Is 'Cholo Thai' A Thing? Lil Rob Lyrics Explain New Fashion Trend

Slim mustaches, black sunglasses, and the flowing script and melancholy of neo-gothic tattoos... No, it’s not Lil’ Rob or Cypress Hill concert in the “Southern Califas,” but rather a get-together of Thai “gangsters.” Coconuts found this story of Bangkok nine-to-fivers enamored with SoCal cholo culture (you can watch the video at the end of this post).

In a filmed photoshoot, the Thai guys show off their tattoos, a multi-cultural mashup of West Coast gangster and Southeast Asian imagery. Designs snake up their forearms and across their backs, eight balls and dice, interspersed with coy fish and a chubby buddha. Some are crude drawings of cholas with clown noses, other depictions of La Muerte, or “homies” with low hats wearing gas masks.

I'm lookin' real good, I'm so hood

Some heads are shaved, other’s thick, black and immaculately greased back. Members wear silver rings with skulls and maltese crosses (like the Orange County Choppers logo. Every member of the “gang” sports a pair of Locs, thick-rimmed black sunglasses.

So orale suvale in the Brown side of town

With well-trimmed mustaches and glasses covering their almond eyes, these Thai guys actually do kinda look like bona fide cholos. They also wear matching black-and-white tee-shirts, with the letters “Fratez” emblazoned on the front. The logo is formed with gangster, gothic lettering, but they shirts look cute, like they’re all on the same intramural baseball team.

“I thought it was cool,” says Eastern medicine professor Mr. Shiro Local, in the video. He is a teacher of Easter medicine at a local university. How did they get into they style?

“I listened to songs and I watched YouTube,” says one of the group's founders in the video. “I think Mexican style reflects my life so well.” But why did they settle on Chicano gangster culture, when African-American hip-hop? It might just be the weather. Aside from the higher elevation regions in the north, Thailand is really hot and muggy.

Cruising through the neighborhood on a warm summer night / I feel good / That's right / I feel good now, summer nights

“How do I put this? I don’t like dressing up like black people, because it doesn’t fit my lifestyle or Thailand. What I like about Mexican style is that it’s clean and easy. Just a tee-shirt and a pair of jeans,” says the founder.

You wanna party? Pues, caile, but B.Y.O.B. / Bring your own beer ese, and bring some for me

I see some vatos that I hate / But I won't hit them up because I'm trying to get my life straight

“We never do anything bad. We hang out. We get drunk. But we never cause trouble,” says 420 in the video. They really see their “gang” as a social group. To clarify this point one of the founders explains that it’s his “gang” that helped him stop committing crimes and getting arrested. They’re not trouble makers. In fact, one of them is even a cop.

“I'm Yak Yai Fratez. During the Day, I'm a policeman. At night, I'm a gangster,” says one member.

“I am Yu Yammatu. During the day, I'm a government bureaucrat. At night, I'm a tattoo artist and a gangster,” says another.

Want to be part of the Thai “gang?” Membership is “restricted to Din Daeng locals only,” people outside the city can’t join “no matter how cool they are.” Sorry, Lil Rob.

Lest we think that these Thai gangsters are merely imitating culture, take note that they are integrating it as well. For example, Fratez collaborate on rap songs that critique contemporary issues in Thai society. Here are some [EXPLICIT] lyrics from “Fuck The Popo,” rapped in the video by Mr. Shiro Local, the health professor.

Fuck the popo with the big guns.

You're like big hyenas that hunt hungry for rotten meat.

You don't care that you'll ruin the country by hiding your corruption behind the deaths of others.

I feel sorry for people who are burdened with your bad karma.

You're nothing but blood sucking animals.

Your life is worth the ringworm in my balls.