Ling, the frontman of well-known hip-hop band L-zone from Luang Prabang province, proved beyond all doubt yesterday that one of the band members was still alive, following rumours to the contrary.
The frontman of L-zone, Ling.
He said in a telephone interview yesterday that stories had been flying around town that singer Phonesavanh Phavichith, otherwise known as Khaek, died while she was visiting Vientiane for the boat racing festival the week before last.
L-zone has three members - Mr Phonesavanh Lathsamy, also known as Ling, Ms Phonesavanh Phavichith, or Khaek, and Mr Thanosin Thinsomphone, aka Noy.
“I was totally astonished when I first had a phone called from our fan club about it. Khaek was also dumbfounded when I told her about the rumour when we were rehearsing in the C-Star studio,” said Ling.
“We were getting four or five calls a days from our fan club, friends, relatives and DJs to ask what was going on, but I thought it was just a bit of gossip and would fade away.”
“But the rumour spread and last week we were getting 10 to 20 calls a day which made us lose sleep,” Ling said. “Most of our fans were calling me and Noy, because they didn't dare to call Khaek.”
The gossip-mongers varied their stories - some said Khaek was killed instantly when she was hit by a car, others said she had died in hospital after the accident, while the more optimistic said she was in the ICU ward.
“I was upset and horrified whenever anyone called me to ask what had happened, but I couldn't turn my phone off because if I did I felt people would think it was all true,” said Khaek, who also spoke to a reporter by telephone yesterday.
“I feel better now that we've made a public statement about the truth of the matter in an interview with a radio station on Monday; since then I've been getting a lot fewer calls,” she said.
The band was invited by one of the FM radio stations to speak on air during the “Music Lovers” programme presented by DJ Arang from 11-12 noon in Vientiane on Monday, so that they could prove to everyone nothing was wrong.
Khaek couldn't attend the session in person because she was busy with her studies but she gave an interview over the phone so that listeners and fans learned the truth.
“Our recording company C-Star considered holding a press conference to make it clear to the public that nothing bad had happened to Khaek,” Ling said.
“We didn't want anything to affect the third album we're working on now but in the end they decided it wasn't necessary.”
Anyone can be a news reporter in Laos PDR. Just call their friends with a make up story, then they will call their friends who in turn will call more of their friends. Pretty soon you got a news.
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"Because I criticized Laos government and it policies, it does not mean I want Laos to remain poor nor do I think Lao people are lazy or uneducated."
