The explosive Rap Against Dictatorship music video that has taken Thailand by storm has raised myriad socio-political questions and issues. Known in Thai as Prathet Ku Mee, the sensational music video has been viewed on YouTube more than 25 million times in just 10 days, a feat in its own right and a record for its artistic kind in Thailand. How this five-minute rap song in the Thai language has done so much says a lot about where Thailand has been and where it is going.
First, the translation of the song's name has befuddled many. Even in Thai, the intended meaning of Prathet Ku Mee seems clear only after listening, not on the face of it. As with all rap songs, the lyrics of this Thai smash hit have an angry ring to them without a conventional melody that suits and soothes the naked ear. Its English-language title has been rendered What My Country's Got, but this translation can conjure up images of the Thailand's Got Talent or Britain's Got Talent variety. It is less what Thailand's got but what the country is afflicted by, its accumulated socio-political ailments and afflictions. So a more meaningful but less literal understanding may run along the lines of "My country's got these afflictions" or, in rap-like rough language, "That's my f*****g country".
Thitinan Pongsudhirak teaches International Relations and directs the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University.
