iieiiei1eWrkers - Leicester Research Archive - University of Leicester

month or approximately £25)6 with the commercial spots and the ad-libs on the
commercials. In this format, the DJs are left with a limited selection of music.
Neither do they have the time to 'talk' to the audience. Programmes such as
'Pleng Dang Pralab Jai' (Impressive Hits) on Sor Tor Ror Radio or 'Dae Fan
J'Ieng Ti Rak' (For Our Music Fans) on Yan Kroa Radio are turned into
campaign platform for the music industry and the distributors of 'consumer'
discourse.
Having said this however, the DJs of these programmes continue to exercise
their creativity and their links with the Luktoong fans. This is possible in the
line up of the selected tracks. In deference to the 'pluggers', the DJs usually
play the hit tracks at the beginning and the end of a set of three songs.
But sandwiched in the middle there is space for a social commentary, or for
tracks outside of the promoted realm. In 'Pleng Dang Pra/ab Jo]' for example,
Sornpet Sornsupan's Kao Kai Mai Dai (Can't Sell the Rice) is played between
Sayan Sanya's Nain Ta Sib Law (Tears of a Lorry Driver) and Pornsak
Songsang's Kaw Mong Dai Mai (May I Gaze?). Both of which are love
songs. In the programme 'Dae Fan Pleng Ti Rak', Punipuang's Sao AM (AM
Girl) is juxtaposed with the commercial spot for the cassette Metta Dhanuna
(Virtue of Kindness), which campaigns for the cause of malnutrition. 7 The
quotation in the spot by Anchali Jongkadikit, the female rock star, is taken from
the alternative discourse of the Foundation for Children's Developement, a
marginal non-governmental organisation.
"Born with silver spoon, but look a yonder
Those little siarvelings are doomed,
One baht pouring down,
Soon the Thai children will bloom"
The largest percentage of malnutrition is concentrated in the poverty-striken
region of the Northeast, in which the ethnic majority is the Laos. In this
radio spot, the imagery of the malnourished children is contrasted with that of
the 'better off'. But while the class dimension is highlighted it also appeals to
the religious ethos of 'kindness'. The reference to social integration,
'Thainess', on the other hand, defuses the question of ethnicity and 'otherness'.
6 Cassette companies provide most of the 'promoted' albums to the DJs.
These are cut with the promoted tracks only in contrast to the cassette
albums on sale. Azona for example, further marks out the pre-determined
'hits' with asterisks.
The idea of this project by the music industry derives from Geldof's Live
Aid Concert in 1985.
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