Tipsuda Klainoi
Age 13, entering M2, Taluk Ku Wittayakom School
Tab Tan District, Uthai Thani

Both Tipsuda's parents have passed away and she and her 12-year-old sister live with their grandparents who are also looking after three of their cousins, two six-year-old twin sisters and a five-year-old boy.

The grandparents own 22 rai of poor quality farming land which yielded a bit over two tonnes of rice last year. This is almost their sole income. The grandparents are old and need to hire people to help work on the farm. Their land lacks water for effective farming.

Tipsuda helps in the rice farming and can do all work, from sowing to harvesting rice. She also helps her grandmother with the cooking and general cleaning in the house.

A quiet and withdrawn girl, Tipsuda had been looked after by her grandmother since she was seven days old. Her mother had "given" her to the grandmother soon after birth. She had a GPA of 2.44 and likes studying maths and Thai. She wants to be a doctor or a teacher.

She and her sister take a bus to school, paying 180 baht each per month. She takes a pack lunch and 10 baht a day.

Mattayom level students have to pay for all their own books and uniforms. There is no school subsidy as in primary school. School skirts cost 200 baht each, blouses 165 baht each, and shoes cost 200 baht a pair.