Thailand The Arts

History. Thai architecture encompasses a broad range of influences (including Burmese, Chinese, Indian, Sri Lankan, and Khmer) and forms (including royal palaces, wooden houses, and its most common manifestation, religious structures). By the 20th century, increased contact with Europeans led to the steady decline of traditional Thai architecture. Western styles and materials like concrete were adopted, making Thailand’s modern architecture remarkably similar to that of modern Western cities. Some intrepid Thai architects do still study historical styles, utilizing modern materials for construction in traditional forms.

A Wat? Buddhist wats are the finest examples of traditional Thai architecture. A compound with separate buildings, each with its own distinct purpose, the wat has a variety of social functions, including monastery, school, and gathering place for the community. The bot, or main chapel, which often faces east, is a tall, oblong building with a three-level, steeply sloped roof that houses the principal Buddha image and serves as the site of most ceremonies. Similar to the bot but often larger, the wihaan is more sparsely adorned and functions primarily as a worship hall, utilized for meetings, meditation, and sermons. The sala is an open, gazebo-like structure for meditation and preaching. Above some monastic compounds looms a tapered spire-like tower, called a chedi. Derived from the Indian stupa, the chedi serves as a reliquary for the possessions and cremated remains of high priests, members of royalty, and the Buddha. Another tower found in Thai architecture is the prang, which is more phallic than the bell shaped chedi .

Most are constructed of carved sandstone, later replaced by brick, and their various pieces held together by vegetable glue. In the heavily-forested north, however, wood is the major building material. While the most spectacular example of classical Thai religious architecture is Bangkok’s intricate and detailed Wat Phra Kaew , Wat Benchamabophit, built in 1899 in Bangkok’s Dusit district, is widely considered to be the most impressive example of modern Thai Buddhist architecture.

Visual Arts

Sculpture. Ancient Thai sculpture focused largely on the production of Buddha images, emphasizing the spirituality of the image rather than anatomical details. Rigid artistic rules ensured that a relatively uniform tradition passed from generation to generation. The giant seated Buddha at Wat Sri Chum is an example of the artistic achievement of the Sukhothai period.

Since southern Thailand lies along maritime trading routes, it developed unique styles of sculpture influenced by Indian and Khmer culture. Khmer artistic traditions, however, have exerted the greatest influence over the sculpture of the northeast. In Thailand, Khmer art is referred to as the Lopburi style, which consists of stone and bronze sculptures, mainly of Hindu gods, Bodhisattvas, and Tantric Buddhist deities. Images of the Buddha often portrayed him seated on a coil of the famous seven-headed mythical serpent Muchalinda. Also significant are the distinctive Khmer lintels of northeastern temples featuring detailed carvings from Hindu stories.

Weaving. Even before it became a cottage industry, weaving was an important part of rural life. A woman spent a great deal of time and energy handweaving the material for her wedding dress. Similarly, for the most important day in a man’s life, entrance to the monkhood, his mother prepared his saffron robes. The female head of the household also handwove all of the shrouds to be used at the funerals of each family member. For centuries, village women in the northeast bred silkworms and worked at hand looms to produce bolts of traditional Thai silk. Cheaper fabrics imported from China and Japan however, severely weakened the industry in the second half of the 19th century. Revived by famous American expatriate Jim Thompson after World War II, the silk industry thrived off its distinctly Thai character in the international market. Today, the company founded by Thompson at Pak Thong Chai is still the largest hand-weaving facility in the world. Each region has its own special style and technique, and the most famous Thai silk is woven in the northeast. The mud-mee style of silk weaving, characterized by geometrical and zoomorphic designs, is particularly popular.

Literature

History. The most enduring work of Thai literature is the Ramakien , the Thai version of the Indian epic, the Ramayana . Early versions of this lengthy document were lost when Ayutthaya was sacked in 1767. Of the three surviving versions, the most famous was written in 1798 by King Rama I. This version, written in conjunction with several courtiers who were close to the king, incorporates uniquely Thai and Buddhist and portrays the rites, traditions, and customs of the Ayutthaya state. Given early Thai literature’s focus on religion, poet Sunthon Phu (1786-1855) revolutionized the tradition with his portrayal of the emotions and adventures of common people in a common language that all classes could understand. His 30,000-line Phra Aphaimani is arguably Thailand’s most famous literary work; it tells the story of the physical and emotional journey an exiled prince must complete before he can return victorious to his kingdom.

Current Scene. Modern Thai literature, shaped both by foreign influences and changing perceptions of the individual’s place in society, has increasingly sought to address personal and social problems. Former Prime Minister M.R. Kukrit Pramoj wrote prolifically. Among his most notable works are Si Phandin , describing court life between the reigns of King Rama V and Rama VII, and Phai Daeng, about the conflict between Communism and Buddhism. Seni Saowaphong, or Sakdichai Bamrungphong, often writes about class exploitation and the widening gulf between the rural and the urban. Similarly, the protagonist of the late Suwanee Sukhontha’s most famous novel, Khao Chu Kan, is a young doctor with a promising career lined up in a big city who leaves to work in a rural area where the peasants have little access to modern medicine. Krisna Asokesin also covers more personal topics, writing extensively about issues such as love and family life. All of the aforementioned authors have been awarded National Artist status in Thailand or Southeast Asian literary awards, which speaks to both the accessibility of their styles and the popularity of their subjects.

Music

Instruments. Thailand’s musical tradition combines elements of the Indian, Chinese, and Khmer traditions and boasts more than 50 kinds of musical instruments. During the Sukhothai period, Thais developed unique instruments with onomatopoetic names such as the ranaat ek (a bamboo xylophone), the phin (a small guitar), and the pii (a woodwind instrument like the clarinet). In the Ayutthaya period, music was an official part of court life as territorial expansion added musical instruments and styles from neighboring regions such as Myanmar, Malaysia, and Java. During this period, rules defining musical forms were introduced. Songs were composed in a form called phleng raung, a suite of melodies. Today, three orchestral types of music are appropriate to different occasions order Thai musical form: piphat is used at ceremonies and in the theater; kruang sai is used in performance at village festivals; and mahori often accompanies vocalists.

Thai music emphasizes variation in pitch and rhythm, with individual changes in tempo creating a dense layering effect. Also, instead of a five-note scale like that used in many other Asian countries, Thai music works on a seven-note scale. The music composed in this unique system has been passed down orally, but today, many fear that the institutional memory of traditional Thai music is fading. Many modern Thai musicians are therefore working to invent a system by which traditional Thai music can be translated into Western musical notation and thus recorded for future generations.

T-Pop. Contemporary Thai music takes many forms. Regional folk music, studied less frequently than classical music, is still common; one of the most popular styles is luk thung (country music), which, much like American country music, tells tales of woe in daily rural life. Luk thung has recently developed upbeat electronic versions. In the 1960s, Thai pop collided with folk to create the genre of protest songs, called plaeng peua chiwit , or “songs for life,” which focused primarily on criticizing the US military presence in Thailand. The Thai student band Caravan filled the musical vacuum of the 70s with pro-democracy songs that fused Western and Thai styles. Caravan inspired other bands to take up causes. The most famous rock band in modern Thailand, Carabao, also sings about social issues, such as the AIDS crisis. In the late 1980s, there was a movement to promote ethnic Thai pop music. Today, Thailand unusually is a music market where international labels play a minor role. Instead it is Thailand’s local giants like Grammy Entertainment that package attractive bubblegum pop and rock dara (stars) for mass consumption. One of the most successful contemporary Thai artists is Tata Young, a Britney Spears-esque, pop singer.

Film

A Nascent Industry. While cinemas are common in large cities, about 2000 mobile film units travel from village to village in rural areas of Thailand, offering open-air screenings for large numbers of people. Most of the movies shown are either of the Chinese kung-fu or Hollywood variety. Thai films—traditionally low-budget productions packing a sensationalist punch—are less popular, though 2001 seems to have been a turning point for the industry, with Thai movies beginning to gain recognition on the international film circuit. Tropical Malady , by director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, won the 2004 Jury Prize at Cannes. Co-directed by the Pang brothers from Hong Kong, Bangkok Dangerous is a dramatic thriller set to a frenetic techno beat—a change for Thai audiences, who usually favor upbeat comedies. Many film critics have enthusiastically noted the release of director Nonzee Nimibutr’s third film, Jan Dara (2001, Buddy Films), as possibly indicating a new stage of maturity for the Thai film industry. Based on a novel by journalist Pramoon Un-hathoop (who writes under the pen name of Utsana Pkleungtham), the movie only passed Thailand’s film censorship board after repeated screenings. Jan Dara ran into trouble with this official body because of the prevalence of sexual themes throughout: the protagonist is caught in a web of Oedipal lusts and primal urges. Prince Chatreechalerm Yukol’s 2001 film, Suriyothai , details the life of a young princess as a 16th-century battle for the throne of Thailand rages above her head. It marked a transition for the Thai film industry to big budget blockbusters.

Hollywood Goes East. Thailand has long inspired Hollywood stories (including the Thai-banned 1956 musical The King and I ) and movie shoots ( Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason , for example). The Thai government has begun to actively promote the shooting of foreign films in Thailand because of its economic benefits; however, all scripts have to be approved. Numerous Western productions are expected to film in Thailand annually. The potential environmental damage from the shooting of large commercial films and Western television shows (such as 2002’s Survivor ) is becoming a concern to both the government and local NGOs. Indeed, an uproar arose after Danny Boyle’s 2000 film The Beach was shot on location on Ko Phi Phi Don, a small island accessible from Phuket . The island, once largely unnoticed, filled up with garbage, guesthouses, and tourists so quickly that the government considered closing it down for a year. So far, development has reigned unchecked on the island, which is part of a national park system. A slew of backpacker-friendly businesses and services have cropped up all over the island, irreversibly transforming its once-unspoiled landscape.