While I am missing Thailand and have the blues in general those aren’t the blues I am talking about at the moment. No, I’m talking about music and Thailand has some of the best live entertainment you could ever hope to see while on holiday.

My first trip to Thailand I was amazed at the quality and quantity of live music from Bangkok to Pattaya. From pop and dance music to hard rock and country you can find great music any night in any number of bars and clubs. Even bars that are no bigger than a storage shed have live bands that will keep you rockin throughout the night and coming back for more.

One night I was sitting in a bar on walking street talking to a friend about all the great live music and he asked me if I had been to the Blues Factory which was just up the street on Soi Lucky Star just opposite Marine Disco. When I said I had never been there he motioned for our bartender to checkbin us and we were off to the Blues Factory.

The Blues Factory is a great venue to listen to live music and have a great night but what I was unprepared for was seeing one of the best guitarists I had ever seen, his name was Lam Morrison. I was blown away by his guitar work and his band and I have seen him play quite a few times since.

Known as Thailand’s guitar King  Lam has been around the music scene for a while. Picking up the guitar by 13 it wasn’t  long before Lam started his first band called VIP and started touring around the American bases during the Vietnam war playing the rock music the soldiers loved to hear.

Due to the fact that rock music wasn’t a very big scene in Thailand the VIP found it hard to get gigs after the war ended and the G.I.’s returned home. Although gigs were few and far between at one gig in Bangkok a German tourist saw the band and told Lam he should go to Germany and play. While touring through Germany Lam won a guitar dueling contest and earned his guitar King title. After Germany he contnued to tour through Europe and North America.

When Lam returned home to Thailand he was signed by EMI Music and released his first album entitled Night in Bangkok. The album took off and sold over a million copies which was a first for a rock artist in Thailand. After the release of the album he went back out on the road touring through Europe with such bands as UFO and Deep Purple.

Lam plays quite a few instruments including the piano, bass and harmonica as well as singing, but it’s his guitar work that brings them in and keeps them there. While there are many bands playing the night clubs and bars of Pattaya there is definitely no one of the same caliber as Lam Morrison.

Lam has been playing as the house band at the Blues Factory since 2002 with a years break or so in 2007 when he opened his own club. He is back as the house act at The Blues Factory and should definitely not be missed if you are going to be in town during the holidays or after.

Lam is truly a national treasure and one of Thailand’s best kept secrets. You can check out a few of his videos below and check out his show times at The Blues Factory. If you are heading to Pattaya set aside a night for some excellent music from a guitar virtuoso, I’ll guarantee you’ll thank me for it.