Sports in Thailand are a bit different that sports in the United States. The big popular sports in Thailand are either not that popular in the United States, or they aren’t even played there. One sport that isn’t played in the U.S. is dtagraw (ตะกร้อ).
In my experience in the States, volleyball was a sport played mainly by high school girls and occasionally people at the beach. My personal experience with the sport is limited to the volleyball unit in my Team Sports class in high school, which I took to fulfill the P.E. graduation requirement, and a few volleys back and forth in some sand on a beach somewhere. I grew up playing basketball and soccer mostly, which is interesting to most Thai people as these are considered “boy” sports. Volleyball is a “girl” sport, so it is often assumed that I want to get in on the rotations of friendly pick up matches.
When I think of sports back home, I think of the big four: baseball, basketball, football and hockey. I grew up outside of Detroit, which has a sports franchise in all four of these sports, and 75% of them have had championship or near championship runs during my life time (poor, poor Detroit Lions). When I moved to Portland, I became more aware of the growing popularity of soccer with their newly minted Major League Soccer team, the Portland Timbers, but still, like most Americans, was not quite able to jump on board with the so-called beautiful game. Perhaps it was the flashbacks to playing as a child and working as a referee as a preteen. In any event, moving to Thailand has totally disoriented me in terms of sports.
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
Last month, I took a trip to Chiang Rai and visited some of the biggest tourists draws there: Wat Rong Khun (the White Temple) and Baan Dam (the Black House). Here’s a video for you to experience the Baan Dam yourself!
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
Previously, I posted about the festivals that I was planning on attending this year in Thailand, one of which was the Rocket Festival in Yasothon. That took place this past weekend and I made it out to rural Isaan just for the occasion.
When thinking about music and the musical history of a culture, of course you build from the instruments. Then you might move into classical music and folk music, and maybe some music from the 20th century. But what about the music of today? Isn’t that a part of the culture of a place as well? What is Thai music like today?
While Thailand certainly has it’s own classical music genres that originated with the royal courts about 800 years ago, and folk music, don’t think that there are no modern or international genres enjoyed here. If we move chronologically through the development of music in Thailand we next come to the proliferation of jazz in the 1930s. Jazz continues to hold a special place in Thailand’s musical repertoire as the King is not only a jazz saxophonist but a jazz composer as well.
One thing about Thailand and Thai people that they are extremely polite, particularly because of the value of saving face. I can’t say that I’ve heard anyone really curse or swear. However, that’s not to say that it is not a part of the language here. Check out this video of an American professor’s first time being cursed at in Bangkok.
Much like classical music in Europe at the time, Thai classical music was and is generally reserved for and enjoyed by the upper classes. However, that of course didn’t stop the commoners from using their local instruments to create their own musical stylings. Often this is referred to as folk music. There are three major genres of Thai folk music: luk thung (ลูกทุ่ง), mor lam (หมอลำ) and kantrum (กันตรึม).
There are three main categories of Thai instruments, with numerous examples in each category. All of those different instruments are used to create a wide variety of music. However, beginning in the royal courts about 800 years ago there were three main genres.