Anyone who keeps an eye on Chiang Mai’s live-music undercurrent has almost certainly stumbled into a Terror Terror set. Maybe you caught them shaking things up at Mycelium last year, tearing through the stages at Thantawan Festival or perhaps blasting through the 2am haze at Yoda’s CNX Gallery.
Formed in Chiang Mai in 2023, Terror Terror has quickly become one of the city’s most popular homegrown alt-rock bands. The musicians, hailing from local and international homes, fuse Western post-punk urgency with Thai indie sensibilities – a combo that strikes hard among those in the local scene. Their single ‘Wasted’ hit number one on Bedroom Radio and climbed to number 13 on Cat Radio’s Top 100, later becoming one of Bedroom Studio’s 50 Most Played Tracks of 2023 among Thai listeners.
Chiang Mai’s alternative music scene is rising
The band sits within a rapidly shifting Chiang Mai soundscape. As Rosie, the lead singer, puts it, ‘Chiang Mai has a strong lineage of folk rock sound, but most people only see that sort of stuff performed at holiday celebrations or walking streets.’
So, over the last decade, indie, experimental and DIY venues have flourished among local music enthusiasts, reshaping the landscape – powered by pioneers like Chiang Mai Originalive, Minimal Records, North Gate, Tempo Wave, Punk Rock Chiang Mai, as well as a hometown festival circuit that is now booming.
The band’s identity spans genres – ‘a bit indie, punk and garage rock’ – but what roots them is ethos, not labels. ‘We fit in the music community best with our DIY ethos. Being ready to support visiting acts, and helping to draw audiences to new spaces.’
They’ve played everything from punk shows to garden fairs, and consider community-building a core part of their role. Their fans are a mix, but according to Rosie, mainly musicians – people drawn to heavier textures and the band’s boundary-pushing live shows.
Vocally, the band’s humour and grit run deep – like their first-ever Chiang Mai festival appearance, where they played to ‘three drunken friends and many, many folks asleep on hay bales’ – all who were awoken to their loud-punk noise. Today, these ‘awoken’ minds seek them out, making Terror Terror one of Chiang Mai’s most sought after bands of the season.
And true to form, Terror Terror don’t shy away from things anew. Their new single – dropping Friday December 5, just 24 hours before the band hits the stage at LABB Festival (December 6) and again at Chiang Mai Ho Zix (December 8) – plays with hypnotic motorik rhythms, poet-driven storytelling and moments that feel as if the amp is pushed into overload.
For the following weeks after this heavy hitting weekend, you can follow their socials to keep up to date with new performances or save ears for January 2026 where they’ll be taking to the stages of Gaia Beats Festival and the legendary Chiang Dao Punk Fest.
In the meantime, pre-save the single here, or click follow on Spotify to keep the ‘Terror’ coming. It’s bloomin’ marvelous.