Kanjana Saelim

Age: 22
School and Year: Chiang Mai University, Senior
Major: Occupational Therapy
Hometown: Phayou
Ambition: To own a restaurant or be an air hostess
Nickname: Tuktah

Kanjana Saelim is in her fourth year at Chiang Mai University, where she studies occupational therapy. Her workload in her fourth year consists of a core class, which takes up most of her time, and her English class, which is required for all students in her major. In addition to her studies, she sells cosmetics to earn some extra money. Kanjana is a hard working student.

Kanjana comes from Phayou, a large town located about 4 hours to the east of Chiang Mai. The main industry there is farming, and it is also the location of a big lake named Kwan Phayou. Her family lives in a small village just outside of town. "My town is quiet, and clean, difficult for a farang, I think," says Kanjana. "It doesn’t have many restaurants or hotels, muang lek lek [a small town]."

Her nickname, Tuktah, means "doll" in Thai. Kanjana has two sisters, both of whom are married. Her parents are both retired, but her father used to run a store in Phayou. "He sold many things, meat, rice, knives, rings… many things."

Kanjana is proud of her record as a student, and she works very hard. She is one of the best students in her occupational therapy core class, and she also tried very hard in English. But English was not easy for her. "In my occupational therapy class, I got the highest mark of any student, but in English, I didn’t do as well," she says.

Kanjana was in my English for Science and Technology Students class. This is a required class for many students, and it involves reading scientific stories (usually from a newspaper) in English, making notes, and identifying topics and supporting arguments, tasks which are quite difficult for even the best students. Each student in this class must also prepare a research paper, and give an oral report. Many students are very intimidated by the oral report, because they feel insecure about speaking English.

Kanjana actually did fairly well on her oral presentation, receiving one of the better marks in the class. Overall, she got a satisfactory grade in the course. (Grades in most English classes, including this one, are controlled by the department, and usually based on the outcome of exams.) She participated in class activities a lot, wrote on the board many times, and showed a lot of leadership qualities.

"I used to want to be an air hostess," Kanjana says. "The salary is a lot of money, and I want to work with many people and tell them about Thailand, but my English is a big problem [for this job]."

Kanjana showed me the manual that she works from for her core class in occupational therapy. The text was in Thai, but I looked at the illustrations, which showed different ways to bind fingers and hands, and how to make splints. I asked her if she could do these things, and she said she could. She demonstrated by using me as a model, showing how she would set my forearm and wrist into a splint. I was impressed by her confidence and her professional attitude.

But Kanjana has another dream besides just being a physical therapist. "I want to have restaurant, Thai food, a small shop," she says. "My mother and my father always tell me I can cook, and at home, everyone wants to eat my food." The restaurant she imagines would be in the typical Thai style. "My house would have two floors; on the street floor I would cook food, and on the second floor would be my home. Ran suey suey, my restaurant would be very beautiful."

I asked Kanjana what she would like to tell people about Thailand. She replied, "Thailand is smile-land. If you have a problem, if you want some help, everybody in Thailand will say, ‘May I help you?’"

Kanjana is a happy person. She likes to sing a song when she’s strolling across the campus, and through the problems in life, she always manages to look for the positive. Her lack of mastery of English does not dampen her enthusiasm for carrying on a conversation, and she is very outgoing. She left me with this thought about Thailand and Thai people.

"If you smile for khon Thai [Thai people], khon Thai smile for you. And khon Thai have good culture, too." She indicated Thai dancing with her hands, and then added, "And Thailand has this, too," and put her hands together in a wai, a gesture of respect and good manners. "In Thailand, we have food aloi [delicious], and khon Thai are jai dii, very kind."

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