Artists Report: Pichet Klunchun
The first day (Date: 5 February 2003)
Luang Prabang is an old city with many interesting subjects i.e., locations, houses, inhabitants’ everyday life, and natural environments, which are all remain intact and charming. Tourists who visit Luang Prabang will find themselves walking in a traditional town. One can see people living in houses situated among original landscapes, and performing daily life that changes very little. Therefore, Luang Prabang is an ideal city for tourists from materialize countries. Tourism also has its impact. Instead of a positive influence on traditional arts and Luang Prabang’s specific way of life, it generates a negative prospect instead. Like most Asian Countries who are quickly absorbing westernize culture into their society, thinking and believing that western culture is much better and more civilize by deserting their own culture, arts, a simple life in natural environments. They are ready to change their ways of life to accommodate tourists, in order to gain extra income to support the family. Such change has generated some worries.
With better and more cooperation between artists from other parts of the world and knowledge artists within Laos, traditional arts will have a chance to develop as well as for mutual exchange, forming a close relationship in the next decade. We have to understand that “One should not indulge in objects of the past, or infatuated with modern things, but should compromise in both new and old”. In truth, one should maintain traditional arts in strong capacity enable to cooperate with new arts in order to preserve its originality.
The second day (Date: 6 February 2003)
I have a chance to look around the city of Luang Prabang and notice lots of changes to cope with the expanding tourism, whether the new restaurants, pubs and guesthouses that sprout up everywhere to accommodate tourists’ needs. Culture and one’s way of life are all geared by income derived from tourism. Traditional art no longer contains its original value, but comprises of commercial value instead. It is a mean of communication between localities and tourists, no longer serve as a mean between localities and art itself. Those with duties to take care of the arts are lacking connection to its authentic value, but associated with money value, other people and cultures. In the future, it will be a shock to realize that one must necessarily possess culture, so that can be view as a modern individual, such as having a mobile phone. Other indicators are children learning traditional Thai dance and Thai musical instruments. Such learning is not a mean to know one’s own culture but serves to follow the popular fashion, or prize competition, or parents’ showing off, or spare time activity. It also serves as a mean for children to be movie stars in the entertaining business. Therefore, I have the opinion that if we want Thai dance to maintain its own significant outstanding meaning as it is, we should consider to put its unreality into this real world.
What is real, what unreality that is real, what is unreality?
Real in itself can tell a true story.
Unreality that is real i.e.: hero, heroine, demons, monkeys characters of Khon (masked play of Ramayana) are unreal but have to play like they are real.
Unreality, Thai classical dance is unreal, therefore one should not take art into one’s reality or conducting oneself as an art leader. People want to see performing art more than the star herself, to recognize real art value than various make-ups. There remains some unchangeable situation at present, but with the art knowledgeable personnel, who have no intention to dominate art, then probably it could be turn back to its originality.
The third day (Date: 7 February 2003)
The cruise along Mekong River allows me to see the city inhabitants’ way of life, which coexist harmoniously with nature. People are growing vegetable along Mekong riverbanks during dry season without using fertilizers and pesticides due to the river’s natural accumulated fertile soil during rainy season. The river fishing is maneuvered with homemade instruments from small boats. People are in reality truly living with nature without any problem. There is no other need besides being only with nature. Such viewing made me realized that this country should not be interfered by anyone or anything whatsoever, serving to emphasize that the soul of nature and human beings are as one that we are a part of the nature.
Looking around in Bangkok, we see human beings designate nature. We separate ourselves to dominate nature. Children in Bangkok are deprived of nature communications. They have no chance to contact and understand the working mechanisms in nature. This is one of the reasons that an urban child’s soul cannot be reach by Thai classical dance because Thai classical dance generates from nature. Nowadays, we are much in contact with new nature that derives from our own producing (entertainment, fast foods, all kinds of convenient facilities, high rise buildings, vehicles and mobile phones). These modern objects create struggle, contradiction and competitiveness which are means to separate oneself from true nature.
At night, I went to visit Duang Champar Discotheque to see the teenager’s nightlife. They are busy dancing and Ram Wong (traditional dance). Most costumes are consisting of locally made sarong, blouse and a denim jacket. There is no spaghetti strap blouse and cosmetic make-up face insight which is the suitably mixture of the old and new culture. The music is consisting of dancing music and Mor Lam plus singing Happy Birthday for the one who comes to celebrate his birthday.
These sightseeing are wonderful and most interesting. Who knows what shall ever happen and what shall it be in the future?
“A human being rich in money is less important than
a human who is ‘contented’”.
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