Thanakorn Srikanha was born at Somdej Phra Yuppharat Kuchinarai Hospital, Kuchinarai District, Kalasin Province. He is the second child of Master Cheep Srikanha, 49 years old, and Mrs. Vee Srikanha, 37 years old. He has two older brothers, both of whom are normal. As for Thanakorn, his mother said that when she was pregnant with him, she was about 4 months pregnant. She was sick with leptospirosis, so she went to see a doctor at the hospital. The doctor gave him an injection to treat the leptospirosis and found that the baby’s head was protruding as if he was about to be born. However, the doctor saw that the baby was still too young at 4 months, so he gave him an injection to prevent premature birth. However, he was born at about 6 months pregnant. The doctor sent him to Kalasin Hospital for further treatment. After staying at Kalasin Hospital for 4-5 days, the doctor examined him and found that his breathing was not normal. He suspected that he had a heart condition. Therefore, he was sent to Khon Kaen Hospital for further treatment. However, Khon Kaen Hospital did not have a pediatric cardiologist, so they sent him to Srinagarind Hospital in Khon Kaen Province. They treated his congenital heart disease and monitored his condition for about 3 years.
During this time, Thanakorn was sick very often and had to see the doctor about once a week. His father was a rice farmer and his mother was a housewife because she had to take care of Thanakorn closely. His father had his own rice field of about 1 rai and did not earn much income from selling rice. Because he was sick so often, he had to borrow money to treat him. The cost of treatment kept increasing until his father had to sell the rice field to pay off the debt, but it was still not enough to cover the cost of treatment. During the treatment period of about 3 years, his condition did not improve. The doctor told his parents to accept it because the doctor expected that even if he had surgery, his body would not be able to take it and there was a high chance that he would die. The surgery would be very expensive. However, if he did not have surgery, he would gradually become weaker and eventually die.
Both his father and mother were very sad and could not accept it, but they did not give up hope, so they tried writing a letter of complaint to Her Majesty the Queen. Queen Sirikit While waiting for hope, in March 2010, the whole family decided to move to work as a shrimp farmer in Tung Wa District, Satun Province, earning about 6,500 baht per month.
After about 3 months, the Office of the Private Secretary of Queen Sirikit was contacted back. She accepted him as a patient under royal patronage and was sent to the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health (Children’s Hospital) for treatment. She underwent 3 heart catheters, received treatment and was monitored for about 1 year, and then had surgery at the Heart Disease Center, Kasemrad Prachachuen Hospital, by Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Foundation.
Nong Thanakorn underwent surgery on July 15, 2010. He stayed in the hospital for about 1 month, so the doctor let him go home to continue his treatment. Before the surgery, he was often sick and not in good health, so he did not attend school as required. However, after the surgery to treat his congenital heart defect, Thanakorn is much better now, he is stronger, eats a lot more, doesn’t get tired easily, and doesn’t get sick often. Currently, Thanakorn is studying at Ban Na Thon School, Na Thon Subdistrict, Thung Wa District, Satun Province, until he reaches secondary school.
