Street musicians are easily spotted in Bangkok. They play a range of instruments some play the saxophone with minus one, some play violin, guitar, some sing, and there are even those who play traditional instruments of Thailand like the famous tmouth organ, Khaen or the string instrument, Chake. Street musicians have become a strong part of Bangkok’s soundscape.
This is a recording of one of the street musicians who sang and played guitar near BTS Victory Monument. Amongst the machinery and engines, his voice and strumming of the guitar became even more beautiful. Yanin Bandhaya, my friend from Thailand, said that the street musician sang a popular song from a TV series. When I read the translation in the internet, the song became more meaningful as the musician was blind. He sang with passion accompanied by his lover, who is also blind, beside him. This is the song lyric translation:
As I look into her eyes, I don’t know why
She engraves in my dream like a bright moonlight
Being apart, I miss you. Being close, I am shaking
Looking up to the moon brings you to me
A love that sees with eyes of the heart.