MOR LAM MU: A CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL RECREATION SYSTEM LINKING COMMUNITY HAPPINESS AND CULTURAL IDENTITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Abstract

Mor Lam Mu is a traditional folk performing art from Northeastern Thailand (Isan) that embodies significant cultural value and has evolved into a cultural recreational system with an important role in contemporary society. This academic article aims to 1) analyze the role of Mor Lam Mu as a recreational tool that connects culture and happiness,                2) examine its recreational impacts in promoting social participation, and 3) propose development pathways to establish Mor Lam Mu as a creative recreational activity that can be sustained in contemporary society. This study employs a knowledge synthesis approach based on academic literature, related research, and conceptual analysis within contemporary social and cultural contexts. The findings indicate that Mor Lam Mu functions as a cultural practice space that plays a crucial role in fostering social cohesion, reducing generational gaps, and facilitating dynamic participation within a multicultural society. It also promotes psychosocial well-being through recreational experiences that generate happiness and relaxation. In the economic dimension, Mor Lam Mu serves as a key mechanism for generating income for performers and local businesses, while supporting experiential cultural tourism at both regional and international levels. In terms of cultural preservation, Mor Lam Mu continues to transmit music, costumes, and local wisdom, while simultaneously adapting innovatively to the digital era through the use of lighting and sound technologies and dissemination via online platforms. However, achieving sustainability requires integrated collaboration across multiple sectors, including families in instilling cultural values, communities in establishing regulations and supporting performance spaces, performers in enhancing competencies and creating contemporary performances, and entrepreneurs in investing and implementing proactive digital marketing strategies, along with strategic support from both public and private sectors. This is essential to position Mor Lam Mu as a contemporary recreational mechanism that is creative, valuable, and sustainable in both Thai and global contexts.