Khaek Sarai Tao

Khaek Sarai was originally composed by Jah Pen Payongying (Jah Kom) for use in a ‘Sakkawa’, a traditional folk musical entertainment and had been popular since the reign of King Rama V. Originally the piece was a three-part song, played in a ‘Prob-Gai’ rhythmic drum cycle. The lyrics for the final part of the song was in a unique ‘Soi Sakkawa’ poem, signaling the end of the show. The song was further enlarged to a ‘sam chan’ piece (slow tempo piece) to be played by a pipat ensemble. The piece existed in 2 different versions known as ‘Thon-buri’ style composed by Jang-wang Tua Pattayakosol and ‘Pranakorn’ style by Luang Praditphairoh (Sorn Silapabunleng). Early in the reign of King Rama VI, Prince Paribatra adapted and recomposed the third part of the ‘sam chan’ piece for the Bangkhunprom Court’s pipat ensemble. Later on, he further reduced and arranged the piece into a complete ‘tao’ (consisting of slow, moderate, and fast movements) for a military band
The lyrics was adapted from ‘I-nao’, a romantic literature written by King Rama II.