Apichit Mingwongtham (Aun) is a visually impaired student from the northeast of Thailand. Loving the Vietnamese language, he asked his parents to allow to go to Vietnam to study. He is now a second-year student in the Vietnamese Studies Faculty at the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Aun’s essay about his journey to Vietnam won a prize at a competition organized by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities under the sponsorship Dao Minh Quang Fund.

Here are some excerpts:

Some people told me that Vietnam is a very beautiful and charming country with ao dai (traditional long dresses) and rustic conical hats. This is a colorful Vietnam. And I thought, if only I could admire the beauty.

I am Apichit Mingwongtham, or Aun as people call me". I was born visually impaired in Thailand.

I graduated from a law school in Thailand more than 10 years ago. However, because of the love for Vietnamese language, I decided to give up the stable life of a visually impaired man in the homeland and find a way to Vietnam to study Vietnamese.

Many people asked why I love Vietnamese language so much.

I began loving Vietnamese when I was a six-year old boy.

As my home is in the northeastern part of Thailand, which is bordering Laos, we sometimes can catch the wave of Vietnam’s radio.

“What is this language, Mom?” I asked. “This is Vietnamese,” she answered.

I enjoyed listening to Vietnam’s radio and imitating the voice of Vietnamese broadcasters. That might be the reason why many Vietnamese said my voice is in no way different from theirs.

As a student of the Law Faculty of Thamasat University, I really lusted for discovering Vietnam. But I could not, because I could not see anything.

Then I persuaded my younger sister, brother and some friends to take a trip to Vietnam. After the trip, I promised myself that I will land in Vietnam again one day.

In 2013, I gathered my courage, money and resigned from the post, to go to Vietnam to study Vietnamese.

Vietnamese people are hospitable, affectionate and approachable.

I needed a soft copy of textbook to print into a Braille book. I had to ask for friends’ help to type to create a soft copy. They were all willing to help me. Some of them were sleepless, helping to type it. And I then had a Braille book before the training course began.

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