On paving the way and 
calling two countries ‘home’.  

I was born and raised in Thailand. Growing up in a third world country exposed me to different experiences, like seeing children my own age begging in the streets. I think when you understand that another child has less privilege and rights than you do at such a young age, it’s something that stays with you your whole adult life.

I was fortunate to be raised by a mother who had great ambitions to eliminate racial discrimination. My mum is Australian, and my father is Thai Chinese, and they experienced a huge amount of racial discrimination, especially in the 1970s. She’s also extremely philanthropic. I remember her taking me to jails to hand out care parcels of essentials, like toothpaste and toilet paper, to the inmates and foreigners who were locked up overseas for all sorts of misdemeanours.

Mum also ran a kindergarten, and we’d donate stationary packages to other schools, and she ran a scholarship program to give kids access to a full education. We're so fortunate in Australia that everyone has a right to an education, but in other parts of the world, education is a privilege and one that is difficult for a lot of women to access. It’s hard to believe that 50% of the planet is female but the education of women is still not universally valued.  

When I received the OAM, I didn’t realise that I was the first Thai to be awarded. I also didn’t realise that I was the first Thai elected to Australian government or the first person in politics to lead the #MeToo movement. Although I’m proud of these moments, they also highlight how much I wish I was one of thousands rather than the first.

What drives me, is that we need to acknowledge more women of colour and more women with disabilities, I have a disability myself and was in a wheelchair for three years. I'd love to pave the way and open the door for more inclusiveness. I want to see more women of colour, especially Thai women, stand up for leadership positions.  

Our current Thai Ambassador to Australia is a woman, but she’s only the 5th female ambassador that we've ever had, and I find this startling because it's 2025. My aim is to elevate, promote and support migrant women to really own their place in Australian society.

I like to operate at a very grassroots level. I'm quite a private person and in my job as a diplomat and formerly as a lawyer, I provide a lot of pro bono legal work for women who are victims of domestic violence. Unfortunately, a Thai woman is seven times more likely to be a victim of domestic violence here, and often at the hand of an Australian born male. Most of them don't even know they have rights when they move here, so they end up suppressed and oppressed.

For the past twenty years, I’ve also worked with the non-profit, Thai Language School of Melbourne, to help provide kids with the power of language. I was 18 years old when I came to Australia and I used to clean office buildings - I know what it's like to be one of the unseens. When you move to a new country, it's like you lose all the things that make you who you are - your education, your favourite places to visit from your childhood, your family.  Being a migrant means you've left all that behind and language helps to bridge that gap, build a new life and create greater inclusiveness.

However, I think it’s important that we include the Thai language more prominently across help services. For example, when you arrive at Melbourne Airport, or when you see signs for domestic violence, we need to make sure that the information is available in many different languages so that migrant women who come here, understand the rights they have.

That it’s so much better to give than to be in a position where you have to receive. I feel very fortunate that I can understand and see myself reflected in so many people. I've known great success, but I've been so poor as well. I've had access to an education but there was a time where I had to leave school for a year and mum had to sell our car. I’m the diplomat but I’m also the cleaner whose grandfather was a street noodle vendor. I don't see myself as actively giving – I’m just trying to give back to other people the chances and opportunities that I have been blessed with. 

We recently initiated the Parliamentary Friendship Group with Thailand, and so one of my ambitions is to keep promoting Thailand. It’s such a powerhouse for Australia. As the fourth largest importer and the fifth largest student population, it pumps billions into the Australian economy every year and it's right on our doorstep.

I'd love to explore more medical exchange programmes between our two countries, because Thailand has made leaps and bounds in medical marijuana. It was the first Asian nation to have legalised medical marijuana, and the first Asian nation to legalise same sex marriage. It's on the precipice of so much progress and I’d like to see that recognised and supported in Australia.

I believe Australia and Thailand have so much to offer each other, and I want to help to grow that friendship