ABSTRACT
This article explores the link between music and the construction of identity among a group of middle-class Thai-Chinese in contemporary Bangkok. Based on fieldwork conducted there, the article describes the nature, function, and activities of singing clubs that cater to middle-class Thai-Chinese singing Mandarin Chinese popular songs. Riding on the economic boom in Thailand in the early 1990s, these singing clubs have drastically increased in number since early 1994. Informed by the notion that identity is a social construct within specific historical moments, this essay focuses on a particular type of singing activity and calls attention to the importance of music as a way to understand the complex issues of overseas Chinese identity. Through an analysis of performance context, musical behavior, and music, I explore issues of “Chineseness,” and the nature of diasporic Chinese culture, against the sociopolitical climate in contemporary Thai society. I argue that identity politics are integral to understanding music and performance because the choice to participate in any type of performance is often motivated by and embedded in ethnic consciousness and group identity. This case study enhances understanding of the processes of identity formation and the multifaceted dimensions of Chinese music in a changing global context.
