phon phirom: nam ta la sai

artist: พร ภิรมย์ (phon phirom)
album: น้ำตาลาไทร (nam ta la sai)
tracklist:
01. น้ำตาลาไทร (nam ta la sai)
02. กระท่อมทองกวาว (krathom thong kwao)
03. บัวตูม บัวบาน (buatum buaban)
04. น้องนุชสุดท้อง (nong nut sut thong)
05. สุดสวยทั้งสอง (sut suai thang song)
06. บัวหลวง (bua luang)
07. แววตา (waew ta)
08. สวรรค์สวาท (sawan sawat)
09. ลานรักลานเท (lan rak lan the)
10. ลมจ๋า (lom cha)
11. ฝากใจไว้กับจันทร์ (fak chai wai kap chan)
12. รักคุต (rak khut)
13. หลานรักวัยรุ่น (lan rak wairun)
14. เห็นใจสาวสาว (hen cha sao sao)

i'm very sad to report that this past week the great phon phirom passed away, at the age of 82. i thought it would be nice to honor his legacy by sharing one of my favorite luk thung albums, this collection of his earliest singles, dating from around 1962. phon was born into a theatre family from phra nakhon si ayutthaya, and from a young age was fascinated by the world of thai classical music. growing up, he studied the arts of the piphat ensemble and chinese opera, in addition to traditional thai vocal forms. after touring for a number of years with a traveling liké troupe, he was persuaded by famed chularat bandleader mongkhon amatayakun to apply his talents on the burgeoning luk thung stage. phon found a way to integrate the folk & classical styles he so loved into the framework of the latin-inspired pop styles of the day, and became an inspiration for generations of future stars. since the early 80's, however, phon had left the entertainment world behind to join the buddhist priesthood, taking the monastic name phra punyawangso. he lived out his last days at wat rattanachai in his home province of ayutthaya.

a farewell concert will be held on dec. 17th at the thailand cultural center in bangkok. also, you can purchase a beautifully remastered version of this album (with a number of different tracks!) from maemaiplengthai