• 
• 

Published on August 29, 2007

A few years ago, traditional pong-lang could only be enjoyed up in Thailand's Northeast. Today, thanks to the huge success of the 30-member Pong-Lang Sa-Orn, audiences all over Thailand and as far away as the US are also enjoying this infectious and often irreverent take on traditional Isaan folk music.

Traditional pong-lang bands play a variety of folk instruments, including the pong-lang itself, which is similar to a xylophone and has 12 wooden bars strung together by a strong rope at each end. There's also the phin, a wooden two- and four-stringed instrument; the khaen, a wind instrument made of a number of small pipes of various lengths; and the phin-hai, resonating bass jars.

Pong-Lang Sa-Orn have modernised the sound, and added parodies of popular Thai and foreign songs.

Since getting together almost a decade ago, the band has had a tight schedule, averaging two shows a day.

Last month, they returned from the US, where they wowed crowds at Wat Lao Buddhawongse in Virginia, as well as venues in Washington DC and New York. But the biggest surprise came not from their reception but from the three sackfuls of dollars totalling more than Bt1 million they were given.

"The Lao immigrants in the audience were particularly welcoming. At first, we were afraid that nobody would come - we were really surprised to find out that some people had camped out in tents the night before the concert. Some had even driven over the border from Canada," says Sompong "Eed" Kunaprathom, the band's founder and frontman.

"We were also worried that we'd have to eat hamburgers every day, so we were really happy to find plenty of Isaan food. America was very hot though, the temperature hit 37 degrees Celsius most days."

Now based in Bangkok, the band has earned a reputation for its quality, high-energy performances. They are frequent guests on TV shows and will appear in the Channel 7drama "Khoo Pan Khoo Puan" in November. On celluloid, they've starred in director Heman Cheatamee's "Rak Jang" and the soon-to-be-released sequel "Rak Jang 2". They are also regulars at Rithichai "George" Puangpetch's "Pong-Lang Sa-Ing Ram Sing Theatre".

 "The Show Must Go On", their live album  released last November, sold two million copies and their debut studio release, "The Music", on the RS label, sold 500,000 copies.

In the middle of this year, they released "The Music 2" and caught fans by surprise by adopting a Korean look for the music video of the first single "Plien" (Change).

"The song blends a Korean melody with Isaan music. In the lyrics, we describe ourselves as Isaan guys who try to be trendy by going for the Korean look, but end up staying the same," Sompong explains.

"All 12 songs on our second album are like comedy movies."

At the beginning of the year, the band's popularity earned them a gig as presenters for Mama's newest instant-noodle flavour, "Tom Sap", launched by Sahapathanapibul.

On Saturday, they'll be on stage at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, for "Amazing Thailand", a musical extravaganza that also features four other regional stars: Jintara Poonlap from the Northeast, Koong Suthiraj from Central Thailand, The Salor from the North, and Bew Kalayanee from the South. Each will be bringing along a backing band.

The show, which includes Pong-Lang Sa-Orn's much-loved couple Kwannapa "Lala" Ruangsri and Duangrudee "Lulu" Boonbamrung, also showcases performances by youngsters from drama schools nationwide, American singer Johnny Osen and Cambodian Apisat Adbumrung.

"Johnny was in the audience at our concert in Washington DC and he was really interested in our musical instruments, especially the khaen," says Sompong.

"By inviting him to appear with us on stage, we're saying to the audience, 'hey, if a foreigner can show interest in our folk culture, why can't local people'?

"We've never played in such a large venue before, so it's a major challenge. We've been working hard on how to entertain the audience in the highest tiers."

Pong-Lang Sa-Orn's story goes back to the late 1990s, when Sompong was a sophomore at Rajamangala Technology Institute in Pathum Thani. He joined up with three friends to play folk at a restaurant called Kho Vientiane but the guys went their own ways after graduation.

He formed a new outfit dubbed Isaan Ban Hao and landed a regular gig at chicken restaurant Kai Yang Khorat on Bangkok's Viphavadi Road. The band became so popular that customers started pouring in just for the entertainment.

Soon they were also playing at Mai Kao and Hai Kham in Nonthaburi, and Sompong renamed them Pong-Lang Sa-Orn. Then they were invited to appear on "Dan Dara", a segment of Channel 3's peak-time variety show "At Ten". That led to a recording contact with RS and the rest, as they say, is history.

Pong-Lang Sa-Orn's concert, "Amazing Thailand", takes place at Impact Arena on Saturday at 8pm. Tickets at Bt2,000, Bt1,500, Bt1,200, Bt800, Bt500 and Bt300 are available at Thaiticketmajor.

Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul

 The Nation