[payporanymn]

Grandmother Ying continues to struggle for her livingDoughty lady refuses to be a beggar


Grandmother Ying sells her coconuts for 15 baht each.
It’s a struggle, but she refuses to be a beggar.Patcharapol Panrak
Grandmother Ying is a well-known character in the Sattahip area, an elderly lady with a humpback, who makes her living by selling coconuts from a cart.

Her real name is Mrs Yupin Phopan, and she is 73 years old. She lives in a small house in Moo 4, in Sattahip Sub-district. Yupin pushes her cart for about 10 hours every day, and many local residents help support her by buying the coconuts even if they don’t want them.

Pattaya Mail spoke to Yupin on February 10. She was pushing her heavy cart with its reflective triangle traffic sign and loaded with 100 coconuts along the Sukhumvit-Pattaya Road. Such is the measure of her deformity and the effort she puts into pushing her cart, from the back you can see only her legs up to her waist.

Yupin said that she had two sons, and that one had passed away. He left his daughter with her when she was born; Miss Dolaya, or Bell Bunkeb, is now 21 years old. Her other son has also had a hard life, and fights to survive. She lives with her niece in a small house on a small piece of land that she says she is being cheated out of. Yupin’s deformed back was caused by an accident. She is not able to perform other work and survives by selling coconuts.

Grandmother Ying proved to be a spirited lady. She said she doesn’t want to beg for anything from anyone. She is able to earn approximately 100 baht per day. She sells the coconuts for 15 baht each, and most of her customers have sympathy for her. They usually give her 20 baht and allow her to keep the five baht change.

Miss Dolaya also spoke to Pattaya Mail. She said that as her parents passed away when she was young, she lives with her grandmother. Her education was completed only up to primary school class 6, which has made it difficult for her to find a job. Her grandmother doesn’t allow her to go out to work at night, so she stays at home and takes care of her grandmother and feeds her grandmother’s rabbits.

Dolaya added that she is afraid her grandmother might have an accident, but her grandmother has told her that she would fight for a living until her last breath, and refuses to be a beggar.

Pattaya Mail

[MaigicyuNinia]

Good to see some one in her condition still active and working. I wonder what she will do if she becomes to physically frail to push that cart.

[ireleda]

When she does, we will let you know and yopu can send he a couple a quid every so often.

[Lebybynctisee]

15 Baht, is almost like... .50 cents?
im not too sure.

but she's an inspiration.
if she can do that, that's great of her.
strong will.

thanks.