Thai exchange student enjoys opportunities

Chaipat "Putter" Thongkijlaohachai is a 17 year old senior exchange student at Wahkiakum High School.

Putter, as everyone calls him, comes from the sprawling city of Bangkok, Thailand.

He and his family live just outside the city in what might be considered a kind of suburb, Petchkasem 3. It's not as busy as the city, but it's not rural like Wahkiakum County either. The traffic is bad and most of the homes are surrounded by high walls for privacy and security.

In Thailand, everybody has a nickname," Putter said. "One name for signing, another for calling."

He guessed that 70 percent of Thai people have a long last name and shared that there are no common last names like Smith or Jones. For instance, his own last name, Thongkijlaohachai. It's absolutely musical when he says it.

"The only people in tAhe world that have that last name are me, my dad, my mom, and some of my cousins," Putter said.

It followed that the first time he met a classmate with the last name Watson, he would believe that she was related to Emma Watson, an actress from the Harry Potter movies.

The story of his path to the United States was a little different from a lot of exchange students simply because it wasn't his idea.

"My cousin went to America," Putter said. "When he came back his English skills had improved a lot. My parents just decided they want to send me here."

He was less enthused.

"I wasn't interested," Putter smiled, "but I thought 'whatever.' I could do that. I passed the test and came."

It turns out he's glad he did. He's made a lot of friends and been very active at WHS, turning out for football, basketball and track.

"I have had a lot of experiences that I couldn't have had in Thailand," Putter said. "I got a chance to play sports. In Thailand, they focus more on education than on sports."

He is competing in the 100 meter race and doing well. He also signed up for the 3200 to push himself.

"The 3200 is a challenge for me," Putter said. "I can run it but I'm not good at it. Everybody tells me I can't do it, and I feel like I'm going to prove that I can. At the last track meet I got third place out of six people. I was not the last one!"

He grinned. But his eyes really lit up when he was asked about dancing.

He won this year's Mr. Wahkiakum Pageant and it may have had much to do with what happened in the talent portion of the show. Putter choreographed and performed his own dance.

"I think it's fun to dance," Putter said. "I never took a class."

Still, he can do a little break dancing and some pop and lock, though even he admits there is more pop than lock. He showed off his tutting skills, a graceful form of dancing using mostly hand and arm movement.

Putter will return home when the school year ends and finish some graduation work. He will attend university where he hopes to major in media studies and eventually work in film as a special effects editor.

Putter is staying with host family John and Nova Lee Knopp in Cathlamet.