Caravan (Thai band)
| Caravan | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Thailand |
| Genres | Folk, phleng phuea chiwit |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Website | http://www.caravanonzon.com/ |
| Members | Surachai Jantimathawn Wirasak Sunthawnnsi Mongkhon Uthok Thongkran Thana |
Caravan (Thai: ฅาราวาน, rtgs: Kharawan), is a Thai folk-rock band that formed out of the 1973 democracy movement. It launched the phleng phuea chiwit (เพลงเพื่อชีวิต, lit. "songs for life") genre that has since been popularized by Carabao.
Surachai Jantimatawn was the band's primary vocalist and songwriter. He also played guitar. Wirasak Suntornsii played guitar and also did occasional bass and lead vocals. Mongkhon Uthok sang lead and played phin (a Thai stringed instrument), harmonica, wut (a panpipe-like Thai instrument) and saw (the Thai version of the Chinese erhu violin). Thongkran Thana played violin, slide guitar, as well as lead guitar in the band's later, electric incarnations. They were often joined by Phongthep Kradonchamnan, later a well-known phleng phuea chiwit artist in his own right, on Thai percussion, flute and vocals.
Caravan was known for combining Thai and Western folk music in arrangements dominated by acoustic guitars, but spiced up with Uthok's use of traditional Thai instruments, as well as frequent use of Thai-style percussion. Most of their Thai-influenced songs took the form of folk ballads, but they also made frequent use of the faster and more percussive "Maw Lam" rhythms. In their early days, they often took melodies directly from American and British folk songs like "Song to Woody" "Yellow Bird" "John Barleycorn Must Die" and "A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall" and adapted them with political lyrics in Thai. Their later music sometimes had a noticeable country music influence in songs like "Num Phanejawn" and "Fon Thewa," although as a whole, the influence of Western folk diminished as their career went on. When the band went electric, it expanded its range of sound to include influences of rock, reggae, folk music from other Asian countries, and a wider range of Thai musical styles.
The founders of Caravan, Surachai Jantimathawn ("Nga Caravan") and Wirasak Sunthawnsi, were student activists at Ramkhamhaeng University at a time when the student movement was instrumental in toppling the dictatorial regime of Thanom Kittikachorn. They sympathasized with the working class farmers in Northeast Thailand. They were soon joined by Mongkhon Uthok and Thongkran Thana.
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