SEEING BEYOND THE RIVER

To mark the World Children's Day, Life shines a spotlight on a young woman ready to shape the future

- STORY: SIRINYA WATTANASUKCHAI

When Kornkanok Mukthaisong first saw a short video of a Unicef Thailand volunteer project in Khon Kaen, she didn't expect it would change the way she saw the world.

At the time, the 22-year-old digital media student from Mahasarakham University was simply inspired. The clip showed university volunteers working with children on an environmental project, combining two of her favour-ite things — media and nature. It was exactly what she wanted to do, using media to tell stories.

That spark led Kornkanok and her friends to join Unicef Thailand's I AM UNICEF volunteer programme earlier this year in Chiang Khan. This town in Loei sits along the Mekong River and appears like a postcard-perfect vision of wooden guesthouses, quiet streets and sunset cycling paths. But as she soon learned, behind that beauty lies a quiet struggle. Their story reveals how climate change doesn't just disrupt nature; it reshapes the lives of children in unseen ways.

Before the workshop, Kornkanok and other volunteers attended training with Unicef Thailand, where one lesson stood out-respecting children's rights and consent. They learned that even small gestures, like speaking to a child or sharing contact details, require awareness and permission.