I was in Northern Thailand close to the point where the borders of Burma, Thailand and Lao meet. At the guest house some one was organising a trip to the border. I am not a fan of tours but a view of Burma was tempting for me. For some reason I always long for Burma and I was so close to it.
There was an elevated area. One of the locals said I can see Burma if I climb up the top. Up from here, it sloped down to a stream. Across the stream was Burma. Even as I was climbing up this vantage point, I could hear what seemed like Rod Stewart’s Sailing coming from across the border.
It turned out to be a local copy of the song. This is a popular genre in Burma. Artists create Burmese lyrics for Western songs, the lyrics may or may not be translations of the original text but often imply something similar.
Now whenever I hear Sailing, I remember that afternoon atop the small hill and the glimpse of Burma across the river.
Update: 2022 I finally figured out that the artist is Zaw Win Htut and the song in Burmese is called Ywat Hlwint Chin. Listen to Zaw Win Htut’s version of Rod Stewart’s Sailing on SoundCloud.
The genre is called Copy Thachin or “copy song”. Here is a paper that talks about Copy Thachin.