I grew up in a Buddhist family in Bangkok. At 11, I became a Christian. I had a regular childhood and grew up with my parents and three siblings. I was a normal student and attended school from primary and secondary and did a bachelor’s degree in Thailand.
I moved to Australia when I married an American Australian man, in 2006. After seven years my marriage broke down and I became homeless. The cheapest accommodation I could get was at a backpackers in the city, where I got bedbugs and scabies. I moved to other backpackers and had my stuff stolen, got verbal abuse and racism.
I decided to try for transitional housing. At the time I’d only been selling The Big Issue for a little while. I’d found a brochure [about becoming a Big Issue vendor] during the time I was looking for accommodation. In the end it was the fact that I was a Big Issue vendor that got me considered for the housing, as income from selling The Big Issue was “paid work”, which allowed me to qualify for a Centrelink payment, meaning I’d be able to pay rent.
Being a Big Issue vendor set me up as a good candidate for the long-term accommodation within the city’s free public transport boundaries. I have now been a vendor for over 12 years. The flexibility has meant I can do other work as well. I have many other jobs alongside being a vendor. For the past four years, I’ve worked as a peer educator to help educate people about hepatitis B – I role-play being a patient to train student doctors, and I’ve also signed up to take part in clinical trials. My older brother passed from prostate cancer. This is a very common disease in Thailand and kills many men. I have created for myself a healthy, balanced diet that allows me to pass screening without supplements.
In my spare time I like teaching Bible study, listening to music and travelling. My goals are to continue to have a healthy lifestyle and then retire and travel once a year. I have been to Austria, UK and Thailand, and last year I went to Melbourne to visit a place where I do Bible study. This year, due to the war, I was only able to travel to the hot springs in Thailand.
My approach to life is an easy and simple one: try for a healthy lifestyle and continue to learn and help people. I am in stable accommodation now. I am studying to be an interpreter because this, too, is flexible and can be done online or in person. I have also applied for a free course through TAFE called New Opportunities for Women (NOW), because I love to learn and challenge my critical thinking. The course trains you to do everything you need to prepare you for the pathway to work and study, like personal finances, communication language, work safety and computer literacy. I’d like to keep doing interpreting work and also keep up with volunteering because it is important work.
Pat sells The Big Issue at Royal Perth Hospital, Perth
Interview by Celia Tran
Photo by Ross Swanborough