wends his way slowly along the rough track that leads

from his own village to a neighboring one. To keep him-

self company, he plays a high-pitched, haunting tune on

a strange-looking instrument. Strange, that is, except to

those in Northeast Thailand and parts of Laos. In other

parts of Thailand people have heard of it, but may have

seen it and heard it played only on television.

The instrument is some two-and-half feet long, and

about the width of one's hand. It consists of a series of

thin hollow bamboo stems stuck together side-by-side.

As the young man nears the other village, his girl-

friend sitting at home can hear the distant strains. She

recognizes both the quality of the individual instrument

and the melody, and with a quickening heart she sets out

dishes of tempting local food and drinks.

Later, as the young man leaves her to return to his

own village, he again plays a tune for her — a farewell

melody which she will remember him by. If the hour is

late, the tune may become a lullaby which soothes her to

sleep as the young man and his music gradually dis-

appear into the distance.

This northeastern instrument is called a 'khaen'.

There is no English name for it, though it works like a

small-scale organ with metal vibrators or reeds, fitted

inside the pipes; so perhaps "bamboo reed-organ" is the

nearest description one can find for it.

The 'khaen' is made from a special kind of thin, light-

weight bamboo which grows almost entirely in the

northeastern province of Loei, because of the higher

altitude there. The instrument is believed to have origin-

ated in China over two thousand years ago. Basically it

consists of two graduated rows of bamboo pipes mounted

side by side. The four varieties of 'khaen' contain nine,

eight, seven and six pairs of pipes respectively, held to-

gether by a black glue called 'channalong' made from the

nests of a certain kind of insect.

Each pipe has holes cut in it just above the wooden

mouthpiece. As with other types of wind-instrument,

the player places his fingers over the holes to make the

melody, and inside one end of each pipe is a strip or reed

made of bronze or silver, which vibrates and so produces

the musical note.

It takes about three days to make a 'khaen'. For

purely decorative purposes, a design is branded onto

each bamboo pipe with a hot iron. When the pipes are

assembled together to form the complete instrument, the

individual designs on each pipe blend together to form a

pleasing visual pattern. Before the wooden mouthpiece is

fixed on, each pipe must be tested separately for correct

tuning.

The instruments with nine pairs or a total of eigh-

teen bamboo pipes, known as 'khaen goo', produce music

with a lot of base component and are considered to give a

melancholy effect; they also require a lot of air, which

makes them tiring to play; so they are not very popular

nowadays. Those with eight pairs of pipes, 'khaen paed',

are the most popular type as they can be played either

solo or with a band. They are used a lot in the northeast

to accompany 'mor lam', the folk-singers typical of the

region. They also are often played at northeastern temple

fairs and other celebrations.

'Khaen jet', with seven pairs of pipes, cannot be play-

ed on its own and can only be used with a band, while

'khaen hok', with six pairs, is limited to certain songs and

is used only by children.

Although the 'khaen' is traditionally considered as

coming from the northeast and the largest quantities are

said to be sold in Nakorn Phanom on the border with

Laos, yet 'khaen' makers can also be found in other areas

— in Bang Sai Kai District in Thonburi across the river

from Bangkok, in Ratchaburi, and in Pranburi still

further south.

But like all other Thai cottage industries, 'khaens' are

only produced when those skilled in making them have