Mueng‘s parents migrated from a small village in Shan State of Myanmar. They moved to Thailand in search of a better life. In their home village, their only source of income was farming, which, as well as the economic instability caused by decades of civil war, left them little opportunity or scope to improve their life. They still have relatives living in Myanmar, however, they never visited as the cost of a return trip is too high. Mueng and his parents’ legal status in Thailand is as migrant workers, which caused them to have limited rights and freedoms, including only being able to work in menial, low-paying jobs. His mother worked as an assistant in a local stationary shop and his dad was a day laborer in the construction site. Their combined income was about 12,000 Baht ($350) per month, enough to cover their basic day-to-day needs. They were able to afford the costs of his education but didn’t make enough to cover the full costs of sending him to the university.
Mueng attended Kwah Dao’s After-School Program when he was a child, as he became older he worked every evening in the local tourist market on a stall selling clothes, saving the money to put towards his university costs. Mueng wanted to be a teacher. He has always wanted to teach, and talking to him you can tell that he has a real respect for the profession – he looks up to the teachers at his school and is grateful for the knowledge that he has gained from them. Equally, he sees teaching as a stable form of employment with which he should be able to find work and that he will be able to rely for his future. His favorite subjects were computing and social studies so after he received a scholarship from Kwah Dao, he applied for a Bachelor of Education in Computing at Lampang Rajabhat University. Mueng chose to study at Rajabhat University as he says it is a well-respected institution for teaching education.
He believed that his prospects of success in his studies were down to his own determination and passion, and as this was what he really wanted to do he studied hard and did everything he could chasing his dreams. Despite not being the most naturally academic of students he studied diligently to maintain his GPA. His dream after graduation is to work as a teacher so that he can pass on what he has learned to others. After several years of dedication, he completed his B.A. in Education from Lampang Rajabhat University and acquired Thai citizenship a year after that. Making it eligible to become a teacher in the future.