Central Thai royalty has had special funerary music practices since at
least the Ayutthaya period involving special instruments and special pieces.
Several musicians interested in historical matters told me that they thought
Queen Sirin’s funeral was the origin of the Thai interest in the piiphaat Mon
ensemble; musicians have kept alive the memory of this event, whose music
made such a big impression that other members of the aristocracy (cao naai)
began to use it as well. But not only matters of class consciousness led to the adoption of the
piiphaat Mon ensemble beyond the royal family. By the turn of the century,
quite a few Mon musicians lived in Bangkok. Among them were two brothers
named Khruu Sum and Khruu Coen Dontriicaroen, who headed a
number of quite famous ensembles that rivaled those of the leading Thai
musicians of the day. One of these leading Thai musicians, Luang Pradit
Phairo, was particularly open to innovation and began to adapt some of the
Mon melodies played by the brothers’ ensembles. Even at that point, the
modes used in Mon music were apparently perceived by Thais as deeply sad
and majestic. Luang Pradit Phairo capitalized on this feature and began
using his versions of Mon pieces in funerals for minor Thai aristocrats, along
with the traditional Thai piiphaat and naang hong ensembles.