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against the iron rule of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat (1957–59), Thai Marxist academic Jit Phumisak founded the Art for Life (sǐn·lá·Ъà pêua chee·wít) movement, which had many parallels with the famous Mexican School in its belief that only art with social or political content was worth creating. This movement gained considerable ground during the 1973 democracy movement, when students, farmers and workers joined hands with Bangkok urbanites to resist General Thanom Kittikachorn’s right-wing military dictatorship. Much of the art (and music) produced at this time carried content commenting on poverty, urban–rural inequities and political repression, and were typically boldly and quickly executed. Painters Sompote Upa-In and Chang Saetang became the most famous Art for Life exponents. The movement even led to a new musical genre called pleng pêua chee·wít, literally ‘music for life’; see Click here.

A contrasting but equally important movement in Thai art later in the same decade eschewed politics and instead updated Buddhist themes and temple art. Initiated by painters Pichai Nirand, Thawan Duchanee and Prateung Emjaroen, the movement combined modern Western schema with Thai motifs, moving from painting to sculpture and then to mixed media. Artists associated with this neo-Thai, neo-Buddhist school include Surasit Saokong, Songdej Thipthong, Monchai Kaosamang, Tawatchai Somkong and the late Montien Boonma. All are frequently exhibited and collected outside Thailand.

Since the 1980s boom years, secular sculpture and painting in Bangkok have enjoyed more international recognition, with Impressionism-inspired Jitr (Prakit) Buabusaya and Sriwan Janehuttakarnkit among the very few to have reached this vaunted status. On Thailand’s art stage, famous names include artists of the ‘Fireball’ school such as Vasan Sitthiket and Manit Sriwanichpoom, who specialise in politically motivated, mixed-media art installations. These artists delight in breaking Thai social codes and means of expression. Even when their purported message is Thai nationalism and self-sufficiency, they are sometimes considered ‘anti-Thai’.

In recent years the emphasis is moving away from traditional influences and political commentary and more towards contemporary art. Works such as Yuree Kensaku’s cartoon-like paintings, or Porntaweesak Rimsakul’s mechanised installations are gaining attention, both in Thailand and abroad.

Modern painting and sculpture are exhibited at dozens of galleries around Bangkok, from the delicately lit darlings of Thai high society to industrially decorated spaces in empty warehouses. Other venues and sources of support for Thai modern art include the rotating displays at Bangkok’s luxury hotels, particularly the Grand Hyatt Erawan, the Sukhothai and the Metropolitan.

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FASHION

Unsurprisingly, Bangkok is Thailand’s fashion hub, and in fact in all of Southeast Asia only Singapore is a serious rival. Bangkokians not only dabble in the latest American, European and Japanese designer trends, but they have an up-and-coming couture all their own. Shops run by modern Thai designers are particularly easy to find at the Emporium, Gaysorn Plaza, Siam Paragon and Siam Center shopping centres, and in the small lanes of Siam Square. Siam Square focuses on inexpensive ‘underground’ Thai fashions favoured by university students and young office workers, while Emporium and Siam Center are much more upmarket. Local labels to look for include anr, Good Mixer, Fly Now, Greyhound, Jaspal and Senada Theory. Chatuchak Weekend Market is another place to seek out Bangkok designs at bargain prices.

Take a stroll through Siam Square or Central World Plaza, especially on a weekend, and the explosion of styles and colours can’t fail to impress. On weekends the middle soi (lane) of Siam Square – an area known as Centrepoint – is filled with young Thais wearing the most outrageous clothing experiments they can create. It may not be on par with Tokyo’s famous Harajuku district, but in a few years who knows what it may become?