# Thai rock

Thai rock (Thai: ไทยร็อก) is rock music from Thailand. Thai rock was influenced by rock bands from the United States and United Kingdom. Emerging in the 1980s it flourished with bands like Asanee–Wasan, Carabao and Micro. It became widely popular in the 1990s.

## History
### 1960s - 1970s

The earliest Thai pop rock music emerged from western music influenced form both the United States and United Kingdom. The earliest Thai rock combo groups played a combination of instrumental music and surf music influenced by The Ventures and The Shadows which was known locally as Wong shadow.
The international popularity in the 1960s with bands such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, and musician Jimi Hendrix influenced the creation of some of the earliest western style groups. The most popular Thai beat, garage rock, and psychedelic rock groups include The Impossibles, The Cat, and The Dynamics in the mid to late 1960s.
The Thai blues rock and hard rock genre began in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Lam "Guitar King" Morrison and Kitii "Guitar Gun" Kanchanasathit who performed for American GI's during the Vietnam War.
Early rock bands in the genre include V.I.P. led by Lam Morrison, Siamese and Kaleidoscope led by Kitti Kanchanasathit, The Fox led by Chor On Na Bangchang, Epitaph and Marmalade led by Olarn Promjai, Heavy Mountain led by Daeng Veyjan, Mundee led by Ekamun Potipunthong, and Suang Santi who helped to make Thai rock music mainstream.

### 1980s

At this time, rock music, encompassing genres like pop-rock, hard rock, soft rock, progressive rock and new wave, experienced significant growth in Thailand. This led to the rise of bands such as The Olarn Project, Neua Gub Nang, and Rockestra. Notably, Thai rock bands Asanee-Wasan and Micro became some of the decade's most prominent acts. Their successful albums included Micro's Rock Lek Lek, Meun Fahrenheit, and Tem Tang, and Asanee-Wasan's Kra-Dee Dai Narm, Bah Horb Fang, and Fuk tong.
The Rock Pub opened in Bangkok in 1987 and to date remains the most successful and popular Thai rock live music venue in the country. For close to forty years The Rock Pub has consistently provided a permanent home for the wide variety of Thai rock and roll, rock, pop rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and related subgenres played by an ever growing number of Thai rock musicians and groups.
The Phleng phuea chiwit genre (influenced by elements of rock music) was popularized by Carabao with their album Made in Thailand, which sold over five million copies.

### 1990s

During the start of the decade, heavy metal and hard rock became popular in Thailand in the early 1990s, with bands such as Stone Metal Fire, Uranium, Big Gun, Hi-Rock, the folk rock band Inca and the pop-rock band Nuvo among the prominent groups receiving mainstream recognition. A popular Thai rock singer at that time was Itti Balangura, along with Chatchai "Rang Rockestra" Sukhawadee and Thanapol "Suea" Intharit.
The late 1980s and early 1990s marked the beginning of what became known as the era of death metal/thrash metal, with bands like Donpheebin from the 1980s and Dezember, which began performing in the early 1990s.
In the early to mid-1990s, Thai alternative music began to gain popularity, replacing heavy metal. The earliest Thai alternative rock group, Crub, released their first album, View, in 1994. Influenced by shoegaze, and the Madchester/baggy movements, their songs were played on the radio and introduced by DJ Wanasa Wirachartplee [th], who helped spread the significance of Thai alternative and indie rock throughout Thailand. She was also a driving force behind the alternative scene, bringing many foreign bands to perform in Bangkok, including Suede and the Manic Street Preachers in 1994. Many Thai alternative rock bands drew inspiration from American grunge (e.g., Nirvana), and British indie rock/Britpop (e.g., Radiohead, Oasis, and Blur). This led to the emergence of numerous alt-rock bands, including Proud, Y Not 7, Sepia, Smile Buffalo, Loso, Blackhead, Nursery Sound, Fly, and artists Nakarin "Pang" Kingsak, Ornaree, and AUDY. Modern Dog achieved significantly greater success than most Thai alternative rock groups of that era. Thai alternative rock reached its peak popularity between 1995 and 1996. Although most Thai alternative and indie bands had disbanded or faded into obscurity by the late 1990s, their influence permeated later pop-rock bands of that era, such as Shogun Jump, Labanoon, Paradox, as well as bands influenced by nu-metal and alternative metal, such as Aladin, Silly Fools, and Big Ass.
Loso's Entertainment, released in 1998, featured hit singles such as "Som San" and "Arai Gaw Yaum." The album went on to sell more than 2,000,000 copies, despite being released during the decline of the Thai alternative scene.
At the end of the 1990s, Mr. Team gained popularity in Thailand. Tannatonn Palakawong na Ayudhaya and Tai Tanawut also gained popularity during that era.

### 2000s

In the early 2000s, Thai rock bands drew inspiration from J-rock, with bands like Peak, Clash and Potato.
In 2000, Silly Fools released the album Mint, which sold over 1,000,000 copies, and their later albums, such as Juicy and King Size, solidified their position as one of the most well-known bands of the time, recognized for their alternative rock and nu-metal sound.
In 2001, the Thai band Clash emerged in the commercial music scene with their full-length album titled ONE, distributed by GMM Grammy's UP-G. Their first single, "Gaud (Hug)," was a big hit and led the band to success, while other rock bands like Zeal, Sweet Mullet, Neo-X, Gear Knight, Bangkaew, Bodyslam, So Cool, and AB Normal, also achieved greater success in the 2000s.
The band Kala released their single "My Name is Kala," while Big Ass released the album Seven in 2004, featuring the single "Len Kong Soong." The third album by Bodyslam, Believe, was released in April 2005 and made them one of GMM Grammy's premier bands. The success of this album took them on a long national tour over the course of 2005 and part of 2006. They won the 4th Annual Fat Awards for Favorite Album, and "Khwam Chuea" became Song of the Year.
Other acts in the rock scene became popular (and eventually went mainstream), such as the metalcore band Ebola and Retrospect. In recent years, pop-rock and indie bands like Tattoo Colour, Flure, Slot Machine, 25 Hours, Slur, and Playground. also gained recognition.

### 2010s - 2020s

In the early 2010s, rock music remained largely popular in the country, despite declining sales due to the dominance of K-pop, pop, electronic and hip hop, as well as the rise of music streaming services.
From the 2010s to the early 2020s, shoegaze, post-punk, indie rock and post-rock/instrumental rock entered the underground scene and gained popularity among fans. Notable post-rock bands include Inspirative and Hope the Flowers; notable shoegaze bands include Desktop Error, Hariguem Zaboy and Yellow Fang.
In addition, Khun Narin, a psychedelic rock band, blends elements of garage rock and mor lam. Their live album, titled II, was released in 2016 by the Los Angeles-based record label Innovative Leisure Records and produced by a Western producer.