13 June 1992
Farewell to the country music queen
Pumpuang Duangjan, known to music fans as Thailand’s ‘queen of luuk thung’, died of complications caused by the auto-immune disease lupus.
Pumpuang, one of the nation’s most adored luuk thung (Thai country music) vocalists, was born to rural peasants in northeastern Thailand, but was raised in Suphan Buri. Her infectious musical sound first attracted notice in the late 1970s. Although she grew up illiterate, her lyrics recounted powerfully melodramatic stories largely inspired by the poverty endured by Thailand’s millions of blue collar workers and farmers. Among her contributions to popular Thai music, she adapted luuk thung into a more modern, dance-friendly form known as ‘electronic luuk thung’. Her songs continued to be popular for many years after her death.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended her royal sponsored funeral, as the nation mourned the loss of one of its most beloved singers.
13 June 1992
Farewell to the country music queen
Pumpuang Duangjan, known to music fans as Thailand’s ‘queen of luuk thung’, died of complications caused by the auto-immune disease lupus.
Pumpuang, one of the nation’s most adored luuk thung (Thai country music) vocalists, was born to rural peasants in northeastern Thailand, but was raised in Suphan Buri. Her infectious musical sound first attracted notice in the late 1970s. Although she grew up illiterate, her lyrics recounted powerfully melodramatic stories largely inspired by the poverty endured by Thailand’s millions of blue collar workers and farmers. Among her contributions to popular Thai music, she adapted luuk thung into a more modern, dance-friendly form known as ‘electronic luuk thung’. Her songs continued to be popular for many years after her death.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended her royal sponsored funeral, as the nation mourned the loss of one of its most beloved singers.