Good cheer from Roong Aroon School

Bursting with community spirit, the Roong Aroon School charity concert “Ruam Thai Jai Nhung Deaw” featured music that was not only cheerful but also hopefully fostered some badly needed amity in our divided society.

The recent concert at the Thailand Cultural Centre saw the RA Pop Orchestra receive the sort of rousing acclaim from the packed-in audience that mere school bands usually warrant. The band, established in 2013, has 40 junior and high-school students, nudged along by teachers and volunteer parents.

Khomsan Lakornanan, who teaches “international music” at the school, hailed the great potential among some of the individual students but acknowledged that the orchestra must learn more about blending its instruments harmoniously. “They work hard, practising every day after school, so they’re deservedly proud of what they’ve achieved,” Khomsan said. 

The concert was impressive in its unity of spirit nevertheless, with youngsters from Grade 1 to Grade 6 forming a chorus of almost 300 students to sing “Yim Su”, composed by His Majesty the King, and “King of Kings”. 

Among the guest performers, Professor Rapee Sakarik played “Baan Rao” on violin, Dussadee Banomyong and the Suan Plu Chorus sang “Sang Dao Heng Sathra” and Amornthep Phuprasom played the Chinese gu zheng. Kitinan Chinsamran from Season 2 of “The Voice” sang “Kwam Fan An Sung Sud” (“The Impossible Dream”), another of His Majesty’s compositions. 

Proceeds from the ticket sales are being donated to police officers and soldiers serving in Thailand’s troubled southernmost provinces.