Kindergarten music teacher and former first runner-up in The Voice Thailand singing contest, Tachaya "Keng" Patumwan, has captured 14 gold medals and five trophy awards at the 20th Annual World Championships of the Performing Arts (WCOPA), held at Long Beach, California, from July 7 to 17.

The young talent has earned rave reviews after a video showing him singing and playing the Thai classical instrument the zither in the competition, known as the "Olympics of the Performing Arts", circulated online. Many people said Tachaya managed to cleverly blend the traditional sound with a bold style of playing and an unusual costume.

A team of 25 Thai contestants, both junior and senior levels, participated in the event.The team took the Best National Costume awrad. Pathnitharn "Pitch" Sreeiams also won the Best National Director award.

This year, more than 2,000 performing artists from 61 countries took part.

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