'Madam Ting' still in the picture

Poonpirom would rather be taking pictures, if it’s all the same to you and Suwat. And she’s quite a good photographer, with an exhibition currently at the True Coffee outlet in Nakhon Ratchasima, her hometown. 

“I have so many photos of flowers – I’m really into it!” she says. “Anytime someone gave me flowers I always wondered how I could preserve them longer, and photography provided the way.” 

This is no “retirement hobby”, either. Poonpirom has known how to handle a camera since she was a little girl. “I started taking photos early on. It was considered rather a luxury, but my uncle owned a photo studio. He went to China to learn photography and came back and set up the business. So I took a lot of portraits as well.”

The convenience of digital photography has Poonpirom taking more pictures than ever, and it hasn’t hurt that her husband is currently president of the Contemporary Photography Foundation of Thailand. “So I got involved with the association and had a chance to get close to Taweechai Jaowattana, a professional,” she says. 

Before the pretty flowers, her chief subject was her ugly dogs (well, they’re pugs). She turned the photos into postcards and sold them to raise money for charity. “I got some compliments – people said I had unique way of cropping the photos.” The late Surat Osathanugrah, when he headed the association, invited Poonpirom to exhibit at the Chao Fa Gallery. 

Feeling encouraged, she’d love to show her work on Khao San Road and see if the tourists are interested, “but at my age I wouldn’t be able to turn pro now. Whatever I do, I’ll do it for my own happiness and make myself useful to society.”