MY Camper Thamonwan Chaemprida: Building cooperation for better world
18-year-old Thamonwan Chaemprida heard about MY Camp from Chanikarn Khanutwong, 2010 MY Camper from Thailand. Thamonwan has a future in medicine ahead of her, which she plans on dedicating to helping cancer patients all over the world.
Thamonwan Chaemprida from Thailand.
“My passion in science is in biology. The study of life has kept my interests since I was very young as it makes me understand the differences in the existence of each creature,” says 18-year-old Thamonwan Chaemprida or Ping who is from Thailand.
Just like another Thai MY Camper Yossathorn Tawabutr, also Thamonwan has recently finished her studies in Mahidol Wittayanusorn School, which is a science specialized high school.
Thamonwan heard about MY Camp from Chanikarn ‘Fai’ Khanutwong also from Thailand, who participated in MY Camp 2010. “She said that the camp was an experience she’ll never forget,” Thamonwan says.
During MY Camp, Thamonwan hopes to make new friends from all over the world and exchange views with them. “Building cooperation is important in making it possible for us better share our knowledge and opinions in order to build a sustainable world,” she says.
Thamonwan is also interested in seeing what the summer is like in Finland. “After living in Thailand for 18 years, I haven’t seen any differences between each season. All of them are hot and sunny, except for the monsoon season which gives us floods.”
Thamonwan is in MY Camp’s Water theme group and in her project plan she studied the effects of household cleaning chemicals on water. “We use them every day and they’re released into the environment nearly directly after being used. Moreover, their ingredients, such as perfumes and colorants, are added for commercial purposes, not for environmental ones,” Thamonwan says.
“In my project, you can see I got many ideas from His Majesty the King’s royal projects for saving Thailand’s natural water resources. He’s an idol in the minds of many Thai people. For decades, he has tried to create a brighter future for Thailand.”
Other than the King, Thamonwan looks up to physician and Nobel Prize Laureate Barry Marshall. “I met him at Singapore Science Center in April 2010. I was impressed by how he chose himself as a recipient of Helicobacter pylori to prove that he was right.”
Thamonwan herself has also a future in medicine ahead of her. She will start university studies shortly, and will follow his father’s footsteps, who is a doctor. Thamonwan has been interested in the field since she was very young. “One night, we’re travelling on the road when there was an accident. My father ran off quickly to help the victims. I wished, somehow, I could be like that.”
Lately, she has become more interested in oncology. “It’s a big cause of death and it has killed many famous people, such as Steve Jobs, as well as my uncle. I think if we can understand the symptoms better, it would be beneficial all over the world.”
During her spare time, Thamonwan loves to do arts and crafts, and hopes that knitting and crochet will also help her concentrate better.
Have a look at Thamonwan’s project plan: Household Cleaning Agents: Significant Chemicals.
Like during the previous years, MyScience will introduce each MY Camper and offer news, videos and photos during the Camp. Stay tuned, but in the meantime watch videos and photos from MY Camp 2010 and MY Camp 2011.
Read more about Millennium Youth Camp from Finland’s Science Education Centre LUMA’s website.
Elisa Lautala works as web editor for University of Helsinki's Faculty of Science. Elisa likes all kinds of cultural events, good books, warm weather, and aqua-jogging.