Thai contemporary dancer and choreographer Pichet Klunchun has won the 2026 Fukuoka Prize (36th edition) in the Arts and Culture category, becoming the 11th Thai recipient of the award and the fourth in this category.

The Royal Thai Consulate-General in Fukuoka, Japan, highlighted this achievement, noting that Pichet follows three other Thai recipients of the Arts and Culture Prize: Thawan Duchanee (2011), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2013), and Prabda Yoon (2021).

Pichet began training in khon, traditional Thai masked dance, at the age of 16, with Chaiyot Kummanee, a senior khon instructor in the Fine Arts Department. He continued his study in the art form and earned a bachelor’s degree in Dance from the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts at Chulalongkorn University. He is now a freelance dancer and choreographer and founded Pichet Klunchun Dance Company.

The Fukuoka Prize was established by the city of Fukuoka in 1990 to honor individuals and organizations in Asia whose outstanding work contributes to promoting the values and cultures of Asia. The prize is presented annually in three categories: the Grand Prize, Academic Prize, and Arts and Culture Prize.

At this year’s award ceremony, Her Imperial Highness Crown Princess Akishino of Japan, wife of Prince Fumihito, Crown Prince of Japan, attended the event as a witness to the ceremony.