The promotion of arts and culture is one of ThaiBev’s important missions. Throughout its existence, the Company has partnered with various organizations to support projects aimed at the preservation, continuation, and creation of national arts and culture, as well as activities pertaining to Thai religions and traditions. This is because ThaiBev recognizes the benefits of arts and culture for society, for the economy, for the community, and for future generations. At the same time, the Company hopes to grow artistic skills in Thailand to garner global recognition, and to boost sustainable national development as well.

Furthermore, in accord with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of quality education, ThaiBev supports youth having an equal chance to pursue various branches of arts and culture, outside of textbooks and classrooms as appropriate.

In all, there are five kinds of projects and activities that the Company supports in its push for sustainable national development, as follows:

• Projects in honor of the monarchy
• Sponsorship of organizations and artists, and scholarships
• Competitions that promote and preserve arts and culture
• Projects supporting education for children and youth
• Activities supporting the preservation of national traditions,
• cultures, and local ways of life

As the monarchy unites the hearts and minds of Thais everywhere and binds the nation together, since its establishment, ThaiBev, as a Thai company, has organized the following projects, to express loyalty and to honor the monarchy.

• Exhibition of 200 photographs by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, with the permission of King Vajiralongkorn, on the 9th floor of Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre, on display from September 1, 2017 to January 7, 2018. The King also granted permission for the publication of a book of photographs by the late King. The publication was funded by Sirivadhanabhakdi Foundation and ThaiBev Public Company Limited.
• Exhibitions of photographs by Princess Sirindhorn, held every year since 2006. In 2016, the Princess opened her latest photography exhibition “Thatsaniyamankha” on December 12 at Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre.
• Production of a music record comprising King Bhumibol’s 41 authored songs with lyrics, newly rearranged in a choral performance, and distributed to the public free of charge. In addition, a fund supporting comprehensive study of the melodies of all 41 songs as arranged for choral performance.
• Furthermore, ThaiBev has organized “In Memoriam with Melodies”: a choral concert of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s songs on September 23, 2017 at Bhumirajanagarinda Kidney Institute.
• Production of “Still on My Mind”: a music record comprising King Bhumibol’s 49 songs performed by Ekachai Jearakul, a classic guitarist from ThaiBev’s project Thai Talent.
• Furthermore, ThaiBev organized the concert “Still on My Mind: The Acoustic Night (Tribute to the Great King)” on October 14, 2017 at Aksra Theater, King Power.
• Support for an initiative by the alumni association of Faculty of Interior Design, Silpakorn University to produce a song and a music video called “Images from the Heart” to support youth and university students in finding opportunities for remembering the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Because ThaiBev recognizes the importance of promoting education, it supports organizations and artists who further arts and culture education for Thai youth, and scholarships for promising and underserved students. The aim of all these projects is to give moral support to the nation’s teachers and to hardworking students. Good education is the basis for developing a sustainable life. The Company executes the following projects in support of organizations, artists, and scholarship grantees:

• Support for the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO) since 2009 in order to give youth studying classical music further opportunities to practice music, exchange with one another, improve their skills, and have spaces to perform.
• An academic fund for the College of Music, Mahidol University, continually since 2009. Recently, apart from awarding 16 scholarships, Mahidol University has used this fund for students’ travel to various international competitions, including the Taiwan International Guitar Competition 2016, the 51st Concours International de Chant de Toulouse in France, and the 3rd Penang International Fingerstyle Guitar Competition 2016 in Malaysia.
• Funding for the Sukree Charoensuk Foundation, continually since 2009. The foundation improves the quality of life for youth in underserved communities with music activities, including the following projects:
  • “Virtue Leads Knowledge” camp in preparation for a “Virtue Leads Knowledge” concert
  • “Virtue Leads Knowledge” concert
  • Bands for youth development
  • Pilot bands for children and youth
  • Talent studies, using Dr. Sax Chamber Orchestra as a case study
  • Music therapy in the Child Abuse Care Center, Chonburi Province
  • “A Good Community with a Smile” project
• Annual funding for SuanPlu Chorus, as part of the effort to develop music and choral performance in Thailand, and help it reach the international level. Such a recognition of choral performance from international competitions would help fan an interest in music among Thai youth. It would set a good example and pave the way for other young people to pursue choral performance as a viable career in the future.
• Support for a traditional Thai music competition and a Thai music camp for youth organized by the Luang Pradit Phairoh (Sorn Silapabanleng) Foundation. Both entitled “Sorn Thong [Golden Arrow],” the competition (whose winner receives a trophy from King Vajiralongkorn) and the camp play an important role in the preservation and continuation of traditional Thai music through youth development and the expansion of opportunities for students nationwide. ThaiBev has recognized the determination and drive of the project’s creators and supporters, especially participating students who show an improvement in their musical skills and who build a network for their careers in the future. All in all, this project results in the preservation and continuation of traditional Thai arts and culture through a musical performance competition.
• Support for classical music under the Princess Galyani Vadhana Music Institute, through inviting classical musicians to perform at various events, and through special collaborations. This is to ensure the longevity and integrity of an institute teaching classical music to young Thais. With this support, the Company hopes that classical music becomes more popular in Thailand, so that young musicians may develop world-class musical skills.
• Support for the “Royal Project Sketchwalk” and “C asean SketchTalk,” of the Bangkok Sketchers, a group that promotes artistic development and focuses on manual sketching on paper and digital screens and the fundamental principles of drawing.

To ensure the sustainable preservation of arts and culture in all forms, and for the creation of additional training programs for the development of careers based on artistic and cultural work, ThaiBev has initiated the following projects to honor various artists and important figures:

“White Elephant”
Fine Arts Contest is held to promote Thai artists working in painting and sculpture, in realistic or figurative art styles. The “White Elephant Fine Arts Award” encourages and highlights those artists who still create works of art in these mediums. The year 2017 marked the 7th cycle of the contest, under the theme of “Inspiration from Everyone Toward a Sustainable Community.”

This year’s topic was inspired by the Pracharat collaborations (Government + Private Sector + Community). The purpose of this topic is to allow artists to develop a better understanding of the Pracharat framework, by having artists accompany the Company’s working groups in the field. As the artists learn about the potential and the creative milieu unique to each community, they can then create works of art for the community, setting an example for how to mix different elements together in the “creative economy” paradigm.

“Photographs of the Fatherland” Contest
ThaiBev has partnered with the Royal Photographic Society of Thailand continually since 2006. Every year, King Bhumibol Adulyadej graciously offered to choose the winning photograph. This contest is the largest one in Thailand and attracts the highest number of participants.

“Chang International Fine Art Photo Contest” Photography Contest.
Now in its 6th installment, with the theme “Memories,” this annual contest aims to endorse and give space to photographers interested in fine art photography, a kind of photography which emphasizes the underlying concept of the photograph and the artistic viewpoint of the artist. This contest also works to diversify the practice of photography in Thailand, and to support more and more Thai fine art photographers to raise to the international stage. This contest is organized once a year by the Royal Photographic Society of Thailand.

“Naris Day” Photography Contest & “Silpa Bhirasri Day” Short Film Contest.
For 12 years, ThaiBev has supported Silpakorn University’s “Naris Day” International Photography Contest. This contest, widely recognized domestically and internationally, attracts a large number of submissions from photographers around the world every year. ThaiBev supports the University’s annual short film contest on “Silpa Bhirasri Day” as well.

ThaiBev recognizes the importance of knowledge development through artistic creation of all kinds, with the belief that unfettered learning brings about endless imagination, which in turn leads to innovations for the community, the country, and the world. Furthermore, another the Company’s mission is to promote youth learning and creativity, as part of the efforts to sustainably preserve arts and culture for generations to come.

Support for the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre
(BACC) Foundation
ThaiBev supports the BACC in its projects and activities campaigning for increased knowledge and enthusiasm about art among the public. Furthermore, the BACC also creates educational initiatives, forums for discussion and exchange between artists and the public, and art education activities outside the classroom for youth and the general public. All these lead to an instilment of a “creative economy” revolving around commercial art making.

Examples of BACC’s activities include: Children’s Day “art activities @ bacc,” BACC Art Camp, educational activities accompanying exhibitions, kids’ storytelling and crafts, Art Talk events, guided tours of exhibitions, and training workshops for art teachers. In total, there have been about 10,000 youth participants in educational activities throughout 2017.

All traditions, cultures, and ways of life arise from the roots of each community, and each region, with differences in philosophies, beliefs, and values. The result is a landscape of diverse communities, each with its own distinctive features, which may be utilized as strengths and “selling points” to elevate the local economy and to push for its growth. Since ThaiBev recognizes the opportunities to implement measures to impact local economic growth, the following cultural tourism activities have been organized:

“Water Festival 2017: Waterways and Thai ways”
in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Culture, the Navy, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and other allies. The festival aims to reassert the sharing of Thainess to the world, and to encourage young people to join in the learning, preservation, and sharing of history. Expanded to cover all four regions of Thailand, the festival allows tourists to experience authentic traditional Thai culture. All four sites feature numerous activities, including Family Day water ceremonies, auspicious merit-making ceremonies through sacred objects and temple visits, community (House + Temple + School) cleaning activities, “young hosts preserving culture” activities, “One Shot Knockout” activities, cooking competitions, a city-by-city menu, and visits to community grocery stores by Pracharat Rak Samakkhi Social Enterprise Company.

“River Festival: Streams of Culture”
in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and other allies. Sharing Thainess with the whole world, this festival boosts Thailand’s tourism industry, and invites both domestic and foreign tourists to experience the cultures of Thailand.