It was not the Buddhist belief system itself that Ning struggled with, but rather anything or anyone that she felt was attempting to direct or limit the way she thought, felt or acted.  Ning knew instinctively that she, and only she, would be the boss of her life. A concrete example of this is the criticism she has received, and shrugged off, over the years for not acting Thai enough, despite the fact that her physical appearance is Thai.

Although Ning is happily married to Frank, a Swede, she has fiercely guarded and maintained her financial independence, proud of her ability to provide for herself. She was not prepared to fill the mold of the pampered housewife, and when she and Frank eventually married, many years into their relationship and long after the birth of their two children, it was purely for administrative convenience, not out of a need to cement the relationship, but rather to make their union legally official and to smooth interactions with the Thai and Swedish governments.

Ning’s birthname is Pongphangha Phongam, and for many years she signed her artworks with P.Phongam, but in more recent times has settled on just using her nickname of Ning instead. Ning has long been a creative spirit, though as yet she hasn’t been able to make her living solely from her art, deeply ingrained in her soul as it is. The epitome of adaptability, Ning turned her hand to many different jobs across her work life. She is now 66 years old and comfortably retired, able to refocus both on her art and on her family, loving nothing more than spending quality time with her grandchildren.  Although they are genetically only one-quarter Thai, Ning and Frank have ensured that they are registered Thai nationals, confiding that should the geo-political instabilities in Europe and America escalate, their grandkids will have a potential safe-haven in Thailand, with the benefit of full citizenship.

Growing up in Korat with a bubbly and outgoing nature, Ning had a large friendship group. She lived in the old town, in the centre, and has always considered herself a city girl. Ning’s father was a typing teacher, adept at passing along his skill of typing a hundred or so words a minute with great accuracy. Ning’s mother worked in a clerical capacity, and this is how Ning first became involved with foreigners.  When Ning was around 10 years old, her parents began a business buying land which they subdivided and sold in lots to American GIs with Thai wives from the American military base in Korat. Young Ning quickly learnt that a ready smile and a few words of English would get her icecream from a willing new GI friend. Ning’s comfort around foreigners has been one of the key factors which has shaped her life.

Ning first visited Hua Hin in the very early 1980s but it wasn’t until 2007 that she bought her home here and and began renovating it. It is interesting to note that the seller of her home was one of the key figures from Baan Sillapin, Hua Hin’s Artists Village, with whom Ning has ongoing contact. Ning was initially attracted to Hua Hin by its beach location but also by its cosmopolitan nature. Ning had been only 20, still with a couple of subjects to finish to complete her Bachelor of Arts degree in Bangkok, when she made her first decision to experience life outside Thailand, and made the move to Stockholm in Sweden to seek a greater life experience.

Ning’s education in Thailand had consisted of attendance at two girls’ schools, one a pricey American Catholic school called St Mary School, and then a public one when in Grade 7 Ning had complained about the strictures of the first school, where she always felt an outsider and so was always testing the limits. Moving to Bangkok for her tertiary studies at the age of 17 was Ning’s first genuine taste of autonomy and she felt she “broke from a cage like a bird”. The move to Sweden a mere three years later tasted even sweeter.  It was not without its challenges, however, as Ning needed to master Swedish to be admitted to Stockholm University and to find several part-time jobs in order to support herself.

Ning worked nights cutting slides for Kodak in Stockholm and then later in a yarn factory in Gothenburg, but these were just jobs to make ends meet.  What Ning did most effectively was leverage her language skills, moving into interpreting and translating for police, schools, hospitals, courts and other government bodies.  This work led to Ning teaching Thai from Grades 1 – 9, then establishing private night courses for those looking to master Thai language, teaching at university level and even developing, printing and selling Thai teaching resources. Working in these capacities for a total of 35 years, and known as “Kroo Ning”, the Thai for “Teacher Ning”, gave Ning a public profile in Sweden that gave her the opportunity to work alongside prominent Swedish journalists covering the Thai political conflicts between the red shirts and the yellow shirts. It even led to Ning’s involvement with archeology, both in Thailand and other parts of the world.

In Grade 1, Ning first became aware of her interest in, and talent for, all things artistic and began trying to capture the beauty she perceives all around her. Her first attempt at sharing her art with others was making paper dolls as gifts for others, though some she sold for just a few baht. Ning has worked in pencil as well as oil paint on canvas, and is so attached to her paint and brushes that she might even be tempted to brave a burning building to save them.  As an artist, Ning has grown and changed across her artistic career, and had various “periods”, including landscapes, both Thai and Swedish, female nudes in the late 2000s, women with hats, painted in the studio at Baan Sillapin around 2013 and cave style figures in 2003.  When inspiration of a particular sort hits Ning, she is prolific. Ning cites Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, renowned for her self-portraits, and Swedish artist Anders Zorn as significant influences, as well as the masters, Picasso and Degas.

Click through the image carousel to the right to see some paintings from Ning's "women in hats" period.

Underpinning her artistic life has been Ning’s comfortable and reliable family relationships.   Ning’s move to Gothenburg in 1984 was to be with her now-husband Frank whom she had been dating for 18 months. She is Thai, he is Swedish, yet they actually met in Moscow in 1982, while Frank, a seafarer, was studying of his Masters in Navigation.  He had been studying Thai at the same time as she was studying Swedish, and recognising Ning as Thai, he mustered the courage to engage in Thai conversation with her and romance was born. In May 1985, their daughter Mink made them a family, then a son, Mio, joined them in 1989, but it was not until 2003 that Ning and Frank made their union official. Ning didn’t really see the need to marry, and was not interested in living in Sweden as a dependent, so chose not to adopt Frank’s surname formally, though for convenience she uses it on social media.

A particular hope for the future is for Ning to build her own art community here in Hua Hin. To finance this ambition, she wants to sell her land in Korat, already having her eye on an extensive piece of land near Black Mountain.  Ning would like to construct a large studio to which she could invite other artists, to collaborate and paint with her, now that working doesn’t keep her in Sweden for as much of each year. An exhibition, or perhaps two, of her work is also high on Ning’s list of priorities as she is particularly keen on sharing her Thai history learning through archeology with her Thai compatriots. To this end she has begun rolling her many canvases and returning them to Thailand, as she already has an exhibition organized in Korat in either July or August this year.  Ning’s desire to get all her ducks in a row conjured a comparison with the gentle Swedish art of death cleaning. Even at the comparatively young age of 66, ever independent, Ning doesn’t want to leave any mess behind her.

Published 1st June, 2025