– April 1, 1981) was a Thai

Thai people

The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and bandleader

Bandleader

A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....

. A pioneer in introducing Western

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

 music into Thai popular culture, he founded the Suntaraporn band in the 1940s. Thailand's best-known big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

, it continues to play concerts and special functions.

Eua studied Western classical music

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 at the Phran Luang School, starting on violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

. By age nine, he was playing an orchestra. At age 18, he enrolled in the Vithaya Sakol Dontri Sathan music school, studying harmony

Harmony

In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...

 and arrangement

Arrangement

The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...

.

Around this time he played in a big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

 for the government's Performance Department. He was paid 20 baht

Thai baht

The baht is the currency of Thailand. It is subdivided into 100 satang . The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand.-History:The baht, like the pound, originated from a traditional unit of mass...

 a month. He continued to play classical music as well, but noticed that the jazz bands were attracting larger crowds, which made him realize that classical music was no longer in demand.

In 1936 he started composing scores for Thai films

Cinema of Thailand

The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited...

, and combined jazz and Western classical music with traditional Thai classical music. It was an already established genre, called phleng Thai sakol

Phleng Thai sakol

Phleng Thai sakol is a genre of Thai classical music. It blends traditional Thai music elements with the instruments of Western classical music...

, but with his compositions, he greatly expanded the repertoire. With his own popular big band, Suntaraporn, phleng Thai sakol found a wider audience.

Initially, he faced criticism for introducing Western sounds into Thai traditional culture, however his music was embraced by Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram

Plaek Pibulsonggram

Field Marshal Plaek Pibunsongkhram , often known as Phibun Songkhram or simply Phibun in English, was Prime Minister and virtual military dictator of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.- Early years :...

, whose government had a program of modernization and Westernization.

Under the government's Public Relations Department, Eua headed an orchestra, which performed on national radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 broadcasts, at government functions and dance parties. It served as the main orchestra in Thailand during the Second World War. He served as the orchestra chief and the chief of the music section for the department until his retirement in 1971.

He died of cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

in 1981.