Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Entertainment
Although Bangkok's hyper-urban environment caters to the inner
philistine in all of us, the city is home to a diverse but low-key art scene. Add to
this dance performances, live music, some of the world's best-value cinemas and,
yes, the infamous go-go bars, and you have a city whose entertainment scene
ranges from - in local parlance - lo-so (low society) to hi-so (high society).
Live Music
As Thailand's media capital, Bangkok is the centre of the Thai music industry, packaging
and selling pop, crooners,
lôok tûng
(Thai-style country music) and the recent phenomenon
of indie bands. Music is a part of almost every Thai social gathering; the matriarchs and
patriarchs like dinner with an easy-listening soundtrack - typically a Filipino band and a
synthesiser. Patrons pass their request (on a napkin) up to the stage. An indigenous rock
style,
pleng pêu·a chee·wít
('songs for life'), makes appearances at a dying breed of
country-and-western bars decorated with buffalo horns and pictures of Native Americans.
Several dedicated bars throughout the city feature blues and rock bands, but are relatively
scant on live indie-scene performances. Up-and-coming garage bands occasionally pop up
at free concerts where the kids hang out: Santichaiprakan Park (Th Phra Athit), Th Khao
San and Siam Square. For more subdued tastes, Bangkok also attracts grade-A jazz musi-
cians to several hotel bars.
See
Click here
for more on the ins and outs of the Thai music scene.
Most bars and clubs close at 1am, but this is subject to police discretion. The drinking
age is 20 years old.
Traditional Theatre & Dance
The stage in Thailand typically hosts a
kŏhn
performance, one of the six traditional dramat-
ic forms. Acted only by men,
kŏhn
drama is based upon stories of the
Ramakian,
Thail-
and's version of India's epic
Ramayana,
and was traditionally staged only for royal audien-
ces. Places to watch
kŏhn
include the National Theatre (
Click here
)
and Sala Chalermkrung
(
Click here
)
.
The less formal
la
́
·kon
dances, of which there are many dying subgenres, usually involve
costumed dancers (of both sexes) performing elements of the
Ramakian
and traditional folk
tales. If you hear the din of drums and percussion from a temple or shrine, follow the sound
