How many Pinoy teachers do you think are there now in Thailand? Some say around 8,000. Others have said, probably 30,000. Judging from the number of Pinoys who make visa runs to Laos or to AranyaPrathet everyday, or the number of Pinoys you see who attend mass in churches in Bangkok alone every Sunday, probably even more.

With this growing number of Pinoy teachers coming to Thailand, one would wonder, “Is life THAT good in Thailand?” Well, though that remains to be seen for the hundreds who have come these past few years, it has been great for at least one Pinay who started out the same way as most Pinoys who venture out here in Thailand. She too, came and started teaching when she first came to Bangkok. The big difference, however, is that now, she owns an 8-story hotel in Bangkok, and just recently opened another 8-story resort hotel right in the middle of tourist paradise in the Eastern seaboard – the city of Pattaya.

Zeny, as many of her friends call her, came to Bangkok more than 30 years ago, with her Thai husband whom she met while she was in school in the Philippines. After marriage, they lived in Baguio, where they were blessed with their eldest son.

Her first months in Bangkok with her husband and son were very hard. Communicating with her in-laws was a nightmare because of the language barrier. When her in-laws were speaking, she thought they were shouting at her, and in turn, when she spoke, they thought she was yelling at them. After six months, she was ready to pack up her bags, never to come back. But the thought of her son propelled her back to this land of smiles, and with much hard work, patience and sacrifices, she has carved her own place in the kingdom.

Zeny came into the world of business mainly for two reasons. One was the desire to find some work that would allow her to take care of her son. The other reason was that, along with her other teacher-friend, she was getting bored with the teaching life.

And so, she started by selling handkerchiefs, watches and other stuff to tourists. From there, she put up a small travel agency. Then she and her husband tried their hand in real estate, and earned some more money, until they put up Four Seasons International House in Pratunam area.

Money, at that time, was hard to come by. Banks did not give out loans that easily. And so Zeny and her husband started the hotel with just 3 floors on its first year. And each year thereafter, built a couple more floors until it reached 8 stories.  “We thought we will never finish it,” says Zeny.

Perhaps it is because Zeny is no stranger to hard work and sacrifice that she has had the courage to forge ahead, the vision to see it through and the perseverance to see a project to its fruition. At a young age of 6, she was selling sampaguita flowers at the market back in the Philippines. Having been born of a seamstress mom and a laborer dad, she had to help out the family to meet their daily needs for survival. And so with her sisters, she sold sampaguitain  the market during the day, and when it was time to get home, they would buy what the family needs out of their humble earnings.

And since that time, it has been selling sampaguita flowers that sent Zeny to school, through high school. At one point, Zeny’s dad told her to forget about going to school. He believed that a girl would just get married and stay home to take care of  the children, and therefore, would have no need of an education. But she did not share that same belief with her father, and so sent herself to school.

Zeny believes so much in education. That is why not only does she support her relatives back home with their school fees and other needs so they could go to school, she also advises everyone “to study hard.” Good things and a good life will come to the person who goes out looking for work. It can’t be done if one just stays home and waits for luck to arrive. “You have to work hard”, she says.

At this point in Zeny’s life, she can’t ask for more, she says. Her three sons are already grown, she has been an active member of the Filipino community here in Thailand, especially as a member of the PLG (Philippine Ladies Group) which does charity work, she has helped many relatives to finish school. She is now only waiting for the day to come when she could go home to the Philippines. There, she has just a few more things she would like to accomplish – put up a library, a church and to encourage girls who sell sampaguita, that there is more to life than just selling flowers.

Hedda

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