phra Bat Somdet Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua, the king asked his people to play a traditional folk song while he was at Bang Pa-In Palace in B.E.2426. This was the first time that the folk song was audienced by the king. Traditional plays were still popular during the period, especially for amusement shows which include not only Khon (Thai classical masked ballet), puppet theatre, Nang Yai and Nang Talung (both are shadow plays), but also newl traditional plays such as Like (music folk drama) and Lamtat (antiphonal singing). These plays became increasingly popular for locals. In the reign of Phra Bat Somdet Phra Mongkut Klao Chao Yu Hua, the king attempted to promote folk plays by adding the lyric of Pleng Prob Kai in his writing, the Shakuntala, by arranging Phra Han Akard and Nang Oopakosa as plots for Like, and by requesting a Like show

94 in the celebration of Chaleemongkolasana Palace in B.E. 2460. The popular folk songs for the period include Pleng Song Kruang and Pleng Choi which were widely accepted. Moreover, a lot of folk songs such as the Famer Dance of Mr.Bussaya and Northern barcarole of Mr.Charoen were published. Pleng Choi in the TV show “Khun Phra Chuay” (Taken from www.daradaly.com) However, during the World War 2 period, western cultures and capitalisms influenced and created various western amusements and songs such as modern Thai songs, folk dance songs, and country folk songs which made traditional folk songs gradually unpopular. Furthermore, the government of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram issued the B.E.2495 Royal Decree on the Establishment of the National Culture which controlled the traditional folk plays, thus the retort songs were finally lost during the period. Folk songs have been restored as conserved traditions since B.E.2515. The government and private sections, as well as those who are interested in, have encouraged a systematic study and promoted traditional folk songs for a wider acceptance. The retort song, therefore, became popular as a conserved art but was not widely played as before. 2. Development pattern and purpose of folk song: the development of folk song can be summarized as follows. 2.1 Ceremonial folk song: certain folk songs are used as a part of ceremonies such as cremation songs and songs used in restoration ceremonies. Apart from that, there are a number of folk songs that are related to the beliefs and ceremonies in the past, although it looks like they are sung for recreational purposes. These include retort songs and songs for folk plays in harvesting seasons and Songkran festival.

95 In traditional Thai society where most people are farmers, their ways of life are closed to nature and fertilities of plants and crops are the most important factors in living, so people tend to arrange ceremonies to ask for such fertilities from nature spirits or to create things with the belief to change such natural conditions; for example, they might create a model of a farm called Ta Raek (or Ta Haek in north-eastern pronunciation) and plant only 5-6 rice with a belief that if the first batch of rice is flourish, the rest of the farm will be flourished too. Ta Raek or Ta Haek ceremony The well-known ceremonies related to fertility are the ceremony in harvesting season and in Songkran festival. Folk song in harvesting season The most important planting ceremonies are in the harvesting season and before planting season. In such event, not only will there be ceremonies but the folk songs will also be chanted. Prior to the planting season each year, farmers will conduct a blessing ceremony for cultivating tools such as buffaloes, ploughs, and plows and there will be a blessing song for such ceremony. Moreover, if the rain does not fall as expected, farmers will pray for rainfall. This will be done in every region (except in southern part of Thailand where rainfall is not a problem) by various approaches; for example, farmers in the central region will arrange Hae Nang Maew and Shaping the Cloud rituals (this will be done by shaping clay into a penis or lovemaking couples) and sing the ritual songs while performing the rituals, farmers in the northern and north-eastern regions will arrange Hae Nang Maew and Bang Fai (sky rocket) rituals, and dance in the

96 ceremony. These rituals are conducted to make villagers feel relieved since they believe that such rituals will call for a rain and thus, make the rice grow. Singing and dancing while harvesting In harvesting season, farmers will arrange a series of rice blessing ritual, Soo Kwan Kao, Soo Kwan Laan, and Soo Kwan Yoog, to give thanks for spirits belief to provide outputs and to exorcize evil spirits that will damage crops. Moreover, in the central region, there are songs called Ten Gum Rum Kiew, Roi Chang, and Kiew Khao to celebrate for the farm outputs. In summary, singing songs in the harvesting season aims to entertain people and to celebrate crop fertilities. Folk song in Songkran festival After farmers work hard in the farm for almost a year, there will be Songkran festival in summer which comes after harvesting season. The festival, which is a ceremony for fertilities, is important for folk songs since most of the folk songs, especially for central songs, are sung in this festival. Folk songs in Songkran festival can be classified into 2 types; retort songs and songs for traditional amusement. Singing a retort song

97 Retort songs include a short song chanted in the afternoon such as Phitsathan (make a wish) song and Folk Dance song, and a long retort song such as Puang Malai song and Choi. The contents for these songs are highly related to sexuality, since it is believed in the past that fertilities and sexualities are correlated. Songs for traditional amusement can be classified into 2 groups. The first group is generally used for an amusement of young people in the afternoon such as dancing songs, while the second group is used in spiritualism plays in the night such as Mae Sri, Ling Lom, Nang Kwai, Phee Kradong, and Nang Sak. The latter is a ceremonial plays which reflect the traditional beliefs in paying respect to spirits who know the flow of nature, so people tend to call for such spirits to ask problems or to forecast weather. When considering Thai folk songs chanted for amusement in festivals, it is possible to conclude that they are a part of rituals for fertility at the beginning; however, when such beliefs and understandings change in a later period, these songs are chanted only for recreational purposes. 2.2 Recreational folk song From the previous role as a part of ceremony, traditional folk songs are currently used for entertainment purposes. They are arranged in activities to gather members in a group and enhance their relationship, so most of the songs can be sung in group or party; for examples, songs used in rice threshing, in Songkran festival, at the beginning and the end of Buddhist lent, and in the religious ceremony of Surin (Jrieng song), all of which are used to group people up for the purpose of conducting works or recreational activities. For traditional folk songs used in activities such as retort songs, each of the villagers will take part in singing by taking turns as a singer and choruses. Most of the songs are short, easy to sing, and do not require a specific artist to sing, so they are truly songs for villagers. 2.3 Folk song used in a show Folk songs used in a show refer to a folk song that is used in a part of the long show that is performed by actors with a series of content, so the singer will have certain abilities such as having a good memory, cunning, able to speak skillfully, and able to compose lyrics. Not all the villagers have such abilities, so there will be a group of performer and audience. A good singer in a village will usually be well-known by people in the same village and its neighbors. This type of people if not naturally gifted, he tends to be extremely fond of it and

98 well practice. Most of them will find their own teachers. When there is a religious ceremony where the host needs entertainment, these performers will be hired to group up in a team and sing a song in response to the other team. These activities were conducted in house or temple courts at the beginning. Later, they became shows in the playhouse or on the stage, and the Like playhouse. From king Rama V reign, the central folk songs are influenced by Lakhon Nok (a play performed by all males) and musical comedies. As a result, traditional folk songs tend to apply Lakhon Nok in their performances such as singing with a Thai orchestra band and dressing like performers in Lakhon Nok, and this is called Pleng Song Krueng. Meanwhile in the northeastern region, people apply folk tales in their singing and call them Lam Puen which became Lam Moo and Lam Ploen. Moreover, the folk songs used in shows include Soh Muang and Soh Keb Nok. It can be seen that traditional folk songs have been developed from local specific songs to shows and professional singings eventually. Thai traditional folk songs were greatly popular during the king Rama 5 to king Rama 7 reigns and become unpopular after the World War 2 and began to be lost from Thai society. However, it is the restoration, studying and promotion of the songs that have been started since B.E.2515 of technocrats and people who are interested that make the songs return and become popular. Some traditional folk songs have been changed into the country folk songs such as Pleng Lae, Pleng Like, Pleng Choi, Pleng E-Saew, and Moh Lam (folk singing). These songs were recorded and distributed throughout the country; for examples, Pleng Lae Buadnak of Waipod Phetsuphan, Pleng Choi Kub Kaw Phetchakat of Kwanchit Sriprachan, Pleng E-Saew: Dog bites of Ekachai Sriwichai, and Pleng E-Saew 40-41 of Seri Roongsawang. This makes certain traditional folk songs remain well known and have not been forgotten like other folk songs.

99 Topic 6 : The value and Conservation of Local Folk Songs Local folk songs are intellectual inheritance of the local and the nation which is of great value to be conserved. It can be briefly remarked as follows: 1. The value of local folk songs. Local folk songs are social treasures having been inherited for a long period of time. It is one of the Thai ways of living with great values to the society. The value of local folk songs to the society can be classified into 5 categories 1.1 For entertainment: Local folk songs have entertained people from the past to the present time especially at the times with nothing to entertain people like that in the present time. Local folk songs is one of the entertainments causing happiness and joy for the people in the society both as a local play for the youth and as an important factors of the rites. Therefore, it is considered as one of the entertainments for the local ways of living. Local folk songs have entertained social members, for example, lullaby, a song to help babies go to sleep easily, can simultaneously make the singer feel relaxed while singing it. Some songs sung while children are playing can make them have joy and fun because of their encouraging rhythms, so children like teasing one another. Some songs like Pleng Patipak have amusing words for courting the opposite sex to pay attention to them. This type of song is to deal in rhetoric between males and females. If it is used for entertainment, it can make the audience laugh since while the singers are singing, they have to dance in free styles. This type of songs takes an important role in entertaining people. Nowdays, some local folk songs like lullabies or songs for playing in local styles may diminish in numbers and roles, but Pleng Patipak has developed to be local show or enteratainments which can make the audience feel joyful and relaxed. They are still popular among villagers. Therefore, there are a lot of long folk song parties performing all around when they are hired.

100 An example of Pleng Ea – Saew ( which has beautifully impressive meaning for the audience : appendix) ( ช ) ต้งั ใจหมายมองรักแตน่ อ้ งหมายมา บุพเพบุญพาโปรดจงไดอ้ ภยั รักยมิ้ รักแยม้ รักแม่มีเยอ่ื ใย เรือนผมสมพกั ตร์พีน่ ้ีรักหลายแรม ดูหยาดเยมิ้ ทุกอยา่ งนบั แต่ยา่ งเจอหญิง ความสวยทุกสิ่งพี่ไม่แกลง้ ปราศรัย เอียงโสตฟังสารฟังพขี่ านบอกขา่ ว พี่เป็ นหนุ่มนอนหนาวโอ้แม่หนูนอน ไหน ใหพ้ แ่ี นบนอนหน่อยแม่หนูนอ้ ยอยา่ หนี ถา้ ไดแ้ นบอยา่ งน้ีพไ่ี ม่ห่างนางใน ใหพ้ ีจ่ ูบแกม้ หน่อยหนูนอ้ ยอยา่ แหนง พอใหพ้ ่ีมีแรงสกั หน่อยเป็นไร ( ญ ) ใหพ้ ่ีจูบหน่อยวา่ หนูนอ้ ยยงั แหนง น้อ ง ห ว า ด ร ะ แ ว ง พ่ี มัน ช า ย ป า ก ไว ปากหวานขานวอนฟังสุนทรประวงิ กลวั ไมร่ ักหญิงจริงหญิงสงั เกตรู้ใจ พอแรกเจอะรู้จกั บอกวา่ รักลวงโลก พมี่ นั ชายหมายโชคทาํ ใหห้ ญิงเฉไฉ ใครเช่ือเป็นชวั่ ตอ้ งพาตวั ตกต่าํ คบคนหลงคาํ ยอ่ มมีขอ้ ระคาย ข้ีเกียจราํ คาญกลวั เป็นมารสงั คม พอไดเ้ ด็ดดอกดมกลวั จะไม่เสียดาย ( Buaphan Suwannayos 2535 B.E.) In the song, males are trying to court females telling about his feeling and admiring females’ beauty; females’ answer shows the feeling that they do not trust males’ sweet words. 1.2 For education: local folk songs are creative thinking to transmit their feelings and thoughts of the community group. They are, therefore, the recorded experience. Local folk songs recorded knowledge and intellectual wisdom of the community and at the same time they are valuable to strengthen intellect for the community by educating them both directly and indirectly. Direct education: refers to teach knowledge directly on both reality and morality such as nature, the origin of earth and human beings, ways of living, roles and duties in the society tradition and custom, literature, local sports, ethics,etc. 1.3 For sustaining the nation’s tradition refers to keep or sustain all ideas and deeds showing Thai ways of living of the people in the society which consists of code of conduct, unity, progress and good morals.