Surawat Yupornpakdeeroj, or Tae Phae-cing, is an example of someone who made a mistake in the past but was able to turn his life around after a prison sentence to become a goat farm owner. Here, he told us about his new chapter in life after learning financial management and receiving financial support from Ngern Tid Lor, which organizes financial education trainings for prisoners as a partner organization in the “Kamlangjai” project under the royal initiative of HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha.
Background
Tae: I am from Chainat Province. During my time in prison, I had the opportunity to participate in the “Kamlangjai” project under the royal initiative of HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha. Shortly after I was released from prison, I tried to find a job but nothing worked out. Finally, I got a job in Nakhon Nayok, where I met my wife and settled. But after working for just eight months, I was dismissed because my employer found out about my prison history. After that, I had a chance to visit the Red Cross Fair and was fascinated by a goat milk business. Dreaming of my own business, I began to learn more about goat farming and about raising goats. I built everything by myself. For over five years I have applied the sufficiency economy philosophy I learned from the Kamlangjai project to my everyday life and business.
The turning point
Tae: In early 2019, I participated in the Kamlangjai project activity at the Khao Rakam Temporary Prison, Trat Province, where I met Mr. Mingkwan, a financial training expert of Ngern Tid Lor. Afterwards we kept in touch. When I was invited to participate in the financial literacy activity, I was asked about my incomes and expenses and about the source of funds for buying goats to raise for resell. At that time, my main source was informal debt. Although I was aware of its high interest, I thought it did not matter because I still had strength to work and make money.
How financial knowledge helps?
Tae: First, it changed my way of thinking. Before, I just thought about how to make money, but now I focus more on money management. My wife and I started doing income and expense accounting, which helped us to see our spending behavior, as well as cash inflow and outflow. We began to see unnecessary expenses and tried to reduce them.
Most importantly, I discovered that most of the money we made was used to pay informal debt interest. Account records allowed me to see a big hole and realize that I could have used this money to purchase things that would further develop my goat farm. At that time, I was fortunate to have received a loan for ex-offenders from Ngern Tid Lor. The loan had a much lower interest rate than informal debts, which helped me reduce costs, create more profit, and grow my business.
Most importantly, I would like to see my goat farm grow sustainably. I used to just think about making fast money to resell goats as quickly as possible, although they did not gain enough weight, which meant they were sold at a low price and profit per production cycle, which made it not worth the effort. Now, I focus on raising goats until they have put on sufficient weight to sell at a higher price. I want to save some money for my growing child.
In addition to working on the farm, I want to spend some time learning more, and I want to contribute to society by using myself as an example of someone who made a mistake in the past and was discouraged after being released from prison, yet kept on fighting until I achieved what I have today.