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Mayuree Ponngam

"Sawasdee kha. I'm Mayuree Ponngam and I love clothing. I love to design it and then to make it real. The advantage of this work is that a woman can do it by herself.

"I was born in northern Thailand and grew up with love only from my mother, because my parents separated when I was one year old. At that time my mother was just 20. I have no brothers and sisters, so my family is only mother and me.

"My mother is a working woman. She has wide vision and loves to study. After I finished primary school, like others born in rural areas, I wanted to stop studying and leave home to find a job in the city. And it was my mother who said no, and took me with a high school application on the last day they received them. I feel really thankful to her because if she hadn't done that, I wouldn't have any knowledge. I might have married young and spent my life in a day to day routine without the vision I now have. I love my mother very much and I don't want her to worry about me. So, I will always think before doing something in life in order to not cause her any problems.

"School not only gave me the lessons in the books, but also gave me friends and social experience. At that time, I felt excited when I did something different from the rules, but I committed no serious mistakes. I remember a day that five friends and I skipped school and went to Bangkok in school uniform. It was so exciting because we were afraid that our parents and teachers would know, but no one ever found out!

"After graduation, I worked for two or three companies. In 2003, I decided to start my own venture. I didn't want to spend all of my life as an employee. I think that working for someone else cannot give security in life. We can lose our job at anytime and must depend on our employer. I thought that I should venture out while I was still young and had the energy to run my own venture. I still have time to find the problems and discover the solutions.

"I love clothes, especially those of cotton. They are simple but beautiful. This work can be done by only one woman, so I think that it is suitable for my lifestyle. I love to design and I also love to follow fashion by looking at magazines and adapting what I see to my own my style.

"I also design wood carvings and small furniture. I work together with local artisans who are highly skilled but don't have many design ideas. In this way, we all help each other.

"I enjoy working -- I don't have any workers to help me, but I have quite a few friends who will always come around anytime I need help and support. I try to work very hard. Even when I feel down sometimes, I never give up. I believe that we will always find a way."

Mayuree Ponngam's life story is one of success, thanks to her mother's support. They come from an area where women tend to go into prostitution for economic reasons – they may earn enough to feed their family for a year, as opposed to other businesses. Mayuree and her mother fought all odds and have become established as designers, another example of how Northern Thai women are hard working, making up over half of the workforce in trade and marketing.