Once upon a time, on a small alley next to Wat Machimawat on Mak Khaeng Road, a dozen houses could be seen. The houses were the homes of molam artists and dancers. Once scattered throughout Isaan, they had all moved from their hometowns to this alley in the city of Udon Thani. There they all had dreamt that they would become stars. But today, only a few of the original houses remain, sheltering aging molam artists.
While Tha Rae district in Sakon Nakhon province is well known for having the biggest Catholic community in Thailand, the district may perhaps be even better known for a darker history as the former heart of the dog meat trade in Southeast Asia. Although most residents of Tha Rae no longer eat dog meat and the tradition has died down due to the influence of Buddhism, some locals in Sakon Nakhon’s Tha Rae district still consume it. This raises the question: “Man’s best friend or favorite meal?” Isaan Record intern, Russell Chapman, goes to Sakon Nakhon to explore the issue.
Amid an ongoing attempt to demolish what’s left of the Seri Thai Airport and its history in Kalasin province, The Isaan Record explores another Seri Thai Airport in Sakon Nakhon province. Here lie the last traces of an airport built by the Seri Thai Movement, exhibiting the history of the political struggle in Isaan aimed to resist Japanese occupation during WWII. (Locals still refer to the area as an “airport” although it appears to been more of a “drop site.”)
The Thai-language side of The Isaan Record has been publishing a series on the “Holy Man Rebellion” of 1901-02. We are sharing select pieces to our English-language readers. In this article, Weerawat Somnoek looks at the most powerful weapon used in the “Isaan Phi Bun Rebellion” against the dominance of Bangkok. It was not their swords or spears, but their ballads that helped spread and strengthen a certain ideology among the oppressed that inspired them to stand up against authority.
In molam music, the vocals of the molam performer and the sound of the khaen, a free reed mouth organ, are intimately linked. Panupong Thongsri looks at the evolution of molam lyrics and khaen music in Isaan.
Molam music has a spellbinding power. For generations, it has shaped the cultural soul of the Lao-speaking people on both banks of the Mekong River and their communities around the world. Often declared a dying breed, it continues to reinvent itself in new modern forms while serving as a source of cultural agency for the young generation.
Six decades of dam building, from the dawn of the Cold War to the tenure of the latest military junta are proof of the failure of water management in Isaan. It’s time to dismantle the dams and turn to sustainable approaches, writes environmental expert Chainarong Setthachua.
How sugar arrived in Southeast Asia and became so dominant within the Thai culture and economy.
In the first part of our series on sweetness and power we provide a big-picture view of the historical rise and spread of sugar.
At the remains of a former US military base in Udon Thani once called Ramasun Station, two locals tell stories of what life was like when the city was bustling with American GIs.
Lao groups in the Northeast once used the Tai Noi script. But Siam's national integration project imposed Central Thai as the only official language in the region.
Political scientist Thanet Charoenmuang on the history of (de)centralization of the Thai state.
