A young visitor to the house of Thai folk artist Sam Thi Tuyen (R) learns traditional folk songs while Tuyen works at her loom

Her voice resounds from an old wooden stilt house in Xang Village, with an ancient folk song of the Thai ethnic minority.

Tuyen collects Thai folk songs known as nhuon and xuoi to sing and to pass on to the new generation of Thais.

“My love for these folk songs is still as fresh as when I was an 18-year-old girl,” the 61-year-old singer says.

When Tuyen was 14 years old, she began to learn old folk songs from her father, teacher Sam Van Lan.

“For me, nhuon and xuoi are indispensable parts of Thai life,” she says.

Tuyen said in recent years, she was saddened when she attended weddings and festivals, because many Thais couldn’t sing the songs of their ancestors.

The Thai people in northern Vietnam have a cultural history stretching back for 1200 years and descended from the Thai people from Yunan Province in China, according to Wikipedia.

“Old people may have forgotten the songs or aren’t well enough to sing, while young people prefer gooey love songs about broken relationships,” says Tuyen.

She fears that the Thai folk songs could fall into oblivion, so she collects folk lyrics and composes new words for melodies that could be as old as 1,000 years, never missing a chance to pass on the music she loves to her community.

She performs regularly at traditional festivals in the district and the province, as well as local ceremonies in her village, and every day sings when she is working on her loom at home.

Tuyen is one of the founders of the local Chieng Ngam Folk Singing Club, along with other local artists Sam Van Dan and Sam Thi Phong.

Sam Van Dan says it’s important for singers to understand old customs, legends and historical stories.

“The songs tell of ancient stories about our ancestors who established and developed the villages, as well as man’s struggles against nature,” he says.

Tuyen is also a shaman who performs ceremonies at housewarming parties, wedding ceremonies and sacred rituals.

“I use these ceremonies as an opportunity to sing ancient Thai folk songs,” she says.

She says she needs a good vocal range to be a Thai folk singer as some songs require a deep voice, while others are high. Melodies including huon chuong and long mung also require the singer to be skilful,” she says.

Without Tuyen’s work many songs would have been forgotten. Some of the old folk tunes that she has written new words for include “Our gratitude to the Party,” “Praising our village” and “Advice for a daughter to go to her husband’s home.”

She says, “I especially like the song ‘Advice for a daughter to go to her husband’s home’ that I wrote for my daughter when she got married. I sang the song during her wedding.”

“Being a daughter-in-law you must not be selfish

You must show your filial piety, so your parents-in-law will be pleased

If your baby cries you must not scold him… “

The song also mentions traditional customs:

“You must not sit on your stairs

When you give your baby the breast, you must not face toward your father-in-law

When you are wearing a skirt, don’t roll it up… “

Traditionally, ethnic minority shamans are men, but Tuyen is considered the “chief-shaman,” as she is one of a few Thai people in the community who still remembers ancient prayers.

She is always ready to visit families anytime they need her to organize ritual ceremonies for them.

“I often feel sad as young people ignore these ancient prayers. That’s why I have been asking my children to learn these prayers from me,” she says.

As her reputation grows, young people travel long distances to see Tuyen and learn the Thai folk songs.

“Some songs performed with pan-pipes are very hard, and I still trying to get them right,” she says.

Reported by Trung Hieu