You’ve probably come across it while channel surfing: a station solely devoted to famous panda Lin Ping, capturing her every move: which mostly involves, sitting around in her cage, eating bamboo, and sleeping for hours. You may have rarely spent more than thirty seconds on this channel, but there are actually people out there devoted to it and to Lin Ping, The Bon Marche Lin Ping Fan Club. In fact, there’s a network of fan clubs dedicated to her.  “Our group gets together twice a month to talk about Lin Ping’s progress and her caretakers,” says Supanee “Kratai” Padsanin, 23, an active member.

It all started for Supanee when she found out that Prasertsak “Tor” Buntragulpoontawee, Lin Ping’s manager, received fan mail about the panda from all over the country. “I was interested that there were other fans with the same interest and I wanted to exchange opinions with them so I wrote Khun Tor and he told me about other fans and how to get in touch with them.”

The fan club now comprises people of all ages, from 20-80, who were previously complete strangers. Members meet over lunch to gossip about the panda and the caretakers. “I feel like we’ve known each other for a long time. We’re all of the same mind set and when we talked for the first time, we felt close to each other,” says Kratai.

Not only do they meet up over lunch, fans also travel together to go to Chiang Mai to visit Lin Ping. In fact, more than 400 fans attended Lin Ping’s birthday party this year. Other than the Bon Marche group, there is also a Thonburi group, a Ban Panthip group, an Onnut group and even a Facebook group for you to choose from, based on geographical convenience.

Kratai assures us that it’s not too late to join the group. “Lin Ping’s development is constant, and her interactions with the vets are different everyday. There’s always something to new to talk about.”