Thai television and 'pleeng luuk tung'
The role of television in the Isan cultural revival
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.v10i1.81Keywords:
Popular Music, pleeng luuk tung, television, Thailand, IsanAbstract
Ubonrat Siriyuvasak argues that the Thai television industry is dually structured to support state ideology and propagate consumerism. This article proposes that television has, in spite of its structure, helped to empower the large Isan minority in Thailand through the popular song genre pleeng luuk tung. Luuk tung, or Thai country music, is possibly the only significant genre of music to ever be named after a television program. The history of luuk tung in television is examined along with the cultural and social impact of significant programs. The revival of Isan culture and the mediatory role of luuk tung is demonstrated through a case study of the drama series Pleeng rak rim fang Kong (‘Lovesong on the banks of the Mekong’). This article proposes that the convergence of luuk tung, television and nationalism has allowed Isan culture to become mainstream.
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Grorptong, S. 2004. Wiwatanagaan Pleeng Luuk Tung Nai Sangkom Thai. Bangkok: Pantagit Publishing.
Hayes, M. 2004. ‘Capitalism and Cultural Relativity: The Thai Pop Industry, Capitalism and Western Cultural Values’. In Refashioning Pop Music in Asia: Cosmopolitan Flows, Political Tempos and Aesthetic Industries, eds B. Shoesmith, A. Chun and N. Rossiter, 17–31. Richmond: Curzon.
Hesse-Swain, C. 2006. ‘Programming Beauty and the Absence of Na Lao: Popular Thai TV and Identity Formation among Youth in Northeast Thailand’. GeoJournal 66/3: 257–72. doi:10.1007/s10708-006-9028-x
Jirattikorn, A. 2006. ‘Lukthung: Authenticity and Modernity in Thai Country Music’. Asian Music 37/1: 24–50. doi:10.1353/amu.2006.0004
Jory, P. 1999. ‘Political Decentralisation and the Resurgence of Regional Identities in Thailand’. Australian Journal of Social Issues 34/4: 337–52.
Lewis, G. and C. Hirano. 2001. ‘Mi Arai Mai Mai Mai? Thai-Australian Video Ways’. In Floating Lives: The Media and Asian Diasporas, eds S. Cunningham and J. Sinclair, 185–219. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
McCargo, Duncan, and Hongladarom Krisadawan. 2004. ‘Contesting Isan-ness: Discourses of Politics and Identity in Northeast Thailand’. Asian Ethnicity 5/2: 219–34. doi: 10.1080/1463136042000221898
Makan-Markar, M. 2008. ‘Satellite TV boosts anti-gov’t protests’. http://www.prachatai. com/english/news.php?id=790. Accessed 12 September 2008.
Maneerungsee, W. 2008. ‘Report accuses NBT of bias’. Bangkok Post. http://www.bangkokpost.com/060908_Business/06Sep2008_biz26.php. Accessed 10 November 2008.
Manuel, P. 1988. Popular Musics of the Non-Western World: An Introductory Survey. New York: Oxford University Press.
Miller, T. 2005. ‘From Country Hick to Rural Hip: A New Identity Through Music for Northeast Thailand’. Asian Music 36/2: 96–106. doi:10.1353/amu.2005.0014
Mills, M. 2005. ‘Engendering Discourses of Displacement: Contesting Mobility and Marginality in Rural Thailand’. Ethnography 6/3: 385–419. doi:10.1177/1466138105060763
Mitchell, J. 2009. ‘Sorapet Pinyoo and the Status of pleeng luuk tung’. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 40/2: 1–27.
Moses, C., C. Maslog, and Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre. 1978. Mass Communication in Asia: A Brief History. Singapore: Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre.
Mueangjan, C. 2004. ‘Jenpop Jopgrabuanwan – Saangsan Puea Ngaan Luuk Tung’. Watanatam Thai: 2-10.
Naawikmuun, A.1986. Pleeng Nork Satawat. Bangkok: Muang Boran.
Office of National Statistics. 1994. ‘Survey of Mass Media in Thailand’. Bangkok: Office of the Prime Minister.
Peck, G. 2008. ‘Thai protest alliance not so happy with democracy’. Associated Press, 2 September.
Rungfapaisarn, K. 2002. ‘Red Bull now chasing country music fans’. The Nation, 31 October.
Shohat, E., and R. Stam. 1994. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media. New York: Routledge.
Siriyuvasak, U. 1990. ‘Commercialising the Sound of the People: Pleng Luktoong and the Thai Pop Music Industry’. Popular Music 9/1: 61–77. doi:10.1017/S0261143000003731
—1996. ‘Television and the Emergence of “Civil Society” in Thailand’. In Contemporary Television: Eastern Perspectives, eds D. French and M. Richards, 181–99. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Tanzer, A. 1995. ‘Control Freaks’. Forbes 155/8: 90–92.
Unattributed. 1998. ‘Economic woes force big drop in demand’. The Nation, 28 September. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-17519795.html
Unattributed. 1999. ‘TV tops entertainment in rural areas’. The Nation, 14 January. http:// www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-19866715.html
Unattributed. 2007. ‘Lao protests knock drama off Thai TV’. The Nation, 14 February. http:// www.newsmekong.org/lao_protests_knock_drama_off_thai_tv
UNESCO. 1999. ‘Statistical yearbook’. Paris: UNESCO.
Published
2009-04-30
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Mitchell, J. (2009). Thai television and ’pleeng luuk tung’: The role of television in the Isan cultural revival. Perfect Beat, 10(1), 81-101. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.v10i1.81
