Thai pop or T-pop, is a genre of

Thai music The music of Thailand includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. Traditional Thai musical instruments are varied and reflect ancient influence from far afield – including the '' klong thap'' and '' khim'' (Persian ...

roughly equivalent to

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

. It emerged in the 1970s–1980s, during which it was known as string music, before gaining mainstream popularity during the 1990s and has since dominated the Thai music industry. The term is extremely broad, covering

Thai rock Thai rock () 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 199 ...

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

and western-influenced popular music in general, though normally excluding the folk and rock-influenced

phleng phuea chiwit Phleng phuea chiwit (; IPA:; ) describes a type of Thai folk rock, strongly influenced by elements of Western contemporary folk and rock music with a protest theme mainly centred on the hardship of working-class people and in favor of a democr ...

. The origins of string lie in American R&B,

surf-rock Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...

artists like

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...

and

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American Rock music, rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting wit ...

Exotica Exotica is a musical genre that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records co-founder and board chairman, named after the 1957 Mart ...

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

and

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, or d ...

brought to Thailand by American and Australian soldiers serving in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It also drew heavily on genres from the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

, including

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

and Hollywood film soundtracks. Since the 1980s, it has mixed with other genres, such as

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

History

1970s-1980s

This era marks the rise of many record labels and artists. While the Thai population still largely enjoys traditional genres like Luk Krung and

Luk Thung Luk thung (, , ) is a genre of Thai music that emerged after World War II in the Central Thailand, central region of Thailand. The genre was derived from phleng Thai sakon, and developed in the early-20th century. Suphan Buri in particular beca ...

, there is a surge in interest in Western pop and rock.

1990s

This era marks the point when Western-styled pop music had penetrated the taste of the Thai audiences, leading to more Westernized beats and melodies.

2000s-2010s

This era was the transition era from cassette tapes to online music distribution. As a result, T-pop became more widespread than ever.

2010s-2020s

This era is notable for the acceleration of the Thai music industry as the distribution of music has become much easier with apps such as YouTube, Spotify, and TikTok. T-pop had begun to gain traction internationally with the rise of Thai BL. Numerous

girl groups A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. ''daughter'' or ''girlfriend'' regardless of age, ...

and boy groups have also been inspired by K-pop groups.

T-Wind

''T-Wind'' (Thai Wind) is a term used to describe the phenomenon of Thai pop culture internationally. It is a term created in reference to the

Korean Wave The Korean Wave, or ''hallyu'' (; ), is a cultural phenomenon in which the global popularity of South Korean popular culture has dramatically risen since the 1990s. Worldwide interest in Korean culture has been led primarily by the spread of K-p ...

. In the 21st century, Thailand has been exporting many kinds of cultural products overseas, especially in Southeast Asia, such as '' lakhon'' (television drama), movies and BL series from

GMMTV GMMTV () is a television production and talent agent subsidiary to the Thai entertainment conglomerate GMM Grammy, under The One Enterprise, which produces television shows, songs, and music videos. It was founded on August 3, 1995. Sataporn Pan ...

– GDH and ''lukkwad-pop'' (Thai teen pop).

References

{{Pop music Thai popular music Thai styles of music Pop music by country Pop music genres