the three composers. After his 1979 departure for the United States, the group evolved into other fusion ensembles, the most notable being Bruce Gaston's Fong Naam ensemble. On his return to Thailand, Somtow founded, in addition to Bangkok Opera, the Siam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Siam Sinfonietta, a youth symphony orchestra. He also founded the Orpheus Choir of Bangkok, traveling all over Thailand and performing many of Somtow Sucharitkul's pieces. Television/animation Somtow has written episodes of the animated television series Dinosaucers, C.O.P.S., and Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. SEA Award speech When Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka withdrew as keynote speaker at the 2006 S.E.A. Write Awards ceremony in protest of the ouster of the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra, Somtow, a critic of Thaksin, replaced Soyinka as keynote speaker. In his speech, Somtow berated Soyinka for boycotting the awards and claimed that in 50 years, he had never felt more free. Soon afterward, Somtow's opera Ayodhya was censored by state officials under the junta, who claimed that the on-stage death of the demon-king, Thotsakan, would constitute a "bad omen" for the military junta. Somtow agreed to modify the scene and was forced to sign a document giving officials the right to "immediately shut down the opera in mid-performance if, in their sole opinion, a breach of 'tradition' occurs." Somtow has been critical of all sides in the political disputes following the 2006 Thailand coup. Although he was a critic of the populist government of Thaksin, Somtow stated that, "The righteous indignation of Thaksin's opposition, however, went beyond the pale when they started to say that the poor shouldn't vote because they're too stupid." Somtow praised a speech by Democrat Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva for being, "so balanced, so reasonable, so intelligent, and so well thought through,..." Awards and honors Somtow won the World Fantasy Award for best novella in 2002 for The Bird Catcher, and has been nominated four other times. He has won the International Horror Guild Award, the John W. Campbell Award in 1981, the Locus Award for Best First Novel (1982, for Starship & Haiku), the HOMer Award, the American Horror Award and numerous other awards. He has been nominated for two Hugos and five Bram Stoker Awards. In 2008, he became one of the first recipients of the newly created Silpathorn Kittikhun Award, awarded by Thailand's Culture Ministry. The Silpathorn Kittikhun Award has been viewed