Aug 04, 2018
Pumpuang Duangjan’s 57th Birthday
This Doodle’s Key Themes
Luk Thung is a form of Thai country music expressing the trials and tribulations of everyday life in Thailand’s rural provinces. The name, meaning “children of the field,” is also an apt description of Pumpuang “Peung” Duangjan, one of the genres most loved performers who grew up cutting sugarcane in the fields of North Thailand to help her family survive.
When Duangian wasn’t helping her family in the fields, she began an apprenticeship at the age of 12 with a Luk Thung master who taught her a vast catalog of songs and their accompanying dances. She moved to Bangkok at age 15, where she broadened her repertoire by incorporating pop songs. Her career turned a corner when she collaborated with a composer who mixed disco beats with traditional Luk Thung music. Not long after, Duangjan debuted her less reserved style on television, ushering in a new era for female Thai vocalists.
In the mid-1980s, Duangjan released several hit albums that blended traditional Luk Thung music with danceable pop production. Her fur jackets and fashionable wardrobe also made her an icon for Thai people escaping poverty. As she sang in one of her timeless songs, “I came to the city to be a big star/It’s tough, but I can survive.”
Peung’s indomitable spirit, hard work, and determination inspired future generations, cementing her legacy for many years to come.
Doodle by Cynthia Yuan Cheng
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