By Terry Fredrickson
Family members have provided details on how former supermodel Rojjana ‘‘Yui’’ Phetkanha, who was reportedly earning 50 million baht a year during the height of her career, ended up impoverished and wandering the streets of Bangkok.
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Fall of a supermodel
When former supermodel Rojjana ‘‘Yui’’ Phetkanha was found disoriented on a Bangkok street last week, there wasn't much information about what put her there.
Now family members and colleagues have begun providing details Yui, who was reportedly earning 50 million baht a year during the height of her career is a victim of a mental illness know as 'biopolar disorder”, complicated by excessive drinking and the negative influence of friends.
Family members say Yui had left her stepmother’s home in Maha Sarakham province a week before, after relapsing into her drinking habit
She was heading for Bangkok, where she hoped to stay with her elder brother. Family on her father’s side, who have come forward to discuss her plight say Yui did not get there, and wound up on the streets instead.
Ex-manager Saroj ‘‘Joe’’ na Nakorn said Yui was admitted to psychiatric care in July after an aunt dumped her by a city flyover Joe said Yui can be difficult to manage when she stops taking her medication for her bi-polar disorder.
When she is behaving, however, she can appear lucid functional and beautiful as seen in a recent advertising spread she did for a jewellery brand in Khon Kaen.
‘‘We were arranging a course for her to teach modelling after she left hospital, and found a relative who was prepared to look after her in Sakon Nakhon. Then she just disappeared ’’ he said.
Meanwhile, her stepbrother Petchubol says Yui has also fallen under the negative influence of friends from the modelling world.
‘‘Two Thais turned up from overseas at mum’s place in Maha Sarakham. As soon as they arrived, Yui went back to drinking and smoking. They gave her 3,000 baht, and she blew it on alcohol,” he said.
Yui’s father, Yotpetch Petchkanha, 63, a mechanic in Bangkok, said he gave his daughter a place to stay after she was discharged in July.
The pair were reunited two years ago after spending decades apart. Mr Yotpetch divorced Yui’s mother when Yui was still a child.
‘‘I took her back to Maha Sarakham, where she lived with my new wife,’’ Mr Yotpetch said. ‘‘At first she was willing to take her pills.
Later, however, her condition started to deteriorate
‘‘She hit my wife, and damaged our things. She left to stay with her elder brother in Bangkok, but couldn’t find him. The next I heard, she was found on the street,’’ he said.
Mr Yotpetch said he could not say if he would care for Yui again upon her release ‘‘I’m not sure if my wife is willing to take her back,’’ he said.
‘‘I think it might be better if she stayed with her brother.
Adapted from a story in the Sunday “Mae Moo” column
Vocabulary
admit: to put someone into hospital or prison - เปิดรับ
behave: to do things in a way that people think is correct or polite - ประพฤติดี
biopolar disorder: a mental disorder in which victims experience extreme changes in mood, from a excited and confused mood known as mania to depression. -
blow: to waste something, especially an opportunity or something positive - ใช้ไปโดยเปล่าประโยชน์
brand: a type of product made by a particular company - ตรา, ยี่ห้อ
career: a job or series of related jobs that you do, especially a profession that you spend a lot of your working life in - อาชีพ
colleague: someone who works in the same organisation or department as you do - เพื่อนร่วมงาน
complicate: to make something more difficult to deal with, do or understand - ทำให้ยาก, ทำให้ซับซ้อน
condition: the physical state of a person or animal, especially how healthy they are - อาการ, สุขภาพ
decades: periods of ten years - เป็นสิบๆปี
details: small facts or pieces of information relating to a situation - รายละเอียด
deteriorate: to become worse - เลวร้ายลง
disappear: to move something or someone somewhere where they can no longer be seen - หายไป, สาบสูญ, สูญหาย
discharge: to allow someone officially to leave somewhere, especially a hospital or a court of law - ได้รับอนุญาตให้ออกจาก
disoriented: unable to recognise where you are or where you should go - สับสนและไม่เข้าใจว่าอะไรเกิดขึ้นรอบตัวเอง
divorce: to take legal action to end a marriage - หย่า
dump: to get rid of - ทิ้ง
elder: older - ที่อายุมากกว่า
excessive: much greater than is usual; too much of something - มากเกินปริมาณที่พอดี
flyover: a bridge that carries one road over another one - สะพานลอยที่ให้รถวิ่ง
functional: able to be used - ใช้การได้
habit: a thing that you do often and almost without thinking, especially something that is hard to stop doing - กิจวัตร, สิ่งที่เป็นนิสัย, สิ่งที่ทำเป็นประจำ
influence: the power to have an effect on people or things - อิทธิพล
jewellery: objects such as rings and necklaces that people wear as decoration - เพชรพลอย,อัญมณี
lucid: very clear - อย่างแจ่มแจ้ง
mechanic: a person whose job is repairing machines, especially the engines of vehicles - ช่าง, ช่างยนต์, ช่างเครื่อง
medication: a medicine, or a set of medicines or drugs used to improve a particular condition or illness - ยารักษาโรค
mental illness: a disease or illness that affects someone's mind and behaviour - ความเจ็บป่วยทางจิต, ความเจ็บป่วยทางจิตใจ, การเจ็บป่วยทางจิตใจ
negative: bad - ที่เป็นด้านลบ
overseas: in another country - ต่างประเทศ
plight: an unpleasant condition, especially a serious, sad or difficult one - สภาพเลวร้าย
psychiatric: connected with the treatment of mental illness - เกี่ยวกับจิตวิทยา
relapse: to go back into a previous condition or into a worse state after making an improvement - กลับสู่สภาพเดิม, กลับไปเหมือนเก่า
relative: a member of your family - ญาติพี่น้อง
release: to let someone leave a place where they have been kept, such as a hospital or prison - ปล่อยตัว
reportedly: as reported (often used for showing that you are not certain that something you are reporting is true) - ตามที่รายงาน
reunite: to bring together again - รวมตัวกันใหม่, รวมกันใหม่
stepbrother: the son from an earlier marriage of your stepmother - แม่เลี้ยง) or stepfather (พ่อเลี้ยง) ลูกเลี้ยงที่เป็นผู้ชาย
stepmother: the woman who is married to your father but who is not your real mother แม่เลี้ยง - แม่เลี้ยง
victim: someone who has been affected by a bad situation, such as a disaster, illness or an accident - เหยื่อผู้เคราะห์ร้าย
willing: to be happy to do something if it is needed - ซึ่งสมัครใจ, ซึ่งมีความตั้งใจ
