Her parents make Burmese traditional sugar in the forest. This work can only be done for about seven months a year. For the rest of the year, her parents don’t have a stable job. Her brother works in car installation in Myanmar, but the salary is very low. Her younger sister is now studying in Grade 5 in their village. Thankfully, all of her family members are doing okay for now. Most of her relatives also live in the same village, and their village is still doing fine.

She left Myanmar in July 2024 to finish her Bachelor’s Degree at the International Buddhist College in Thailand. After completing her BA, she had to find a place to stay in Thailand. However, she didn’t have enough money to rent an apartment. Also, her parents could not support her much with daily needs like food, accommodation, and other expenses. She couldn’t return to Myanmar because it is no longer safe for her—she might be forced to become a soldier. The salary in Myanmar is also not enough to support her family. She really wants to continue her education, but the education system in Myanmar is not good enough.

To stay in Thailand, she had two options:

1. Get a scholarship.
2. Find a job.

For the first option, there weren’t many scholarships available for a Master’s degree in Thailand, and she wasn’t ready to start a Master’s program right away. She wanted to take time to listen to what her heart truly wanted, so she didn’t apply for any scholarships.

For the second option, she had a problem. She couldn’t speak Thai and didn’t know how to find a job. She also didn’t know anyone working in Thailand at the time.

Luckily, one of her seniors from the college contacted her and shared some good news. She could go to Pun Pun Organic Farm as a volunteer. What made her really happy was that her senior also offered to support the costs for her to stay at Pun Pun. At Pun Pun, they provided food and accommodation. She volunteered there for three months.

She is deeply thankful to her senior for giving her this opportunity. At Pun Pun, the people showed her a different lifestyle. They live sustainably. They build their own houses with earth, which costs much less than modern houses. While she used to dream of working abroad to earn money and build a luxury house, at Pun Pun she found people building simple, beautiful homes by themselves.

She also learned about how to grow healthy food instead of buying expensive organic food from supermarkets. The parents at Pun Pun homeschool their children, which made her think about new ways to raise her own children in the future. If she hadn’t come to Pun Pun, she would have believed that sending kids abroad for education was the only way. But now, she sees the value in staying close to her family and raising children in a loving, natural environment.

In the past, her goal was to earn a lot of money and build a luxury house for her parents. But now she asks herself, how many years would she need to work to build that house? Would she even have time to talk with her parents? Even if she could build it, would her parents truly be happy? She believes her parents would prefer that she spend time with them rather than live far away chasing money. At Pun Pun, she realized what her parents really want from her: love, time, and care.

Because of all these experiences, when Pi Ramphai wanted to start the Panya Forest project, she joined and became a part of it. She feels happy and satisfied to be involved with Panya Forest because she also wants to help others see that there is a simpler way to live. Panya Forest is a community that values people and nature more than money. She enjoys helping to grow the Panya community.

Panya will be a big family for people who are stressed or feel lonely. She is proud to use her energy to build this community. While many people are cutting down trees, she is happy to support Panya in protecting the forest. While many people are using chemicals for farming, she is happy to support Panya in using organic compost. While many are chasing money, she is happy to support Panya in living a sustainable life.

Currently, she helps with finance, cooking, cleaning, and gardening at Panya. She is truly grateful to the Panya family for giving her free food, accommodation, and a sense of belonging—like a second family in a foreign country. They even help her with visa expenses. Where else could she find such a place in another country?

She thanks the Panya family for everything they have shared with her.