Luk thung and mor lam songs to learn Thai
Luk thung, literally "child of the fields", is Thai country music: songs about village life, love, hard work and missing home, sung with big emotion. Mor lam comes from Isan in the northeast and is driven by the khaen, a bamboo mouth organ. Both fill buses, markets and temple fairs all over Thailand.
The singing is slower and clearer than pop, the stories are easy to follow and the lyrics are full of everyday words, which makes these songs great for learners. We explain the key lines, the regional words and the culture behind each one.
B2 Tao Ngoi เต่างอย Jintara Poonlarp · 2017 A mor lam party hit with an irresistible 'tao tao tao' hook, sung by one of the genre's biggest stars. It takes you to a real place in Isan, a sacred turtle shrine in Sakon Nakhon, and is full of Isan words and Thai temple manners (palms together, bowing, asking for luck). Meaning and key lines 
B1 Khu Khong คู่คอง Kong Huayrai · 2016 With more than half a billion views, this Isan-language love song is one of the most-watched Thai music videos ever, and you will hear it in taxis, markets and karaoke rooms all over the country. It is the perfect first taste of Isan, the language of Thailand's northeast, which many Thai partners and friends speak at home: each line maps neatly onto Central Thai. Meaning and key lines 
B1 Your Heart for My Number ขอใจเธอแลกเบอร์โทร Yinglee Srijumpol · 2012 One of the biggest luk thung hits of the 2010s: its chorus parodies the recorded message you hear when a Thai phone call goes to voicemail, so every Thai gets the joke. It is packed with phone and flirting vocabulary (ask for a number, call me, wait on the line) in clear Central Thai. Meaning and key lines
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