พุ่มพวง ดวงจันทร์ or The Moon

My dear friend Paja is a fan of late Amy Winehouse for not only her songs but also for the infamous beehive and full eye makeup. She must have heard the news about her favorite singer death by now and saddened the loss of gifted musician. Well I really feel for her especially after watching this particular Thai movie, namely” พุ่มพวง or The Moon”, subtitled in English of course. It is about the life of Thai megastar พุ่มพวง ดวงจันทร์ Pumpuang Duangjan, nickname ผึ้ง (bee), who passed away in 1992 at the age of 31. She was an ordinary girl, grew up in the sugar cane filed in Suphanburi, one of the central provinces in Thailand. Would you believe that she can’t read and yet she learns by heart and can sing almost 100 songs by the age of 12? The illiteracy hasn’t hindered her a bit while trying to be successful in life. Her personal life tells another story: a life of Tears and Sorrow. She has been called “ราชินีลูกทุ่ง” the Queen of Thai Country music (เพลงลูกทุ่ง), music reflecting everyday life of the rural poor and is considered as Thailand’s most famous and loved singer. She died from a non-contagious auto-immune disease and her funeral was held first in Bangkok , then in Wat Tapkradan, Suphanburi province. According to Wiki “an estimated 200,000 people turned up to pay their last respects, even the Thai King himself, Bhumibol Adulyadej came to pay his respects; for a peasant-born woman this was unheard of and has not been repeated”.  I know we all have to die eventually but I still wish both stars lived long enough to tell a tale of their lives.