Asanee-Wasan concert will take many Bangkok residents – both Thai and Western – down memory lane!

Gerry Carter

 

 

Classic Thai pop brothers Asanee-Wasan will be appearing in Bangkok this Saturday in a concert that will take many residents, both local and foreign, down memory lane.

 

The “Asanee-Wasan 30 Show” celebrates the more than 30 years in the entertainment business of the Chotikul brothers.

 

Many residents of Bangkok – not just the lifers – will recall the duo’s greatest hit Krung Thep Maha Nakhon that has only one lyric that is the full name of the City of Angels which stretches to about 150 characters in English depending on how you transliterate it.

 

The song was the most recognizable anthem in the discos and nightclubs of Bangkok through the mid-1980s and beyond. Its evocative lyrics and melodies take anyone who was hitting the nightspots thirty years ago back in time to when they were a little freer and a little younger!

 

For me the song is memorable for several reasons apart from taking me back down the memory lane of Krung Thep where I have lived since 1982.

 

Some years after learning the lyrics of the song and hence the full name of the city that claims to have the longest place name in the world, I found myself offered a job to head up the Thai culture and language department at a new and prestigious international school that was established in Bangkok in 1998.

 

As Head of Department I needed to come up with many Thai topics to teach the children from year 1 to year 9 about Thai culture. The teaching of Thai culture was stipulated in the Thai Education Ministry requirements for students at international schools. We taught each year group twice a week so this meant introducing many different topics to fill the curriculum over the school year.

 

My aim was to have the Thai children learn alongside their foreign contemporaries so it was important to make the topics and content accessible to all. The topics needed to be fun, relevant to the age group and not too stuffy!

 

I plumped on the topic of Bangkok for half a term for my Year 3 students aged about seven. All the children were thrilled with the idea that the city where they were living was famous for having such a long name and when they heard me say it they laughed and cheered.

 

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It is a great song, I arrived in 1988 and heard it everywhere. One reason I like it is doesn't just generate feelings of awe-this big city that never sleeps, the old and the new side by side, the traditional and modern, the poor and the rich juxtaposed, the hopes the aspirations it offers especially for the young.

For me it also stirs up feelings of a giant, a monster devouring all in its path- the relentless construction,  the tearing down of the old, unceasing traffic and noise, and the endless flow of people. So many have come to Bangkok to earn and save money and ended up living in a tiny apartment surviving hand to mouth. Bangkok can swallow you up if you're not careful.

 

where will they be in concert in Bangkok?