July, 2007

     The punk anthem, 'God Save the Queen', iconic single of the Sex Pistols, was played every night in Chaos City, a punk bar located near Ratchadamnoen Rd. The Sex Pistols, one of the founders of Punk music, created this song on rebellious ideas and nihilistic lyrics, which is the core of the word 'punk.' From the phenomenon in the UK in the mid 70's, the idealism of punk in various forms was spread throughout the world, believe it or not, including Chiang Mai. Chaos City was the symbol of punk culture which reached the capital of Lanna six years ago. That year, for the first time in this part of the kingdom, you could see many guys and girls in outrageous punk outfits hanging around the Chiang Mai streets, with multi-coloured, wacky hairstyles.

     Their images looked fierce, while the music they listened to was loud and, to some, obnoxious. Many adults decried this movement as they thought it was an impolite western sub-culture that didn't belong here.



Origin
     In the 60s, the Vietnam War and American policies produced a massive cultural movement in America that was against the war and called for peace; the world came to know these people as 'hippies.' At first a subculture, the hippie phenomenon soon became a paradigm for living, fostering lifestyles, idealisms, and especially music. The bands The 'Beatles', 'The Who', 'Jimi Hendrix' and many more were involved in this hippie movement which rebelled strongly against the political system and conventions of society.

     As industry thrived in Britain, capitalism also became the modern ethos for many of its citizens. While some people in Britain believed that new technology and industrial expansion was making life better, some others saw inequalities in the capitalist system. Some youngsters started to express themselves through music about what they saw as social injustice. They wore scruffy clothes, had freaky hair, combat boots, body piercings, chains, which was to show their divergence and hatred of the norm and institution; for example: a chain necklace implied that they were tethered by other people's views. Also, they extricated their lifestyle away from the social framework; they took every day as their last day on the earth - drank a lot, fought a lot, did not work, earned money any way they could . . . This became known as a subculture movement called punk.

Protopunk
     Punk rock is an anti-establishment rock music genre, which became even more popular when many youngsters were bored with the mainstream sounds of rock 'n' roll and disco. Punk created fast, short, hard music, with stripped-down instrumentation. Its lyrics are typically frank and confrontational, and often comment on social and political issues. They expressed youthful rebellion, as well as, with their distinctive clothing styles, a variety of anti-authoritarian ideologies, and a DIY (do it yourself) attitude. Led by The Ramones, The Clash, and The Sex Pistols, these bands were the origin of insurrection rock that destroyed old conventions of music, attitude, also, general ideologies.

     "No Elvis, Beatles or Rolling Stones in 1977," declared The Clash. That year, when Punk broke nationwide in Great Britain, was to be both a musical and a cultural catalyst. As nostalgia for the hippie genre was discarded, many in the scene adopted a nihilistic attitude summed up by the Sex Pistols slogan 'No Future'.

     Punk rock became a major phenomenon in the United Kingdom during the late 1970s; its popularity elsewhere was more limited. During the 1980s, forms of punk rock emerged in small scenes around the world. Punk often rejects commercial success and associations with mainstream culture. By the turn of the century, punk rock's legacy had led to the development of the alternative rock movement, and new punk bands popularised the genre, decades after its emergence.

Eastern Punk
     In Asia, people started to become familiar with punk, more through the music than the political or social ideas. China, however, was a country with strong punk ideas, as it had a powerful influence on the youth because of the social pressure from the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong, the former leader of the Chinese communist party. Although Chinese youths did not wear a lot of punk clothes or accessories, their music was great. They expressed their passions and what they thought was injustice through their work. The bands 'SMCB' and 'China Dream' were well-known punk bands in Asia and also had a small western following.

     The punk founders in Thailand were a few underground rock musicians who started off covering western punk bands and later went on to make their own songs, eventually launching the group 'Thailand Hard Core' and distributing their albums in Bangkok.

     In Chiang Mai, there was Chaos City as a meeting point between musicians and audiences. "It was a small society which communicated through music" said Manot, a Chiang Mai guitarist for the band, The Revenge of Pokemon.

     During the period 1999 - 2004, Chiang Mai embraced other subculture movements: skateboarding and BMX bikes, hard junk decorated bars, and second hand retro clothes shops. All these things were accompanied with the cacophonous sound of punk music. However, after Chaos City was closed in 2004, it seemed that gradually the punk scene disappeared from the streets of Chiang Mai.

     Some said punk was just a fashion which was not sustainable in Thai culture. Some thought it had vanished temporarily or permanently because of global trends. Some guaranteed that punk was dead!

End of Season
     I found myself on Loi Kroh street on a busy Friday night. Naga Tattoo shop was the target; located near the Night Bazaar, the shop is decorated with the paintings of punk tattoos and the Thai mythical creature: the Naga. After I arrived, a thin man covered with sprawling tattoos wearing a white 'Ramones' undershirt with dark torn trousers, welcomed me by serving me a glass of water. His name was 'Mark', a 28 year-Thai guy who founded the bar, Chaos City. Born in Bangkok, he moved to Chiang Mai to establish the first punk bar in the north and fulfil his dream.

     "In the past, Chiang Mai had fewer choices for teenagers; old pubs, boring music and dull styles," said Mark "Chaos City was the first pub which was noisy, vivid and exciting. The pub was established in 2001 and ended in 2004 - there were many reasons for the pub's closure."

     "New generations don't have the chance to see the old punk styles while guys in my generation grow older and become more conventional." He told me that age is the main cause of punk's downfall; many guys are too old to wear a leather jacket or have pierced ears. "Most of us found ourselves as punks in our teenage years and dropped the leather jacket when we had families, but our thoughts and opinions about the punk politic still exist," explained Mark "Everyone can be a punk, it depends on their beliefs, not their clothes".

     God, a second hand clothes owner at Rincome Market, described why punks in Thailand want to wear unconventional clothes. "It came from the music we listen to, and to appreciate the message many punk bands were sending. We understood their angst and so followed them by dressing up in their image." God explained that punks are against brand name clothes; second hand clothes are the spirit of punk ideology.

     The strength of traditional culture in Thailand is the one reason why punk culture could not get into the mainstream of youth culture, he said. "Thais have never faced severe social decline. Punk culture did not influence youth a lot. They were inspired only by its music."

     The media has had a strong influence on why the next generation has not developed a strong attachment to the punk ideology. Peace, a 25 year old CD shop owner told me that nowadays we are in a very consumerist society where the new generation sees expensive fashions on TV and wants only the best labels. Peace shares the same idea as Mark: that punk does not depend on image; it is in the idea and the mind.

     "We are not anti-social. We just take some punk ideas and adapt them to our lives. We want to escape from old social patterns. We believe in freedom, and as long as we believe, punk is still alive in us." Mark concluded.

     Rincome Market on a Saturday night used to be the place where many punks used to meet before the pubs opened. These days there is not a punk in sight. Things have changed and generations have evolved. The voices I heard last night may be the last breath of a punk era in the Chiang Mai youth culture. Whether punk was a passing phenomenon or a real reflection of enduring beliefs is disputable, but one thing's for sure, they brightened up an otherwise grey musical culture. The punks were the light of rebellion against the dull atmosphere we face every day.