Thai music includes many different types, both old and new. Traditional instruments used in Thailand have influences from many places. These include the klong thap and khim (from Persia), the chakhe (from India), the klong chin (from China), and the klong khaek (from Indonesia).
Two popular styles of traditional Thai music are luk thung and mor lam. Mor lam is especially similar to the music of Laos.
Other groups living in Thailand, such as the Lao, Lawa, Hmong, Akha, Khmer, Lisu, Karen, and Lahu people, also have their own traditional music.
Although Thailand was never ruled by foreign powers, modern music from Asia, Europe, and the United States has become very popular and widely used in the country.
Traditional and folk music
Thai classical music is closely linked to court ensembles and musical styles that developed in royal centers in Central Thailand about 800 years ago. These ensembles were influenced by older traditions from India but are now uniquely Thai. The three main classical ensembles—Piphat, Khrueang sai, and Mahori—have different instruments and styles, but they all use small hand cymbals and wooden sticks to mark the beat. Thai classical music has influenced the music of nearby countries, such as Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. For example, Myanmar’s traditional music was shaped by Thai music from the Ayutthaya Kingdom. During the early Rattanakosin period, as Siam expanded its influence, its music was adopted by Cambodian and Lao royal courts. As Frédéric Maurel explains, Thai musicians and dancers taught at the Cambodian court, and some Khmer royal family members studied in Thailand. This connection led to strong Thai cultural influence in Cambodia.
These ensembles use small drums to create a basic rhythm, which is highlighted by a suspended gong. Thai classical orchestras strongly influenced Cambodian and Lao ensembles and are similar to large musical groups in Bali and Java, which may share roots with ancient Vietnamese bronze drums.
Traditional Thai classical music is passed down through oral tradition, and the names of composers are often unknown. However, since the modern Bangkok period, composers’ names have been recorded in written notation. Musicians view these compositions as general forms that are performed with unique variations during live performances.
Piphat is the most common and famous Thai classical music style. It represents the movement of Thailand’s legendary dragons and includes two xylophones, an oboe, drums, and gong-chimes. It can be played loudly outdoors with hard mallets or softly indoors with padded hammers.
There are different types of Piphat ensembles, each used for specific ceremonies. One decorated version is used in Mon ethnic group funeral and cremation rituals. Other versions accompany traditional Thai performances like shadow puppet theater and khon dance.
The Khrueang sai ensemble combines some instruments from Piphat with string instruments, such as the saw duang and saw u, and a plucked zither. It also includes flutes, drums, and a Chinese-style dulcimer. This ensemble is used for indoor performances and to accompany stick-puppet theater, which has Chinese influences.
The Mahori ensemble is traditionally played by women in Thai and Cambodian courts. It uses smaller instruments historically, but now includes regular-sized instruments from Piphat and Khrueang sai, except for the loud oboe. It features a three-string fiddle that supports vocalists, who play a central role in this ensemble.
During the mid-20th century, Thai classical music was sometimes discouraged as old-fashioned. However, recent government support and interest in films like Homrong: The Overture have helped revive it.
Luk thung, or Thai country music, began in the mid-20th century to reflect the lives of rural people. Artists like Pongsri Woranut and Suraphol Sombatcharoen became famous, and many popular musicians come from Suphanburi. Modern versions use electronic instruments and remain popular.
Mor lam is the main folk music of Thailand’s northeastern Isan region, where many people are Lao. It focuses on the lives of rural people and uses fast, rhythmic singing and a funk-style beat. The lead singer, called a mor lam, is accompanied by a wind instrument called the khaen. There are about 15 traditional styles of Mor lam, plus modern versions like mor lam sing. Some people criticize these modern versions as commercializing traditional culture.
Kantrum is a fast, traditional dance music played by Khmer people near the Cambodian border. In its original form, it features singing, percussion, and a fiddle. A modern version with electric instruments became popular in the 1980s, and Darkie became a famous artist in the 1990s.
Arrival of Western music
In Thailand, some composers used local number systems to write music, while others, like Montri Tramote, used standard Western musical notation. Members of the Thai royal family, including King Prajadhipok and King Bhumibol Adulyadej, were involved in music composition. King Bhumibol’s music often included jazz band arrangements rather than traditional Thai ensembles.
Classical Thai music has many melodies playing together at once, similar to American folk and dixieland styles. Each instrument plays within set musical patterns around basic harmony or melody lines called paths. Thai music has a steady rhythm, uses simple two-beat measures, and focuses on the last beat of each measure, unlike European music that emphasizes the first beat. The Thai scale has seven evenly spaced notes, and five of these are used as the main notes in each musical mode.
From the 1940s to the 1970s, King Bhumibol Adulyadej composed 48 musical pieces. He specialized in wind instruments, such as the saxophone and clarinet. At age 18, he wrote his first song, Candlelight Blues. He continued composing after becoming king in 1946. King Bhumibol performed with famous jazz musicians like Benny Goodman and Stan Getz. Over his lifetime, he composed 49 songs, including jazz, marches, waltzes, and patriotic music. His most famous works were Candlelight Blues, Love at Sundown, and Falling Rain, all written in 1946. He was influenced by musicians like Louis Armstrong and Benny Carter. He also composed university anthems for Chulalongkorn, Thammasat, and Kasetsart universities.
By the 1930s, Western classical music, show tunes, jazz, and tango became popular in Thailand. Jazz eventually became the dominant style, and Khru Eua Sunthornsanan formed the first Thai jazz band. He and Suntharaporn created a style called pleng Thai sakorn, blending Thai melodies with Western music. This evolved into luk grung, a romantic style popular with the upper class. King Bhumibol was a skilled jazz musician and composer.
In the 1960s, Western rock music became popular in Thailand. Thai artists imitated bands like Cliff Richard & the Shadows, creating a style called wong shadow, which later became string, a form of Thai pop. A group called The Impossibles emerged during this time. In the 1970s, Rewat Buddhinan began using Thai language in rock music, and protest songs called phleng phuea chiwit (songs for life) gained popularity.
The first phleng phuea chiwit band was Caravan, who supported democracy. In 1976, after police attacked students at Thammasat University, Caravan and others fled to the countryside, where they continued writing music for farmers.
In the 1980s, phleng phuea chiwit returned to popularity after political amnesty. Bands like Carabao became famous, adding national themes to their songs. By the 1990s, phleng phuea chiwit was less popular, though artists like Pongsit Kamphee remained influential.
In the 1990s, string pop became the mainstream in Thailand, with artists like Christina Aguilar and Bird Thongchai McIntyre achieving fame. Britpop influenced alternative rock bands like Modern Dog and Loso. In 2006, popular Thai rock bands included Clash, Big Ass, Bodyslam, and Silly Fools. During the late 1990s, pop music was overshadowed by the return of luk thung, which also adopted some pop elements.
Heavy metal music became popular in Thailand during the early 1990s. Bands like Hi-Rock, Stone Metal Fire, I-Scream, Uranium, and Big Gun were active during this time.
Indie
In Thailand, there are several independent music groups and record labels that create music for non-profit purposes. These include Bakery Music (currently part of Sony Music), Smallroom, FAT radio, City-Blue, Coolvoice, Dudesweet, Idea-radio, Panda Records, and SO::ON Dry Flower.