BANGKOK – More than 50 Thai artists performed at a charity concert in Bangkok on Saturday to raise funds for earthquake victims in Japan and Ecuador.

The Sing for Friends event was organized by actor Chanon Rikulsurakan, who recently spent about a month filming a movie in quake-hit Kumamoto Prefecture.

“I decided to hold the charity concert to help people in Kumamoto as soon as I heard about the disaster,” said Chanon, who is also acting as cultural ambassador for the city of Kumamoto. “I have so many good memories in Kumamoto and I hope to encourage everyone there to keep on fighting. Thai people are supporting you.”

The event drew a crowd of several hundred people. The proceeds will be donated to the Kumamoto Prefectural Government and to a U.N. agency assisting with relief efforts in Ecuador.

Chanon plays the male protagonist in the Thai-Japanese production “Hand in the Glove,” a romantic comedy filmed in Kumamoto that hit theaters in Thailand last November.