wayne
chinnie
Chinnie Thepthat – Daredevil… TomBoy that wears pink… loves Tasmania
So let's start with the tomboy bit. Chinnie spent half her young life with her army day. Martial arts, guns, exercise, discipline, lover of snakes, wearing army-style trousers and sleeves to the wrist, no crying. Tomboy right?
“My dad taught me to walk with my own legs, not to rely on others” she says. A Thai saying that probably parallels our ‘Stand on your own two feet’ saying.
The rest of her time was spent with her mum. Pink dresses. Nail polish. Beauty treatments. Hated spiders and worms. Hair colours and styles from Mum, the hairdresser. A girl's girl… but a tomboy. Think Gwen Stephani maybe. Or Pink.
That’s probably where the hair thing started, but there were years of hard work from a very, very young age in Thailand. Then in Thai restaurants from the age of 14. She needed to learn English, pay for her schooling and help pay the electricity bill. That’s walking on your own legs!
If you like Thai food, you’ve probably met her at one of a list of local Thai restaurants. There have been many.
When she was maybe 7, she decided that bikes were going to be an interest, so she took a bike that was simply a frame, two wheels, handlebars and a seat – no brakes, no gears - then walked it to the top of a hill and jumped on for the descent. We don’t know how she stopped. You’d have to fall off, or run into something. Well ask her and get back to you.
Oh… and Chinnie loves it here because we have clean air among other things. You can ask her the rest when you come in.