Hom is 16 and has just moved to a vocational school in Chiang Mai to study Tourism and Hotel Management. It is fairly common in Thailand to move into vocational study after Grade 9 and Hom feels that the skills and training she would gain from this course would greatly increase her chances of finding decent employment in the future . There are no vocational schools in Pai so she doesn’t have that option here.
She has been attending our After School Program for 5 years and is one of our standout students. She’s quiet and attentive, very polite, thoughtful and kind. She has put a lot of thought into what she wants to study and has been talking to Kwah Dao staff about it for many months. She currently lives with her mum and dad, and has a little sister who is about 6 months. Her dad is a day labourer and the only one working in the family so their income is very low.