Bua Ban, the traveling star of Chiang Rai
Siam Siem is an entrepreneur. After selling his company in 2001, he wanted to do something that was not tied to a place. He is now active online in the IT world. In 2009 he met his current partner in Thailand. After traveling together for a few years, he settled in Chiang Rai.
Bua Ban, the traveling star of Chiang Rai
In August 2012 on the stage of the food court in the Night bazar in Chiang Rai, a new artist joined the regular guitarists and singers Es and Beach. She was somewhat awkward between them and did some deaf interpreting gestures with the songs. To be honest, she made little impression on me the first few times, but in hindsight those were her working days.
After getting used to it, Bua Ban, which means opening lotus, took on a bigger role through her stand-up comedy and songs accompanied by dance steps that are sometimes just over the top. What many fans don't know is that Bua Ban plays a ladyboy, but in reality it's not real. I therefore speak of 'she' as an artist.
Bua Ban, whose real name is Witchapon Wongtong, is 24 years old. Previously, she regularly performed as a singer and dancer in a club near the airport called Monkanat. She still does this to this day. Soon she stole the show in the food court and lead singers Es and Beach became part of her sidekicks. She jokes in the northern dialect, so sometimes it is difficult for Thai tourists from other regions to understand, let alone me.
I did understand that of the five days a week she performed, no show was the same. Sometimes she starts a conversation with people from the audience directly from the stage. She almost always knows how to make a comment that makes the visitors burst into laughter.
Other times she goes on a tip hunt as I call it. She then goes into the audience and stands at every table where someone wants to pay 100 baht for a comical conversation or a song.
The performance in the food court is not a lot of money, but in addition to the tips, Bua Ban uses it as a springboard for performances in the province and beyond.
At the start of her show there is moderate interest for the newcomers, mostly Thai tourists, but it seems as if she continues to improvise until there is real laughter, from then on she manages to hold the attention of the spectators by sharing in fast train speed of her old repertoire mixed with new jokes.
Normally there are about 800 seats, but in the high season this is sometimes expanded to 1000. If it doesn't rain it is almost always full house. Bua Ban's Face book page now has 5000 fans. Here she also reports where she is performing that day. Until a nationwide career is on her agenda, her show represents a unique asset to cultural Chiang Rai.