Thai puppetry entertains mall-goers

Tourism Authority of Thailand Singapore Office director Kajorndet Apichatttrakul with Royal Thai Embassy charge d’affaires ad interim Urawadee Sriphiromya. Mall-goers were given a glimpse of traditional Thai puppetry during the recent Hun Lakorn Lek puppet performance at the SM Aura Premier atrium at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

A partnership with the Royal Thai Embassy and Tourism Authority of Thailand and SM Aura Premier, the performance began with a traditional Thai dance. This was followed by a live puppet dance performance and finally a short performance of two puppets who were also brought to the crowd to greet the audience.

Thai puppetry is considered one of the early forms of Thai theater. As early as the 16th century, Hun Luang was a court art used to entertain the monarch and enhance official events. Puppets, as we know them today, were introduced by King Rama II in the late 18th century and they were so popular that even the king carved a few heads for some of them.

Hun Lakorn Lek was invented by Kru Krae Suppawanich in 1901 during the reign of King Mongkut (King Rama IV). It is the only official performance of Thai puppetry still performed as it resembles Hun Luang. Revived by master Joe Louis (Sakorn Yang-keawsot) in 1985, it was requested by the Queen in 1987 and has been recognized by Royal Family ever since.

Performances generally involve renditions of Thai Royal novels and traditional Thai novels, mainly Ramakein and Sang Thong.

This child in the audience was delighted to be greeted by the two puppets during the performance. “Hun lakorn lek puppets are charming because they can act like humans. They can nod, wave their hands and point their fingers. They dance like we can. It is the heart of the performance that the puppeteers bring life to the puppets,” Louis was quoted to have said.

To achieve this, three puppeteers are each responsible for different functions. They need to have a thorough knowledge of basic Khon dance, as well as a lot of practice and teamwork for the three of them to perform together as one character. The first puppeteer controls the head and the right hand of the puppet. The second puppeteer controls the left hand of the puppet. The third puppeteer controls the feet of the puppet. They must be skillful and experienced enough to control every part in unison to produce a perfectly coordinated character.

Gracing the event were Tourism Authority of Thailand director Kajorndet Apichatttrakul and Royal Thai Embassy’s charge d’affaires ad interim Urawadee Sriphiromya. They were welcomed by SM assistant vice president for operations for Premier 4 Bernice Baculi.

Puppet structures are molded from clay, with arms and legs made from fabric and filled with cotton. Their hands and feet are carved from thong lang wood and costumes are sewed by hand using handmade cloth according to traditional Thai sewing methods.

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