Krung krung chiang

Last Sunday, while getting lost at the many sois at Jatujak Mall (more popularly know as JJ Mall), goolypop and I chanced upon this charming performance of Thai traditional music. The melodious chang chang, krung krung made us stop. Seeing empty plastic chairs were available, we quickly parked our heavy assets to enjoy the music.

The musicians were pretty young, the oldest being a pre-teen and the youngest, about 5, I suspect. But boy, was I impressed! After a short intermission, they changed instruments, meaning to say, each of them has actually mastered several instruments. I can't even strum a guitar, ok? And these kids are playing the instruments skillfully.

The sifu is way at the back of the stage in green shirt. He would announced the next song to play and give stern looks if he suspected any of them was getting into mischief. While watching, I couldn't help but wondered, 'Do they go to school? Do they get enough food?' They seem to be a troupe of somekind, wandering from places to places where their service is needed.

While some privileged kids have the choice to learn the piano or violin and quit when they are bored, these poor kids do not have a choice. They learn to play to earn a living.

While classy folks put on smart tuxedos and pretty dresses and pull strings at concerts, these kids wear simple clothings and sit under the stairs to perform.

Well, to me, they are already virtuosos. Bravo! My hands were sore from clapping. If I weren't as thin skinned, I would have given a standing ovation.

On the contrary the thicker skinned goolypop had the cheek to spoil the atmosphere by showing off his hiphop moves. He was trying to steal the thunder! I stopped him, of course, after 30 seconds of shiokness lah.. :P

For some weird reasons (I think blogger.com can't stand him either), I couldn't load the video. Boohoo! Maybe at another post, I'd insert the video. For now, just a glimpse of how silly that fella can be :P