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Thailand street shops sell Thai music for
100-50 Baht. Since ancient times, the Thai people have known how to
make musical instruments or to copy the patterns of others and adapt
them to their own uses. In fact, there are several kinds of musical
instruments which the Thais apparently devised before they came in
contact with the culture of India, which was widespread in Southeast
Asia before they migrated there.
Later, when the Thai people were establishing their kingdoms and had
come into contact with Indian culture, particularly with Indian
instruments which the Mon and Khmer cultures had absorbed first,
they assimilated this musical culture into their own. From this
contact, the Thais created several new kinds of musical instruments
such as the phin, sang, pi chanai, krachap pi, chakhe, and thon,
which are mentioned in the Tribhumikatha, one of the first books
written in Thai, and on a stone inscription from the time of King
Ramkhamhaeng of the Sukhothai period. Some songs of the Sukhothai
period are still sung at present, such as Phleng Thep Thong. During
the Ayutthaya period the instrumental ensemble was composed of four
to eight musicians. Songs became much longer and singing technique
was improved. Many Ayutthaya songs were composed in a form of
musical suite called Phleng Rua, which was a series of songs. Poets
contributed lyrics in the form of short stories, mostly from the
Ramakian. Many Ayutthaya songs are still employed in Thai plays
today. Later when Thailand began to have contact with Western
European nations and the United States, the Thais adopted such
Western instruments as the bass drum, the violin, and the organ.
--Thai Arts |
