Klao Rojanamethakul was 10 years old when he had to quit school. With seven siblings to look after, his parents couldn't afford all their children full access to complete basic education. Young Klao decided to follow his father _ a well-known master of nang talung shadow puppetry native to south Thailand _ to such performances in the region.
Klao Rojanamethakul, recently honoured national artist, at his home in Krabi with his shadow puppets.
It would become his fate and his vocation: Klao has grown to become one of the most admired nang talung masters famed for his humorous style and crackling dialogue. Now 70, Klao, or Klao Noi to his fans, recently made his father proud after being declared a national artist in recognition of his talent, his long career dedicated to shadow puppetry and its preservation as a tradition and form of art.
"It's in my blood," says Klao. "My grandfather, Kong, was a nang talung master and my father, Srichum, a star of the South. I grew up absorbing it from my father and the passion for nang talung grew in me".
Born in 1943, Klao is a native of Nakhon Si Thammarat, a hotbed of nang talung talents where white screens are a common sight at fair grounds and puppet masters with sly ventriloquism narrate tales with song-like quality through characters made from cattle skin.
Leaving school, Klao travelled with his father and the crew. His father's performances, he said, stood out from other crews since he was an expert playing episodes from the epic Ramayana, which is considered very challenging because it requires a lot more characters compared to basic stories from local folklore.
"Nang Talung is a one-man show, the master needs to sit for long hours, playing different characters from prince to princess and villain to joker. Besides the story, to be able to sing with different voices is a tough task. And as we know, Ramayana is a story thick with adventure and characters," says Klao.
After years spent sitting behind his father, who in turn sat behind the white screen illuminated by a spotlight to cast shadows, opportunity came knocking at the young Klao's door one day.
His father was hired to perform three nights at the funeral of an important person in a village. A big crowd had showed up because his father was a headline act, but on the first night his father got sick. He asked the crowd if they would allow his son to take the stage instead. It was Klao's big break, his moment of truth as a nang talung master had arrived.
"My father knew that I was ready," he recalls. It was a tremendous debut as people loved the show and demanded he play on the two remaining nights. "I heard the audience say they had seen my father play many times, now they wanted something new."
After the show news of the young nang talung master spread from village to village. Klao received a number of invitations to perform instead of his father. That was good news for his father, he says, since he was getting old and was also happy to know that his own son would continue the family legacy.
"My stage name _ Klao Noi _ was coined shortly after my early performances," he says. "My name is Klao. 'Noi' means 'little'. So when people called me, they meant Little Klao because I was very short and skinny back then."
During 1962-63 he skyrocketed to fame, joining the ranks of top puppet masters in the region, and remains there to this day.
In his prime, there was a stretch when his schedule was booked three years in advance, without a single day off. Over the course of his career he has been invited to several events in Bangkok and northern Malaysia where there is a sizeable Thai community who understand and appreciate nang talung.
At the beginning of his career, Klao used his father's style, but later realised he had to reach out to the audiences through more relatable and entertaining stories.
"I learned everything from my father, from narrating technique to puppet movement. Importantly, I also learned about social etiquette from him. A nang talung master must know more than how to play the puppets.
"We need to know how to treat the audiences, know your community. You need to respect those who hire you. These are things I learned from him," says Klao.
"However, my time was different from my father's. People no longer travel by foot only; there are cars, trains and new technology. I could no longer keep playing in the same style as my father had done. There were a lot of changes in the country and I had to stay up-to-date in order to attract audiences."
In 1993, Klao married Chaluay Praditsin, a famous traditional manohra dancer from Krabi province and moved there. He lives there to this day. After moving to Krabi, Klao realised the importance of education to his career and enrolled for adult classes, going on to complete secondary school when he was 50.
His secret to fame, he said, is that he is an avid reader. Whenever he has free time, he spends it reading books and magazines.
''My whole life I have been performing nang talung. When I have free time, I read and study. I always update myself with news and what's happening around the world. When politics was an issue, I added political reference to my play. When there was economic development, I let the characters discuss it,'' he says.
''Authors I remember reading are Maj Gen Luang Wichitwathakan, Col Pin Mudhukun and Mai Muangderm. Bangkok weekly magazine was my favourite read, and I love a column by 'Sinam'. His column opened up my world. He wrote a travel column where I learned about Niagara Falls and the World Expo in Japan. Back then, people barely knew anything outside of Thailand, so I was able to share with the audiences what I'd learned.''
Turning 50, Klao decided to retire from full-time nang talung and live a simple life of a farmer. But his passion for nang talung still runs through his blood. For the last decade, Klao has dedicated his time to teaching young talents and he plans to turn his own land into a nang talung learning centre.
''Since getting older, I choose to perform only at some functions. But I have been teaching young people who have the gift and will to preserve nang talung,'' he says.
So far he has taught around 200 students. Among them is Banyat Suwanwanthing, or Nong Diao, young and blind, his talent for nang talung is already being appreciated by audiences in the South.
Last year, the city of Krabi bestowed Klao with best teacher award on National Teacher's Day, and earlier this year he was declared a national artist.
On Feb 20, he will be officially presented with the citation at a ceremony presided over by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, and on Feb 24 he is scheduled to give a performance at the Ministry of Culture.
''Nang talung is a very precious art and it hard to find someone who could keep it going and preserve it.
''To be a master, you need to be 50% gifted and well rounded, because playing the master is a one-man show,'' says Klao.
''Since my grandfather's, my father's and through to my life, Thailand has never had a shortage of nang talung talents. New stars are always born. And I hope it will stay this way.''
PLAYING WITH SHADOWS
Nang talung is a cultural signature of the South and, like most traditional Thai art, its popularity has waned in this age of television, internet and other forms of mass entertainment. The art is also popular in the villages of Malaysia and Indonesia where it is known as wayang kulit.
Nang talung is performed at festive functions as well as funerals, and the puppet master usually has to voice several characters at once. The stories are usually local and the narration is accompanied by a traditional music band.
Gifted puppet masters are known for their knack in improvisation and real-time wisecracking, and while each story has a lead actor and actress, the characters best known in nang talung are usually the jokers _ usually called teng and nui _ who deliver verbal gags, sometimes delightfully risque.
In the provinces of south Thailand, there are ''duels'' among nang talung troupes in which they compete for applause from the audience.
Besides Klao Rojanamethakul, six other nang talung performers have been declared national artists: Kan Thonglor (1986), Chin Oramutr (1989), Juliam Kimthong (1992), Im Jitphakdi (1997), Prom Boonyarit (2003) and Nakarin Chathong (2007).
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