'I want this one!': In an August
episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians Kim visited an orphanage in
Thailand and bonded with Pink, then 12. She called husband Kayne West
about adopting her
A teenager from a children's home in a poverty-stricken region of Thailand made an astonishing decision to turn down an offer from reality TV star Kim Kardashian to adopt her into a life of wealth and glamour overseas.
The
level-headed 13-year-old called Pink said she shook with excitement
when she heard the multi-millionaire wanted to adopt her, but insisted
she wanted to study in Thailand instead then help her impoverished
homeland and the orphans she has grown up with.
The
girl with a sunny smile stole Kim's heart when she visited the
ramshackle children's home in Thailand's Phang Nga province, a region
where more than 4,000 people perished in the 2004 tsunami.
Pink,
an outstanding scholar whose mother sent her to the home because she
was too poor to care for her and fund her education, immediately bonded
with Kim and gave her a bracelet in a visit in April filmed for her hit
show Keeping Up with The Kardashians.
But
after being told the reality TV star wanted to adopt her, Pink said:
'Everyone wants to have a different or a better life, I suppose. But
when I thought about it I realised it wouldn't be good for me, because I
would have to leave so much behind. I wasn't ready for that.'
'I realised it wouldn't be good for
me': Pink, 13, told MailOnline that she wanted to stay and help her
country rather than live with Kim Kardashian
'I wasn't ready': Pink, pictured above
with her schoolfriend, told MailOnline that she loved being on TV but
wanted to stay with the orphans she grew up with
Poverty stricken but determined: Pink,
13, back row, who Kim Kardashian wanted to adopt with younger children
she helps look after at the children's home in Phang Nga, Thailand
Scholar
focused on studies: Pink, pictured left this year, was put in to the
care home after her father left and her mother, Rose, 44, pictured
right, was left destitute. Rose now helps at the home
After
the visit, Kim declared on camera: 'When you meet someone that you
really connect to like this, you can't help but think like how you could
change their life. And I think that looking into adoption would be
amazing.
'I
literally cannot stop thinking about her. I told (husband) Kanye, I was
like, honestly, this girl is so sweet and so cute, like, I would
honestly adopt her.'
She
then appeared to abandon the idea after being chided by her mother for
treating adoption like a shopping trip and then told by her resort
manager that adopting children from Thailand is 'very, very difficult'.
But
Mail Online found that Pink was taken aside and told by the home's
supervisors about Kim's adoption wish in the show which went out in
August and, although delighted at the offer, immediately said a polite
but firm 'no'.
Pink,
who shares a basic dormitory room with mattresses on the floor with five
other girls at the Home and Life Foundation in Phang Nga, said: 'When I
found out she wanted to adopt me, I was shaking. I was so excited. It
would be such a change of life for me. '
Recalling
her meeting with Kim – who was so smitten with the teenager she visited
the home twice – Pink admitted she and the other children had no idea
who Kim was when she first arrived.
'When
she came here, it seemed as if I was the first one she looked at and
smiled at. We had a connection straight away. I think she is really
pretty and she has a very nice personality.'
'I
thought she was lovely and I really enjoyed meeting her – and I loved
being on TV too,' said Pink, whose real name is Laddawan Tong-Keaw.'
Pink
makes an exhausting 100-mile round journey by bus every day with two
other girls to attend the province's top government school after the
three of them passing a demanding entrance exam. She gets up at 5am and
returns home at around 6 pm.
Special bond: Kim said she had
developed a special bond with Pink, adding 'I’m really impressed with
how happy these kids are with you know, so little of what they have'
'It makes me so sad': Kim described
how visiting the orphanage had left her feeling deeply emotional, and
orphanage bosses told Pink that Kim had offered to adopt her
Caring home: Pink shares her bedroom,
pictured above, with five other girls and spends 12 hours a day out of
the home either at school or travelling there
At
evenings and weekends, she does chores and helps look after younger
children in the home which was set up eight years ago to care for
orphans and children from families devastated by the human and economic
impact of the tsunami.
Pink
plans to go to university in Thailand then work as a tour guide or a
teacher. 'I want to help my country,' she said. 'I want people to come
and learn about Thailand and understand more about my country. That is
why I am thinking of being a tour guide.'
Pink's
mother Rose, lives in a nearby village with Pink's younger brother and
comes to the home every day to help cook and clean for her daughter and
the other 24 children at home.
'I
spoke to my mum about Kim and she said 'When you finish High School and
you can look after yourself, I will give you permission to go and live
with Kim if you want to go',' said Pink.
'But
the other children here and like brothers and sisters to me and I
couldn't leave them behind. They are my family and I couldn't just go
away and leave them.'
Asked
if she would like see Kim again, Pink smiled shyly as she replied: 'I
would like to see her again one day if it's possible. But not just Kim –
I'd like to meet her husband and her daughter as well. I'd like to meet
the whole family.'
When
she visited the home, Kim appeared unaware that Pink was not an orphan
and that her mother, Rose, 44, was present throughout the visit.
'I
was very proud when I heard that this famous lady wanted to adopt Pink
but at the same time I didn't want her to go away with the Kardashian
family. She is only young and I would miss her very much,' she told Mail
Online.
Giving children a future: The Home and Life Foundation in Phang Nga, Thailand, cares for 25 children in the tsunami-hit country
Life of
glamour: Kim wore latex for the launch of her new perfume Fleur Fatale
at Spice Market nightclub in Melbourne on Tuesday, days after images of
her posing in Paper caused a storm worldwide
Contrast: Dinner time at the
children's home in Phang Nga, Thailand, where the girl who Kim fell in
love with lives with 24 other children
Well treated: Children play at the
home in Phang Nga, Thailand, visited by Kim Kardashian who wanted to
adopt one of the children, Pink
The
home's founder Bhudit Maneejak, 35, said he took Pink to one side and
told her about Kim's wish to adopt her as soon as he heard about it from
the programme makers.
'I
thought 'Oh my God, this is difficult to manage because it is a good
option for Pink to be adopted by a very rich family' – but I decided it
depended on her decision,' he said.
'So I asked her whether she wanted to go or not and she said 'No, my family is here and I want to stay here'.
Bhudit
said he was proud of the mature way Pink handled what could have been a
difficult situation. 'She is happy here. She has a good life here. She
has a good education here as well. She is clever. She gets good grades
and she is going to the best school,' he said.
'She is making a better life for herself in the future, and what is most important is that she is working for it herself.
'We
try to teach the children here not to just look for a comfortable life.
If they get something for free it might seem fantastic but they won't
be proud if they haven't worked for it.'
Home
and Life Foundation supervisor Papangkorn Chanporn, 26, said he Googled
the Kardashians after their visit and showed pictures and articles to
the children afterwards although some images of Kim were too explicit to
show the youngsters.
Home for orphans: One of the home's youngest children, four-year-old Wa Wa, who is cared for by volunteers and care-workers
Poverty-stricken: Children do their chores at the ramshackle children's home visited by Kim Kardashian in Phang Nga, Thailand
'The
children had absolutely no idea who Kim Kardashian was,' he said. 'It
was all the cameras that made the children feel important. There was
such a big fuss.'
The
Kardashians had not been in contact with the home since the visit, he
said, although the owner of the resort in nearby Phuket that arranged
the visit was in regular contact as a supporter of the foundation. The
family had said they would build a pool at the site but this has not
materialised.
The
home relies on donations from overseas and has running costs of around
40 pounds a day to feed, school and care for its 25 children aged four
to 18.
'We
raise these children as a family,' said Papangkorn. 'If someone comes
and wants to adopt a child, whoever it is, they would say the same. They
would say: 'I don't want to leave my family here'.
'They have everything they need here and anyone who wants to help the children should help the foundation.'
He
added: 'Some people might say that celebrities only make these visits
to places like this for their image, but I believe if they are willing
to do some charity work it means there is some good in them.'
Kim
Kardashian did not respond to requests for comment from Mail Online.
Her spokesperson Ina Treciokas said in an emailed response: 'She (Kim)
is working and unavailable.'
· Details of the Home and Life Foundation in Phang Nga are available at www.homelifethailand.com
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