ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, GMM Grammy has prospered into an entertainment powerhouse, with Thailand's top stars like Thongchai McIntyre, Asanee-Wasan, Christina Aquilar, Bie The Star and Golf-Mike as some of the names in its Hall of Fame.

GMM Grammy's chairman, Paiboon Damrongchaitham, however, has more to be proud of than successfully launching artists to stardom. For the last 10 years, the benevolent Ar Goo, who hardly puts himself in the spotlight, has been sending kids in need to school as a part of his philanthropic mission.

A decade of the Damrongchaitham Foundation has supported around 300 youths, resulting in 98 graduates, who are now able to spread their wings as teachers, architects, engineers, doctors and other professionals while many are continuing their education in various fields, even in nanotechnology and stem cell sciences overseas.

"We weren't sure of the outcome because in the beginning the foundation supported Mathayom 1 students, which meant that it would take 10 years for them to accomplish a university degree. Recruiting older kids, we saw our scholarship recipients completing university earlier than that, and as quality graduates, they proved to us that the financial aid given to them as more than worthwhile," says the entertainment maverick, who will become a sexagenarian next year.

Besides fulfilling business obligations, his 50s was devoted to establishing the foundation, which began with a 100 million baht funding out of the pocket of the kind-hearted media tycoon. All along, it has been a dream project crystallising in his mind ever since he was a spirited youngster living in bustling Yaowarat. Coming from a middle-class family, the young Paiboon fortunately had the chance to go to school whereas many underprivileged kids in Chinatown missed out on receiving a proper education.

One boy, he remembers well, used coal to draw a magnificent four-metre long dragon and other stunning masterpieces on the concrete ground. And if not an artist, that gifted boy could have been an inventor because he was always devising things like an optical device to create moving pictures.

"He scrolled the device for me to view his animation and I thought of him as a genius. Unfortunately he, along with many other kids in the community, didn't have the opportunity to go to school or study at a higher level. And it's a pity that this artist friend of mine probably ended up as a street vendor," Paiboon says.

Yaowarat's deprived youngsters, however, did get to learn some subjects at evening classes taught by better-off elders who attended schools. "Sometimes, I joined them for English and other lessons," GMM Grammy's chairman says, recalling old times when he was around 10. "The classes were held in a hot and greasy shophouse selling iron that had everyone sweating. Nevertheless, the tutors kindly transferred their knowledge to the attentive students. It was something that I will never forget and an inspiration for me to help others in getting an education."

Realising that supporting others was only possible when he's well-heeled, Paiboon pursued his own education and graduated with a BA in mass communications with honours from Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Communication Arts. After working as a copywriter and creative director for a notable advertising agency, he then founded his own publishing company, followed by establishing two other businesses before conceiving Grammy Entertainment (a venture with his good friends, Kittisak Chuang-a-roon, Boosaba Daorueng, and Santisuk Chongmankong) in 1983.

Upon seeing the Vacharaphol family building Thai Rath Witthaya schools across the country, Paiboon was very impressed with the project and that further spurred him to get the Damrongchaitham Foundation off the ground. Instead of constructing schools, the foundation would offer financial aid, covering both education and living expenses of youths in need.

"They don't need to be A students and we emphasise both EQ and IQ in grooming them to become the country's quality human resources. What we look out for in particular is kids with leadership qualities and under our support, they also learn to give while receiving and that in turn will result in an amplifying effect," he adds.

His take home message: "mai chai khae hai tor dai, tae yark hai tor dee duai" ("not only to grow up, but to grow up to become a good person") requires the scholarship students to pursue more than classroom learning and they further develop themselves by participating in the foundation's leadership camps and special activities. For instance, each year they have to come up with social projects to be implemented in their communities of which in 2008 "My Community and Global Warming" is one theme of the Thinking-Doing project to get them thinking, planning, implementing, leading and enlisting others.

One of the 2008 Damrongchaitham scholarship recipients, Nuntaporn Maoon, or Nong Bew is very grateful for the financial aid, which pays for her schooling at Piriyalai School as well as the 1,200 baht per month rent of a small room where she lives alone in Muang Phrae. The 14-year-old orphan, who has an older sister doing an undergraduate degree in Bangkok, says, "I can't find the right words to say to Khun Paiboon yet except to thank him for giving me an opportunity to continue with my schooling and I will study hard to be able to stand on my two feet and further make a contribution to society."

The lively Mathayom 4 student with an average grade of 3.96 wants to become an engineer or a physician, but is not decided about the future yet. Dr Aungkana Narkubon, 27, on the other hand, is firmly grounded in being a general practitioner at Lang Suan Hospital in Chumpon and totally committed to helping poor patients in her hometown as well as developing the community.

The southerner was selected as one of the first scholarship students back in 1999, which made her dream of studying medicine come true. "It's not only about handing out scholarships, the foundation has a well-thought out development programme for its recipients. It also takes good care of us, nurturing its 'seedlings' to grow up to have compassion and to become givers. And Khun Paiboon, who's like a father to all of us, is my role model in being a giver."

Speaking to new graduates at one celebration party that the foundation holds each year, the devoted doctor reminded them, "Remember how blessed we were to have been selected as scholarship students, and today there's overwhelming happiness to be a graduate, but you will be even happier when you are able to help others."

These words verified that compassion cultivates compassion, and what the Damrongchaitham Foundation's founder has left to say to his scholarship students: "Seeing them graduate, I have the same feeling of pride as if my own children had graduated. And I always tell my four children that they have 300 other siblings in our big family."

For more information about the foundation and scholarships, call 02-669-9611/17, or visit http://www.damrongchaitham.com.