Yet neither display offers a full appreciation of an art form whose repertoire was once sufficient to sustain performances lasting an entire day. Fortunately, however, the Fine Arts Department's Division of Music and Dance strives to preserve the classical forms with integrity, training both performers and teachers to a high standard of proficiency. Providing a showcase for these efforts is Bangkok's National Theatre, home of the country's only professional classical dance troupe, which stages regular performances of both khon and lakon nai, generally in a mixed three-hour program. (For more information call [02] 224-1342.)

As a base art form, likay lacks an equivalent champion although, despite being challenged by travelling film shows in rural areas, it clings to a degree of popularity in the provinces and still has the power to draw attentive audiences at temple fairs and other festive occasions. Essentially, likay is a bastardized manifestation of dance drama, drawing on various sources and pandering to popular taste, frequently involving somewhat earthy, if not downright crude, humor.

In contrast, khon and lakon nai are strictly classical and highly stylized. Each is a distinct form of dance drama, although there are shared aspects that distinguish Thai theatre in general.

Most famous of the two is khon which is a masked dance dramatization of the Ramakien, the Thai version of the Indian Ramayana epic, a moral tale concerning the struggles of Prince Rama and Hanuman's monkey army against the forces of evil. Developing out of shadow-play in the 16th century, a full khon performance demands a vast cast of actors playing the roles of gods, giants, men, monkey warriors and assorted beasts. All the characters were at one time depicted by the actors wearing elaborate masks, but in latter-day shows only the masks of giants and animals have been retained. Nevertheless, any narrative is still left to a chorus, and actors keep their faces expressionless, communicating solely through a complex vocabulary of hand gestures and body movements. More