PLANG NONE: THE REVIAL

Abstract

Plang None is a folk play from Ban Bankhao, Cha-Um District, Petchburi Province. In general, local people perform Plang None for relaxtion during the Songran festival, after crop harvesting. However, in the last fifty years, or so, society has changed into ‘modern’ communities with advanced technology and mass media which have dramatically reduced the function of Plang None. Over recent years, a key element of government policy has been to encourage the revival of local customs. The efforts by local people and government officers to reintroduce Plang None have been so successful that the play has once again become popular within local communities, and spread further afield too.

The resurgence of Plang None has created a need for ‘maintenance’ from three separate bodies: individual groups within the community, the greater community itself and the government. Plang None has the benefit of strengthening community consciousness and bonds, increasing tourism and improving government links with local communities.