BK: When did you first get into ice sculpting?
I graduated with an electrical engineering major, but I didn’t do well at school so I couldn’t get a job. Then my brother-in-law introduced me to ice sculpting. He taught me and I started to like it. I first worked at the Indra Hotel and moved around to other hotels before I joined the Royal Orchid Sheraton 18 years ago.

BK: How have you fared competitively?
I’ve entered many ice sculpting competitions around Thailand and Asia, and I’ve already won the Asian Championship, but I wanted to go further, to use my talents to do my homeland proud, so I targeted the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival. My first time, five years ago, was a total failure. I knew nothing of the rules and temperatures because no one from Thailand had ever entered before. I even had to pay for the tickets of two other members, because they didn’t have the money. The next year was also a big disappointment.

BK: Why didn’t you give up?
I nearly did because I had no money to continue. But my colleagues encouraged me to find sponsors and I sent out proposals to about five places. Luckily, the Singha Corporation agreed to sponsor me. We came in second in ice sculpting in 2011 and this year, out of 20 teams from 11 countries, we won third place in snow sculpting. Our piece is titled “The Emotion of Human” and deals with the concept that humans have good and bad sides, so we have to decide which one we want to be. It’s in a heart shape, on one side is the face of a giant and on the other is the face of an angel. It took us three and a half days to finish.

BK: What’s the difference between the ice and snow sculpting categories?
The size of the ice is smaller and requires fewer members, but it’s more difficult work because it’s very solid in the cold weather conditions. Balancing your force is the key. If you put too much force into it, the ice will explode. Snow is soft, but you have to plan the proportions very well, because of the very large scale (4m height, 3m width, 3m length).

BK: What are the difficulties of the competition?
Firstly, the language, because most people speak Chinese. Then it’s the temperature; some sculptors were in shock. Unlike some teams, our snow sculptures have never collapsed. There have been times when I’ve been working on ice and snow sculptures too hurriedly and I fell from the scaffolding. Ice sculptures are not as tall, but the ground is really hard so falling hurts a lot more.

BK: What’s your view of ice sculpting in Thailand?
There are many talented Thai ice sculptors, but they lack support because people here don’t see it as an art, unlike people abroad who respect these professionals as artists.