Jintana is a happy, family-oriented woman with a solid business head on her shoulders, despite having had a multitude of different jobs so far in her working life, one even in a “grey” area. She has been living in Hua Hin for the last 8 years after initially visiting a friend in Hua Hin on a holiday from her workplace at the Soneva Kiri hotel in Koh Kood and deciding that Hua Hin had the exact blend of “pros” to want to make it a permanent home.  The only “con” that Jintana still finds is that the water supply is not always as reliable as she would like it, since disruption is hard for business owners.

At school, Jintana was tidy, polite, quiet and obedient. In retrospect, Jintana admits she didn’t take her secondary studies with sufficient seriousness, though she graduated and was accepted into Buriram Rajabhat University to study a four-year degree in English language. One thing that Jintana did approach with great enthusiasm was dancing.  Every year, she had the most coveted place, the tray of the truck, to dance for the village parade, in a fabulous dress and full makeup.  To this day, Jintana still adores moving to the beat.

Now happily ensconced in the wellness spa industry, Jintana has worked as an eyebrow tattooist, an airport employee, an executive secretary in a renowned resort, in sales, as an English teacher to young monks and nuns, and even on the floor of a South Korean factory making television components, yet none of these jobs gave Jintana the combination of sufficient remuneration, employee conditions and job satisfaction that she was looking for.

While Jintana now has a profitable business and expanded to a second location only in the last few months, life has not always been easy for her, and she is very grateful that her parents raised her to be a strong and resilient woman.  Jintana was born in Buriram, the youngest of three daughters to parents who had a watermelon farm.  She now understands that when she was born the family were quite poor, but things started to improve financially by the time she was five or so. Jintana’s father believed he was cheated in business and this was one of the factors which led to him developing mental illness, which eventually took his life a decade ago. One of Jintana’s favourite memories of her dad is of the time they travelled together to Bangkok to take delivery of his new car.  Jintana was only 20, and had held her driver’s licence for only 2 months.  Despite this inexperience, her dad asked her to take over the driving from him as the traffic was making him nervous.  Jintana drove the car home to Buriram safely, earning her dad’s admiration along the way. Jintana is glad that her mother decided to have a change of scenery after her husband’s passing and chose to move to Hua Hin to be close to her youngest child.

Erkki is Jintana’s second husband, and as a young girl, she would never have expected to marry a foreigner as intercultural marriage was frowned upon. Although her first marriage of seven years ended, it is with fondness that Jintana talks of her ex-husband and father of her now 17-year-old son Pun. Jintana views her ex as a good man and is proud of the way they have lovingly co-parented their son, who remained with his father in Buriram and then Nan after the divorce. 

Possibly Jintana’s greatest hope for the future is to see Pun settled into adult life. Pun was diagnosed at the age of just two with thalassimia, a genetically inherited blood disorder where the body produces less haemoglobin than normal.  Since haemoglobin is what enables red blood cells to carry oxygen, the disorder affects energy levels and can impact many aspects of life.  Previously, sufferers experienced short life-spans but luckily modern treatment programs have led to many of the affected living normal lives. Pun still needs to have his condition monitored regularly but Jintana is optimistic that her son will live a full and happy life, yet must always remain vigilant and take care of his body with appropriate diet and exercise.

The circumstances of the initial meeting of Jintana and Erkki make a great anecdote.  The pair met after a girlfriend of Jintana and a mate of Erkki met on an online dating app. Both of the dating pair felt they needed a wingman (or winglady!) for their initial meeting in person, and so both Jintana and Errki were roped in for the encounter, in Jomtien. History records that the meeting did not lead to an ongoing relationship for the pair, but it was a different case for Jintana and Errki, who hit it off very well.  After only a few dates, Erkki had to return to Finland and invited Jintana to visit him, to “learn about the real him.” In just two weeks, the required visa was in her passport, then Errki booked the ticket for her to travel to Finland, that very same day.  Jintana’s whirlwind romance turned into a whirl of rushed preparation and she was winging her way to Finland. As it happens, one of Jintana’s sisters was married to a Finn and living in Finland, so Jintana had a Plan B if things went awry, and wasn’t acting as rashly as one might otherwise have thought. The rest is history – the pair eventually married in both Thai and Finnish traditional styles.

Despite the uncertainties in her own life and those in the global sphere, happiness remains a top priority for Jintana. A holder of profound Buddhist beliefs, she knows that being happy in the moment is the right path for her to take, while being warm with people and smiling at them will help them on their own paths to happiness.  Jintana confides that she works hard to maintain a calm, tranquil disposition in even the most challenging of situations, so no-one sees her angry face, well, no-one but her husband who sees the full gamut of her emotions. Jintana has a bad habit of internalising her stress and admits she is best left alone when she is worked up, her eyes giving away her inner turmoil.

Jintana and Erkki have now been together for six years and married for five.  Being a business partner with your life partner is not an easy experience and finding quality “couple-time” can be a challenge, particularly in the brand- building and expansion phases of your business where home is just a place to catch some much-needed sleep. Jintana is still working on learning about how her marriage will work best as she and her husband age together and their needs and interests evolve and change. Her awareness of this is a testament to how important family is to Jintana, who was also particularly careful about how she introduced her new partner and his children to her son. A glance at the lock screen of Jintana’s phone will reveal Pun’s photo as a smiling three-year-old. While many years out of date, Jintana has chosen to keep the photo to see every time she picks up her phone, since she says her boy “is her charger”.  Catching sight of his little face is enough to re-energise her if she is feeling low.

For Jintana personally, her bedroom is her sanctuary and consequently her favourite place in the world. Although she loves her job, she is a constant slave to her phone, which is always demanding her attention. Truly relaxing for Jintana involves a couple of glasses of red wine, and then perhaps the opportunity to dance.  Som tam made by her mother is another of Jintana’s most treasured treats, along with enough time to visit her local temple. At the core of her being, the essential for Jintana is love, which she sees as much more important than money, though prosperity is not without allure.

While having worked hard to get to her current position, Jintana remains grateful that she has been able to “come from nothing”. She has travelled extensively, yet still has a hankering to visit Finland in the winter months to experience the Northern Lights.  Her 10-year plan sees her maintaining her businesses but in a passive capacity and devoting herself to a family life of retirement in her mid-50s. Jintana’s world is looking good.