Luk Thung
Thailand’s rural population consists primarily of rice farmers, particularly in the northeast and central plains, where luk thung originated. (Luk thung is the accepted transliteration of the Thai script, though it is often written incorrectly as luk tung or look toong.) Luk thung started out as a musical means of social criticism, primarily of the government and its officials during the World War II period and through the 1950s, when censorship of customs considered “vulgar,” such as chewing betel nut, was extremely strict. Singers typically used the local dialect, not usually understood by the urban populations of Bangkok, and performed with simple ballroom dance bands for festivals, at temple fairs, and in the marketplace. They incorporated musical styles from Western idioms, such as mambo and country music, that were disseminated through film and radio broadcasts. As government restrictions eased during the 1960s, the lyrical content of luk thung shifted to more topical themes of daily life and romance.