The Khim (Chinese dulcimer) is an instrument that produces musical sound by striking the strings which are strung over the sound box. The Khim is widely played in many countries from Europe to East Asia such as China and Korea. It is believed to come into Thailand via the silk road. It might have come with the Chinese who had immigrated to earn their living in Thailand since the Ayutthaya Period. The Khim has become popular and has been gradually developed in terms of the pitch tuning and the ways of playing the instrument so that it is now totally different from the Chinese dulcimer.
         The body of the Khim, which functions as the sound box, is made of several pieces of wood assembled together and covered with a thin sheet of wood called “Naa Khim” (Khim’s face). The face is pierced with 2 holes to let the sound come out.
         On the Khim’s face, there are 2 pieces of long wooden sticks to support the strings. These sticks are called “Lak Khim” (stakes). On each of the stake are 7 bridges (Yong) made of animal bones, which are the positions to line up the strings. (Later plastic or stainless steel is used instead of bone.) Each Yong supports 3 strings that are fastened to the pegs on the right hand side. The 3 strings on each Yong are tuned to the same pitch by twisting the pegs.
         The sticks are made of a special specie of bamboo tapered into thin sticks with thick heads. A small and thin piece of leather is glued to the head of the stick to make soft beautiful sound while playing.