“This house is more than something I’m proud of, it’s beyond my wildest dreams. I’ve been saving money ever since I got the chance to play in my first lakorn. Four years seemed to have passed by really quickly.”
From Papayon Bunterng, June 2005 - Translated by Noiki 2005 (not a word for word translation)
These are the first words that Yui Jiranan Manojem told us before starting the tour of house that came from all her hard work. Before going inside, Yui takes us to see the front yard that she designed herself. Yui also chose the designs for the interior of the house.
“I like houses that are decorated in a country fashion. But since there are a lot of older people living in my house, I can’t decorate it the way I want too much. So I just picked something that’s very simple and easy on the eyes. I like nature so the furniture in the house is mostly of made of wood. The curtains and wallpaper are a goldish yellow color. The bottom floor has a lot of soft colored wood while my bedroom has oak and darker shades so that it’s different from the rest of the house.”
“My grandfather wanted to grow vegetables in the front yard, but I didn’t want him to get tired so me and my uncle decided to do it ourselves. I picked out all of the trees that are in the yard. I actually wanted a big tree because of the nice shade it gives off but I couldn’t because there are ordinances on the land. This is my favorite part of the house and when I have free time I usually stay out here till 9 or 10 pm before going back inside. Sometimes we’ll have a small family party with plenty of food and my nieces and nephews will play music and start dancing. It’s a lot of fun.”
“This is the reason that made me become a person who’s attached to her home. I have more than 10 people I love living with me. I have the responsibility of the head of household; making sure that everyone is happy. And all this is what makes me happy.”
“Would you believe that when I first moved into this house, I would always walk around it everyday. I’ve never had anything like this before. One day I was sitting in my room alone and I looked at everything around me and started to cry because I was so excited that I finally made my dream come true. I made everyone in the house, my mom, grandmother, grandfather, sister, aunt, nieces and nephews experience happiness. Because of that, no matter how hard I work or how I tired I become, whenever I come home it’s a place that makes me feel safe, warm and happy to the point that I forget I’m tired.”
“My dream isn’t just this house though. In the future, I want to of buy 2-3 acres of land to build houses on so that everyone can live together. What I’m thinking of is approximately 6 houses. 1 for me and my mother, one each for my 2 aunts, one each for my 2 sisters, and 1 house in between to act as a club for the members in the family to eat and sing karaoke. And that is my greatest dream. I don’t know how long until this dream is accomplished.”