Once my father passed away, everything changed. When a crisis happens you find out who your true friends are.

I never realized how tiring it was being a spokesman. Basically you have to know everything, and a human cannot know everything.

It’s a balance between saying what you can say, saying what you should say and saying what they want you to say.

This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is an experience for anyone who is interested in politics or in sharpening their mind.

You see the same things happening over and over again, in international news, local news and so forth. Sometimes we think, living in our little world, that our problems are huge. But look at other people; they have the same problems. If you look closely, the ways of solving problems are basically the same everywhere.

If you have an understanding of the world and its cultures, it makes you a better person.

When Khun Aphisit asked me to join, on one hand I was really happy, but on the other I was reluctant, wondering if I was financially ready, and what would happen if I lost. But I got to a point where I thought, if I’m not ready now, when will I be ready? The opportunity is now.

If you have an opportunity to do something and you know you can do it, you should. Otherwise you will live in regret, and living in regret is much worse than dying doing it.

The best thing a person can have is not money—it’s information.

I’m not a person who lives and dies by the news. When I come home in the evening, I’d rather listen to music.

Whether you’re a spokesman or an international chief, the most important thing is to have fun; otherwise it will become tedious.

I admire Khun Aphisit. He’s the person that pulled me into the politics. For a man to express respect and admiration for another man, it’s not easy.

Politics started to become more important to me in the time of Black May. Before that I just didn’t care. After the protest in the street, the shootings and the cover up, I realized democracy is not something you just take for granted anymore. It’s something you have to cherish.

At the age of 21, I was still young enough to be idealistic and old enough to have my own opinion. I saw people on the street and thought: They don’t have to be here. They could be at home on the sofa watching Ching Roy Ching Lan. But they’re there because they love this country; they love democracy. So I started to feel: What am I doing and why am I doing nothing?

I have nothing to give you except my loyalty, I always tell Khun Aphisit on his birthday. I give that to him wholeheartedly. It sounds gay, but it’s not.

People say you should prepare to be a politician by studying political science. But I know many political scientists who couldn’t be politicians. Political science tells you what you should do; being a politician is what it really is.

I read a quote from President Richard Nixon that helps me understand a lot of things. It says that, to be a leader in this world, you have to see things as they are, not as you want them to be.

Is this the first contest you’ve participated in?
No, I’ve sent my works to many competitions—product, graphic, logo design contests plus others. But I had never won.

Were you hoping to win this prize?
Of course. I hope to win every contest. I try to do my best every time.

Are you a prize hunter?
Usually it’s a part of the course I’m studying. Teachers assign us projects and we can send the works we’ve done to contests, too. When I saw my friends winning awards, I felt a push to work harder to be like them. It allows us to practice, doing a real job. If we win a prize, at least we have more credibility and it’s a chance to meet professional people in the design field. It’s also a guarantee that we can work when we send portfolios out applying for a job.

Why did you design it the way you did?
I thought about it for a while and realized that buying a wild animal for a pet is just short-term happiness. It’s true that people have the right to raise any pet they want, but thinking on behalf of the animals, they aren’t used to city life. Everyone wants to stay in one’s own home—wild animals, too. It might be cute when it is a baby, but when it grows, it might not be as cute as before. When it loses its cuteness or grows too fierce to be controlled, the owners usually leave it in a temple or something. I think we shouldn’t play with their lives like we play with a toy. It’s not a doll; it’s a life.

Did you spend a long time working on this piece?
In practice, it was just one night, but I spent a long time coming up with the concept and wording.

Why do you think your work was chosen?
I think the angle I took was quite simple, but it gets to the point and is direct. The picture is something unusual for this kind of campaign, too. It’s fresh.

I was born in a social service family: My uncle and brother are soldiers, my father is a police officer and my mother is a teacher. They couldn’t accept that I’m not a man.

I couldn’t believe it the first time I won. At that time I had no hair—I was undergoing military training. The prize was B10,000, but half of it went to my mentor. I was very proud that I could buy stuff I wanted with my own money.

I have had pressure put on me since I was little, but I can’t change. I wanted to, but I cannot. My father punished me a lot for playing like a girl.

The first time I saw Miss Tiffany, I never thought I would be on that stage. I was on the Lopburi volleyball team then, and I was obsessed with volleyball.

I wasn’t that interested in beauty contests, but I couldn’t resist my friends. They saw my potential.

I don’t like winning beauty pageants because I’m vain but because it’s something I earn.

The beauty pageant lifestyle isn’t as glamorous as I thought. It’s competitive. The mentors of other candidates have contested the results when I won or tried to prevent me from entering contests.

I’ve learned to wear a mask. It’s something one has to do sometimes in ladyboy society.

I started with the provincial contests, without my father knowing.

I’ve gotten new friends and experiences through beauty pageants. I see people’s kindness too.

There are times when help comes from my competitors. It impressed me when one of my heels got stuck in my dress and another candidate pulled it out for me.

The contests enlarge my vision. I’m studying hospitality and tourism so I want to learn more about good things in Thailand. Because of these contests I’ve gotten to travel to different provinces, go sightseeing and learn more about the local culture.

I wanted to rise to my potential, so I thought I should try a big stage like Miss Tiffany.

My parents now accept me as I am. They used to refuse to acknowledge that I was gay, but now they wholeheartedly call me their daughter. That’s what’s made me happiest.

People can dislike me or look down on me—I don’t care. My family understands me—that’s enough.

I dream of being a guide because that’s what I’m studying. I know I can get along with people, and I love getting to know new faces.

People think beauty queens are dumb, but they’re wrong. All 10 finalists from Miss Tiffany are intelligent. They all gave good answers to the questions.

I believe that ladyboys nowadays are brainy: They can do all kinds of jobs. The problem is Thailand doesn’t offer much for ladyboys in terms of careers, so they’re limited to beauty business jobs like make-up artist, showgirl or costume designer.

In Thailand, many people still have a negative attitude toward gays. But gays are the same as straight men and women—some are good and some are bad.

The Sincharoen Brothers are everywhere these days. When they’re not busy with UBC’s Sincharoen Choern Kaek and 102.5 FM One’s Sincharoen Breakfast Show, they’re appearing in the flesh at events all around Bangkok. In fact, Bom Sutthisak, Ble Theerayuth and Boy Thananchai are rarely seen apart. The trio released two albums before founding Independent Artists, a group of musicians who do singing and dancing street performances. Bom and Boy take the lead as we chat up these funny, friendly brothers; the quieter Ble mostly nods and plays along on the guitar.

Boy: The core of our lives, since childhood, has been music. Every day we work with music, and it introduces us to new faces and new jobs all the time.

Bom: Business is not in our nature at all. We manage this business of ours in a chao baan way—get money, spend some and keep some.

Boy: Many people thought we had more opportunity because we were well-to-do, but we aren’t. After the unsuccessful second album, we didn’t have much money.

Bom: A work should begin naturally, with what you have, with things around yourself. Not with the thought of how to make the most famous or the most unique TV show.

Boy: We dare to do things we believe in knowing that if we crash and burn we’ll still have our mom and dad and a home to come back to.

Boy: Our nature is when one of us does something, the other two will also join. Bom began playing guitar, and Ble and me soon followed.

Bom: We once got a chance to play in Brunei, and people there liked us so they created a Brunei band with us as the inspiration. Now it’s a successful band that wears similar outfits to us and plays the same instruments.

Boy: Once when we were flying to Loei, we played on the plane. When we landed, the passengers and crew stood up and clapped. That’s something I won’t forget.

Bom: When the music industry was in decline, when many people were making so-called mass-market music—we started Independent Artists.

Bom: We wanted to entertain Thailand and to encourage people to create good works once more, by showing them what music is all about.

Ble: Independent Artists allowed us to do what we wanted, to be daring, to have fun and to try what we had never tried. I had to learn to play the drums and saxophone, and Boy started doing percussion. It made our music more fun.

Bom: We were on CNN, international and local magazines and Thai TV.

Boy: When we were in the group, some people invited to us to do albums with their labels, but we would have been going back to the same system—music label, promotion, marketing—all the same process.

Bom: Now we are doing a new album on our own, so we can focus on our own purpose and goals and not have to go on campus tours again, playing for elementary school kids.

Bom: Whenever we have a guest in our living room, we always have fun talking, and we thought other people might have fun watching it. That idea became Sincharoen Choern Kaek.

Bom: We did everything from scratch, shooting in our living room. We did the lighting, the production, everything, from what we had.

Bom: Wouldn’t it be fun to see Abhisit on TV, singing and chatting about nothing political at all? We had him on, but because of his image, the tape couldn’t be broadcast.

Ble: Our duty is to present what we want, invite the guests we like. Thailand needs daring people who can guide it in a good way.

The ex-senator whose well-known slogan is “One Husband, One Wife” has regularly appeared in local newspapers, criticizing songs like “Khon Leaw Tii Rak Teur”, music videos like “Doom Doom” and pocket books like Ying: Sex. Her straightforward, conservative critiques again and again become the talk of the town. She never ceases promoting monogamy and campaigning against pre-marital sex and sex in the media, even though she gets a lot of negative feedback. Apart from making public appearances, she also is Chairman of the Happy Family Association and president of HIV Patient Help Centers, which have 851 branches in 74 provinces.

The fact that the rate of HIV infection in teenagers is a lot more than in the other age groups concerns me. Youngsters these days have sex earlier than in our generation. And many of them don’t use condoms.

I’m worried about these kids. If they are all infected with HIV or addicted to drugs, the country will lack quality people. That’s why I campaign for women to preserve their virginity and for people to have a social conscience, especially those in the media.

The media is very influential to the young ones. They consume news and entertainment all day long, in and out of the home. A picture we see lives on our mind, lasting longer than what we hear, smell or taste. Research shows that 87% of what we perceive influences changes in us.

We are making wrong things normal. Violence, rape, murder and nudity are seen in newspapers and on TV every day. Some teenagers like to say it’s fine to dress sexy because actresses on TV do so. In newspapers or magazines, they answer sex questions boldly.

We are becoming a society addicted to sex. Fathers have sex with daughters, grandpas with granddaughters, teachers with students and everything ends up on the front page.

That famous singer can’t say the DNA test proves that he’s not the father. The fact that he had sex with such a young girl shows he has no morals or virtue.

I’m going to write a letter of congratulations to James Ruengsak. He appropriately said that he has a girlfriend but he will set an example for teenagers by not hugging or kissing in public. He said an actor or singer could be counted as a teacher. Kids see them, remember what they do and imitate.

Look at Laos singer, Alexandra Boonchuay—she’s very lovely, always wearing traditional dress. Do we have such a nice example in Thailand? Laos’ calendars are praiseworthy. No nudity in them.

In Thailand, just to sell alcohol, they spend millions to hire a model, as if the quality of their product can’t sell itself.

Sometimes, some families encourage their sons in the wrong way. If you are a man, you can’t touch a broom. Housework is women’s work. When that son grows up, they bring him to a whorehouse. Why train your child like that?

Some people say I work on monogamy because my husband has a mia noi, or I have a mental problem. There’re a lot of people who don’t like me. But I don’t care; I know what I’m doing.

Even when being threatened, I don’t feel afraid. We live once and we die once. I had some threatening letters, saying rude words, asking to have sex with me. Karma will return to them. I don’t have to do anything. One day they will regret it.

I never mean bad things to anybody. I just try to contribute to society.

I want to see women prove themselves with their brains, not their flesh.

I never blame women. Whether they are mia luang or mia noi, once they belong to a man, they will love him with all their heart.

Was this your first time in the competition?
No, it’s my second. Last year I didn’t even pass the first round.

Why do you think you failed in last year’s contest?
Because I didn’t truly know what “flair” was. I was a bit upset, but it was my own fault for not studying enough. I did more homework this time. I prepared for two months, paying more attention to the soundtrack and on pouring drinks and juggling bottles.

Why do you think you won this time?
Calmness, maybe. I was calmer in the performance than the others. Personality, too.

What are the cocktails you made in the contest?
Bacardi Gossip and Barcadi Whisper. They are scented and sweet and sour—good for the ladies.

Is it different, making cocktails in Amanpuri and in Bangkok?
Of course. Amanpuri is a simple, quiet resort for businessmen who don’t want hustle and bustle. It’s more serene, so cocktails are mostly frozen ones. Bangkok cocktails should be more colorful.

Have you ever been to Italy? How do you feel about going there?
Never. I am very excited to go to the international stage. I have no pressure. I will go to gain more experience and learn new things so I can come back to improve
my own skill.

How did you prepare for the international competition?
I needed to prepare a lot more. There, I know nobody so no one can help me. I will have to do everything myself.

What is your career goal?
It may be opening a bartending school and teaching a new generation of bartenders. I have experience, knowledge and skill, so I want to pass on all my knowledge.

Why do you think cocktails aren’t very popular among Thai people?
I think they don’t understand what a cocktail is. It’s not just soda, whisky and bottoms up! It’s an art. It’s not just drinking to get drunk. Drinking cocktails, you have to enjoy the smell and the feel of it, in a romantic way.

We know it’s supposedly the reign of Dae Jung Guem, Song Kae-kyo and Mr. washboard stomach himself, Rain. But we just have “a feeling”—maybe from those Chivas parties (or drinking too much Chivas)—that the popularity of Japanese culture may be on the rise again. Even if this is not the case, Japan has never ceased to be a source of fascination and inspiration.

After all, the Korean wave has a short history when compared with our love of things from the Land of the Rising Sun—and we don’t see kimji replacing sushi or ramen on our lists of favorite foods anytime soon. Though we don’t exactly have fond memories of the entire time, Thai-Japan relations are 600 years old. Now there are an estimated 90,000 Japanese living in Bangkok, one of the largest concentrations of Japanese outside of Nihon.

And it’s not just flyovers we have the Japanese to thank for. We like their style: fashion, music, art, food and all the cute stuff that they make. It may not be the flavor of the day, but there are still many hardcore fans of Japanese culture here, both young and adult.

Only those whip-smart trendwatchers can truly say when the next Japanese wave will come, but when it does, you’ll want to be ready.

Ready to Play?

Though most of us tend to focus more on Paris or Milan, J-fashion continues to be popular in Bangkok. It’s just that we’ve adopted and adapted so much from Tokyo that we consider it ours. But that’s the mainstream.

One of the hottest—and maybe weirdest—trends for Thais (but not Japanese expats) is cosplay. Short for “costume play” and pronounced “kosupure” by Nihon-jin, the cosplay look is mostly inspired by comics but sometimes also by movies, video games and music. Manga (comics) fanatics, for example, will dress head to toe exactly like their favorite character, from studly anime robot Gundam to doe-eyed Sailor Moon. A hugely popular look is “gothic Lolita,” a mixture of French maid, Alice in Wonderland and Victorian doll. Most Lolitas opt for black, but white is acceptable, too. Headgear is a must, whether it’s ribbon, lace, a bow or tiara.

In Thailand, there are people who love to cosplay—and it’s not only crazy youngsters, either; your boss could be one of them. The communities of cosplayers are mostly on the Internet but they have get-togethers from time to time, where they show off their fantasy outfits—and of course take lots of photos. Say cheesu!

The best way to get started is to check out some of the webboards on cosplay sites. Even though you are 100% Thai, you’ll need a Japanese name before you start chatting and posting. www.cosplaybox.com is a cute website with webboard, event notification and post-event pictures—go there to be inspired. www.ezra.ai-scream.net is a place for fans of Ezra, a Thai band a la L’Arc-en-Ciel. When Ezra perform at concerts, die-hard fans come in costume, most of them as L’Arc-en-Ciel. http://board.thaimisc.com/cosplay is a webboard where you can buy or sell second-hand cosplay clothing, ask and answer questions from cosplayers and get updates on events.

Cosplaying can get expensive, so most people make their clothes themselves. Some say D-I-Y outfits are also more meaningful. Check out Lucifer’s post at http://board.thaimisc.com/cosplay for a discussion on the charm of wearing an outfit of your own making.

Ready to play? Vivi (352 Siam Square, under Siam Theater, Rama 1, 01-722-5608) has many regular customers who love their over-the-top Japanese clothes. Super Funk by Chic Clothing (at Chatuchak project 16, Soi 6 and project 15, Soi 1, 01-672-6617, 06-946-3766) sells funky Japanese costumes and also makes clothing to order.

Other Looks

Among certain groups of girls (and a growing number of boys), tanned skin is hot in Japan. The look is called ganguro, literally blackface, and it includes colorful mini-skirts, blonde hair, sunglasses, thick black or white eyeliner and loads of accessories. Also, if you’re a real ganguro, your mobile must be covered with purikura (“print club”) stickers. For inspiration, see Peach Girl, a popular Japanese comic, at www.tokyopop.com/manga. Ganguro males are few, but increasing. As for the fellas, dress yourself in beachwear—vest and gang gaeng lae, beach-bag—and grow a goatee. Dreadlocks are good, as well.
You don’t actually have to sit in the sun. There are all kinds of tanning lotions and powers on the market. Visit a M.A.C. cosmetics counter (Try 2/F, Siam Discovery Center, 02-658-0282) and pick up some of their newly-introduced Platinum Bronze SPF 27/PA+ (B1,150), which comes in both bronze and gorgeous gold colors.

In Thailand, wearing foreign luxury brands is more khun ying and khun pa, but young Japanese are crazy about Gucci, Channel, Tiffany and Louis Vuitton. Start with a bag—LV always works—and then you have a choice of two different directions for the brand name style. One is the head-to-toe mindless fashion victim look; the other is similar to ganguro style—once again the mini-skirt is the answer to everything.

Gothic punk is mostly inspired by rock music—X-Japan or Malice Mizer. This one is easy to pull off: You can have any color you like so long as it’s black: black T-shirt, black jeans or pants, black leather jacket, black boots. (Really dark brown is acceptable for leather goods.) Add chains and thorns to taste. Body piercings and tattoos are a bonus. Unlike those silly ganguro girls, you want your skin to be as white as a baby’s butt. So paint your face pale, then add dark red, black or purple lipstick and heavy, dark-colored eyeliner. Many female goths prefer menswear, with nothing sexy or revealing. Visit Meeh Oan (Fat Bear), (Chatuchak, project 5, Soi 2) or Gorgeous (Siam Square Soi 4, Behind Boots, 09-812-2701).

The Music

You are what you listen to. Cosplayers and gothic punks are mostly J-rock fans, and they often look down on J-pop. Their idols are the legendary X-Japan, L’Arc-en-Ciel and Dir en Gray. Albums by these bands aren’t so easy to come by in Thailand—especially if you must have every special edition record and CD single—but thankfully the internet is just a click away.

More mass market are the fresh-faced boys who belt out pop songs. They have a large following in Thailand, and local labels like Sony, EMI and Universal are now indulging their fans by releasing their CDs here.

Whatever sound suits you, they have it all at I:Shimaru (268, Siam Square Soi 3, 02-658-1886), the center of the universe for the Japan-mad in Bangkok. What they don’t stock they can order for you, and this includes films. Any questions, just talk to Pee Daeng. Here are their five best-sellers:

1. Best of Kat-Tun/Kat-Tun. A compilation of concerts and TV appearances by the hottest pop act at the moment.

2. Faith/Hyde. Solo album by the lead singer from L’Arc-en-Ciel.

3. Thanks/W-inds. Pretty J-pop trio.

4. Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection/Ken Hira. King of Japanese R&B.

5. Time/Wat. Cute pop tunes by cute pop duo.

The Books

This is a no-brainer here in Thailand, as we start “reading” manga (comics) even before we learn to read. Even as adults, many Thais prefer Japanese comic books—Conan, Evangelion, Dragon Ball, Hens and Doraemon—to the newspaper. Far from a worthless hobby, you can learn a lot from comic books (really)—vocabulary, culture and history, for example. Many comic books make it to the small and big screens. Nana and Death Note became films and GTO was made into a hugely successful TV series shown on ITV. There are comic book shops near every school, but you’ll be better off shopping at Kumo Comic Books (Under Siam Theater, 01-720-4471) or O-Zone Team (250 Siam Square Soi 2, 02-251-5866, 01-499-4606). Your essential list, courtesy of O-Zone Team.

1. Conan. A high school detective hiding from the mafia is transformed into a kid.

2. Death Note. A teenage boy cleanses the world of evil with the help of his magic notebook.

3. One Piece. The Straw Hat Pirates set sail to find the hidden treasure of the dead pirate king.

4. Berserk. A warrior possessing armor with special powers fights the bad guys.

5. Vagabond. An adaptation of a legendary story about samurai Miyamoto Musashi.

The Talk

Wanna walk the walk? It helps if you can talk the talk. Or at least sing along to Japanese songs. (A tip: This is a great way to hook up with cute Japanese tourists, as often they know very little English.) Try these schools for your first lesson. Kambate!

School of Language and Culture, Technology Promotion Association (5-7 Sukhumvit Soi 29, 02-258-0320, 02-662-1019, www.tpa.or.th, B2,400-3,700 for 60 hours) offers one of the best deals in the city. Despite what you might expect, the courses aren’t budget: The lessons are very systematic and well-organized, albeit a bit old-fashioned.

Mainichi Japanese Language Institute (29/1 Unico Bldg., 1/F, Ploenchit Rd., 02-255-5382/-5, B4,800 for 45 hours) will teach you like a Japanese kid. Japanese teachers speak only in Japanese and you learn “naturally” mainichi (every day).

Waseda Education (195, The Empire Tower, 15/F, South Sathorn Rd., 02-670-3456, www.thaiwaseda.co.th, B6,400 for 33 hours) is relatively more expensive than the others, but the quality of instruction is very high. Waseda University is the number one private university in Japan.

Though they may not yet had an album out, Ezra’s signature sound and style has already earned the four members a faithful following. Always appearing in their remarkable J-rock costumes, they’ve become local darlings for lovers of Japanese music and trends. Aki (vocal), Ic-Q (guitar), Kae (keyboard) and Nut (bass) used to be a cover band, but they are now releasing their first album to prove they have more than just weird looks.

How long has Ezra been around?
Kae: Aki and I formed Ezra eight years ago.

Why do you like J-rock music?
Kae: Aki played Japanese cover songs before me. She played J-rock like L’Arc-en-Ciel. When I met her, I started playing these kinds of songs too.

When did you think of playing your own songs?
Ic-Q: I’m the newest member who joined the band two years ago. I was the first to begin composing songs and I let the others comment on them. We all liked one so we asked Aki to write lyrics in Japanese. It became our first single “Gonna be with You.” We made CDs and sold them at our shows. There were quite a number of people who bought it and became our fans. After a while, we all thought we should make an album.

Can you speak Japanese?
Kae: Yes, but not much. Aki is the only one who is fluent.
Nut: I speak a little Japanese because I took some courses. I can roughly understand what is being said.

Do you guys like J-rock?
Ic-Q: Before I met these guys, I played other kinds of songs—mostly ‘60s or ‘70s tunes like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, or The Beatles. When I met Ezra who plays L’Arc-en-Ciel, I liked it because L’Arc’s guitarist plays in an American blues style.
Kae: Before I met Aki, I had no idea what J-rock was. When I listened to it, I felt excited—it’s challenging. So I just kept playing. Our album isn’t 100% Japanese, it’s a mixture of our preferences.

Do you dress like this in your everyday life?
Kae: It depends on the occasion. If I go eat noodles somewhere near my home, I don’t dress this style, but if it’s a social event, it’s this style.
Aki: We usually dress like this at concerts. In my daily life I dress pretty much this way. I always like punk style.

Do people look at you strangely when you dress J-rock style?
Nut: At these events, usually the audience dresses more outrageous than we do.

Among the stars on the green fields at the World Cup there are men who dance beyond the spotlight and keep the game going on neat and clean. One of those men is Thailand’s very own Prachya Permpanich. Prachya is a sports reporter and columnist at Khao Sod, secretary of the Football Association of Thailand’s Referee Committee and assistant FIFA referee. With over 20 years of experience, he will be in Germany on the field as an assistant referee (linesman) with his international peers this year.

I had always wanted to be a footballer. I was on Nakorn Pathom’s team, together with Piyapong Pue-on and many other good players. At one point, I saw all my friends selected to the national team while I was still stuck in the same team. I love football, so I figured the way to be a part of football was to become a referee.

One can be successful, if one chooses what one can do best, not what one loves to do. Since then, I never wanted to return to football as a player. I know my limits. I can perform better as a referee.

Outside the game, a referee needs practice, continual learning, game study, discipline and responsibility. In the game, we need to bring what we learned and studied into practice, to use psychology, to have a positive attitude towards both teams and, most importantly, to be courageous.

No matter how well one is trained, if one doesn’t dare to run, the training will go to waste.

A good referee dares to make decisions in seconds. If we are too slow or too fast, there might be a problem. Only experience can teach us what to do in the wink of an eye.

I’ve made mistakes, but a referee has to keep in mind that when he makes a mistake, there cannot be compensation. If we gave an undeserving whistle, we must not think of how to repay the team.

Mistakes happen. All a good referee can do is try to make as few mistakes as possible. If we make mistakes purposefully, we will feel guilt. If we make mistakes accidentally, there’s nothing to worry about.

Anything can happen in a football game. That’s why a referee has to watch loads of games, but not for entertainment. We watch like a judge and like a student. Football requires endless learning.

Since becoming a referee, I haven’t supported any team and I never enjoy watching games.

My friends don’t want to watch a match with me anymore. They say it’s not fun.

Language isn’t a barrier. Football is an international game; it’s universal. On the other hand, a referee faces more problems with a compatriot player. It’s like this all over the world. Thai players can speak Thai to me, so they argue more, they complain more and they yell more to me.

The F.A.T. was founded during the reign of King Rama 6, so some wonder why we can never make our way to the World Cup. What they don’t know is that everything we’ve done has been funded by the association.

Before F.A.T. got only B200,000-300,000 from the government. That’s not even enough for the electricity bills and employee payments. The government finally really started helping two or three years ago. They now give us B30 million.

But how can people expect us to go to the world competition with this amount of money when Japan and Korea spends thousands of millions to achieve where they are today? As long as the budget is limited, the improvement will be limited, too.

Our footballers work in the morning and practice in the evening. But in other countries, all a footballer does is sleep, eat, learn and practice. Until a player can earn his living by just playing football, we can’t really talk about going to the World Cup.

How would you like to meet David Beckham, be coached by Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos, hang out with Thierry Henry or get to chat with Allessandro Nesta? This 19-year-old Thai footballer has. Anawin Jujeen was a force on the Thai team participating in the Pepsi Max World Challenge. The project saw 22 young footballers from 11 countries play, live, learn and compete for six weeks at some of the world’s leading football clubs, with a superstar player visiting every week. With help from Anawin, the Thai team won second place in the program.

How long have you been playing football?
I started when I was very young, about 10 years old. I adopted it seriously when I went to a sport school in Angthong. There, we learned fewer subjects than at an ordinary school and trained about 4-5 hours overall throughout the day.

Do you feel gifted?
I guess so, but I add to the gift with my effort.

What are you doing right now?
I just got back from the Pepsi Max World Challenge in February and I’m studying at RBAC while also playing at a professional level for Krung Thai Football Club.

Have you won any of the weekly challenges?
We won a two-on-two game in the fifth week. I came in as the fittest in the fitness test on the fourth week but we didn’t win as a team.

How was Beckham?
Just like on TV, but he’s real nice.

Which superstar impressed you the most?
Ronaldinho for sure. He’s my idol. He wasn’t exactly teaching but we gained a lot from observing him, like how to conduct yourself. Rather than telling us football techniques, he showed us.

What is the best thing you gained from the project?
Experience, for one thing. I learned new football techniques, skills and an idea of how to live abroad.

Which team will you support in the World Cup?
Personally I like England, but to support a team in the World Cup I need to study their games.

Who do you think will win?
I guess Brazil.

Do you think Thailand will ever play in the World Cup?
They might have to wait for my generation. [Laughs]

Do you have any plans for your future?
I think I’ll earn a living with football forever. I hardly study...It’s all I know, really.