The acclaimed traditional music ensemble Fong Naam was founded in 1981 by American Bruce Gaston and "Teacher" Boonyong Khetkong. Even after the death of some of the original masters, all of whom were national artists, the band remains Thailand's most well-known musical group internationally.
The band performed at the AUA Language Center on Ratchadamri Road in 1983, just before I began teaching there, providing the soundtrack to a 1927 silent movie, Chang, about rural life in the northern jungles of what was then Siam. The accompanying music was created specially for the screen by Gaston and Khetkong. The band went on to perform with the movie at the National Theater in 1990 and at various venues in the UK the following year.
