Thee Chaiyadej: Love is...

Below is a piece on folk guitarist Thee Chaiyadej.

In a rash moment a few weeks ago, I deleted it. Thankfully, I had kept a copy somewhere, which I have now revived.

I have updated the post to include a Youtube video of Thee singing in concert, and two other videos of Thee songs which were not available on the internet at the time I wrote the piece, more than 12 months ago.

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'I love you too darling I think of you all the time and some day I not have time for u but I still think of u and worry how u do at home อย่าเพิ่งอวกนะพูดจริงๆจากใจ BIG KISS FOR MY BIG PIGGIE and a little hug because I am a little guy, can't do big hugs.'

Maiyuu sent me that text message a few days ago. The bit in Thai says: 'Don't vomit, because I mean this from the bottom of my heart.'

The night before, he came home looking worried. I asked him to hop on the bed with me, and tell me what was wrong.

He said he was worried about his future, and what would happen if one day I decided to go back to my home country.'I don't want to go back, because I like Thais too much, and I love you. If I went home, I would miss you,' I told him.

I feel too grateful to Maiyuu to just quit one day, and leave. Good people don't do that to each other.

As I reflected on that moving text message, I thought about the other romantic things that bind me to this place.

One of them is music, and in particular the love songs of folk singer Thee Chaiyadej. Maiyuu introduced me to him. For my birthday recently, he bought me Thee's Very Best Of album.

Thee's soft acoustic sounds get under my skin, his poetic, dreamy lyrics into my heart in a way few other Thai artists do - and he does it with little commercial fanfare.

He has no website in his name, nor fansites that I can find. No huge, flashy, Grammy-style concerts for him, but intimate, blues-club style gatherings where he played his instrument of choice - acoustic guitar - for many years, before the 'indie' Bakery label signed him up about 10 years ago.

Uncommonly for a Thai popular singer, Thee (ธีร์ ไชยเดช) is not afraid to perform in English, nor experiment with alternative genres and sounds.

Even more unusually, perhaps, is that he does not pursue a full-time career as a musician, but fits it around his commitments to work as an air traffic controller.

'The job demands intense concentration and carries a high level of responsibility. If I know I have to work the next day, I cannot stay up late performing, as I need to get enough rest,' he says.

I first saw Thee perform a few years ago, on a concert VCD by Bakery label artists.

Thee, released his first album, Why in 1995, followed in 1997 by an album called Bakery Love 3, in which he performed covers of well-known Bakery tunes.

That was followed in 1998 by solo albums There, and Story, and in 1999 by Past. He released another solo album, After Brake, in 2001. His first two albums were virtually all sung in English.

His first album in which the songs were mainly sung in Thai was 1998's Story. Past was a compilation album of his most popular songs.

Before approaching Bakery with samples of his work, Thee had played the club circuit in Bangkok for years, including the Saxophone Club.

Thee is often associated with the late Joe Amarin Luangboribun, of the pop group Pause.

Thee produced albums for Joe, both when Joe was lead singer for Pause, and then as a solo artist. In 2002, he released a song he wrote in tribute to his younger friend, called 20202.

Thee has worked as an air traffic controller for Aerothai for 21 years. He started performing music more than 30 years ago, and can play acoustic guitar in various genres, including reggae, and blues.

As a Bakery artist he performed his first solo concert in 2002, which was his first chance to perform for his fans in a variety of musical styles.

Thee said he wanted his fans to know he could do more than just croon Bakery-style love songs. Most of his fans, funnily enough, are not listeners in the over-25 age group, but the young, including teenagers.

He draws his inspiration from Western folk artists such as Bob Dylan, Crosbie Stills, Nash and Young, Don McLean. He likes to tell a story when he sings; music is there mainly to accompany the story, to provide the right setting, or mood.

As a musician, Thee Chaiyadej blazes his own path - an individualistic quality in his work which he himself recognises:

'My music has changed over time. I don't want people thinking I have the same sound. I like musicians who want to be their own person. I am brave enough to do it, and the listener gets the benefit.'

Postscript:

1. Here's Thee performing Kam Mai Kee Kam with 'Pod' Thanachai Ujjin, of the performing duo BoydPod (and the indie band Modern Dog).

2 The song which Thee wrote for his friend Joe of the group Pause, shortly after Joe's death. It's called 20202.

3. Thee branches out into music with a Spanish flavour: the beautiful Gypsy Moon.