COVER STORY

Inspirational Thais look back at the past decade

We ask inspirational Thais from different walks of life to look back at the decade gone by — Jan 1, 2010 to Dec 31, 2019.

AS A-KNOCKING, 2020 COMES GURU ASKED INSPIRING THAIS WHAT HAS MEANT THE MOST TO THEM IN THE PAST DECADE.

Thanayut “Book” Na Ayutthaya

An 18-year-old rapper known as Elevenfinger and the artist behind the well-known song Klong Toey, My City.

“The important lesson that I have learned is that whatever happens, be it good or bad, has value to me. I was born in a slum. My parents did not want me, so my grandma raised me. She told me that when she took me in, my body looked rotten, most likely due to the fact that my mother was a drug addict when she was pregnant with me.

We were poor. We struggled. From a very young age, I had to find ways to make money, be it working odd jobs or collecting and selling things that people would discard. If I wanted toys to play with, sometimes I would resort to stealing them.

Growing up this way was difficult. However, as I matured, I came to realise that the hardships taught me valuable lessons and moulded my character. As I came of age, I tried to reconnect with my mother, but she simply drove me away with vile words, saying that I was merely a kid she had found in the trash and not her child. But I do not resent her. I think she spoke that way to keep me away from the terrible life that she still lives.

I had my own addiction. Games. I used to hang out at gaming shops all day. But this proved beneficial to me, in a roundabout sort of way. I was shown a rap video in a game shop one day and that captivated me. This style of poetry really connected with me and set me on the path that I follow today. As soon as I discovered rap, I began to skip lunch and utilise the money to pay for internet browsing at gaming shops so as to watch rap videos and hone my own rapping ability. Now I write my own music. My first song was Klong Toey,

My City and it got people’s attention. I began to be known to many as “Elevenfinger”. Ironically, I used to be bullied when I was younger due to a growth I have, which resembles another finger.

I got the chance to write a song called

Equality for the Future Forward Party, which became a big hit. I even gave a Tedx talk after that.

Everything that happened impressed upon me that one should not focus on what he/she lacks, but instead be proud of what one has. That is the key to achieving dreams. I used my shower head as a microphone and my squalid environment as a source of strength. I created my own destiny.”

Supattharachai Chuetamasorn

Founder of Zero Factory, a zero waste project that raises awareness about environmental issues, recycling and composting culture.

“I am the kind of person that would do things in order to learn. Regardless of the outcome of what I decide to do, I always learn a great deal. I always have new questions occurring in my mind and they lead me to do things in order to figure out the answers. Funnily enough, often times, the question itself, in a way, turns out to be the answer. When this happens, I know myself a little bit better. During the past decade, it felt like the world was moving so fast. My questions kept changing and I suppose who I am will always keep changing, too. But the most important time is now. Things that are happening now are my life, not what has happened in the past. I never wish to change anything from the past as my actions then were what I considered to be the most appropriate at that time. I’m still trying to stay in the present and hope to remember all the good and bad experiences that I might have in the next decade, so as to look back on them in 10 years’ time again.”