Bamboo khaen, 'Melodious Panpipes'

Yodchai Saelor works in bamboo and rain tree wood to craft a beautiful khaen with eight pairs of pipes. Although there is no English name for the khaen, it works like a small-scale reed organ with bamboo reeds inside the pipes. A popular Isarn (northeastern Thai) instrument, it consists of two graduated rows of bamboo pipes held together with channalong glue made from beehives. The khaen can have six, seven, eight or nine pairs of pipes, and each is tested for pitch before the mouthpiece is applied.