A Fund Isaan Alumni part twenty six: King

In 2014 Fund Isaan granted King a scholarship. King was 18 years old. He lived in Samut village not very far from our offices. King had just finished his high school at Prasat Industrial and Community Education College, where he studied Electronics.

King wanted to continue another two years to obtain a high certificate which would increase his opportunities for a good job substantially. Without the scholarship this would not have been possible for King, his financial background simply did not allow it. King felt very honored to have been selected by Fund Isaan.

King lived with his mother and his three siblings in a small wooden house. After a massive argument between King’s father and his mother, King’s father left his family and became a Buddhist monk. He left to retreat at a temple in Ubon Ratchathani province where he studied and practiced Dharmma. His father avoided seeing him and his mother.

To survive King’s mother grew many kinds of vegetables in her garden. She sold them and earned about 100 baht per day. However, that was not even enough for their meals during the day. King’s older sister who was studying Accounting in Buriram province and a younger sister who was in high school. The entire family was really struggling to survive.

King used his scholarship to pay for his tuition fee and uniform. He also saved some money to pay for his lunch at school.

During school period, King always paid attention to his study. His teachers knew about his difficult situation at home so whenever possible they offered him some jobs to do after school, so he could make a few extra baht. He repaired air conditioning units and maintained electronic wiring in his school.

In 2014 he received the best score for the V-NET test (A test to measure the basic knowledge of vocational students). King was not only an excellent student; he always joined activities and competitions at his school and helped organize events in his village. Where possible he offered his help to poor villagers. He repaired their ventilators, tv’s and radio’s for free.

However, King was okay with his brother’s decision. He was enjoying school because of his scholarship. He was willing to work after school to help support his family. The return of his father had made things a little improve; his father grew Eucalyptus trees and sold the woods to make ends meet. Keng felt happy and moved up to his final year at the college.

In his last semester, before graduation, King performed his internship as a repairman at ‘Laser Electricity Company’, an electrical wiring and lighting factory in Ayutthaya province. He earned about 300 baht per day during his internship. He loved his work; it was exactly what he was looking for. He saved up some money and returned home to prepare for his final project before graduation.

A few months later, King graduated with a degree and high certificate in Electronics at Prasat Industrial and Community Education College with a grade of 3.46 (86%).

King is currently working at Han Un Fon Ting Company, a car part company as an electronics repairman. He works from Monday to Friday and does overtime during weekends. He is very happy with is salary and job content.

King and his family are doing well. He’s looking forward to what the future may bring.

King and his family would like to thank 3 AMB for supporting King and helping him to come this far. His future is looking very bright!