Luk Thung

Luk thung, literally 'children of the field', is Thailand's rural popular song tradition, sung in Thai with the marked accents, vibrato and melodic ornamentation of the countryside. Its verses give poetic voice to rice farmers, migrant workers and village lovers, treating poverty, debt, separation and longing with wit and sentiment. Arrangements blend Thai instruments such as the khaen and phin with brass, electric guitars, keyboards and drum kits borrowed from Western pop, rock and soul. Closely related to the north-eastern mor lam, luk thung became the country's dominant commercial song form and the soundtrack of working-class Thai identity.