Young Thai rappers deliver blistering critiques of ruling junta, defying strict censorship
- In Thai schools, students are expected to learn most subjects by rote and are taught deference to age, status as well as army-scripted rules
- As Thailand gears up for elections early next year, dissent is spilling out across subcultures from pro-democracy punks to graffiti artists
“A country killing the people … doesn’t give a damn about its children,” spits 17-year-old Elevenfinger, one of a legion of acerbic young rappers ripping into Thailand’s politics, dire education system and calcifying social mores.
Thailand’s hip-hop scene used to be anodyne, imitating the swagger – and profanity – of its American forefather but not the socially charged lyrics. But that has started to change as pugnacious, political rhymes replace the bubblegum verses, taking swipes at the ruling junta and the kingdom’s sharp social hierarchies.
YouTube videos by teens and schoolchildren in uniform – some as young as 12 – have garnered massive social media followings.
“You’ve built the skytrains but education’s a dead end,” says one of Elevenfinger’s lyrics – in a video called Equality about Thailand’s poor education system, which is ranked among the worst in Asia.
“It’s like governments don’t want people to think,” says Elevenfinger, whose real name is Thanayut Na Ayutthaya.
His videos presaged the extraordinary success of RAD – Rap Against Dictatorship – whose lyrical attack on the junta has racked up over 30 million views on YouTube.
The song Prathet Ku Mee (What My Country’s Got?) delivers stinging verses against censorship, corruption and the lack of elections since the military seized power in 2014.