Karaoke

Our first night in Thailand, way back in January 2005, the Peace Corps staff organized a "welcome dinner" for all us new trainees. Up on the stage, a karaoke machine was set up, and we were advised to start practicing ASAP!

Karaoke is wildly popular in Thailand. No party is complete without it in some form or another. It might be happening at the restaurant or the bar. Houses that look somewhat dilapidated from the outside may have fancy TV’s and hundreds of karaoke CD’s. It is the rare air-conditioned van or bus that isn’t equipped with a traveling karaoke machine and mike.

Perhaps it makes for great community bonding. Talent is not an issue – you don’t have to be a great singer to assume that everyone wants to hear your voice crooning away. Our co-teachers, principals, and neighbors all do it – some more often than others. I’ve never heard anyone criticized for their lack of singing prowess, but occasionally someone might be good enough to earn a round of applause. If not, no matter, they might sing a few more anyway. Yes, Robert and I have been forced to succomb to peer pressure and belt one out a time or two. Fortunately, most standard machines have a few Beatles tunes in their catalog, so we could at least humiliate ourselves in our own language!

There’s nothing like trying to fall asleep at night to the sound of the neighbor next door singing loudly into a microphone just slightly off tempo. Nor is there anything like waking up to the neighbor on the other side doing the same. Will we miss karaoke when we leave Thailand? Hmmm...

(Shown in the photo is our neighbor across the street, Pi La – who is one of the better singers, in my opinion – sharing a tune with us at a recent wedding.)