I dreamed of being in the navy. Samut Songkram province is the home of the navy and my uncle was also in the navy. I fell in love with the white uniforms and wanted to wear it someday.

I decided to study an unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) program as I saw it as a shortcut to wearing that white uniform as I would get a job after I graduated. My family was poor so they didn’t have much money to send me to school.

Being a success isn’t solely determined by studying at school. I went to a non-formal school to get a certificate for a nursing scholarship, and look where it got me. I believe that you can achieve your dreams regardless of what system you are put in.

Being a nurse pushed me to be a politician. I was never interested in politics until I found out about the corruption at schools. I would tend to children who were hurt while using playground equipment that had been bought on the cheap so that politicians could make a big profit.

Politicians don’t send their kids to study at poor schools, so they don’t understand how we feel.

My nursing colleagues encouraged me to become a politician. I kept asking how we could get rid of all those corrupt politicians and they told me, “Go for it and don’t be corrupt.”

As a female MP you must be resistant to sexist taunts. That’s what Chuan Leekpai, ex-prime minister and then-head of the Democrat Party (DP), warned me about when I told him I wanted to run for the DP in my hometown. I told him I’m not even afraid of guns, so why the heck would I be afraid of such filth. He laughed and gave me the green light.

I was nearly killed after I lost my first election. I believe that my rival was upset that I didn’t give up and was still going out to meet people in the area. One day I switched cars with my brother and he was shot by gunmen and critically injured. Luckily, he survived and I succeeded at the next election.

Being an MP involves high expenses. My monthly salary of B113,511 pretty much goes towards my team and travel expenses. I barely have enough money left to do anything else.

I never give money to people. Other politicians might buy votes or give out money when they show up at local events like funerals, weddings or monk ordinations. But I just go and dance with people.

The public image of politicians is at its lowest. People disdain politicians as they see them as corrupt.

Thais have themselves to blame when it comes to corruption. People love to ask for money from politicians, which only leads to more corruption. With all that dirty money, our roads could be paved by gold!

I curse corrupt politicians to death. I swear loud and clear that I have never been corrupt. I dreamed of getting rid of corrupt politicians when I started this job, but there are just too many of them. It seems that all I can do is curse them.

I’m not a political whore. I was once offered B40-50 million to change parties, but I refused. I’m poor but I’ve got more pride than that.

Don’t be greedy for things that don’t belong to you. If you want something desperately, be patient, work hard and save up. You can then be proud of what you achieve.

There’s no point having money without happiness. You may have billions, but you can’t take any of it with you when you die.

I live alone in a tiny knock-down wooden house that has only one TV and a bed. Thieves would cry if they broke in because there’s nothing there.

The sexual harassment case in parliament with the Pheu Thai MP [Prasit Chaisrisa] didn’t affect me because I think he’s just a crazy person. But sharp criticism makes me downhearted.

People were so mad when they saw me take a picture with Prasit at the news station. They called me a liar. I was so stressed I got a nosebleed!

There will always be people who hate you. I want to make it clear that I haven’t called a truce with Prasit; I just feel you don’t need to fight with your rival every time you meet. Anyway, I’m willing to give up my MP status if people really don’t want me anymore.

I love cooking. I used to have a restaurant called Baan Ransima at Amphawa but I sold it after a year because I didn’t have time to take care of it. If I’m no longer an MP, I might go back to doing that.

My dream is to be Minister of Social Development and Human Security. I love this ministry because it’s involved in people’s lives from the day they are born until the day they die.

I want to be a role model for women aspiring to enter politics. Some people see women in parliament as just making up the numbers, but I want to show that we have brains.

Keeping your word is the most important thing in life. If you do what you have said, people will respect and believe in you.