Born as Lamduan Sombatcharoen in
Suphan Buri province to a wealthy family, he chose Suraphol as his stage name. His first hit came in 1954 with "Nam Ta Lao Wieng" ("Tears of a Lao Girl"). It marked the emergence of
luk thung, a Thai counterpart to such
crooning styles as
Japanese enka and
Indonesian kroncong. The genre also embodied influences such as
Hollywood film music, American
country music,
Malay pop and
Afro-Cuban rhythms. Enjoying popularity at the same time as
Elvis Presley and
The Beatles, Suraphol Sombatcharoen was sometimes called the "Thai Elvis". During the 1960s, there was no Thai performer who was better known than Sombatcharoen. Suraphol Sombatcharoen composed more than 100 songs. Among his best known compositions are "Sao Suan Taeng" ("The Girl from the Cucumber Field"), "Mong" ("Look"), "Nam Ta Ja Tho" ("The Tears of a Corporal"), "Khong Plom" ("Fake Stuff"), "Muai Cham" ("Broken-Hearted Chinese Girl") and "Pen Sode Tam Mai" ("Why are you still single"). Shortly before his murder, he released his last and most well-known song, "Siphok Pi Haeng Khwam Lang" ("สิบหกปีแห่งความหลัง" or "16 Years of Our Past"), a sad song about the end of his own 16-year marriage that reflected on both the happiness and bitterness of the union. Sombatcharoen was shot dead by an unknown assailant while walking to his car after a performance on August 16, 1968. The motive for the murder remains unknown. ==Military career==