“I am graduating (from high school) next year, who wants to help sponsor my education so I can go to university?” Ratree Pochae appealed to a group of visitors at Wat Sa Kaeo Orphanage in Ang Thong province back in 2013.

The teenager’s unexpected and courageous move gained attention from a kind-hearted Malaysian, Low Tong Wah and friends, who at the time were visiting the orphanage in Ang Thong Province, about 100km from Bangkok.

The girl from the Akha hill tribe...