Tum was born in Rayong, the third of four children in the family, with two older sisters and a younger brother. Both her parents left a life-long stamp on Tum and were strong influences on the woman she has become, even though her mother passed away incredibly young, at the age of just 48, while Tum was still studying at university. Tum admired her mother’s hard-work and initiative as she started with nothing but earned the respect of her local community by establishing a factory which processed cassava for animal feed.

It was from her father, now almost 90, that Tum learnt her sense of justice and her social activism. Growing up she was surrounded by local politics, her father becoming an elected city representative. Tum helped her father in his negotiations, learning to become a shrewd judge of character. She saw how a good leader supported and represented his community, this being an invaluable lesson for her. Tum recalls the warmth of her family life, the shared time in the family’s durian field and the regular family trips to Bangkok each school holidays for the children to have new experiences and broaden their horizons.

Tum attended St Joseph’s Rayong, a Catholic girls’ school, and was a boarding student from the age of only seven, not too much of a hardship since she was with her sisters, and the trio was able to go home for some weekends and every holiday. The school’s motto is "Be all to all", springing from the Catholic belief in serving other people rather than oneself. For the final four high school years, Tum transferred to St Joseph’s in Bangkok, which had a well-established English program. A top student, after high school, Tum enrolled in a four-year Bachelor of Arts in History at Srinakharinwirot University in BKK, which she completed in just three and a half years thanks to summer school. Her love of history has remained with Tum ever since, and she thoroughly enjoys travel to Europe to marvel at the well-preserved historic architecture and careful planning in its various cities.

In 1990, not long after losing her mother, Tum took a trip to Australia to stay with a friend who had moved to the country a year before. Tum took a year-long English course and to support herself took her first job outside the family business, as a waitress in a Thai restaurant called Pailin in the Sydney suburb of Annandale. It was a further experience which broadened Tum’s world-view. Reminiscing about her time as a child and young woman, Tum sees that the world has become a worse place as selfishness takes the place of kindness and respect in so many hearts. Upon her return to Thailand, Tum resumed work in the family business, with responsibility for the factory processing rubber wood for use in furniture making and also for the family’s prawn farm. This work gave Tum a solid grounding in business across a range of industries, with the family company also taking an interest in property development.

Although Tum had visited on holiday as a child, she didn’t start living in Hua Hin until she was married, she and her now-separated husband bringing their newborn first son back to her husband’s home town some 28 years ago. A second son was born to the couple five years later, Tum citing raising successful and happy children as her greatest achievement. Tum quickly felt at ease in Hua Hin, surrounded by extended family. The history-buff was also happy to be living in the hometown of her beloved King Rama IX, with what Thai people call its “hi-so” reputation. Tum’s one bugbear is that local authorities don’t grasp just how important it is for Hua Hin to embrace and conserve its historic “Thainess”, ensuring cultural heritage is not destroyed in the name of progress.

Tum has become a local public figure as one of the central protagonists and campaigners in a very lengthy battle to protect Hua Hin’s heritage fishing village with its wooden piers and historically significant teak homes along what is now Naresdamri Road, just to the north of the site of the Hilton hotel. For centuries, the only access along that part of the coastline was via narrow dirt track, just wide enough for a pushcart.

There is now a long-running dispute between local residents and the municipality, with problems starting many years ago with the widening and surfacing of the road which divided a considerable number of properties into two parts, one on the seaside and the other on the inland side of the road. For a long time, life continued as normal, with residents pursuing their various livelihoods on both sides of what developed into a charming and much-admired walking street with boutique accommodation and acclaimed seafood restaurants, a prime area of Hua Hin.  However, once the road had been built, residents were only provided a chanote (legal title) for the inland section of their former properties.

Twenty years or so ago now, the rumblings began with the Municipality and the Marine Authority claiming that structures on the sea side of Naresdamri Road were illegally built on public land and should therefore be demolished. Since 2016, orders have been issued, requests for delays have been made, calls for proper community consultation have abounded, leases have been terminated, businesses have closed, lawsuits have been lodged and there have been hundreds of meetings and delegations of local residents to numerous authorities, municipal, provincial and national, with appeals being directed to legal authorities, the Ombudman and even the King himself, to ascertain who has absolute jurisdiction over this historically and culturally sensitive area of the city. 

Passions have ignited and waned as action has been threatened yet not fully delivered. At the time of writing, yet another order requiring the area be vacated within 30 days was in effect. The longer the dispute persists, the harder it is for any party to back away yet save face.

Although Tum is a highly-educated woman, in this instance she leads with her heart, which is telling her that the demolition of structures along Naresdamri Road is tantamount to sacrilege and would be a huge mistake, regretted by future generations, as well as unjust to local landowners who have had seaside properties handed down across generations. Tum is searching for a fair solution which will prove equitable to all parties. While this positions her as an adversary of the Municipality, she remains on cordial terms with the mayor, himself a local of the area in dispute. Tum is employing every ounce of tact and negotiating skills she possesses and intends that all avenues will be thoroughly explored.

The problem is a significant one for Tum, for professional as well as personal reasons. Since 2000, she has operated Fulay Guest House, with 20 rooms as well as a restaurant, in the affected zone, one of over 20 properties currently under threat. The guest house is not the only business in Hua Hin which demands Tum’s time and attention. Tum is also the proprietor of TLC, The Language & Culture Training Centre, located on Phetkasem Road in the city centre. Opened in late 2008, and currently with a staff of ten, TLC provides private and corporate language teaching in both Thai and English, delivered face-to-face in a classroom or online. Much of Tum’s time has been devoted to the Naresdamri Road dispute, yet she has so many other responsibilities that not everyone knows about. As Tum puts it, she is a busy-bee, though she always prioritises two hours of “me time” each evening, principally in the gym. Tum’s idea of heaven is treating herself to the occasional spa day.

While there are people in Hua Hin who claim Tum has the skills and connections to fix all and everything, Tum regrets this isn’t true. She is prepared to move heaven and earth when she takes on a cause and is always sincere when she gives her commitment. Tum prides herself on her honesty and good heart. Simple pleasures such as waking up in the morning to see her koi happy in their pond in the garden, or taking time to cook her acclaimed massaman beef curry for friends, even the paste from scratch, are enough to bring Tum joy, as long as her children are happy and healthy and take the time to put things in their proper places so she doesn’t waste time using her mother’s eyes to find them. Tum needs to keep time for the good fight.