2011

Although Thailand has been among the most accessible countries in Southea~t Asia to scholars its musical traditions constitute an underworked field. Dr. DavJd Morton of the 'university of California at Los Angeles has written a thoroughly accurate study of central Thai classical music (1964), and a few articles have appeared from time to time in this journal concerning certain theatrical traditions, but scholurs have not yet published studies of the regional musics of the south, north, and northeast. The first-named author, Professor Miller, has completed a doctoral dissertation on the music of northeast Thailand!, with the extensive help of Professor Jarernchai Chonpnirot of the Srinakharin Wirot University branch in Maha Sarakham Province, northeast Thailand. It is our desire ~hat northeastern Thai music become known to the wodd, for it certainly has rich and elaborate traditions.

2015

The symphonic masterpiece “Sanyalak Haeng Chaichana” (สญลกษณแหงชยชนะ – The Emblem of Victory) was composed to honor His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. It was written as a program symphony for standard symphony orchestra, spanning 35 minutes and is split into four movements: each movement representing each symbol of the Chaipattana Foundation’s Emblem and His Majesty’s graciousness to the Thai populace. The music also reflects the variety of urban cultures in Thailand, drawing characteristics from various genres of music namely classical, marching band, jazz, and traditional Thai music. The first movement starts off with a fast tempo, representing “Phra Saeng Khan Chaisi” (Chaisi Royal Sword) which is interpreted as “The Power of Land.” The second movement is also fast in tempo, representing “Thong Krabi Thut” (Krabi Thut Flag) which refers to “The Cherished Possession of the People.” The tempo slows down to a moderately slow pace in the third movement, representing “Dok Bua” (Lotu...

This paper probes beneath the surface of the revitalized religiosity and thriving "civic Buddhism" that is identifiable in parts of Thailand's rural periphery today as a result of grassroots processes of change. It exemplifies Phra Phaisan Visalo's assertion (1999:10) that Thai Buddhism is "re-turning to diversity" and "returning again to the hands of the people." Using in-depth case studies of three influential local monks in the northeastern province of Yasothon, it develops three cross-cutting themes that are of significance not only as evidence of a process we term "relo-calization" but also as issues that lie at the heart of contemporary Thai Theravāda Buddhism. The paper explores how the teachings and specific hermeneutics of influential Buddhist thinkers like Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, Phra Payutto and Samana Phothirak have been communicated, interpreted , adjusted and implemented by local monks in order to suit specific local realitie...

This paper probes beneath the surface of the revitalized religiosity and thriving “civic Buddhism” that is identifiable in parts of Thailand’s rural periphery today as a result of grassroots processes of change. It exemplifies Phra Phaisan Visalo’s assertion that Thai Buddhism is “returning to diversity” and “returning again to the hands of the people.” Using in-depth case studies of three influential local monks in the northeastern province of Yasothon, it develops three cross-cutting themes that are of significance not only as evidence of a process we term “relocalization” but also as issues that lie at the heart of contemporary Thai Theravāda Buddhism. The paper explores how the teachings and specific hermeneutics of influential Buddhist thinkers like Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, Phra Payutto and Samana Phothirak have been communicated, interpreted, adjusted and implemented by local monks in order to suit specific local realities and needs. Added to this localization of ideas is the localization of practice, wherein the three case studies reveal the quite different approaches and stances adopted by a “folk monk” (Phra Khruu Suphajarawat), a “forest monk” (Phra Mahathongsuk) and what might loosely be termed a “fundamentalist monk” (Phra Phromma Suphattho) at the interface of monastery and village, or the spiritual (supramundane) and social (mundane) worlds. This articulation of Buddhism and localism in turn feeds the debate concerning the appropriateness or otherwise of social engagement and activism in connection with a monk’s individual spiritual development and the normative function of the monk in modern Thai society.

Victoria university of Wellington , 2022

The objective of this dissertation is to document and critically reflect upon the creation of a collection of original works for contemporary jazz orchestra inspired by traditional Thai music, following extensive research on Thai music from the perspective of a jazz composer. This research, including the musical works, comprises a case study of the musical hybridization of Thai music and jazz that can be utilized in both Thai music studies and jazz research settings. Despite the increasing interest in Thai-Western musical integration among Thai classical composers and ethnomusicologists, no extensive studies have yet explored the integration of Thai music with jazz in the context of the contemporary jazz orchestra. Furthermore, while some musical traditions, such as those of South Asia and of the Arab world, have long been combined with jazz, there have been few such explorations of fusing jazz with Thai music traditions. Unlike previous Thai musical hybridity projects or cross-cultural Thai musical composition studies, this research project considers four regional Thai music practices instead of assuming the existence of a single “traditional music of Thailand.” I approach such musical practices from a jazz composition perspective in this study. In my research methods I identified and described their key elements, including fundamental structures, performance methods, and idiomatic instruments. I then transcribed performances by prominent Thai musicians working in these traditions into Western notation. After that, I experimentally integrated such musical elements into jazz compositions and created prototypes before composing works for full jazz orchestra. Inspired by the practice of cultural cosmopolitanism in Thailand and the openness to foreign cultures witnessed in Thai musical traditions, I also incorporated other musical techniques beyond jazz, including elements of rock, hip hop, R&B, and electronica, into my contemporary jazz orchestra writing process to produce a unique creative output for the study. The creative outcome of this research, Jazz Orchestra Portraits of Thailand, consists of seven original jazz orchestra compositions totaling 67 minutes. The compositions demonstrate musical hybridity in the ways the characteristics of Thai music combine with contemporary jazz musical elements to produce new styles. In my critical analysis of these works, I begin with general observations on compositional approach and an extensive theoretical analysis from the perspective of jazz composition. I go on to comprehensively examine the Thai elements that are infused, transformed, or otherwise present in the pieces, and then analyze the compositional techniques employed in my musical hybridizations, discussing some of the inspirations behind them.

2018

In dieser Arbeit wird die Rolle der chinesischen Musik im Mahayana-Buddhismus Südthailands untersucht. Ziel dieser Studie ist die Erforschung der Zusammenhänge zwischen der Zeremonialmusik des Mahayana-Buddhismus und den chinesischen Traditionen in Thailand während der letzten 50 Jahre. Für die Untersuchung wurde die entsprechende wissenschaftliche Literatur herangezogen und mit ethnomusikologischen Methoden gearbeitet. Neben der teilnehmenden Beobachtung wurden Interviews mit Musikern und Verantwortlichen für die Zeremonialmusik gemacht sowie audio-visuelle Feldaufnahmen. Als Fallstudie für die Zeremonien des Mahayana-Buddhismus im südlichen Thailand dient hier das Thetsakan Kin Che, das sogenannte "Vegetarische Festival", das heute als größtes und wichtigstes Ereignis des Mahayana-Buddhismus angesehen wird. In den Zeremonien dieses Festes lassen sich besonders deutlich die Einflüsse und Übernahmen aus den verschiedenen religiösen Glaubensrichtungen erkennen. Die Basis fü...

2017

The 20th century consolidation of Bangkok’s central rule over the northern Lanna kingdom and its outliers significantly impacted and retrospectively continues to shape regional identities, influencing not just khon mueang northerners but also ethnic highlanders including the Karen, Akha, Lahu, and others. Scholars highlight the importance and emergence of northern Thai “Lanna” identity and its fashioning via performance, specifically in relation to a modernizing and encroaching central Thai state, yet northern-focused studies tend to grant highland groups only cursory mention. Grounded in ethnographic field research on participatory musical application and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi’s notion of “flow”, this dissertation examines four case studies of musical engagements in the north as it specifically relates to ethnic, political, and autoethnographic positioning, narratives, and group formulation. In examining the inclusive and exclusive participatory nature of musical expression with...

This article examines musical aspects of Princess Wen Cheng, a musical composed by Imee Ooi, a Malaysian composer. A majority of the past and present literature in Buddhist chant and music focus on chanting, devotional song and some on commercial popular music. This research looks into this piece of musical theatre that is based on the historical story of Wen Cheng Kongjo and analyses its musical content in relating to Buddhism. Selected analysis of the composition and its relations to Buddhism is highlighted, and the way in which elements from Buddhism, chanting and instrumentation are employed by Ooi in her music and the aspects of performance practice are discussed. This includes stylistic feature, melodic contour, harmonic progression and imitation of timbre in relation to Buddhist chanting and the instruments used in Buddhist ritual. Research methods include ethnography, interview, and analysis, revealing how this musical forms a new genre of Buddhist music to stand alongside others such as chant, devotional song and commercial popular music.

2012

Many scholars who have examined the Karen people, a highland minority along the border of Burma and Thailand, have given special attention to the place of Christianity within their history. Sometimes problematized, sometimes celebrated, the Karen negotiation with Christianity and other foreign powers remains a contested ground that deserves further investigation and analyses. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, this is an ethnomusicological study of Karen Christian music and its role in articulating Karen notions of tradition, identity, and worldviews. Similar to all forms of expressive culture, music is a medium that constitutes social reality and notions of self and community. This thesis draws insights from Thai historian's Thongchai Winichakul's theories of mediating technologies to examine the music and context in which Karen actors create and perform Christian music in Huay Nam Khao village during the annual Christmas celebration. By privileging Karen agency, I argue that this Karen community actively and creatively adopts and domesticates western musical and religious idioms for the purposes of solidifying, preserving, and reshaping the spatial and social imaginings of the immediate local village and an indigenous and Christian Karen ethnic destiny. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study would not have been possible without the generosity, friendship, and hospitality of so many people. I am very grateful to many in Thailand, including Jaree Kiatsuphimol and the staff of Peace Corps Thailand for years of support and patience; Gibe, Min, and Mayuree Khaoyub (Chawiniakon) for teaching me to weave, plant rice, and enjoy the beauty and humor of Huay Nam Khao and Karen culture; Gaedee and Lapo Waewjantra, Seksorn (Tu-chae) Deesaw, and Pula and Ela for rekindling in me a love of music and its importance in everyday life; Amphon (Ta-u) Deenoi, Ajaan Somsak Khlonggrajonkeeree, and the extremely welcoming and helpful staff of Huay Nam Khao Church; "Chi" Suwichan Phattanaphraiwan; Ajaan Jaroon, Ajaan Chusri, Dr. Thomas Gething, and other professors at Chiang Mai University's AST program; and countless others. I am especially grateful to the faculty at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa who have guided me through this process, and could not have not made it through this without the support and feedback from Dr. Frederick Lau, Dr. Ricardo Trimillos, Dr. Barbara Andaya, and my fellow students in the Ethnomusicology Association of UHM. I am forever grateful to the wonderful staff at the East West Center for their moral and financial support. My research was also significantly assisted by the support and encouragement of my generous parents, Paul and Julie Fairfield. And finally, my deepest gratitude I reserve for my wife, Lisa Chuang, for her patience, endurance, consistent encouragement, and good advice. cite their history with Christianity could be considered "incomplete" (296), as experience with Christianity heavily shaped Karen nationalistic and ethnic imaginations. Of course, Christianity had ties to colonial, western powers, and these are also examined (see chapter two), but most successive ethnographers have, since Marshall's work, focused due attention to the importance of religion in affecting Karen conceptions of identity (Hayami 2004; Hovemyr 1989; Ijima 1979; Keyes 1995; Platz 2003; Shwe 2006). While "traditional" Karen music has also received some attention in these ethnographies and musical scholarship (Becker 1964; Fink 2003; Mischung 2003; Schwoerer-Kohl 2003; Stern 1971; Renard 1991), no researcher has examined Karen Christian music in any detail. Considering Marshall's demand for attention to the history of Christianity among Karen communities and the adherence to that call for recognition by successive scholars, the lack of examination of Karen Christian musical practice is striking. It seems that essentialist notions regarding "tradition" and "authenticity" have prevented any serious exploration of the Chapter three continues this examination, examining Karen agency in their experience with Christianity, both in historic terms (nationalism) and in modern theological movements that index "tradition" to argue for the ethnic integrity of Christian conversion and destiny. I analyze the agentic revisionist writings of Karen theologian Loo Shwe (1962), who, in my reading, seeks to reposition Christian spirituality within an indigenous framework. In line with Karen actions in ethnic and political realms, religion also became a means of reconstructing Karen history and positioning a Karen destiny. Contemporary Karen theologians and field interviews confirm that appropriation continues as the norm. By using transcription to analyze and argue for congruency between "traditional" musical practice and contemporary Christian worship, Chapter four applies this established agency to Christian music in a discussion of songs presented at the 2011 Christmas festival. I categorize songs into distinctive styles, laying out thematic elements of "traditional" Karen music and successive incorporations of western church music, concluding that musical experience aligns with previous descriptions of Karen agency and appropriation. Chapter five turns from description of Karen music to its application, showing how Christian music effectively creates the Christian community through mapping technologies employed in the annual practice of Christmas caroling. To analyze this unique activity, I apply a model based on Thongchai Winichakul's (1994) theories on mapping as a technology of mediation. Here, music becomes an "othering" tool for drawing borders between the Christian and non-Christian Karen village community. Chapter six offers conclusions, implications, and suggestions for further research. In this chapter I reemphasize the fascinating irony of the case: that a globalizing, western religiontypically receiving historic and academic criticism for its role in the demise of indigenous cultural practices-now provides one rallying point for the preservation and perpetuation of Karen culture. Literature Review Scholars have approached the Christian conversion of indigenous communities with varied approaches and opinions. While the Reverend Harry Marshall, missionary and author of the seminal ethnography of the Karen in Burma, communicated the Karen Christian conversion as an overall benefit that instilled political organization (305), paved the way for modernity through education and social organization (309), and engendered a sense of Karen nationalism (298), he frames the musical changes in terms of loss, saying they "dropped their own music for that of the west" (161). Other scholars often quote his account in examining the history of the Karen conversion to Christianity, which he paints as highly syncretic due to Karen legends and stories that foretell of a "white brother" with a long-lost book of God's knowledge (279-280). Anders Hovemyr (1989) traces the path of Karen conversion from Burma to northern Thailand as part of an indigenous-led, transnational outreach program. By his account, the Karen in Burma, politically and religiously united by a newly acquired script developed by American missionaries, set out to bring the both the gospel, nationalist politics, and, in some cases millennialism, to their brothers and sisters in Thailand (88-89, 99). Though he concludes that the mission, under religious auspices, failed due to the alternative motivations of the Karen searching instead for a political base of the rumored millions of fellow Karen in Thailand (123), he does continually note the appropriation and ethnicization of the Christian message for the Karen. The indigenous Christian outreach resulted in an ethnic and religious group dynamic that organized the Karen on a level superseding the village as the largest unit (168). 6 Yoko Hayami (2004) casts Karen contact with administrators and missionaries in agentic terms, arguing against outdated narratives that paint the Karen as helpless until outsiders moved them from irrational, unreflexive selves to literate, intellectualized faith traditions (6). For her, acceptance of Christianity and Buddhism, the religions of the hegemonic outsiders, was a calculated negotiation on the part of the Karen taken for political, economic, adaptive, and pragmatic reasons (11, 61). She discusses, like Hovemyr, the ethnicization of religion (more prominent in Christian conversion than Buddhist conversion), and sees Christian music as a powerful constructive tool, saying, "Western musical scales and harmonies have been introduced to the Karen through church music and has become one of the most important elements of Christian Karen culture" (266). She does not, however, elaborate on how this is accomplished. A recently released ethnography, published in 2006, was written in 1962 by Loo Shwe, a Karen Christian who worked for the Thai forestry department and travelled extensively through northern Thailand from 1917-1942. His writings give excellent insight into how educated, Christian Karen thought of their people and their religion in the early years of proselytization. Where Hayami, Marshall, and Hovemyr all point to traditional myths and folklore that paint the Karen as perpetually oppressed, illiterate, powerless, and abandoned orphans living on the fringes of powerful kingdoms, Shwe portrays the Karen as a people with a glorious, powerful past, claiming that they founded a large northern kingdom predating Lanna (4). Shwe continues his empowered narrative, interpreting traditional Karen "tha" poetry as prophecy parallel to the Bible's Old Testament. He selectively foregrounds ancestral teachings that bear similarity to modern Christianity and condemns traditional practices he deems barbaric. The result is a reshaped, fully ethnic tradition where indigenous knowledge helps in seamlessly fusing Karen ethnicity to Christianity (48, 58), an idea currently...

Buddhism in Thailand has been both subjected to integrative policies advanced by the Thai government and manipulated as an instrument for promoting national integration. As a result of reforms instituted at the end of the nineteenth century, several different traditions of Theravada Buddhism were united into a national religious system. In the 1960s, the Thai government has attempted to involve the Buddhist sangha in efforts to promote economic development among the Thai peasantry and assimilation of tribal peoples into Thai society. The first was undertaken under the name of Thammathūt (‘Dhammic ambassador’) and the second as Thammacārik (‘wandering Dhamma’). While the policies designed to integrate Buddhism within Thailand were successful, the efforts to use Thai Buddhism as instrument of national policy are more problematic. Insofar as Buddhism becomes an instrument of national policy, freedom of action by members of the sangha could become severely limited even in the realm of religious affairs.