Puangroi Apaiwong

Thanpuying Puangroi Apaiwong was a Thai composer, thought to be the first woman composer in Thailand. Her song "Bua Kao" is a widely recognized classic in Thailand.

Biography

Thanpuying Puangroi Apaiwong was born Mom Luang Puangroi Sanitwong in Bangkok in 1914. As a young girl, she learned to play guitar and piano. After graduating from the Wattana Wittaya Academy in 1934, she attended Trinity College London, where she studied music.
Apaiwong is considered the first Thai woman composer, gaining prominence for her work in the Phleng Thai sakon genre, which combined Western notation and instruments with traditional Thai musical styles. She composed more than 100 pieces over the course of her career. She is best known for the song "Bua Kao", which she wrote in the late 1930s for the soundtrack of the film The Old Flame. The song went on to become a widely recognized classic in Thailand, and UNESCO honored it as a "Song of Asia" in 1979.
As a composer, Apaiwong wrote songs for plays and later film soundtracks. She also was commissioned to produce compositions for the Thai royal family and would receive five royal decorations. She was named a National Artist of Thailand for musical performance by the Board of National Culture in 1986. In addition to her composing, she taught Western classical music.
She died in 2000, at age 85.