Sea, sand and ska

Reggae and ska are once again the mainstay of the Sunset Beach Music Festival, which returns for its second edition today and this year moves from its former home in Chon Buri to Platoo Restaurant on Cha-Am beach in Phetchaburi Province.
Running from 1pm to 1am, the 2017 event is expected to be bigger and better than the inaugural edition, which was successful in bringing reggae music back to life.
    “Reggae music makes you both relaxed and excited at the same time,” says Apichart Thongsodjarerndee, project manager of Heavy Organizer, which bills itself as a one-stop entertainment company.

“The genre gradually faded from its height at the beginning of the 2000s, so we were determined to bring it back.”
    Last year’s festival on Ban Amphur beach drew more than 4,000 people and Apichart is expecting the number to rise to 5,000 this year.
“There’s nothing better than sitting on the sand and letting the sea breeze cool your skin while watching the sun rise or set,” he continues.
“The music kicks off at 3pm, a good time for everybody to take a seat on the beach, look at the setting sun, and listen to vibrant music while enjoying a drink.

“We originally planned to give the festival a name related to the genre but in the end decided that ‘sunset beach’ was a perfect description. The event also aims to support domestic tourism and that’s why we’ve chosen to switch to another tourist destination. We’re hoping to pick a new venue not far from Bangkok every year but of course this will depend on what’s available.”
    Cha-Am beach is just 199 kilometres from Bangkok and takes a little over two hours to reach from the west side of the city.
The line-up is a little different from last year, but the favourites are still there. They include JoB 2 Do, T-Bone, Skalaxy, Deep O Sea, Miraculous, Srijajah Rockers, Smiley Farmer, Walrus, Mocca Garden, Gold Red, The Super Glasses Ska Ensemble, Samainainiyom featuring B-King, Castaway, and The Fishermen’s Friend. Surachai "Leck" Kijkasemsin, former singer and guitarist of Proud, a popular band in the boom years of alternative music in the 1990s, is also playing.

“We formed our reggae-ska band in 2012, when the genre had reached its lowest popularity level and took out name from a question, ‘When will it be popular?’ I was determined to form a band after listening to T-Bone’s live show at Saxophone pub, I knew then that reggae was the kind of music I wanted to play,” says Anusorn “Arm” Prasit, the founder of Samainainiyom.
Samainainiyom features nine members, all of them university students except Arm, who is newly graduated. The band, which also played at last year’s event, has released three songs to date – “Khae Nee Kor Suk Phor”, “OK Mai” and “Yang Kong Rak”.
“We were very excited last year to be invited to perform on the same stage as the reggae-ska bands who inspired us and were also honoured to be charged with writing the theme song ‘Sunset Beach’,” Arm says.

“This year too we have come up with the theme song. It’s called ‘Soulfly Sunset Beach’ and features a rap by Nueng B-King. We’ll be presenting our new and as yet unreleased songs on staged and jamming with Nueng B-King.”
    Festival-goers also get to enjoy an art market, classic cars, and a show of international kites.
    “This year, the kite show will consist of kites of different colours, shapes, and types in support of Sanya Phutjaroenlarp of the Thailand Kitefliers Association. The old cars are likely to attract a lot of interest as are the handmade products crafted locally and in Bangkok,” says Apichart.
    “Asian kids and teenagers have traditionally flown kites and they are symbolic of good times. If people hadn’t played with kites in old days, the aeroplane might never have been invented! The kite is a symbol of happiness too, different from a bird. A bird has the freedom to fly everywhere, while a kite is controlled by our hands and feelings,” says Sanya.

    “We have organised our kite events in nationally and internationally, because the Thailand Kitefliers Association is supported by Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Right now, we are running a national project, called ‘Sangkhathan Buak Wow’, the proceeds from which are donated to temples and schools for their maintenance. We also have a kite-painting contest under two concepts. ‘Ban Khong Chan’ is in support of the district’s tourist destination and ‘Phor Khong Paendin’ is in commemoration of His Majesty the late King Bhumibol’s and in tribute to King Rama X.
    “This year, we will exhibit the smallest kite in the world, which won the first runner-up prize at the International Kite Festival in Gujarat, India. We’re now working on even smallest kites – a ‘wow jula’ and a ‘wow pakpao’ – which are the size of a Bt1 coin. We had hoped to exhibit the world biggest kite but at 7 metres in length, we couldn’t find a way of transporting it,” he adds.

Beats on the beach
- The second Sunset Beach Music Festival takes place at Platoo Restaurant on Cha-Am beach in Phetchaburi this afternoon.
- Tickets cost Bt900 at www.AllTicketThailand.com and 7-Eleven.
Find out more at Facebook.com/Sunsetbeachmusicfes.