Luktung - Tai Orathai

One of the biggest stars of the Luktung music scene in Thailand is Tai Orathai.

Thai Orathai, born Orathai Kapdam on March 27th 1980 in the Thailand Province of Ubon Ratchathani has a beautiful and melodic singing voice that has made her popular not only in Thailand but also in the United States and Europe where she has toured several times.

Tai Orathai ( ต่าย อรทัย) was the oldest of 5 children and was brought up by her Grandmother. During her final year in Junior School she got her first opportunity to sing on stage in front of other people at a Children’s Day concert at her school and many people were so impressed they gave her 5 and 10 Baht tips.

Many times she traveled up to 100k from her village to attend talent competitions where she was very successful and on one occasion won a bicycle as first prize. it was not until Tai met the songwriter and teacher Sala Khunawut who encouraged her to continue with Luktung that Tai made the decision to try to make a career in Luktung. Life was not easy for Tai as she tried to combine her love for singing with her scholastic studies whilst having to support her Grandmother and her brothers and sisters. Her big break came when she reached the final round of a TV singing contest ‘Chumtangsiangtong’ and was signed up by Grammy, who arranged lessons for her with the well known singing teacher Pairat Churat.

Tai Orathai’s 1st Album was ‘Dok Yah Nai Pah Poon’ (grass flower in a concrete forest) which was written for her by Sala Khunawut and Sawat Sarakham which included the hit song ‘Tho ma hah nae der’ (Please phone me). Singing in a mixture of Isaan and Lao languages, Tai Orathai has released several albums since those early days and is now one of the greatest talents in Luktung music.
Tai Orathai was the first Luktung singer to sell over 1 million Albums.