About

Hi, my name is Supanut Leepaisomboon, but people who knew me called me Nut, which is my nickname.

I grew up in Bangkok, Thailand. I graduated high school with an International Baccalaureate Diploma from ST Andrews International School Bangkok (STA). I then went to study at Mahidol University International College (MUIC), first studying in the computer science major, before switching over to the international business major around the second semester of my second year. Right now I’m doing a LLB in business law at the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University Tha Prachan Campus, for my second bachelors.

Equality, fairness, happiness, honesty, integrity

Those are the things I believe in, you can also call them my core values. I aim to fight for equality and fairness within society, I strive to maintain happiness in my life, I believe in honesty and integrity.

Growing up visually impaired is not easy, you know. Throughout my life, I witnessed, either directly myself or indirectly, the inequality and injustice within society, especially when it comes to people with disabilities. People with disabilities are being denied the rights and opportunities they deserve, specific the right to education in whatever field they want, and a good job opportunity. For instance, I remember when I was still studying at a Thai school, I was denied the opportunity to learn how to use computers, because of my disability. This was clearly a violation of my very basic constitutional right. True I did got that right back, but I have to go to international schools in order for me to be given that right. As a kid grown up in a middle class family I was lucky, but I’m fully aware that there are many kids with disabilities in Thailand who aren’t so fortunate. Because of their parents’ low income, they have no choice but to stick with Thai schools, which means that they are potentially exposed to bullying, marginalization and discrimination because of their disabilities. In Thailand, many public places such as shopping malls, college buildings (mine included), public transport such as trains and train stations, are not designed to be friendly for people with disabilities. Lack of braille labels and audio indicators in elevators inside of buildings, or the complete absence of elevators at all (this is currently the case with one of my college buildings), lack of sloping entrance ways into buildings, and lack of gender-neutral toilets that are wheelchair-friendly are just a few examples.

Even in the digital world, things aren’t that much better. Although a lot of websites now use captchas that have an audio version for visually impaired users who relied on screen readers, there are still some websites that only offer visual captchas that are not accessible to screen readers (my college’s Sky system included). In addition, a number of apps, both for desktop and mobile, are not accessible with screen readers, most importantly mobile banking and e-wallet apps along with a number of social media and chat apps for smartphones and antivirus software for the Windows operating system. Althought these shortcomings did not directly infringes on the rights of people with disabilities, the fact that they find public places and transportation, and the digital world difficult to use effectively means that they are being denied the right to use them.

Maintaining happiness is also crucial. For me personally, things that can bring me happiness includes going on trips with the university or friends, family feasts, buying new inflatable toys, mobile phones and computers, and a well-balanced approach to studying that gets me a good enough grade. I.E I did not strive to get straight A in all subjects, nor to beat the competition and come out on top of everyone else, nor to get an honors degree. At the same time I did not intend to party every night, sleep at like 3AM or 4AM, play video games all day long during the semester, or skip classes. Being flexible is also crucial, I.E being able to adapt my schedule (especially my revision schedule) whenever situations require it.

Honesty is also important. For me, being honest and truthful enhances credibility. That is why, everywhere including online, I always use my real identity and providing real and accurate information in my profiles. Integrity is also important, especially academic integrity. That is why I do everything I can in my power to avoid plagiarism, and to avoid exam misconducts. To me, these practices do not bring long term happiness or benefits at all. Moreover, whatever the short term gains as a result of these practices would be quickly offset by the longer term ramifications with negative consequences.