In fact at times it often seems that despite the existence of a number of hugely skilled Thai artists, musicians and chefs, non-Thai talent is often given preference.
Whether this is because the visiting artist is indeed talented beyond local compare, or the fact that they are foreign and therefore more accessible to foreigners is something to address at a different time.
However, it does seem to be a shame that the championing (for whatever reason) of foreign culture, food and arts, can often be to the detriment of the promotion of genuine Thai culture.
It is hard therefore to merely discount as coincidence the fact that both cultural events I attended last weekend featured only foreign artists. Wonderful, inspiring and extremely talented foreign artists. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time at both of them.
Friday night’s entertainment came in the form of a Chinese bamboo flute recital and a Sichuan dinner – performed and cooked by the brilliant Chinese musician and chef Guo Yue at the Trisara resort. He was also at the Boathouse on April 20.
Delightful, graceful and enchanting, the energetic and captivating Beijing-born Mr Guo played the flute twice in the evening and on both occasions captured the entire room’s attention.
Mr Guo spoke before and after each recital. As way of introduction, he said, “I was just a poor Chinese boy, I didn’t go to too much school, I just had this flute. So when I was sad or angry growing up, my mum never said go to the psychiatrist, she just said go to the bamboo.”
He also went some way to explaining the very distinctive sound of the Chinese flute, and suggested that the calm, gentle and changing tone is perhaps a result of the fact that Chinese is a tonal language.
Antoine Melon, resort Manager at Trisara, says that culture is important for them, “It’s not always Thai artists or art,” said Mr Melon, “but it’s always someone or something that I think Phuket should see.
“I always tend to have a lot of French chefs and so I thought, why not get a Chinese chef this time around?”
On the following night I had an equally enjoyable time, this time at the Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket. That particular night’s entertainment was provided by visiting French musician Philippe Loli.
The superstar acoustic guitarist was midway through a world tour, and had just finished a gig in Singapore. He had been brought here by Denis Rochel, the director of the Alliance Francais Phuket – a community group charged with promoting French culture, food, arts and language.
One of the reasons Denis explained for the choosing of the Centara Grand was the excellent venue, which he believed was very conducive to the arts. “Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket is in a great location, it’s beautiful and when I heard Mr Loli was playing around Asia, I knew we had to have him.”
Mr Loli, perched on a chair with a microphone pointed at his guitar, played numerous songs from a variety of genres, many of which were his own compositions. Understated, melodic and suave, he tickled and strummed the guitar strings to his own style of soaring crescendos and sweet melodies.
I had a wonderfully cultural weekend, the like of which I cannot remember last having. Great venues, attentive staff and talented artists. Such nights are certainly rare in Thailand.
This is not because Thai cultural shows do not exist, but rather, in Phuket at least, it sometimes seems they’re not held in the same level of esteem as other non-Thai arts or culturally events.
Finding a night of genuine, traditional Thai culture is surprisingly difficult on the island.
As foreigners when we eat Thai food, we are often asked ‘mai phet?’ (not spicy?). The implication being that as foreigners we cannot enjoy Thai food in its original state, the way it’s supposed to be eaten.
It needs to be changed, repackaged, and in many ways de-Thaied first in order for ‘us’ to enjoy it.
Similarly, Thai dance, Thai music and Thai arts – whether in huge theme shows, in the lobby of upscale resorts, or in the small stores that line the tourist streets – seems to be made for us, and us only.