Mohlam

Lao song style

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Last updated

June 30, 2026

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The term "Mohlam" (also spelled mohlam) refers to a popular Laotian folk song style and performance tradition. Balladeers, known as mohlam performers, accompany themselves on the khen, a complex reed organ, and travel through the Laotian countryside, including northeast Thailand.1

These performers sing songs often focused on themes of love and incorporate local gossip, as well as elements from epics and court plays. This tradition has evolved, with mohlam luong or "story mohlam" being a theatrical form that sets plays to the mohlam song style. While classical Lao court music exists and is similar to styles in Thailand and Cambodia, mohlam represents a vibrant, popular, and orally transmitted musical tradition.12

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Southeast Asian arts
Laos
…folk song style known as mohlam. Mohlam balladeers, accompanied by the khen (a complex reed organ), have for centuries traveled the Lao-speaking countryside, which includes Laos and northeast Thailand, singing bawdy songs of physical love and weaving into their performance local gossip and bits from the epics and court plays.…
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…folk song style known as mohlam. Mohlam balladeers, accompanied by the khen (a complex reed organ), have for centuries traveled the Lao-speaking countryside, which includes Laos and northeast Thailand, singing bawdy songs of physical love and weaving into their performance local gossip and bits from the epics and court plays.…
Read More