When Mew (not her real name) got pregnant, she was 16 years old and studying in the final term of Matthayom 4 at a school in the northern province of Phetchabun. She was in despair and was about to give up on the baby, who these days makes her a happy 19-year-old mum.
At that time, it was an extremely stressful time for her -- fearing her father would find out what happened and become disappointed in her, dreading being judged by peers if they knew, being worried about how to cope with the burden of taking care of her child and thinking she would have to drop out of school and ruin her future for good.
The father of her unborn child was an older boy at the same school who lived near the house she shared with her father and his new wife. And as soon as she broke the news to him about her being pregnant, he refused to take any responsibility.
He didn't even offer to help her find a solution to the problem that was supposed to be theirs. The boy said he couldn't help her with anything because he was afraid his family would be angry at him and he would lose the opportunity to continue studying.
He didn't appear to care how she was feeling while being left to deal with the problem alone. He even hinted that she had better end the problem by terminating her pregnancy.
During the following school break, and still managing to keep her unwanted pregnancy secret, she asked her father's permission to visit her older sister who lives in Bangkok.
She hoped to deal with the problem before the new school semester and the only option she could think of at that moment was abortion.
Her days in Bangkok were spent on researching on the internet information about abortion. And one day she came across a poem online that changed her mind.
The poem told her that the chances of the baby opening its eyes to see the world would never come true if its parents were too ashamed to admit they made a mistake and weren't ready to welcome it.
She didn't know who composed those lines. All she knew was that they were deeply touching and sparked her maternal instinct. Reading the poem, she cried and began feeling responsible as a would-be mother for the first time since finding out she was pregnant.
We can do both: The teen mother holds the hand of her two-year-old daughter who is now her top priority, besides her secondary school studies.
She felt even more confused and unhappy after reading the poem, being in a dilemma over whether she should go ahead with the abortion and return to her normal life as if nothing had happened or keep the baby, which would mean her life changing forever.
Mew later decided to terminate her pregnancy and was forced to tell her father she was pregnant as the abortion clinic she consulted required the father's consent for the abortion.
Just as she had feared, the father was disappointed and angry with her. He signed the consent form right away and hinted he would rather take the risk of her dying in an abortion than to see the baby born without anyone accepting it.
However, while she was counting down to the abortion, her sister one day came up with new information about an emergency home service for girls and women who get pregnant while they aren't ready to.
The information came as welcome news during her life crisis, as it brought new hope to her. She would be able to keep the baby and still go back to school. She told herself at that happy moment that she would do whatever it takes to take the best care of her child.
After giving birth, she felt relieved as if her duty had been accomplished. Thinking her responsibility of giving the baby its life had now been discharged, she didn't feel any bond forming between her and the infant in the time they stayed at the hospital after the delivery.
She had even made the decision to give up the baby girl and allow it to be adopted. But after she had a chance to nurse it when they returned to the emergency home in Don Muang district from the hospital, she developed a maternal bond. She then decided to keep the child and raise it as her own.
She kept the child with her at the emergency home as she entered Matthayom 6, her last year at school in Don Muang district.
Her GPA was more than 3 and she aimed to study education at a university with a view to becoming a teacher.
She thought that if she goes to university, her daughter may have to move to be with her family in Phetchabun.
In April when Mew took the daughter to visit her father in Phetchabun, he appeared more affectionate towards her and her daughter than previously, which made her confident her daughter would be in good care while she will was away at university.
Sporting chance: A girl plays with her mother at a welfare home in Don Muang district of Bangkok. photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul
"I've regained self-esteem, love myself more and stop worrying bad things will happen to me," she said. "In the past, I didn't have the guts to even look at people in the eye because I was so afraid they would judge and gossip about me."
"Now, I don't care what they think. All I care about is doing my best in raising my child to be a decent person. When she grows up, I will tell her the truth about us so she knows how she should behave and live a safe life," said the teen mother.
According to World Bank, Thailand's adolescent fertility rate in 2016 was 51.8 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years old.
The trend has risen slightly in recent years. It was 42.4 births in 2007 before rising to 51.5 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years old in 2012.
Natthiya Thongsiket, director of the emergency home in Don Muang district, said the role of the centre is to help women regain their strength so they can one day return to normal life.
Not only people with unwanted pregnancies, but also victims of sexual assault or domestic violence are welcome.
"We aim to assist those girls to stay in education so they can still have a chance of finding a job and support their families," she said.
One attitude she would like to address is the one among some young men who assume it is okay to make girls pregnant but not take any responsibility.
Every young man should be taught about responsibility when it comes to sex, she said.
"This is not a problem young women should have to deal with alone. It's a shared responsibility. Sex is of course a natural thing and teens are normally eager to experiment it. So it's more important to guide them to have safe sex."
The Education Ministry is working on introducing more practical sex education to schools. The law also ensures protection and assistance for girls who fall pregnant at school.