BANGKOK — An earworm about the Thai months is wiggling its way across social media on Monday.
“Twelve” (Sibsong or สิบสอง), a song by luk thung singer Nongpanee “Ja R Siam” Mahadthai, first made its breakout on TikTok, and now everyone from government officials to students are posting their own covers.
“January, February, March, March, April,” the song goes, doubling on the month of March for some reason. “May, June, July. August, September, October, November. When it’s December, halaywangka, it’s January again.”
Halaywangka is a phrase said towards the beginning of a likay theater performance.
Ja’s version of the song is actually a cover of the song “Indian Dance” by Porntipa Buranakijbamrung, a singer in the ‘50s, although the exact date of the song cannot be verified.
Ja, 29, told Khaosod in an interview that she stumbled on “Twelve” while she was finding songs to cover on her YouTube channel and stay relevant during the pandemic shutdowns.
“For singers, it doesn’t look like we will get work soon. My sister, who is my manager, sent it into the Line group and told me to listen to this song,” Ja said. “But part with the months really caught my attention, so I told the musicians to remake the music for this part only.”
Ja’s “Twelve” song, which was posted on Feb. 3 and as of press time has more than 3 million views.
As of Monday, there are more than 166,000 videos on the platform that use audio from the song.
Before we let you see some of those covers, here’s a fun fact: Thailand began to adopt the solar calendar and its months in 1889. The names of the month refer to each of the 12 zodiac signs.
Basement Karaoke’s page on Friday summarized the sentiment of being stuck with the months in one’s head with the Sad Pablo Escobar meme.
@papaparty_feelgoodโสดมากี่เดือนละ ขอลองนับแปบ55555555555555555555555 ##สิบสอง ##นักพากย์ฟีลกู้ด♬ สิบสอง – จ๊ะ
@Papaparty_feelgood’s TikTok, which has 332,000 likes, is captioned, “When someone asked me how long I’ve been single.”
@maintwทั้งวันอ่ะ555555♬ สิบสอง – จ๊ะ
“Me all day at school.”
@noonim_07เลิกเรียนแล้ว คุณครูทำสื่อการสอนกันเร็วววว เทคนิคการสอนครูนิ่ม ครูบี ครูส้ม จ้าาา ##ครูโยตากล้อง ##มกรากุมพามีนามีษา ##ครูไทยเป็นคนตลก ##กดหัวใจให้หน่อย♬ สิบสอง – จ๊ะ
@healthmoph##ใส่แมสก์ ##เว้นระยะห่าง ##ล้างมือ วนไปจ้าาา 🛡🦠 🛡##covid19 ##โควิด ##สิบสอง ##กระทรวงสาธารณสุข ##การ์ดอย่าตก♬ สิบสอง – จ๊ะ
Even the Ministry of Health’s official TikTok (yes, they have one), covered the song with a caption, “When someone asks you how much longer there will be COVID-19.”
@wuunix11_เทคมีแบคทูไชน่าสักทีกูเหนื่อย!!!!!!! กูอยากเรียนปกติ!!!!!♬ สิบสอง – จ๊ะ
@Wuunix11_ applied the song to her COVID situation – being unable to return to China to continue her studies. Many students who had been studying overseas have had to return to Thailand for online learning instead.
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