The Khaen (also Khene, Kaen, Khen) is a musical instrument indigenous to the people of Laos and north eastern Thailand. It is a free-reed, mouth organ made from bamboo pipes. In this recording the instrument was being played by a blind busker who was being led through the narrow confines of Sampeng Lane in Bangkok.
Located in the Chinatown area of Bangkok, Sampeng Lane is essentially a wholesale market, lined on both sides with a range of shops selling shoes, fabric, haberdashery, clothes, beads, handbags etc. While closed to cars, you will find the occasional motor bike trying to weave its way through the slow moving throng of people that stretch its 1km length.
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