Revitalizing The National Folk Play: The Tiger Hunting Folk Play

Abstract

“Kratua Thaeng Suea” is a story of hunting the tigers that trespass into town. It is a Thai traditional folk play which has been passed down from generation to generation for more than 200 years. However, this folk play is rapidly fading away from the Thai society due to the change of aesthetic preference which caused its unpopularity. Nowadays, there are only two troupes left in Bangkok which recently one of them decided to discontinue their show because of COVID-19 situation. How to preserve this intangible cultural heritage and combine it with modern aesthetics for transmission is an urgent issue. This study combines literature research and field trip methods in order to identify some of the problems faced in the dissemination of it. The research results show that, in order to renew this folk play that complement the new aesthetic preference, all related elements of this play such as its story, costumes, music, and performance need to be modernized. The new play will combine “Street Culture” such as street art, street fashion, street music, and street performance into the play with a new storyline which is twisted from the story of a tiger hunter to be rescuing the tigers instead. All of this could draw some attention from the society and thus achieve the goal of sustainable inheritance and preservation of this folk play. The new concept of “Kratua Thaeng Suea” is the combination between the old and the new which does not only reflect the beauty of cultural dynamic or build up the sense of ecological awareness in the form of “Soft Power”, but also provides a “Cultural Revitalizing model” which could be an alternative model to inherit the culture.

Keywords: Tiger Hunting Folk Play, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Inheritance of Folk Art, Ecological awareness, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1002046