Thai music in bars

I think what annoys me most is when bars insist on playing Thai pop music. I hate it, and in fact it's one of the reasons I will leave a bar. Like most guys here I don't want to be blasted out of a bar by any kind of music, but saccharine Thai pop...awful!

I think what annoys me most is when bars insist on playing Thai pop music. I hate it, and in fact it's one of the reasons I will leave a bar. Like most guys here I don't want to be blasted out of a bar by any kind of music, but saccharine Thai pop...awful!

When in Rome...........
Up to you, Sir!

... and run as fast as I can as soon as I hear Doris Day or similar yelling.

Not everybody likes fish .. javascript:emoticon(':clown:')

[Shuee]

just ask them if they can change the god damn music, if not, tell them thats why your leaving,

no customers = no profit,

if your really keen to stay at this particular bar, & there's a DJ, go have a chat with him about your music preferances, you really cant be more direct than that


if all else fails, put it down to thai logic, which i never will begin to understand!!

[jinks]

I think what annoys me most is when bars insist on playing Thai pop music.

What would annoy me, is to be invited to a charity night and find that the charity receives nothing.

[TrongpaiExpat]

I was in a bar in Jomtiem Complex, can't remember the name, but I think it's gone now with a farang friend that lives in Pattaya and he just hates hip-hop and rap. The bar started playing it and he quickly left, we were the only customers. The manager followed him out and asked what was wrong. He told the manager that the place is very nice, the boys excellent but he did not like the music. The Manager without skipping a beat said, " you have to understand the music is for the boys"

[jinks]

I think I have been in the same bar - a loud mouth client going on about bare backing.

[fedssocr]

I think what annoys me most is when bars insist on playing Thai pop music. I hate it, and in fact it's one of the reasons I will leave a bar. Like most guys here I don't want to be blasted out of a bar by any kind of music, but saccharine Thai pop...awful!

well, you ARE in Thailand. Why shouldn't they play Thaipop? It's great that there's a pretty thriving music industry and scene in Thailand. Thank goddess it hasn't be completely over-taken by American music yet. Now, I'm no fan of what is "pop" music pretty much anywhere as my taste tends more towards indie and rock. But I would expect to hear Thai music in most places. But I am sure you can find another place that has music more to your liking that will happily collect your baht.

[llz]

I think what annoys me most is when bars insist on playing Thai pop music. I hate it, and in fact it's one of the reasons I will leave a bar.
Please tell me in which bar they play mostly thai music, I will run to it ... I think of a beer bar in Sunee where I asked for thai music, they told me they could not because they had to pay more royalties than for farang songs.

I like Thai pop sometimes. And I like it in bars because the boys like it, dance to it, appear more animated and happy, and isn't that what this is all about?

[Sen Yai]

.... Thank goddess it hasn't be completely over-taken by American music yet. .....

Don't worry fedssocr, that will never happen since the best and most prolific popular music is British :cheers:

But I'm happy to hear Thai music too!

[Smiles]

" ... music. I hate it ... awful! ... "
"Never trust a man who hates music, for he has a rock for a heart, and his loathing a vexation to my foot-tapping"

'Khalil Smiles'


" ... And I like it in bars because the boys like it, dance to it, appear more animated and happy, and isn't that what this is all about? ... "
I'm with Raksiam, all the way.

Cheers ...

[Brad the Impala]

What are they thinking of!! Playing Thai music in bars in Thailand! It's outrageous.

Yes, Brad when all the customers who pay the bills are western, Thai pop is just so appropriate.

"I like Thai pop sometimes. And I like it in bars because the boys like it, dance to it, appear more animated and happy, and isn't that what this is all about?"

Well if that were actually true then I might not have a problem with it but even the bars that play this speeded-up remixed squacky crap the vast majority of the boys still stand there bored, listless and immobile. As for paying royalties I can't believe any go-go bar anywhere in Thailand ever has or ever will pay a royalty. That's just laughable.

When I started reading this thread I assumed that all those who love all things Thai would immediately jump to the defense of this horrid music and I was of course not disappointed. It beggars belief that the 60+ crowd, which predominates in Pattaya, actually likes or appreciates this music but then I would guess the majority of them just switch off their hearing aids. Problem solved.

Yes, Brad when all the customers who pay the bills are western, Thai pop is just so appropriate.

.. all music might be the right solution except of military. All the wind making brasses ...

I certainly don't love all things Thai. Mamasans for example.

[Brad the Impala]

When I started reading this thread I assumed that all those who love all things Thai would immediately jump to the defense of this horrid music and I was of course not disappointed. It beggars belief that the 60+ crowd, which predominates in Pattaya, actually likes or appreciates this music but then I would guess the majority of them just switch off their hearing aids. Problem solved.

Why reduce the discussion to bars in Pattaya? Unless that is Thailand to you.

[krobbie]

[quote="Once In Awhile":100991cn]
When I started reading this thread I assumed that all those who love all things Thai would immediately jump to the defense of this horrid music and I was of course not disappointed. It beggars belief that the 60+ crowd, which predominates in Pattaya, actually likes or appreciates this music but then I would guess the majority of them just switch off their hearing aids. Problem solved.

Why reduce the discussion to bars in Pattaya? Unless that is Thailand to you.[/quote:100991cn]

I'm with Brad in this one. Thailand is many and varied just like most other countries.

Personally I find Thai music okay, it's just the decibels that can be ear splitting. Fine for a show " Ladies and gentlemen ... welcome to ...", but when you are trying to talk to the others you are with ... it can get on your tits a bit.

Cheers
K.

[Hmmm]

As for paying royalties I can't believe any go-go bar anywhere in Thailand ever has or ever will pay a royalty. That's just laughable.

Interesting question. The Thai music business is controlled by a few huge Thai-owned companies, who exert total control over all aspects of the careers of 'their' performers. I would not be surprised if they did extract royalties wherever their music is played.

Perhaps some of the bar owners who post here could tell us if this is the case or not ?

hhmmm, I am educated into classic music (western), but I in fact like Thai pop music, it is a part of Thailand, why should they not play their own music? In India they play India pop, in France, in Spain....anywhere.
Oh I think I will listen to my Thai pop cd's or listen to a Thai radio on the internet. Gives me a feeling of being there.

[kittyboy]

It is not Thai music, it is that the bars and often the shops play the damn stuff so loud I have to shout to be heard. I can appreciate other styles of music but when it is playing so loud that I have to shout to order a drink then it is too loud.

[Smiles]

Go out with a Thai guy to a place that plays Thai music and enjoy him, enjoying himself. Maybe you can (for once, by the sounds of it) let yourself go. Trust me, nothing will get you in the Good Books as much as doing so.
These are great Thai songs. You may as well shoot yorself if you can't enjoy them . . . whatever the decibel level.
What a bunch of decrepit, anal old wankers many of you are.


Hit 'LINK' on this one. The embedded option is disallowed.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=44RPlMz9m5w


The video production on this one below is pretty hokey ~ all maudlin gauzy photography ~ but the song, and his voice are sweet once you get into it. Listen for the distinctive Isaan voice trill and the unusual kind of abrupt stop in between certain words and then immediately back into with a guttural "ughewww" (only way I can describe it)

This from an ealier post:


http://youtube.com/watch?v=-ZZdbZoxMpE&mode=related&search=


I really like this guy's voice. My beloved once ~ outta the blue ~ jumped up on the stage of a small music bar in Cha Am and sang a song very much like this and with the same easy grace as this guy does. That was the first time I'd ever seen him do this and it was highly impressive, almost professional. Later I asked him where he'd learned to sing so well (in the shower he's only mediocre) and he said all Isaan people can do this . . . some better than others.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=GZxoaP0yrH4&mode=related&search=


This song below is quintessential Issan music. A mix of modern and traditional instruments (the 'Khen' and the 'Pin' and often a Thai version of the xylophone), and the use of an unusual 'trilling' voice sound. Most of the faster Isaan country songs have a beat and 'style' similar to this.
After awhile of listening to Thai (traditional) songs you'll be able to tell the difference in 'tone' between Isaan and Chiang Mai area music, and between Isaan and 'Central' (Bangkok) music. There are others, but these are the three I seem to be able to do not too badly in identifying.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Uc43W9tVL8M&mode=related&search=


Dig the grace of these dancers, both women & men, in this slow and languid song.

If you travel up country and spend enough time there, you'll surely end up finding yourself at some country fair. At night, they'll have this big stage rigged up (like the one in this video) and singer after singer and dance troupe after dance troupe will entertain you and hundreds ~ sometimes a few thousand ~ of Thai folks.

You can catch a small version of this type of musical event every night at Charm Esarn in Pattaya, and at dozens of places in Bangkok . . . in little dumps behind Chatachuk Market, or great monstrous venues out on Petchburi Rd or New Satorn. But the real deal happens at country fairs all over Thailand, in places like Surin, Loei, Nong Khai, Korat, Buri Ram, Ubon, etc etc etc.

If you say you'd like to learn more about Thailand (and especially Isaan), then ask your favourite guy if he would take you to a music party like the one below, one day. Then ~ when says he'd love to ~ hop on a bus, or rent a car, pay his off fee for a few days, throw him in, and go and do it!


http://youtube.com/watch?v=F9kGgPTVavo&mode=related&search=


Hope you can enjoy.

Cheers ...

tks for the links, love the music. but to be picky, at least the first one is Lao rather than Thai, as is much else about Isaan. fun to load these into the mobile phone, Thais seem to be very amused that farang have that in their phone.

[Smiles]

" ... love the music. but to be picky, at least the first one is Lao rather than Thai, as is much else about Isaan. ..."
True. I think that first video was shot partly on the Friendship Bridge just outside Nongkhai, crossing over into Laos.

Here's a few more:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EZ_I5bfB4YQ&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FnQAm1XPXc4&mode=related&search=

Cheers ...

THe OP's point is encapsulated by the Scottish proverb "He wha pays the piper ca's the tune". Smiles leads the counter attack with "Ye'll be missing somethin'"

I'm with Smiles on this though I have to say that I've tried to find the Ravi Shankar of Thai music and he's well hidden.

[Hmmm]

Smiles, I have a 'cultural' interest in traditional Isaan music (just like my purely cultural interest in Isaan boys).

But musically it's so DREARY. And the hokey video clips !

Conversely I love saccarine Thai pop ...

Do-Re-Mi from a few years back ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czzj8-HYgCs

The brilliant Bird Thongchai (who's PLU) with Jintala (very traditional Thai singer), Kat and Nat
Fan Jah ... live ... fab dancing too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esMLW0Yq7P8

Bird Thongchai & Jintara - Ma Tum Mai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGI5vny9x4U

Tata Young- Sexy, Naughty, Bitchy (anthem of all Thai fem boys)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiCWKnUWG2c

I prefer hearing Thai music in bars in Thailand (I appreciate that my preferred Mozart would be inappropriate) but whatever is played, please let it be of a volume that allows conversation. Thailand is going to have a serious problem with deaf citizens when these go-go dancers reach maturity . Does anyone recall that, about five years ago, Throb used to put on an Isaan dance during their show, performed by the go-go dancers rather than the showboys? I always found this rather touching. As a visitor rather than a resident, I relish the differences of culture that I encounter in Thailand.

"Go out with a Thai guy to a place that plays Thai music and enjoy him, enjoying himself. Maybe you can (for once, by the sounds of it) let yourself go. Trust me, nothing will get you in the Good Books as much as doing so. "

As a frequent visitor to Thailand for many years now I have had more than a little exposure to Thai music in all it's various genres. And like music in any language other than your own the ability to appreciate it and understand it is severely limited if you do not understand the lyrics. The whole idea of music is to evoke emotion. While the melody is important it is the lyrics and the emotions they produce that make a song memorable. If you are enjoying Thai music because your companion enjoys it would suggest to me that you are not enjoying the music for the music's sake.

When I visit an establishment designed to part me and my money I prefer it to be in an atmosphere that is comfortable to me. If bars play Thai music because the "boys" like it then they are entirely missing the point of a service industry. It should be all about what I like.

I can and have "let myself go" more time than you have had som tam. I just don't need to go native to do it.

[Marsilius]

"And like music in any language other than your own the ability to appreciate it and understand it is severely limited if you do not understand the lyrics. The whole idea of music is to evoke emotion. While the melody is important it is the lyrics and the emotions they produce that make a song memorable" - quote from Once In Awhile (above).

That is a very narrow judgement. What about the emotional impact of music that is without any words at all? There are symphonies, concertos, occasional pieces (elegies, funeral marches, romances, etc.) that are just as "emotional" for being wordless and leaving your imagination and thoughts to conjure up their own personalised emotions in response to the music.

And even to take music that IS written with words, Italian opera can be incredibly emotional - even if you don't know the language. (And anyone who has heard opera in English wil know that, even then, the words can easily be incomprehensible and hence the emotional impact depends more on the dramatic storyline of the piece (regardless of precise words) and the musical notes themselves.)

The emotional impact of music does NOT depend on in having words attached to it at all - still less, comprehensible words.

[Sen Yai]

Yes Marsilius, my thoughts exactly. Well stated.

Clearly there is a small minority out there that love and appreciate classical music and opera. But when you consider that a single Madonna album very likely out sells all classical and opera releases in a single year it doesn't really touch that many peoples lives on a regular basis. We are after all talking about popular music.

Why are u so bitchy Smiles? We all aren't "a bunch of decrepit, anal old wankers". In fact I didn't say I didn't like other kinds of music, what I said was I didn't like it in bars. And as far as shooting ourselves goes, I suggest you start us all off dear. Come on...don't be shy.

[Sen Yai]

Yes, Once in a While, I'm a big Madonna fan!

Here's one of my favourites - Sorry (Paul Oakenfold re-mix)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9iQUEq-BRA&mode=related&search=

Please explain the deep emotion of the lyrics to me and how a better appreciation of them would enhance my enjoyment further.

[catawampuscat]

If you can't have a conversation because the music is too loud, then the music is too loud and should not be tolerated..
I frequently enter a go go bar and if the music is too loud, I make it very clear that I will not stay and that they have lost
a customer.

I tried this frequently at Sawatdee Go Go Boys in Pattaya, Soi Pattayaland 1 and they don't give a shit and keep it at ear shattering levels.
I don't even bother to check outSawatdee anyone and if one of the mamasans is outside, I let them know
I will not go in because they play the music too loud and it hurts my ears and gives me a headache. They don't seem to give a shit
and less demanding customers stay and put up with the painful noise. Maybe these farangs think it is hip or youthful but it is just stupid.

Vote with your feet boys and let them know you will not patronize a bar with ear shattering music of any kind. They still won't
give a shit but maybe it will start to penerate when enough of us refuse to put up with it.. :cat:

" ... music. I hate it ... awful! ... "
"Never trust a man who hates music, for he has a rock for a heart, and his loathing a vexation to my foot-tapping"

'Khalil Smiles'


" ... And I like it in bars because the boys like it, dance to it, appear more animated and happy, and isn't that what this is all about? ... "
I'm with Raksiam, all the way.

Cheers ...

That makes two of us Smiles. It makes me wonder what music just me was expecting to hear in Thailand bars. Perhaps Albanian folk music hey? http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u152/GeorgeThai/whistle.gif

George.

... I know I'm going to get Thai music, Isaan music (which is just so same-same-same, frankly) or that sugary Western music so popular at places like Telephone - Lionel Ritchie or that bloody song from the Titanic movie - real sentimental crap. At go-go bars I'll get Kylie or some other person singing something the boys can wiggle around the stage to. Yes, they all play the music at ear-drum splitting sound levels, for the same reason they love karaoke - it means you don't have to engage in a genuine conversation, expressing opinions where you may offend someone and lose face. It's the local culture - This Is Thailand

[Hmmm]

If you can't have a conversation because the music is too loud, then the music is too loud and should not be tolerated.

That may well be your preference. But I actually like good music played loud. I don't go to boy bars for the conversation.