Isan Odyssey

This hybrid documentary weaves stories from Isan, Thailand’s largest yet poorest region. Through Mor Lam, a popular folk music with Lao roots, it traces political uprisings before and after the Cold War. Questioning why Isan seems cursed by misfortune, the film reveals resilience, humour and joy persisting amid a landscape shaped by bloodshed and loss.

Thunska Pansittivorakul: ‘Shortly before radical Thai art activist Thanom Chapakdee passed away in 2022, he proposed the idea that Mor Lam — a genre of music immensely popular today — was once used as a tool of rebellion. At the time, I already had a concept for a story involving a disturbing incident in the Mekong River basin. When Doc Club Originals approached me to produce their first theatrical documentary, we decided to merge these ideas into a single film.

Although this film is being screened in Taiwan after its Thai release, the version shown in Taiwan is slightly different from the one in Thailand. Thailand is not a country where one can fully resist without consequence; certain acts of defiance carry risks severe enough to cost one’s freedom for at least fifteen years. As many are aware, a significant number of young people are currently imprisoned under lèse-majesté charges, many effectively forgotten behind bars. No matter how courageous I may appear, the truth is that I continue to live in a persistent state of fear.’