From nothing to NOWHERE

FORMER FASHION supermodel Rojjana Phetkanha’s life has been more full of twists than a melodramatic movie. At age 18 she won a national modelling competition and a chance on the international catwalk. By age 27 her star had fallen and she was back in Thailand with little left but vague memories of glory.
And, last weekend, the 37-year-old was being described in news reports as “homeless and insane”. She’s currently in a Bangkok psychiatric hospital.
It’s been a sharp, caustic descent for a woman who once earned Bt50 million a year.
Yui, as she’s called, was born in Bangkok to migrant workers from the Northeast. They separated when she was two and left her in the care of her maternal grandparents, in a remote village in Ubon Ratchathani. Her parents occasionally visited. “The longest time I had with them was during Songkran,” she told me in an interview a few years ago.
Like any other local kid, Yui helped her elders with the household chores and in the paddy field, including taking care of the buffalo. For lack of money she dropped out of school as soon as compulsory education ended in Prathom 6. At age 15 she decided to follow her parents’ example and seek work in Bangkok, where they still lived. “It was the first time I’d lived with my mother in years,” she recalled.
Yui started as an assistant at her uncle’s food stall, toiling from 7 to 9 for about Bt100 a day, which helped finance her tuition for non-formal education courses. “I wanted to finish Matthayom 3 [Grade 9] because hopefully it would land me a better job.”
The better job – and the fantastic career that followed – instead came thanks to her statuesque figure and unique facial features. In 1994 a photographer noticed her height and her big eyes and lofty cheekbones and encouraged her to enter the Elite Supermodel of Thailand competition. She was an immediate hit. The contest was her springboard into the international limelight.
Despite speaking little English, Yui was soon based in New York and travelling around the globe to work in all the big fashion capitals – Paris, Milan and London. She appeared on several international fashion magazines, including Vogue Asia, and in an advertisement for Chanel perfume, among many others.
She was touted as “The Face of Asia” and ranked among the world’s top 12 models alongside the likes of Kate Moss. Hollywood beckoned. “Many directors were interested in me,” she said.
Then she hit the same roadblock that dashes the dreams of so many rising stars. Yui started using illicit drugs, developing a special liking for cocaine, with its instantly cheering energy boost. It wasn’t long before her agency rescinded their contract and sent her back to Thailand with nothing but a few suitcases.
Her pockets were almost empty, all the money lost to drugs, luxury goods and high living at the posh restaurants and clubs. “If I had saved it instead, I’d be a millionaire today,” she said.
Yui was subsequently diagnosed with bipolar disorder and for at least five years underwent therapy at several psychiatric hospitals. She occasionally made headlines – for all the wrong reasons. There was a nasty row with her mother and physical abuse by a boyfriend that cost her one of her front teeth.
Then, two years ago, she seemed to re-emerge from the storm a new person. The boyfriend was gone and she’d made amends with her mother. The bipolar disorder was “under control”. “I’m ready to work again,” she told me. She’d already begun offering modelling lessons and was expecting fresh contracts of her own, and an English photographer was interested in writing her biography.
It remains to be seen what exactly happened next to bring about headlines last weekend like “World supermodel declining as homeless and insane”. There were reports that Yui had caused a disturbance among shopkeepers, so the police were called and took her to a nearby psychiatric hospital.
Is she homeless? Possibly, if it’s true that her family rejected her, though no reasons have been suggested why they would. If she’s homeless and without support, it could explain why she reportedly failed to take the prescribed medicine needed to contain the troubling behaviour associated with the bipolar condition.
Is she insane – in any sense of the word? It’s highly unlikely. Bipolar disorder has often been wrongly mistaken for schizophrenia and other forms of “madness”. But regular medication and medical supervision can control its effects.
What is highly likely is that we’ll someday hear directly from Yui what happened. For now, there could be a partial explanation in what she told me during our interview.
“I am vulnerable,” she said. “My childhood was defective. I came from the countryside. I never thought of becoming a model even in Bangkok, let alone in the international arena. When I had a chance to work on the international catwalks and be in the limelight, I didn’t know how to maintain it. What a shame!”
-----
Bipolar disorder: the facts
 A MENTAL ILLNESS that psychiatrists classify as a mood disorder, bipolar disorder causes moods to swing from frenzy to depression.
Symptoms usually start with depression, with sufferers losing interest in life and feeling sad and hopeless. The low mood often lasts for weeks before they shift to the other extreme with the patient suddenly feeling elevated and full of energy.
“During this period, they feel confident and have a sense that they can accomplish everything, so will often spend money on buying a home, a car or gifts for those around them. Their thoughts are racing and they plan to do many things but their attention span is low, meaning they are easily distracted. As the euphoria deepens, they often suffer from delusions about who they really are,” says Dr Yada Phongkanjana, a consultation psychiatrist at Piyavate Hospital.
And when their family or friends try to warn or stop them, they will get angry and act wildly, causing trouble for the people around them.
Patients can’t control themselves and don’t know that there is something wrong with their minds. However, people whose lives become disrupted because of their symptoms will usually become aware that not all is right and consult a doctor.
But unlike physical illness, which can be checked through lab tests, the diagnosis of mental illness is based entirely on an evaluation of the patient and his or her history. Diagnosis of bipolar depression is particularly difficult, as it is almost impossible to differentiate from unipolar depression.
Onset of symptoms is most common between the ages of 25 and 35 years. There may be a genetic contribution and environmental influences have been shown to have an effect on the brain chemicals. While many people suffer from abnormal fluctuations in mood, they don’t develop the disorder until some factor in their lives triggers the symptoms. Use of drugs and stress are among the most likely triggers.
Sufferers can be treated with medications and must be regularly monitored. While the cost of medication varies according to side effects, a patient can end up spending more than Bt10,000 a month.
Although bipolar disorder is a disruptive, long-term condition, moods can be kept in check by closely adhering to a treatment plan that covers three phases: acute, continuation and maintenance.
Patients who receive treatment can eventually return to a normal life.
PARINYAPORN PAJEE
THE NATION