Thailand Artists Rock About Love
News/Bangkok
by Brian Mertens

Thailand's creative scene abounds in crossover acts and collaborations. Now the mainstream genre of the pop music video (MV) is getting a cutting-edge makeover by Petch Osathanugrah, an acclaimed rock musician and art patron.

Petch commissioned 10 Thai visual artists and cineastes to shoot video segments for his first album in 20 years, Let's Talk About Love. The artists include conceptualist Rirkrit Tiravanija (SEE ALMANAC 1 & 2), pop painter "Lolay" Thaweesak Srithongdee and video installation artists Kamol Phaosavasdi and Porntaweesak Rimsakul. Movie directors Wisit Sasanatieng, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (SEE AAP 47) and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (SEE AAP 52) also joined.

Released in April, Petch's electro-pop recording is the first Thai album with videos for every song, premiering one per month via Channel [V] Thailand, Star TV's local answer to MTV. Petch said the project was more like curating an exhibition than promoting an album. Local art cognoscenti praised the project for providing a media platform for artists better known abroad than at home. Petch gave the artists total creative freedom and ample budgets enabling even notorious auteurs like Wisit and Apichatpong to have their say.

Yet Petch confessed his trepidation to ArtAsiaPacific. "Selling is not the objective, but as a songwriter I want to have some audience. I don't want to scare them away." When Rirkrit volunteered to join, Petch hesitated, but says that he is pleased with the result—video verité as engagingly enigmatic as the artist's gallery events. Lolay's effort, which uses stop-motion animation shot with a still camera, is a dreamlike vision dripping in Freudian ironies as rich as Petch's lyrics. The title-track video, co-directed by Petch and the lone career MV maker in the project, Monchanok Somjaipeng, helped boost the song to the top of Thailand's indie-radiocharts in March.

Before becoming an advertising executive, TV producer and the founder of Bangkok University Art Gallery, Petch attained national fame in 1987 for his debut album Thammada (Nun Pen Rueng Thammada) (Common (It's A Common Matter)). His brand of new wave, synthesizer-driven pop was far ahead of its time in Thailand. And Petch's persona—detached, eclectic, self-effacing—defied the pandering norms of mid-1980s Thai pop. Petch maintains his contrarian stance today; the new album's title track takes a tart look at romance in contemporary society. Petch said his love of art and his penchant for experimentation made him turn to local artists rather than MV directors.