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Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra Performs Beneath the Great Wall as Thai-Chinese Cultural Exchange Warms Ahead of 51st Anniversary
Reporter 欧亚时报编辑部
One recent cultural-exchange event widely reported by mainstream Thai media was a pair of outdoor concerts held by the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra beneath the Great Wall at Badaling, Beijing, on September 11 and 12. The Bangkok Post reported on September 14 that this marked the first time a Thai orchestra had held an outdoor concert at the Great Wall, and that it was one of the most closely watched events in this year's series of Thailand-China cultural exchange activities marking the 51st anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The "Thai-Chinese Family" 2026 Beijing Great Wall Concert was jointly organized by the China International Cultural Communication Centre, the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing and the Thailand-China Cultural Promotion Committee, with strong support from the Yanqing District government of Beijing. It was staged at Wangjing Culture Plaza in Badaling, Yanqing District, right at the foot of the Great Wall. More than 100 Thai musicians and artists traveled to Beijing specifically for the performances, making it one of the largest people-to-people cultural delegations exchanged between Thailand and China this year.
The program blended musical elements from both countries: Thai conductors Prateep Suphanroj and Palamphon Komonpat led the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra through newly arranged Thai national compositions alongside Western classical works including Swan Lake, Carmen and Pictures at an Exhibition. The Thai-music segment included pieces such as "Homrong Khwan Mueang," "Jeen Khim Yai," "Sri Ayutthaya" and "Ma Yong Thao," traditional Thai works arranged by Prateep; renowned Thai ranat ek (xylophone) player Paran Yuenyong performed alongside the orchestra's strings and winds, with his solo passage a particular highlight of the evening. On the Chinese side, celebrated coloratura soprano Chang Sisi, together with Guangxi Theatre representative Zhao Huaxiang and performer Huang Hua, presented excerpts from Caidiao opera, while tenor Zhang Yingxi also took the stage on September 12 — bringing the performing arts of both countries together on one stage.
Guests attending the concert also included Thailand's ambassador to Beijing, Chatchai Viriyavejakul, and former Thai Deputy Prime Minister Pinij Jarusombat, along with political, business and cultural figures from both countries. Ambassador Chatchai said in his remarks that music is a universal language connecting people, and that the sound of Thai music that evening represented the friendship between the two countries; he described the concert as composing a new "song of Thai-Chinese friendship" — not merely a musical performance, but a concrete expression of deepening artistic and cultural cooperation between Thailand and China. Reports say that beyond the Thai and Western classical pieces already mentioned, the orchestra also performed world symphonic classics by composers including Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky that evening, drawing a large Chinese audience and creating an enthusiastic atmosphere.
This year marks the 51st anniversary of Thailand-China diplomatic relations, and the governments and civil societies of both countries have organized a series of cultural exchange activities throughout the year to mark the occasion. Beyond the Great Wall concert, the Bangkok Chinese Character Art Festival, now held for a second consecutive year at Chulalongkorn University, took place September 1-5 this year, promoting Chinese culture through Chinese-character art exhibitions, joint works by Thai and Chinese artists, and traditional-craft experiences. On May 18, the 4th China-ASEAN Cultural Exchange event was held in Pathum Thani province, Thailand, where Chinese Peking Opera performers presented excerpts from classics such as "Havoc in Heaven," likewise drawing large Thai audiences.
The phrase "Thai-Chinese family" is rooted in the two countries' long shared history and deep people-to-people ties. Thailand was among the earlier Southeast Asian nations to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, formally doing so on July 1, 1975. In the more than five decades since, cultural and people-to-people exchange between the two countries has never ceased, and Thailand has long been home to a substantial ethnic-Chinese Thai population, forming a distinctive cultural bond. The Great Wall concert's use of the "Thai-Chinese family" theme reflects and carries forward that historical connection to some degree.
It is worth clarifying that although the Thai and Chinese governments have exchanged views on deepening cooperation in culture, tourism, museums and film on several occasions in recent years — including a joint statement issued during Prime Minister Anutin's visit to China in July 2026 that referenced deepening people-to-people exchange, as well as talks earlier this year between Thailand's Ministry of Culture and Chinese counterparts on deepening heritage cooperation — no public information to date confirms that the two sides signed a dedicated new cultural exchange agreement specifically in mid-September. Events such as this Great Wall concert instead reflect concrete people-to-people exchange activity carried out under existing cooperation frameworks, rather than the signing of a new agreement.
Several Thai media outlets linked the performance to the "soft power" strategy the Thai government has actively promoted in recent years, framing the orchestra's appearance at a world-class cultural landmark like the Great Wall as a concrete step in projecting Thai traditional and contemporary music onto the international stage to boost the country's cultural influence, and as a model other Thai art forms might follow in going global. Some Thai outlets went so far as to describe the performance as "writing a new chapter of history," since it marked the first time a Thai orchestra had staged an outdoor performance at a major Chinese cultural-heritage landmark, carrying both diplomatic symbolism and artistic significance.
Officials at the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing said high-profile cultural exchange events like this one help deepen mutual understanding between the two countries' peoples and provide a stronger foundation of public goodwill for deepening Thailand-China cooperation in trade and investment. Several Thai artists who performed at the concert said being able to showcase Thai music before the Great Wall, a World Heritage site, was a rare honor and a vivid illustration of the friendship between the two nations; some performers said in interviews that they hoped the event would harness the power of music to help more audiences come to know and love Thai musical culture.
Looking ahead, as the series of events marking the 51st anniversary of Thailand-China diplomatic relations continues, the two sides are expected to hold further people-to-people exchange projects later this year spanning art exhibitions, youth exchanges and traditional-craft experiences, further enriching the human and cultural dimension of the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership and continuing to build public goodwill underpinning cooperation in trade and investment — giving the phrase "Thai-Chinese family" an ever-richer real-world footnote as the two countries mark 51 years of diplomatic ties.
