Banyen Rakkaen (Thai บานเย็น รากแก่น) is a Thai mor lam and Thai luk thung singer. She was born on October 14, 1952 to an Isan family in Ubon Ratchathani province in the Isan region of Northeast Thailand.
She is a student of Ajarn Chawiwan Damnoen.[1]
Banyen was the first national mor lam star, whose appearances on television in the 1980s brought the form to an audience beyond its northeastern heartland. She bridges the gap between traditional and modern mor lam, normally appearing in traditional clothing but using electrified instruments and singing luk thung and dance-influenced songs.[2]
She is a single mom with three children and has traveled the world for local concerts by ethnic Laotian-Thai people (mostly in the US).