When it comes to her education, 13-year-old Pakaotow from Myanmar tries to stay positive and take things one day at a time -- never quite knowing when the rug will be pulled out from under her feet.
FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Asia Jong-Jin Kim gives Pakaotow a token of appreciation after the art exhibition. FAO/RAP
An aspiring artist who hopes to make it to university, graduate with an arts degree and become a teacher, this cheery young daughter of migrant workers in Samut Songkhram, a small province southwest of Bangkok, has already had one of her drawings picked for a local World Food Day art exhibition.
But this promising, motivated sixth grader may not even make it through primary school as economic pressure at home could bring her education to an abrupt end and cause her to leave Wat Si Suttharam School prematurely.
Her mother, a dressmaker, does not earn enough money to support her career dream and then there is her disabled brother, 11, and other family members to take care of.
"I may have to quit school and start working. I have to help my mum take care of my brother and grandma," she said.
"I see my mum working so hard for all of us. I tell myself that as soon as I can help her out, I will."
"Maybe I'll keep studying somehow..." she says, trailing off.
Pakaotow moved to Thailand at the age of four with her mother, aunt, older brother and grandmother. Her mum left Myanmar after she could not find work there. She subsequently gave birth to two more kids, now aged three and four.
Now Pakaotow has to help take care of all of them while also juggling her studies. On weekends, she sometimes visits her father, who lives with his new family in the Maha Chai area.
Her drawings tell not only her story but those of thousands of migrant families struggling to make a living in Thailand.
When moving to a different country to start a new life can pay off, it is also a huge gamble -- often undertaken in desperation, driven by conflict, natural disasters or even climate change. People migrating under such circumstances are vulnerable to growing food insecurity and worsening poverty.
Globally, millions migrate within their own countries in search of better jobs, for example in China or India from the countryside to the cities. Others choose to cross national borders and deal with a new language, culture and the very real threat of racial discrimination and having their human rights trampled on.
Such families often face limited opportunities when it comes to accessing basic services. These include education, healthcare and even legal protection.
In addition, they are more vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation. Many also face discrimination and the risk of being socially ostracised.
A survey of children and women in Thailand's 14 border provinces conducted by the National Statistical Office from 2015-2016 showed that kids from families where the breadwinner does not speak Thai often lag their peers in terms of health, nutrition, education, security and other developmental areas.
Although literacy among those aged 15-24 years in this category car run as high as 80%, the number of those entering primary school has been dropping in provinces like Mae Hong Son in the North and Buri Ram in the Northeast.
Moreover, the number of school dropouts in migrant-heavy provinces like Tak and strife-torn Narathiwat and Pattani in the deep South is disproportionately high, according to the survey.
"Stereotypes associated with the children of migrant workers must be overlooked. Children deserve a fair chance in life," said Sompong Srakaew, founder of the Labor Rights Promotion Network (LPN).
According to one cabinet resolution passed in 2005, every child who resides in Thailand has the right to a secondary-level education, regardless of their nationality.
However, not many migrant worker parents are aware of their rights. Mr Somsak said his organisation is working to educate and encourage them to send their kids to school.
Education provides a key for children's development in the immediate and long term. The knowledge attained also empowers them to fight social injustice.
In Mae Sot district of Tak, a dozen Pathom Suksa 5 (fifth grade) students at Ban Hua Fai School take a Thai-language class in the afternoon.
The class is small and ethnically diverse. Some of the kids hail from the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. Others come from Mawlamyine in Myanmar. Their average age is 10 but the oldest is 18. Some can only make it to class when they don't have to help their parents earn money for the family.
"Such age gaps are not an issue," said Prakasit Kamsuk, the school's principal.
"Education is essential for everyone regardless of age, nationality or religion."
A total of 426 students are enrolled at the primary school. The majority come from Myanmar, are highlanders, or belong to ethnic minorities living in villages along the Thai-Myanmar border.
For most Thai children, moving on from primary to high school is almost a given. But not for these kids.
The fortunate ones who are able to gain a high school certificate from a Thai school have a chance of finding work legally at a factory, if not better.
Having run this school for 18 years, Principal Prakasit knows that in order to create a level playing field for all students it is important to have various stakeholders collaborate.
One of the school's strengths is its appointment of a panel comprising representatives from local administrative bodies, school alumni, local communities, NGOs, parents, monks, religious leaders and teachers.
They work together to serve the needs of students of migrant workers, such as finding additional budgets for out-of-school activities.
The national education system already provides school uniforms, textbooks and school lunches for these kids.
Mr Prakasit recalled one time when he went shopping at a downtown mall and met one of his former students there. The boy, who was from Myanmar, thanked him for giving him a good education that enabled him to work and earn enough money to feed his family.
"A student's happiness is a teacher's pride," the principal said.
Unicef Thailand recently launched a campaign highlighting the inequality faced by children of migrant workers in Thailand, their challenges in accessing health and education services, and roadblocks to completing their education.
Called Fight Unfair and A Child Is A Child, the campaign calls on the Thai public to look past stereotypes and see children from migrant communities as kids first and foremost who need support and deserve a fair chance in life.
"A child is a child first, no matter what," said Thomas Davin, Unicef's representative for Thailand.
"It doesn't matter if a child is from a migrant community, is a refugee, is stateless, or has a disability; that child should be able to see a doctor when sick, to go to school and to complete their education, just like other children," he said.
Migrant workers can support rural communities but they need access to education, food security and a decent livelihood, according to Bina Agarwal, a professor of development economics at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.
This requires concerted efforts and measures that maximise the positive outcomes of migration while minimising the negative ones, he added.
Governments, civil society organisations and the general public must be aware of the risks associated with migration and work together to make this a choice rather than an act of desperation, said Kundhavi Kadiresan, assistant director-general and regional representative for Asia-Pacific at the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Youngsters play, learn and eat together at the school. Many activities are designed to promote all-round development of the children.
A boy hands his classwork in to his teacher as he and other children of migrant workers attend class at Ban Hua Fai School in Tak's Mae Sot district. The pupils study various subjects and are often given the chance to join in class activities. They are diverse in age, nationality and religion but all have the right to an education which is essential to improving their quality of life in Thailand. Photos by Unicef Thailand