Thunder was born and raised in Hua Hin, only leaving it to attend the final three years of secondary school as a boarding student at Bangkok Christian College, the oldest private school in Thailand and one with a specific focus on English language education, before returning to Hua Hin for his tertiary education. As a youngster, Thunder admits to being a quite average student who only put his full effort into football, running and other sporting activities. He didn’t, and never has, liked mathematics and certainly had no love of homework, though from Year 5 onwards Thunder developed a liking for English and the Social Sciences, particularly History. This was fortunate for young Thunder as it has equipped him well to live and work locally, in one of Thailand’s most multicultural locations.

Living in Hua Hin suits Thunder much more than living in Bangkok. While many a teenager might have relished the chance to live away from home and being able to join the school’s golf team, the negatives outweighed the positives for Thunder. He admits to falling foul of peer pressure and taking up drinking whisky and smoking during his senior years, bad habits now thankfully shaken, leaving Coca-Cola his sole guilty pleasure. Compared to Bangkok, in Thunder’s opinion, Hua Hin has everything one could need, and all without the traffic, poor air quality and pollution! However, one day he hopes to see the Hua Hin Municipality becoming more ecologically minded, even cleaner and greener. But the biggest drawcard for Thunder in Hua Hin is his mother, to whom he intends to live close, all her life.

Taking on the role of sole-parent from just days after his birth, Thunder’s mother is without doubt the living person he most admires, his personal superhero. Thunder has no longing to meet his father, who despite a biological connection, will never be his dad. Luckily his mum was up to fulfilling the role of two parents in one. Thunder jokes about his receding hairline and using his phone to take photos of the top and back of his head to check it out. Whether baldness is a feature of his paternal genetics is a question Thunder may never answer.

While at boarding school, if Thunder had more than three consecutive days off, he was in a minivan to Hua Hin with his golf clubs on the seat beside him. Yet Thunder’s close relationship with his mother is only partly matched by his passion for the game of golf, to which he was introduced at the age of only five, when he was gifted a plastic golf set as a birthday present by a friend of his mother, who had no idea it would change the course of the birthday boy’s life. Thunder contends he will live in Hua Hin while ever his mother is alive, so it is lucky that the local area boasts seven golf courses.

Within months of his fifth birthday, Thunder was pestering his mother to play proper golf and so he became a regular at the now-closed Paemai driving range. In just a short while, Thunder has took up the opportunity to join the Singha CSR team (Corporate Social Responsibility) team at the Royal Hua Hin Golf Course which gained him free access to the course in exchange for some minor help with course maintenance. Those who are keen golfers in Hua Hin will understand what a crucial gift this was to a young boy and his single mother, who even 17 years ago could not have afforded to pay green fees.

Thunder is very grateful for his mother’s hard work to meet all his needs. Until he was 11, she worked alongside her parents and brother in a small bakery shop on Saisasong Road near the night market. The shop makes sweet white loaves of bread, to be eaten with icecream, or even with pork, and also distributes a wide variety of rice types. The shop, which has been in existence for over 50 years, is well-known to Thai locals, even though it doesn’t have an obvious sign or even a known name. The family is in the process of winding down the business, since the passing of Thunder’s grandmother earlier this year. After her lengthy stint in the bakery, Thunder’s mother began working in the real estate industry. Thunder is proud to be just starting to make a positive contribution to family finances and is working hard towards the day when he is able to support his mother’s retirement.

Thunder has a plan about how this might happen. He is a very good golfer himself, with PGA accreditation, and has caddied on both the Thai and Asian tours. It would be a dream-come-true to compete personally on the PGA tour circuit, but even sweeter to train a world champion. In his role as golf professional at the RHHGC, Thunder coaches both adults and children. While both aspects of the job are rewarding, Thunder’s heart lies with his young protégés, supporting their growing love and enjoyment of golf. Thunder is a gentle and very empathetic coach and at times probably enjoys each small achievement and success more that his young client, his beaming smiles an amplification of their own. It is clear he has no fear of being surpassed but would actively welcome it. A client from the UK complimented Thunder by creating a postcard addressed to his mother, thanking her for raising such a lovely son.

Working as a coaching team is part of training a young golfer, who might take lessons from as early as five, depending upon readiness, interest and ability to focus. Thunder is keen to ignite a passion for golf in his young charges and to help them accept and weather the bad days along with the good, believing you can’t appreciate happiness without understanding sadness. Thunder counts himself lucky to work alongside Jui, who, in a nice twist, was his own childhood coach.

Thunder’s tertiary education, at Stamford University just north of Hua Hin, saw him graduate after less than 6 years with both a Bachelor’s and Masters degree in Politics and Management, gained through nighttime study and Sunday attendance, with obtaining a government post his ultimate aim. During part of this time, Thunder worked in the Water department of Hua Hin Municipality, an experience which brought him to the realisation that that particular job was not for him.

As well as taking care of his mother, Thunder takes his own well-being seriously. Spurred on by maternal concerns late in 2025, Thunder began running and exercising daily and melted away seven kilos, feeling stronger in the process and buoyed by completing his first competitive 10km run in May 2026. Thunder still adores 白切肉, baak-ceng-juk, a Cantonese-style pork dish which is likely too high in kilojoules to eat regularly in a healthy diet. But, on the positive side he’s trying to properly protect himself well from mosquito-borne disease.

Thunder has a mature, responsible head on young shoulders. He is aspirational and would love to afford to buy himself a premium EV one day. That said, he has already concluded that although a certain amount of money is necessary, accumulating large sums is not necessary for happiness. Wise beyond his years, Thunder would advise his teenage self to talk less, listen more and cause harm to no-one. Just be kind. It’s no wonder his family is so proud of him.