Eua Sunthornsanan

Eua Suntornsanan was born on January 21, 1910, in Amphawa, Samut Songkhram Province. His father was Mr. Dee Suntornsanan. His mother was Mrs. Sae Suntornsanan. He had 3 siblings. At age 9, he came to stay with his brother in Bangkok and started his primary education. Eua studied Western classical music at the Phran Luang School. His first instrument was violin. By the age of nine, Eua was developed enough to play in an orchestra.

Eua published his first written song, Yod Teok Tonk Surk, at the age of 20, and it was played in the musical comedy of Mea Ruen, where his unique voice and instrumental talent were discovered. At the time, he was working as a civil servant for the now-defunct Performance Department. He was receiving 20 baht per month for playing in the Big Band. He also worked at the Fine Art Department, and performed at many important events. In 1936, Eua, at age 26, had a chance to perform an original soundtrack, phleng Thai sakol, that would also be used in a film. Afterward, Eua became the directing composer for several Thai films, combining Thai music with Western’s styles like Jazz and Classically music. His style was later developed into a romantic music, luk grung, which translates as “child of the city” and was usually associated with the elite Bangkokians. When the company, Thai films, that he was working for was closed years after, he established a band called Suntaraporn band. Suntaraporn was the first Thai western-style band. Eua’s band marked the beginning of the western-style music era in Thailand from the 1940s to the 1970s. He initially faced a lot of criticism from Thai people for introducing Western sounds into Thai conservative culture. However, his music was embraced by Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram, whose government was encouraging modernization and westernization in Thailand.[3] Under Thailand’s Public Relations Department, Eua headed an orchestra, performing live on national radio broadcasts, and also at many government functions and parties. It served as the main orchestra in Thailand during the Second World War. He was the orchestra chief and the chief of music section for the Thai PR department.[4] He retired in 1978 because of his illness, after 42 years of revolutionizing Thai music. He was a dedicated and determined artist throughout his career. He died of cancer on April 1, 1981.

Eua Sunthornsanan married Arporn Karnasuta on May 14, 1946. The name of his band came from his surname and her first name combined. They had one daughter, Atiporn Suntornsanan, who now runs Suntaraporn Foundation with an aim to promote the life and work of Kru Eua Suntornsanan and Suntaraporn Band.[5]

He composed songs in many films such as "Satsanar Ruk Nan Jone" (1950), "Chai Chart Suea"(1951), "Naresuan"(1957). He was also featured as a starring character in "Ngen Ngen Ngen" (1965).

In 2018, he was featured as a Google Doodle on what would have been his 108th birthday.[6]

• Music of Thailand