A school boy playing the kaen for tourists on Chatuchak Weekend Market. The instrument is played and held with both hands. The musician blows into the mouthpiece whilst he uses the tips of his fingers to cover or uncover the tone holes.

There is just one tone hole on each pipe, located just above the mouthpiece. By alternately closing off and opening those holes, the pitch of the sound produced is altered, in proportion to each pipe's effective length.