Many Thais are musically oriented which explains why karaoke is so popular in Thailand and why you hear recorded and live music in so many places here. Bangkok cabbies often enjoy listening to music in their taxis, too, and the driver today even had a Thai instrument known as a phin in the back window of his cab. At one point, the cabbie offered to demonstrate how he plays his three-stringed lute from the Isaan region in the Northeast of Thailand, but since he was behind the wheel of his taxi, I told him to wait until after we arrived at our destination. In the meantime, he put in a CD of Thai Northeast Native Melodies and cranked the volume on high.
