Nostalgic Thai Song - "On the floor of heavens" (from Thai Life Insurance advertisement, etc.)
By Hideki AKIYAMA
This is a commercial for Thai Life Insurance, which is somewhat known in Japan. I often get tired of the overly emotional push in this series of advertisements, but this one is quite good. The natural acting of the two actors playing an elderly couple, with the wife suffering from Alzheimer's disease, is wonderful, and I was moved, even though I felt the husband was a bit idealized.
The director, Thanonchai Songsiwichai, a multiple award winner in international competitions, is a guru of the Thai commercial film industry.
In the commercial, the husband, now caring for his wife, plays a record she used to play during lunch. Suddenly, the old days come rushing back to her, and they begin dancing the tango together. The scene simply touched me.
The title of the song is "On the Floor of Heavens," sung by Winai Chunlabsapha, a famous old-time singer known as the "King of Tango." He was the lead singer of the Suntraporn Orchestra, the first Western music orchestra in Thailand. The Suntraporn Orchestra operated under the government's Music and Public Relations Department but also performed at private functions and released records. The name "Suntraporn" was used for the orchestra's private activities, meaning Mr. Winai was both a civil servant and a singer.
The music was composed by Ua Suntrasatarn, the founder of the Suntraporn Orchestra and Mr. Winai's teacher. He learned Western music (violin and saxophone!) at a music school established by the royal family. When the national radio station started its music program in 1939, he was asked to establish an orchestra for the public relations office. Mr. Winai, who took over the Suntraporn Orchestra from Mr. Ua, became a pioneer of the "Western music" that the Thai government and the royal family sought to introduce. His singing style is extremely clear and lively, but it tends to feel somewhat textbook and formal.
When I think about it, the Japanese singers we used to listen to as nostalgic melodies also had this kind of voice. A notable example is "My Blue Sky" (originally "My Blue Heaven") by Teiichi Futamura, released in 1928. Futamura was also a serious student of Western vocal music, though his origins and upbringing were quite different, as he came from the muddy streets of Asakusa.
Listening to songs like this, I can’t help but think that the Westernization and modernization of Japan and Thailand are quite similar. I had the same thought when I briefly looked into the history of Thai cinema — it feels as though Thailand is following Japan’s modernization by about ten years. There seems to be a difference, however, in that Thailand’s Western culture was transplanted through the royal family, while in Japan, it was mainly driven by the energy of ordinary people.
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